The Great Indian Konkan Roadtrip - Goa To Malvan & Beyond.

Being a sucker for scenic (read: Instagrammable) coastal drives, I've been eyeing the Konkan Coast for almost 2 years.

Till then there I was - slowly, stealthily, researching, gathering information, preparing myself for that one final day when it would become a reality. Hidden lakes, waterfalls, best Misal Pav spots on the highway etc.

So obviously I made a detailed plan (in .pdf format) specifying the exact details regarding our itinerary, stay, places to visit near each stay and so on. Having seen a fair bit of the Karnataka side of the Konkan coast, our plan was mainly to do the Maharashtra side.

So finally dates, leaves everything fell in place. I called up my friend & we decided to go ahead with the booking of tickets, stays etc.

So we figured Goa would be the obvious meeting point from where we'd start the trip - me traveling from Bangalore & him from Chennai. The Challenge? How / from where do we rent a car?

Also, we had one condition:

It had to be an automatic car - We both aren't really one of those Auto enthusiast types who take pride in being able to drive a Manual. All we wanted was a comfortable, chill driving experience.

So it turns out Zoomcar wasn't operating in Goa due to the extreme monopoly with regards to the taxi, car hire space there. One of the same reasons why even Uber isn't allowed.

Challenge no.2 - Turns out it wasn't so easy to take a GA registration car into Maharastra, even for rental cars. Most car-rentals in Goa let you drive them only within state borders.

Finally, we chanced upon GoiCar - our saviour. They helped us get an automatic i10 & also assured us that they'd sort out any issues that we might face with the MH state police / check-posts. Of course, we had to pay an extra deposit amount than usual since ours was a special request (apparently).

And thus we left with uncertainty, being mentally prepared to get arrested by the Maharashtra Police, because we like to live dangerously.

Turns out we'd missed the point where we were to get a permit for entering MH border & at that point our trip became officially wild.

Following were our stops, in chronological order:

1) Khavane Paradise - Khavane, MH:

Places to see / visit nearby:

Khavane Beach & Devgad Beach - Best Sunset by far.

2) Villa Padavne - Wada, MH.

Sights / Drives nearby:

3) Aranya - Amboli, MH

A change in scenery - from beaches to hills.

Places nearby to visit:

4) Dudhsagar Plantation Stay, Goa:

The final stop back to Goa - but this time for a change we thought we'd explore the hilly side rather than the beaches. And we weren't disappointed one bit.

Summary:

That was quite something. 100% a part of India I can't wait to return to & explore further.

Note: We did get questioned at a couple of check-points regarding our Goa registration car. There's nothing a little sweet talk & a Rs.500 note can't fix. This is India after all.