Alibag - Kashid

Alibag is a coastal town in the Raigad District of the Konkan region of Maharashtra. It is known for its beaches and is one of the famous tourist places.




It is about 150 kms from Pune (Chandni Chowk) via the old highway. If you are travelling in the rainy season or winter, the old highway is just a great pleasure drive. You can however cover this distance through the Mumbai-Pune expressway.

How to get there :

By road : Pune- Khopli - Pen - Poinad - Alibag
OR
Pune - Tamhini - Kolad - [Roha - Ashtami - Revdanda - Nagoan - Alibag] or [ Nagothane - Poinad - Alibag ]

Alibag is not one of the cleanest beaches. So you hence want to visit either Kashid or nagaon bech instead. If you directly plan to reach kashid, you can take the tamini route. If you wish to stay at Alibag and reach there first, you can take the Pen route. The Pen route is the very good.



Distance: Alibag via Pen route is about 150 kms from Pune.
Time: 3 hrs
Tolls : 3-4
Old highway - Dehu road , Khusgaon (you can get a combined toll at Dehu road for Rs 45/-) , Pen [ around 18/-], somewhere near Poinad [around 15/-]

Route :

Pune - Chandni Chowk - Dehu Road / Shivaji Nagar - Pimpri-Chinchwad - Old Mumbai Highway [NH4] - Lonavla -Khandala - Mumbai-Pune Expressway - Khopoli Exit - take the first left from the first chowk - Toll - When you are just about to enter Pen there is a bypass road (Directions marked are to Panjim or Alibag) - take right here - after 2-3 kms you reach the Mumbai-Goa highway - take Left - henceforth keep going straight - At Wadhkal take right at the fork - Poinad - Toll - there is a huge factory on left(probably ISPAT) -keep going stright over the bridge - after going through a few villages - Alibag

You can take the new Pune-Mumbai expressway till the Khopli exit and follow the route hencforth.

Via Tamini ghat, the road is not so good in a few pathches. Also there are may ghats on the way and hence may take more time through this road.

Kashid Beach: It is about 40 kms from Alibag on the Alibag-Murud highway. This beach is possibly one of the cleanest and most beautiful white sand beaches in the region.

There are not many Lunch options here, however Anda-Pav etc is readily available.
Go ahead toward Murud to find some Bhojanalays. Its a nice place to play and spend time at the beach.


Nagaon beach: It is situated about 10-12 km from Alibag and is famous for coconuts and betel nuts.You can find some good eating options here. Some hotels are good for seafood.


*Photos clicked by Bhanu Bejugam.

Have a wonderful holiday and a safe journey.
Comments are appreciated.

Harihareshwar - Shrivardhan

Harihareshwar is a beautiful small town along the Konkan border in Maharashtra. It is nearly 200 kms from Mumbai and 170 kms from Pune. This place is known for its famous temple along the seashore and the silent, clean beaches. Shrivardhan can also be visited along with Harihareshwar as it has a beautiful long clean beach as well.It is about 20 kms from Harihareshwar temple.



Harihareshwar is popularly known as South Kashi.It is surrounded by four holy hills, namely, Harihareshwar, Harshinachal, Bramhadri and Pushpadri.
The temple consists of idols of Lord Brahma - Vishnu - Mahesh and Devi Parvati.
The other temples in the premises are of Shri Kalbhairav and Shri Yogeshwari.

It is said that you should visit the Kalbhairav temple first and then the others.
Note that most of the cell phone networks do not work at Harihareshwar.
BSNL might be available in the travel route. So its a good time as your holidays are going to be mobile-free.
Some sight-seeing places in and around Harihareshwar:

- Shrivardhan sea shore (20 kms)
- Dive Agar sea beach and Golden Ganapati temple (24 kms)
- Dighi Bandar and Janjira Fort (35 kms)


How to get there :

Road journey: Time taken around 4- 4.5 hours from Pune(via Tamhini ghat).
Distance : 170 kms
The road is a mess in some stretches, but otherwise is simply a lovely smooth drive.

Routes:

Via Tamhini ghat (approx 170 km)
Pune — Chandani Chauk - Paud gaon – Mulshi - Pirangut Road - Dongarwadi — Tamhini Ghat — Vile ( Take left after the ghat ends. There is a big hoarding of MIDC-Vile at that junction. After the 2 way huge road ends, Take left) — Nizampur — Mangaon .You will reach the highway (NH – 17). Take Left. You will immediately see the bus stand on right hand side. Turn right about 500 mts after Mangaon ST Stand to Mhasala (The road is small and crowded at the crossing. make sure you dont miss the turn).- Borle - Mhasala - Keep following the directions on the route to Harihareshwar.
Alternately, you can go through Goregaon after Mangoan. Till you reach Mangaon there are not many direction boards on the way. Keep in mind the villages mentioned to make sure you are on the right track.
There is only one toll at chandni chowk (18 Rs) throughout the route.


Via Mahabaleshwar (235 km)
Pune – Bangalore Highway — Shirwal - Surur Village - Turn right towards Wai — Panchgani — Mahabaleshwar — Ambenali Ghat — You will reach NH17 at Poladpur – Turn right towards Mahad – Lonere Phata – Goregaon (SH 98) – Mhasala – Harihareshwar/Shrivardhan.
Road is smooth and very good. It is 4 lane toll road (NH4) till the surur village (first 75-80 KMs). Ghat section is also good but it is crowded with the Mahabaleshwar tourist traffic.

Via Bhor (190 km)
Pune — Pune – Bangalore Highway NH4 — Khed Shivapur - Turn right just ahead of Khed Shivapur at Bhor Phata - Bhor - Varandha Ghat — reach NH – 17.There is Hotel Sagar just after Mahad - Turn right towards Mangaon – Goregaon – Mhasala – Harihareshwar/Shrivardhan.
Road is nice 4 lane toll road till Khed Shivapur. After that it is not that good and avoid travelling through Varandha Ghat during night.


Hope this information helps you.
Have a wonderful holiday and a safe journey.