Vengurla a cleaner and peaceful alternative for Goa

Vengurla in Konkan/Malvan, Maharashtra, is cleaner and peaceful alternative for Goa. Why not a cheaper ?You might guess - well those who holiday like me for peace of mind will give more importance to the first two adjectives.

Why Vengurla and not Goa

Vengurla is a small town next to the Beach flooded state of India - Goa. The scenery which was available in Goa is also available here. Its just one and half hours drive from Goa. Now you might ask me, Whats different then Goa? The beaches are still clean and pristine. The life in Vengurla is still slow and one can experience yummy malvani or konkani sea food dishes here.

Is this the only reason to visit this place -  

Whats more my life partner Abhi is born in this place. Not just that he completed his last three years of school there. So if you think its small town then probably you have to rethink. :D

Jokes apart - our motive was to have 3-4 days beach side vacation. And why not explore unseen Maharashtra being  so called proud maharashtrian.

Where to stay

My brother-in-law Amit Suki localite to that area (who is now settled in Kudal (home town) about 40 minutes drive from Vengurla) recommended us to stay in Hotel Gajalee. He being a hard core foodie, we blindly believed him. Its different story that he himself has turned into restaurateur in Kudal - The Coconut.
Gajalee is located at Vengurla Port / Bandar. Can you imagine getting  Sea facing hotel and restaurant during peak time of December end for just Rs 2500 per night in A/C Room. Again courtesy Amit Suki we got the best sea facing room.  I would say that this place and hotel is clearly under marketed and under rated.

Hotel Gajalee Stay

 They have around 4 sea facing rooms. Best part is that the sea facing side wall is just 2 feet high and rest all is transparent window. If you sleep in the bed, one could see the wide spread sea belt of Vengurla spanning in front of your eyes. Some moments cant be explained more in words for that we have digital camera. The rooms are clean and tidy. They have split A/C.

Hotel Gajalee Food

Awesome surmai and pomfret fry, sol kadhi, shell fish masala. They have chicken starters and mains. however we opted for fish dishes.
Since we were accompanied by our four year old son we ordered room service. They have roof top restaurant on the fourth floor which is worth trying out if you do visit that area.
One could hear the sea waves dashing on the rocks of the port and nothing else.

What to do around Vengurla

Sagar Bunglow - A five star government Bunglow on the edge of the mountain cliff near Vengurla Port. If one can manage booking at this place there is nothing like that. As per sources, its rented out to only Government employees. Normal visitors can climb up the steps and view the sunset from doorsteps of this bunglow. 

Vengurla Port is one of the favorite tourist destinations for all Konkan / Malvan Packages. The Port road is very narrow. And it becomes packed once the tourist vehicles start flocking in at evening. One can enjoy hot Vada pav or only vada at the local hawkers. This followed by the sweet Coconut savories is cherry on top of icing. We do call it Khopracha Wadi. They also offer junk food such as Mumbai Chat etc. Also Icecream. Our son enjoyed his boiled egg along with us.

Vengurla Light house - Since its cliff edge the government has set Light house on top of it. It gets closed at around 5 PM. Its advisable to visit the Light house in the morning as its less sunny. We completed our morning breakfast of omelet and bread at the Vengurla Port local vendor and started our treking to the light house. Yes after climbing the steep stair cases our son did potty on reaching the light house. We also spotted couple of dolphins jumping in the sea water from the edges of the light house area. 

Sagareshwar Beach - The wide stretch of  seashore visible from the Hotel Gajalees windows is known as Sagareshwar Beach. As per the localities its not safe to enjoy swimming in these waters. Since there are frequent under water currents in them. This is not safe. However the beach is clean and too good to just sit back and relax. 

Patkar High School- Last but not the least Patkar high School Vengurla. Its one of the many schools which my husband has attended, while my father in law was being transferred as banker. I have dedicated one full post for the same.

Local Food joints to enjoy

Caution - Park car somewhere outside the main street of town and walk down the small street. Since parking the car in the small bustling streed is not possible. 

