After weekdays loaded with stressful and tedious work, with so many people and things buzzing around, almost daily long working hours and nights with insufficient sleep, all one longs for is a calm and pleasant getaway right in the lap of nature. This is where Ganpatipule hit bang on target. The best time I would suggest to be there against any other review and suggestion, and out of personal experience would be onwards the second week of August to the second week of September, that is when the rains have reach their closure. By this time the rains will have transformed the atmosphere from the roasting summer to the rejuvenating advent of the winter.
As the name suggest, the place does have a temple situated right at the foot of the beach, but believe me there is a lot more to the place than just that. The experience starts right from the time you have packed your bags and are on your way to your deserving destination. One could get to the place by boarding a Konkan Railways Train and getting off at Ratnagiri, from where a State Transport bus would drop you to your destination. But even better would be you hiring a private vehicle and getting on your way. Ideally you could leave Friday late night, say midnight. The trip would ideally be for 2 days getting you back to your home sweet home by Sunday night.
The drive would be an approximate 8 hrs. from Mumbai. You could have your nap in the vehicle during the night but please please don’t sleep off and miss the break of dawn. If your really lucky like I was, the rains all through the night may have prepared a surprise for you with the first rays of the sun. Assuming you have left at midnight you would be in the Chiplun ghats say by 5.00 - 6.00 am., that’s where the thrill begins, the drop in temperature due to the rains must have caused heavy fog in the ghats, which is one amazing sight. It is just mesmerizing watch the thick fog all around you all afloat the lust green nature. You might just want to stop at a point, get off your carrier and take a few steps up the ghat giving you the feel of walking in the clouds, and as you gaze down the edge of the ghats all you can see is the thick cloud cover and the occasional sight of the land below just amidst an opening in the clouds. Words literally fall short to express the whole situation.
After all this when the day is completely here you could feel the warmth of the sun only till the time you have reached your getaway. Once you have entered the vicinity of the beach and it’s surrounding you could get that typical salted aroma of the beach nearby. Now that you are here it’s about 8.30 am., firstly look out for your place to crash, that is, look for your accommodation. Ganpatipule does have some small lodges and houses which are given out on rent, but my personal favorite would be the MTDC out there. The MTDC-Ganpatipule is spread over a vast area and offers you a variety of lodging options to choose from. They have Standard rooms, Deluxe rooms, Konkani huts etc. again here I have a favorite and that would be the beach facing rooms and yes Non AC, come on you are here to enjoy nature forget the AC besides its not that hot to need one. The MTDC offers well maintained accommodation at a reasonable price and that’s what impressed me the most. The room is substantially spacious with a big bathroom and yes an amazing balcony. The most peculiar feature about the place would be that the room facing the beach gives a great view and yes a great beach feel as the floor is usually moist due to the excess moisture in the air, and that salted air blowing through the balcony into the room. The Check in/out time is 9.00 am. so you could check all the rooms and select the one which suites you the best.
Once you’re done with your accommodation arrangements all you need to do is freshen up and head to the beach for a dip. Since your tired traveling and need rest just a small dip would do the trick for you. The beach is a treat with soft white porous sand, clear waters and a green cover. Though the beach is substantially clean, rubbish seem to be building up with more and more visitors and inadequate cleaning provision, cleanliness concerns are top priority. The dip followed by a light breakfast and you ready to get back to your room and just sit back and relax. Relax it is, you have the afternoon all for you to have your sleep. Just sit back in the balcony gaze upon the horizon, feel the air guzzling past you and get that very precious time to interact with your family or friends or just that very special friend.
So now time has just sped by and its lunchtime. Well since it’s a distance location you won’t have your lip-smacking foodstuff but the place does provide you with some respectable traditional Maharastrian, Punjabi, Veg and Non Veg Feast. If you’re a foodie like me you wouldn’t regret all this as you know that even this would be a unique experience and yes the other attraction would surely make good. After the lunch an afternoon nap which I’m sure you must be longing for followed by the evening, it’s the Saturday evening, get out your room on to the beach and get back all those childhood days, playing all the games you loved as a child be it sports as football, throw ball, dodge ball etc., cricket though is not feasible as the beach sand is pretty porous, or you could just play the catch n cooks, lock n keys or some other innovative games or probably just have a running race or long jump. It’s a beach the list just goes on, do what your heart desires. As we turn away from the sun and the sunlight slowly disappear to give way to the moon and its white light, unlike the other days go and get an early dinner only to make time for a quite and memorable walk on the beach with the moonlight spread all around you and the soothing sound of the waves falling on your ears, calming your mind and refreshing your body. If you want more take my advice lay down on the soft sand bed and gaze into the endless star stunned sky. So its Saturday night and you are just left asking for more but don’t worry you still have the Sunday ahead.
After enjoying your good nights sleep, its Sunday morning, probably the most lazy morning ever, you could wake up late and go directly for your second dose of a dip or get up early and go for a jog on the beach, suit yourself. If not a second dip you could set out to just to roam the area only to find some really amazing spots of lush green cliffs and small not so famous patches of beaches, which sort of gives you the feeling of discovery. Again the time just flies by and the afternoon is here, too bad your trip is almost nearing its end, but why think of that when you have already enjoyed it to the very last bit. You could have a little late lunch and hit the road back to the place you belong, on track to be home in time to have a good sleep and get back to your routine on Monday Morning but this time all fresh and full of energy.