The Backpack Nomad

When I wrote this, I was sitting at a restaurant in Calangute, 'Foxes Fiesta'. Karaoke night and tasty seafood! Some guy was singing 'Aaj kal tere mere pyar k charche' and he was doing a pretty good job! I sang 'Dil kya kare' as well, and since no one knew me, I didn't care if I sing well or not, I just had to sing!  Chorla Ghat I started off on Thursday at 4 PM from office on a bike, super-excited to pull this off! I halted at a McDonald's at Panvel, looked at the directions and started off again, I was supposed to halt at Satara for the night. The road was smooth, like an F1 race track! And no traffic, till I reached Pune. The speed slowed down considerably and I was left finding gaps in the crowd of vehicles to get through. After Pune though, traffic eased out and I could cruise along at 80-90 kph. I halted once again for dinner before reaching Satara at 1030 PM, stayed at a highway-side lodge by the name of 'Raj lodging'. It was pr...

After singing and eating all types of sea food that they had to serve for dinner (almost all), I left for Baga beach. It was crowded as usual. I had a chocolate brownie and icecream for dessert, came back by 1 AM and dozed off. I had to ride to Mumbai the next day. I started off at 730 AM for Mumbai, decided to take the coastal route home. A s a kid, I often travelled on train via the Konkan coast towards Goa and Kerala and looking at the roads, I used to wonder what would it be like to travel on these routes, would it be risky to travel at night here. I used to look at the sceneries and wish that I could stop and click photos of the place Today, I was going to live a childhood dream!  When I left Panaji, there was a lot of fog around and visibility was poor. I had to go slower than usual. But it cleared off in a couple of hours. By 9, I was cruising past Kudal. On my way to Ratnagiri, I saw signboard that said 'Vijaydurg 53 kms'. I took that turn, and I am glad...