• Quality Ice cream Parlour - Its home made fresh icecream which you will send your mouths tastebuds back in the childhood memory lane. Do try out for Cocktail - A combination of milkshake, icecream and fruits. Or might be classy Faluda. 
• Ajobas wada - This is very small room kind of shop in the main street of Vengurla. Was wondering why my husband is praising it so much. Its worth mentioning it in the blog and visiting it too. One would get to taste delicious Bata wada, Sabudana wada and other Bhajis. 
• Sweets and Savouries shop - One can buy all those items from Konkan - Kokam juice syrup, ladoos etc from this shop.
• Misal pav shop - On the way to Sagareshwar beach there is a small food joint which serves delicious misal pav and wadas in the evening.  

Chinese Fishing Nets

Chinese Fishing Nets in Kumarakom, Kerala, India is one of means of fishing.
Using local products like fishing nets and Bamboos mechanics fundamentals applied by local fisher men to make their day to day life easy. It is about 20 meters wide and 10 meters in height.
While heading towards Kumarakom from Cochin you need to pass a big bridge over the Vembanad Lake.
One can see lot of Chinese Fishing nets installed on the banks of these shallow water lake.
These nets are lowered using the lever and pulley mechanism for very short time. The fresh catch fish in the low lying backwaters is caught in these nets.

Food Special Kolhapur

Any visit to historic town in India is incomplete without savoring the food specialties of it. Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India is world famous for its Chicken Kolhapuri or Veg Kolhapuri. They form integral part of all Hotels food menu. Interestingly there are many other things which make your taste buds water in Kolhapur.

1. Sugar Cane Juice

   - Sugar cane is one of the major products of this region as its  being blessed by black and fertile soil. Once you enter the region, you will be surrounded by lush green fields of sugar cane. One can spot lot of Sugar cane juice maker or vendors on street side. Its prepared by crushing the sugar cane sticks in between two metal rolls. Earlier the sugar cane makers used to make the crusher roll manually.However now with advent of motor machine, this activity is automated.It was fun to show our son how the sugar cane gets crushed in this machine and the juice comes out of it. Something which we might have taken for granted when we were kids. If you do visit Kolhapur dont forget to drink glass full of freshly made sugar cane juice.
2. 

   White and Red Mutton Curry (Safed / Tambda Rassa in Marathi)

   - Since this region has fertile land, there are lot of fields. Historically people have been domesticating goat, sheep and cattle in their fields. As all say, local food is all about what grows in the region. Kolhapur is famous for Goat mutton in two different varieties. White and Red Mutton curry is something which non-vegetarians should look out for in any restaurant. This usually comes in plate or thali, which is accompanied by Bhakri (jwari bread), salad and rice. While in Kolhapur city we had chance to visit the hotel Parakh near highway and enjoy the same dish. It was mouth watering.

3. Misal

   - Hot and spicey Kolhapuri Misal is as famous as pani puri in Mumbai. Its mixture of pluses in onion and tomato gravy. Toped with some farsan and raw onion.

Coconut Country Kerala

Kerala, India is known as coconut country. As Italy is famous for Olives, Kerala is famous for Coconuts and its products. Coconut tree is also known as Kalpavriksha, in costal parts of India because of its ability to amply provide for human needs.
It ranges from food to coir products.  Heres picture of coconuts getting dried. These will be churned in the mill to produce oil. Few of them will be shredded, packed in tin and exported abroad.
Each and every part of coconut tree is used for some purpose or other.
To name a few

• Coconut - coconut water, oil, food, savouries, currys etc
• Leaves - Roofs, Brooms, 
• Tree trunk - coir products - matresses, artifacts etc
• Coconut shell - fuel, artifacts

Kerala cusine is dominated with various food recipes prepared from Coconut and rice.

Each household in Kerala must have big garden in back yard with lots of coconut trees.

