47 km
The hills of Southern Maharashtra have attacked me today. They are not as steep as in N Thailand or as long as in N Laos but they are just so many. Up and down, up and down. Still I know that this is only the beginning, there are many more to come in the next several cycling days.
I did not want to bother the family at Shram Safalya Niwas GH with breakfast. I ate some grapes and biscuits I had and drank a bottle of water. Then I could do my toilet needs, and was off. Instead I stopped by the bus station in Vengurla village. Just outside the bus station was a little schack where a man had a gas stove and cooked snacks. I had some potatoe-chopped onions thing with a baji and bread. It was nice and very Indian. While I ate I watched him deepfry Samosas and Pakodas in oil. After he had let the oil drip off he picked out several Samosas, broke them in small pieces and threw them out the door to a noisy bunch of crows hanging around there.
Obviously the crows will in no way benefit the man's business. And they are sure to come back again and again, probably bringing some crow friends with them, crowing and fighting. Still the man keeps feeding the birds. I did not need to ask him why, I know why. As a Hindu he is always aware that the fire of life within himself, that which makes it possible for him to experience yet another day, that fire is the same in the crow. A hungry crow is just as hungry as a hungry man.
Man is it nice to be in India! So many 'Hellos' and welcoming smiles along the road. And at crossroads I need not even ask which way to go. As I approach the intersection several people point me on and say 'Malvan!', since they already seem to have learned which way cyclists want to go.
I did not want to take the risk of waiting forever for a boat to take me across the river. Instead I cycled via the bridge. After I had crossed I did indeed find a small gravel road that runs along the river, and did not need to cycle via Malvan town. I was hungry again by the time I came to Tarkali beach area, and stopped at the Mtdc bungalows for their superb veg Thali. Now I am back at Babla Beach House, and very pleased to be here.
There is a lodge some 10-15 km S of Tarkali beach.
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