Murud - Janjira (Trip 1)

This one trip of mine will be told in more than one blog. The gist of it is that we friends had long ago decided to go for a trip to Murud-Janjira because we all had heard lots about it. We always go to Lonavala, but this time wanted to do something different, go to a different place, enjoy and be more independent. So we decided to go on a 3 day trip from the 21st of November to the 23rd of November, 2008. Very excited about the trip, we finally get to the day of enjoyment and leave with our backpacks, 13 people and 3 cars. We face many problems and have an adventure solving them and on top of it enjoy life to the fullest. So here I go...

I'll start from the beginning... The previous night it was decided that we'll get up by 6 and leave home by 6:30... Veryyy excited for this trip because we had been planning this for months on end... anyway... On time, we started our journey for Parle at a friends place. We call him Sunny... His building was the meeting point for the three cars... We were 13 of us... So we reached the place, decided how much money worth petrol was needed and how much money should v put in our common "bank" and then v started off again after filling petrol. We got a pretty smooth ride on the western express highway. Going to Alibaug, we had to take the old express highway and that was where the roads were getting a bit rough. Achha, we were 3 cars, one Optra, second SX4 (Both Sedans), and third a Wagon R... I was almost always in the Wagon R. That car being a hachback, gave us more trouble on those troubled roads than the other 2 Sedans. So finally we reached Kashid Beach and decided to stop there for sometime. We were happy to get out of our cars and stretch ourselves.

The first view of Kashid beach was mezmorising. I fell in love with it. Although it looked like any other normal beach, I could make out how clean it was even from a distance. There were hammocks on the start of the beach and all places were occupied really fast by all of us. Few of them started drinking coconut water there. After doing some masti, we sat down there thinking of what we should do next. So it was planned that our hachback was to go at one place to inquire about our staying arrangements... Yes you're right, we didnt book any place, nor did v have an idea of which place is good. My good friend Sudeep had almost booked a place over the phone, where our expenses were coming to be pretty cheap, but then other members were cynical of that idea because they had not seen the place and didnt want to risk it thinking how hygenic that place would be etc. So we went to a place, wayyyy over our budget while the others went to some other place to check the prices out there. Then we drove for more 15-20 kms to some village and took a break there. We asked the reason why we didn't take up that place where the other 2 sedans had gone, and they said that they didnt get a good price. But when we heard their prices, we thought it was a pretty good deal, because the rooms were air-conditioned and it also had a swimming pool.

Anyway, they were convinced and our blue hachback went back to that place, Sand Piper, and asked for prices there. We bargained a lot but still it was a bit over everyone's budget and the manager now wouldn't budge on the final offer he had made. While talking to the manager there, our friend Sunny called us and gave us his dad's number saying if we need his help, we shouldn't hesitate to ask him for help(His dad has the best of contacts). So we did just that, Sagar called up his dad and told us our problem. His dad was quick to react on this and within minutes the manager got a phone to settle a good deal for us. So we finally got a conference room to stay in because all the other rooms were booked. The best part about that room was that all 13 of us could stay in that one room and could enjoy all the time. So we first contacted the entire group and asked them if we should finalize this place. They agreed to it, so we paid the advance, and entered the room as if v own it completely. One friend was asking for the air conditioner to b repaired even when it was working fine, while the other fellow was asking for towels so that he could have a good bath before everyone else came from that village.

While we were looking around the room, we got a call from one of our friends saying that they got a bungalow on rent just opposite the Murud-Janjira beach and that we should leave Sand Piper and come there. We argued obviously because we had paid the advance taking their permission and spoke and fought on the phone for good fifteen-twenty minutes. Finally, we decided to get out of the room and Sagar, feeling the most embarrassed at that point of time, went to the manager and asked him to give us our advance back as some other friends had booked some other place and had paid some advance there as well. The manager was kind of stunned but then readily gave the money, indirectly taunting us and making sure that we don't come back again. I still remember that he said, "Aap toh contacts ke through aaye hain toh hum kuch bol nahi sakhte, lekin abhi aap phir se aayenge toh aapko accommodate karna mushkil ho sakhta hai.." and we got his hint.

Feeling really bad about what happened, we 4 friends of the Blue hachback were pretty irritated because the time now was about 2:30 and we still didn't have a good place to live for the next 2 days. Finally we reached the bungalow, Newly painted, it looked good from the outside, it looked new, it felt as if we were their first customers. Anyway, still a little angry for the embarrassment we faced and for losing out on such a good deal in Sand Piper, we kind of cooled down when we entered the bungalow. It had four rooms and we rented all four of them, I guess we got some discount for that. The bungalow was nice from the inside too. It had a large balcony from where the entire beach could be seen. Murud-Janjira beach was as beautiful as Kashid, with veryyy few people and it was well maintained. I loved the beaches out there. So once we got in the bungalow, we all heaved a sigh of relief because we finally got a place to live.