Kamats Lokaruchi - Ramanagara

 On the way to Mysore from Bangalore , halting at Kamats Lokaruchi - Ramanagara is a ritual which you have to complete as much as going and watching Zoo or Vrindavan Garden.
The unlimited south indian breakfast at the Kamats Lokaruchi in the morning or traditional lunch in the Banana Leaf will leave mesmerizing taste in your mouth but also in your mind. Next time you head to Mysore   then you are bound to make halt over hear again.


The items offered in the morning unlimited breakfast

• Soft Idlis warpped in leaf
• Umpa
• Jalebis
• Masala Doas
• Medu wadas
• Juice
• Tea/Coffee

There a open kitchen where the food is prepared by the cooks. Its surrounded by open benches where one has to grab their plate and sit along to eat the savouries.

The men wearing a traditional Dhoti,Khadi shirt and cap to serve you fresh pepared Dosas. 

The restaurant also has Alacarte options. However we usually opt for the unlimited breakfast option.

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Konkan - Kingdom of Fish

Konkan the costal part of West India is well known as the Kingdom of SeaFood. The Konkan/Goan Fish Curry is famous cousine found everywhere in worlds famous restaurants.
Fish and other sea food is found in such an abundance, that even stray dogs doze in front of platter full of fresh fish.
Lip smackering fried prawns and much more to make you lick your finger tips at the end of your meal in Konkan.
All this will end with glass full of Amchur/Sol Kadhi which will help you digest pile of rice and some good amount of sea-food.
Besides the Sea Food, you will have other delights such as Cashew Nuts, Alphanso Mango, Kokam/ Amchur, Jamuns, berries and much more.
Note - This is one of my favourites dads photograph. Usually he deals with either Sunset, Sunrise or Flowers. Thats my general observation from childhood regarding his photography.
Will soon publish few of his best shots.

Food Special - Italy

The local Itialian food which a tourist in Italy should look out for is Pizza, Pasta, Gelato, Wine and Coffee.
Pizza - For a budget traveller, there are many local Pizza shops which sell Pizza on Kilogram basis. These shops have all variety of pizzas displayed in the glass case. One needs to select the type of pizza and tell the shopkeeper number of slices you want to eat. The shopkeeper will then cut the small slices accordingly from the displayed pizza. He will tell you the prize of the Pizza after weighing it on scale. You get one piece of pizza around 1.5 to 2 Euros in these street side shops.
Pasta - We enjoyed pasta dinner prepared at the Hostel Roma, Near Rome Terminie on our first day in Italy.
Gelato - A quick bite of chill Gelato (Icecream) is a must while travelling in Italy. The Gelato is priced according to scoop and you will eat as much as you wish to trun of the heat wave.
Quick Tip - Try buying pizza or Gelato from shop bit away from the local tourist attraction. As shops bank oppoiste the favourite tourist attractions charge you double the amount.
Wine – Italy is famous wine producing mediterranean nation and enjoying atleast one glass of wine in Italy is must. If you are not an expert in wines then I would recommend you to buy cheap bottle of wine from local shop and enjoy it in your hotel room.
Coffee – There are lot of Cafes on each corner of the road. Its fun to taste the strong and hot shot of Express Coffee while enjoying breaks in local sight seeing.

Besides the local food shops, one can find a lot of Mac Donalds shops near the Railway stations. These become handy when you arrive late from your travel and all the local shops have closed down.

Food Special - Rajasthan

If you plan to visit Rajasthan, India, then one of the must items in your list will be visit to the local food vendor for breakfast. Their shops are called as 'Bhojnalays' or 'Mistan Bhandar' i.e. Food court or Food shop. Each dish will cost you around Rs 5 per plate.
Early morning, one can site a lot of activity happening on the street side at these local food vendors.
The shops will offer you spicy rajasthani breakfast specialities such as Poha, Samosa, Kachori. After having mouthful of spicy savouries, one is tempted to eat the sweets barfi, gajar ka halwa, gulab jamun and garma garam Jalebi. This all should be accompained hot cup of tea.Yes, I will term that person a fool who visits Rajasthan to have breakfast in Air-conditioned Udipi Hotel.