Blue and red, is that the sun
Million magic in reflection
Billion colors, zillion hues
Here goes worries, there my rues.
No poet, that’s what I am. Yet these words came naturally, standing on the beach all by myself, an experience I had never had before. In a population of a billion people it is hard to imagine a sea beach just to yourself at six in the evening. And here I was facing the majesty of Arabian Sea in its full glory. The hushing sound of the waves echoed “welcome to Kashid”.
I know the name won’t ring a bell to most ears, and that is the best news. Located just 3 hrs away from Mumbai, this place only comes to life over the weekend, and then too you can find just a group or two on the kilometer long beach. The water is pristine, and the beach extremely clean.
Kashid is located 18 kms away from Murud, another beach and fort city with relatively higher footfalls. It is about 170 Kms away from Pune, you can get there by Bus but we drove to the place. We started at about 11 in the morning and we were there by 3, we had stopped over near Khapoli for a rather hefty lunch and we drove in silence enjoying the magic of November sun.
Pune to kashid
If Kashid is beautiful, most part of the drive from Pune to Kashid is equally enjoyable. The Mumbai Pune expressway was beautiful that day and with a mild November drizzle, the view of the green mountains as it appeared from one tunnel after other was breathtaking and extremely picturesque. My 300$ aim and shoot camera could not do justice to most of clicks and after some frustrating attempts at fiddling with the controls I decided to put it back and feast my eyes. We decided to save on some toll money as advised by friends and exited the expressway at Khapoli. We were now driving along the Ghats, the roads are not the best but they are good enough to drive an Alto at 70. Also, there is hardly any traffic. We turned from Alibag and in about 45 minutes we had reached our destination.
Guesthouse or Hotel?
Kashid has a number of staying options, some good resorts especially the Kashid Beach resort is quite famous but it is quite expensive. We decided to rent out one of the many guest houses on the beach. We went to a few and negotiated the price and settled for a 2 room suite with attached bath for 1200 for a night with meals. There are more inexpensive options available ranging from about 700 rupees onwards. An AC room is not required in a quite beach town like Kashid, where the day temperature in Peak summer is about 27 deg Celcius.
relax , relax and relax some more
The place is quite and there are no activities normally associated with more commercialized beaches like Para-sailing etc. in the evening, you get to buy coconut water and chips from vendors and they will let you sit on the hammocks. We had some noodles and relaxed on the hammock for hours.
All in all it is great place to visit if you are looking to get away from the busy city life and relax by the sea. Less people, no shopping and magnificent beach. And it can give you the sense to stop coding and try your hand at some poetry.