Konkan Coast Road

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Mumbai

   Mumbai is a city that never quite stands still, and for a rider the first lesson is that the road belongs to everyone. Taxis, buses, rickshaws, scooters, handcarts, cows and pedestrians share every lane, and the horn is a language, used for greeting, warning and complaint. More than twelve million people live in the city proper, and many more in the surrounding region, making it one of the largest urban areas on earth. It was called Bombay until 1995.

   Read the complete Mumbai write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mumbai is where the day begins. Next is Alibag.

2. 2. Alibag

   Alibag is the unofficial seaside of Mumbai, a small town on the Konkan coast, a short ferry ride and a longer road trip from the city, where the Mumbaikars go to escape on weekends. The town is low-key, with a long, dark-sand beach, coconut groves and a few old colonial-era buildings, and the pace is slower than you would expect given the size of the city across the water. It feels more like a village that has been dressed up for visitors, and it keeps a few of its old habits.

   Read the complete Alibag write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Alibag comes up about 95 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ratnagiri.

3. 3. Ratnagiri

   Ratnagiri is a port town on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra, with a population of about seventy-six thousand, a lighthouse, a fort and a long strip of black-sand beach. The coast here is red laterite hills falling to the Arabian Sea, with coconut palms, cashew trees and mango groves along the roads, and the whole place feels green and slightly sleepy. It is the starting point for the ride south toward Goa.

   Read the complete Ratnagiri write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 380 km into the recorded legs you reach Ratnagiri. Next is Malvan.

4. 4. Malvan

   Malvan is a fishing town on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra, where the Western Ghats come down close to the Arabian Sea and the land is a strip of red earth, coconut palms and rocky coves. The town is crowded and noisy, with a busy fish market, narrow streets and a harbour full of painted wooden boats, but it is the gateway to some of the best coastline in western India. It has a character all its own, and the local people are proud of their food and their language.

   Read the complete Malvan write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Malvan, late in the day. Next is Goa Panaji.

5. 5. Goa Panaji

   Panaji is Goa's compact capital, on the south bank of the Mandovi river where it meets the Arabian Sea, and it is a quieter, tidier place than most Indian state capitals. Portugal ruled Goa for more than four hundred years until India took it in December 1961, and the old colonial feel survives in the red-roofed houses, the balconies with carved wood and the Latin names on shop signs. The best-known district is Fontainhas, a small quarter of narrow lanes and painted villas in yellow, blue and green, where Portuguese-style bakeries sell sweet bebinca and the church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception looks down on a zigzag white staircase.

   Read the complete Goa Panaji write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Goa Panaji. That is the ride.