88 km
Nate is a useless place!
I wonder who came up with the idea to go to Nate from Ganpatipule? From Ratnagiri you have to climb some major hills on MH4 and then go all that down again to reach Nate. And when you get there you find out the little three room lodge is full, so you have to climb all those hills back up again, or sleep on the beach. I really recommend future cyclists on this route to skip Nate altogether. I have been following the route taken in the journal "Song of the Little Road", in reverse order. He could not get a room in Nate and slept on the beach. Another Swedish cyclist I met a few days ago got no room there either and ended up as a private guest at some mango farm after cycling 90 km on a heavy Indian bicycle with no gears. Luckily I had the shits when leaving Ganpatipule and only started from Ratnagiri this morning. So I made it to Rajapur, but only just.
The place where I stayed at Ratnagiri was terrific value. For once I had a real single room. Even though traveling alone I ususally get a room with two beds, which I really don't mind much. I sleep in one bed and spread my stuff on the other. But alas at Vihara DeLuxe Hotel in Ratnagiri they gave me a one bed room. It was not large, but sufficient. And it was clean all over, not that common in India, the bed was very good. And a great Indian breakfast was included in the 600 Rs price. Terrific deal!
I rode down the hill this morning, crossed the bridge out of Ratnagiri and headed South. At Adiara I stopped for chai, and forgot my water bottle when leaving so I had to turn back a couple of km to get it.
Some 10 km South of Adiara I stopped by a little Daba for lunch. The guy managing it spoke practically no English at all, and called his boss on a cell phone. The owner of the Daba, and the sizable mango farm behind it, is a retired gentleman from Bombay. His English is very good, and he seems to enjoy talking to foreigners passing by. He not only arranged for the Dal Fry and chapatis I wanted, but also came over to give me some of his own lunch and to offer me a free room if I cared to stay the night. I happily ate his delicious food but turned down the room offer. It was only 1230 and I wanted to continue on.
At a crossing I left the Mh4 and headed downhill to Nate, which is not much of a place. After finding no room there I was told the nearest place, somewhat in the direction I was going, would be Rajapur. It is mostly uphill, but on good roads.
By the time I rolled in to town it was almost 6 o'clock, and I was worried it would be difficult getting a room here as well. But no sweat, I got a decent room at The Foodland, 400 Rs and the manager asked me to take the bike to my room. Great! Now the only problem is where to go from here.
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