Then within 15 minutes, we left again to have some lunch because everyone at this point was starving. So we went to this place where only 2 types of thaaliis were available, a veg and a non-veg thaali. We all loved the food there and had a good hearty lunch which was pretty light on our pockets, hence loving it even more. Then we went to the bungalow and sat there for a while and within half an hour again, got into our beach wears, took out stumps, bats and balls and went to the beach to play some cricket. Played in the sand for a good one and a half-two hours and then went further in the water to do some more masti in the beach water.

Then again we went to the bungalow to have a bath but just as we entered the bungalow, we realised there was no electricity in the bungalow. But we didnt let the dark stop us from having a bath and moving around in the bungalow. We had loads of candles with us and lit a few of them, 1 candle in all the bathrooms and everyone took their baths. Electricity finally came after a while and we all sat in the balcony with some drinks and eateries. We sat and chatted for an hour or so, discussing about what had happened earlier in the day with us and planning the next days agenda .Then later on all thought of having dinner. We went to this place, and it was horrible. The amount of oil they used in the food, i guess i havent had such an intake of oil in my entire life, COMBINED!!! So we had dinner and then the group kind of divided into 2, one group was sitting near the beach on some benches and the other group went in the bungalow to have another session of drinks.

Now the irritation started. There were all kinds of insects in the bungalow, there were ones which are attracted to the light and they kept falling everywhere, there were ants, there were insects i saw for the first time. There was no fan in the hall or balcony, I checked the fans in the room and noticed that the top speed made the fan move really slow. Minimum speed of the fan made us think if the fan was even working. I dont know the reason, but the weather was not good at all. It was veryyy humid and veryy hot. Insects were now seen inside our glasses. Frustated with all of this,within fifteen minutes we threw our drinks away and came out of the bungalow and sat near the beach on the benches. The other group joined us and then an arguement took place. It was about what had happened at Sand Piper, and that we should had taken that place, atleast with the air-conditioner on, we could had stayed more peacefully, if not in the room, we could be in the pool and do more masti. Anyway, veryy frustated with the current situation, we all thought that we wouldnt get a good nights sleep even after all that we have done. Our friend Sunny has a bungalow in Lonavala. So another member of the group asked him casually if his bungalow was available at this point of time and he said that his bungalow was available 24*7. Then another friend said, let's go to his bungalow now, we'll reach there by midnight and then we can sleep aaraam se.

The time now was about 10 in the night and within five minutes, everyone agreed to this idea of going to Lonavala. The drivers didnt agree to it at all though. Firstly, one of the driver drank and he didnt trust anyone else with his car in the night. If it was day time, he would have had no problems. So the problems and dangers we discussed we could face were, 1st. If the police catch us, we'll be screwed because even if the driver didn't drink, others in the car did and the police would somehow take advantage of this situation and make us pay for some offence or the other. The second danger was that once we start our journey, we couldn't stop in between, and even if we do, we can't get out of our respective cars, because we were to travel through a jungle with no street lamps and there have been lots of cases where groups somehow manage to stop cars, rob them, hurt them and at times even kill them. That jungle type area was also known for its leopards and flying squirrels. Third danger was from within. Sunny's car was a unique car. It had no stepney in the car, no jack, no papers, front number plate was broken. The only thing this car had was a siren, thanks to his dad(told u he was veryyy influencial). If anything was to happen with this car, we would b stranded in the middle of a jungle. Anyway, we thought about all these things and thought of alternate precautions and finally took the risk of going to Lonavala. We had decided that no one will stop their cars in between, all windows will b up because of the dangers of animals and just by any case the cars stop, not all will get out of the car and also, when the journey starts, no car will overtake, Optra would lead because it had that siren with it, our blue hachback would stay in the middle and the third car would be in the end.

Agreeing to all these agreements, we called the caretaker at about 10:10 and told him that we had to leave urgently because of some family emergency. Thinking that we just have to inform him and our work will be done, we were wrong. He explained us politely that he had no customers for the next day, because we were supposed to be there, so we should give him money for the next day too. Then comes the entry of one character, Manish. He directly, very rudely said that we wont give him a single penny. Finding him toooo rude, we sent him to another room and starting discussing politely the situation there. We explained it to him that if he was to get customers the next day, then our money was an additional bonus for him. We somehow convinced him to lower his charges for leaving early but then Manish came to the main room again and said something rude again. Finally, because of his stupidity, we had to pay the caretaker a little more than what we had convinced him to take earlier. Also, a few people were tensed and feared ki 'nazar na lage' and said that we shouldnt argue much with him and give him whatever he wants.

At about 10:30 in the night, we started our journey, still not sure whether we r doing right by taking such a risk by going in the night. We people in the hachback had removed the bats and stumps from the back of the car and kept it with us, just in case. That was the kind of excitement we had between each other, Happy and scared at the same time. Night driving aint that easy either. So we started our drive from Murud-Janjira, we had bid farewell to that place thinking that we have had enough of this place. Half an hour into our journey, Sunny's Optra slowed down and stopped in a corner in the middle of a jungle and everyone came out of the car. Confused and wondering what they were doing, we all stopped and came out. We got off the car to see what the confusion was. The worst had happened, Optra's tire went flat.