Fiesta Classic travelogue roadtrip to Bhogwe and Niyati

Long Term Fiesta Classic Travelogue: Weekend at Bhogwe and Nivat

Words and Images: Arjun Dharve

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We had been itching for a long weekend getaway for some time and kept toying with the idea of various destinations. Suggestions varied from chilly evenings at Mahabaleshwar and enjoying good Scotch to the peaceful realms of Bhandardara; boozy party nights of Goa to red dusted environs of Matheran and so on. Whatever the suggestions, it was clear that a long drive to de-humidified cool locales outside Mumbai was a must!

With the accompaniment of the frugal and feisty Fiesta Classic, long distances presided over anything close like Matheran or Shriwardhan etc. Since it had to be yours truly handling the driving duties, the decision making power lied with me. As a suggestion, I put forth Tarkarli, a lovely beach with white powdery sand and turquoise waters towards the south end of Maharashtra`s shore line, and it was unanimously agreed upon. The plan was simple, to take the thrilling Mumbai-Goa highway a.k.a NH-17 and return via lazy but fast Kolhapur-Pune-Mumbai-NH 4. This would give us ample opportunities to enjoy the handling qualities of the Fiesta as well as have an economical trip, thanks to its diesel sipping traits, and it did not disappoint one bit!

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To beat the outbound weekend traffic, we chose to commence our trip early on a Friday morning, hoping to reach the destination by or before dusk. Upon some web research, we booked an AC room (1200/- per nightonly!!) for 4 at Hardika beach resort, Nivati; we altered the destination since this was relatively unknown and hasn`t received its share of commercialization yet. Realizing the possible scarcity of options, we stocked upon everything from sodas to snacks& water to skewers (for a beach BBQ). Even though it was a 3 day trip for 4 bachelors, we packed like women!! (pun intended), and the Fiesta`s generous boot swallowed it all.

Tanked up the previous night, we managed to adhere to our `out time` of 5:30 am from a western suburb. Even before we could escape this city that never sleeps, we got held up near Turbhe on the Airoli-Panvel highway. Though we were already behind schedule, we obediently halted at Sri Dutta snacks for some yummy Maharashtrian breakfast, kandepohe, vatatevade, kothimbirvadi, sabudanakhichdi, kharvas and tea. We spared hardly anything on the menu whiteboard, and ate enough to continue with bio breaks only, until lunch (hopefully at Chiplun).

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The quadruplingof the NH-17 has been causing enough and more inconvenience between Panvel-Nagothane stretch, and it continues to do so. Numerous diversions, bad sections, slow moving traffic abound, this consumed more time than what we initially expected, the traffic started gradually becoming sparse beyond Mangaon(150 kms) only. By the time we reached Poladpur (210 kms) for a stretch-snack-smoke-pee break, it was already about 11am. The occupants, including me were excited about the upcoming Kashedi and Parshuram ghats, a section which has been our favourite since bike-touring days.

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Re-hydrated and topped up, we got into the twisted mode, driving enthusiastically with the Fiesta happily complementing my intent. I soon ignored the heavily loaded boot, one `passenger` with motion sickness symptoms and darted the Fiesta around with more zest than what an average person on a weekend trip would do. The well weighted steering remained a delight through the fast sections, while we would have loved more assist at parking speeds. The Fiesta did surprise me with its able handling traits despite being fully loaded. The only fly in the ointment would be the underpowered oil burner which runs out of steam after 3k rpm.

With the sun up, the Fiesta`s fantastic AC kept everything inside cool as the temperatures shot up outside. The Kashedighat was dispatched quickly and soon, the Parshuramghat too, when we decided for a quick stopover cooling down with a glass of zingy `kokamsarbat` overlooking the river Vashisti, a view that makes the fatigue evaporate into thin air.

As we continued on the serpentine NH-17 through the Konkan region, the traffic thinned out and gradually our pace increased. While the lads in the back seat had survived the twisties without feeling nauseous, over 8 hours of the journey had started taking its toll, and the back seat occupants dozed off. I envied the back seat occupants, for the Fiesta comes with really softly cushioned seats and sufficient leg room which meant a near bliss-full journey with the AC working its magic relentlessly.

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It was almost 6pm in the evening when we got off the NH-17, while there are a couple of exit points (Kudal and Kasal most important), we followed the directions given by our hotel manager. Taking diversion at Kudal on to the Kudal-Vengurla Road and then taking a right from Pinguli onto SH119 which leads us to the “Saagari Mahamarg”, finally the last diversion from Mhapan to Nivati beach. Such is the remoteness of the Nivati beach that it barely attracts many tourists and isn’t commercialized at all. It is highly recommended to reach the destination before sunset and spare the chances of getting lost in the interiors roads since mobile networks are patchy! The state transport buses ply every half an hour, and even the so common `minidors` or `tam-tams` are sparse. Thankfully, we were lucky not to get lost despite unclear markings leading to the hotel.

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