To Ganatipule: market day at an Indian beach town

February 11, 2016

"If I needed to buy any bling....this would be the place," we are pushing our bikes through the crowd past vendors selling all sorts of stuff, and following a guy who is leading us to his guesthouse in Ganatipule. There is a "bazaar" going on in town for the next two days.

We left Ratnagiri through side roads for a couple kms finally returning to MSH 4. Today is a short ride, breaking up the distance to Guhagar in this hilly section, so we left later than usual for us. Breakfast was included with our room, so we stayed until 8:30 to have an omelet and coffee.

Beautiful views of the coast that we had to work for in a couple of climbs, and well worth the effort. We stop for a coconut water drink and the view after the first climb. We arrive late morning to Ganatipule.

The guesthouse is family run, the name is written in Hindi, at the end of a side street. We had to lift the bikes up and over steps to get the path that leads to the guesthouse. The room is very clean, fan, self contained and with a balcony. We are away from the hubbub of the market so we are hopeful of a quiet night. After settling in, we walk back toward the beach. We stopped for a potato vada, the sweet roll potato sandwich that we discovered a few days ago as a snack and now know what to ask for.

One of the reasons people flock here is because of the 400 year old Ganesh Temple situated close to the beach. Ganatipule beach of white sand is over 6kms long.

A very nice relaxing day.

Storage or recycling? Seems like this pile will only get bigger

Fishermen seem to be mostly Muslim in India. Most fishing villages we pass have prominent mosques.

For the first time since riding along this coast we get nice vistas of the beaches.

Only two climbs today. We do a short day to make tomorrow more do-able.

Lady selling coconut water along the road.

It is market day. The street is crowded with stalls and people. Very colorful.

Tourist rides for the locals. Ganesh temple behind.

Today's ride: 26 km (16 miles)
Total: 12,640 km (7,849 miles)

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