The glorious Palash tree
Back in Feb Me and Jo (and our little parcel) were planning to go to Ooty in the first week of March. We had planned a nice 4 day trip via Bangalore, were we would meetup with Aniket and Priyanka and drive down to Ooty. But the dark clouds of Covid-19 were hanging on the head and when the time came to book these flights I was really worried. The airports would be the distribution centres of the infected for an imported virus. So we cancelled it.
Rima and Animesh (and their parcel), in the meanwhile had visited a farm in the deep Konkan and highly recommended it. We had to get out and so we decided to book it. On those days Amey and family would also be in Devrukh and we would visit them too, that was the plan. We would drive non-stop and avoid any interaction with people. First week of March was getting to be a risky time.
So finally the three of us left one early morning in the trusty Hexa and headed for the Konkan. The highway is good and we made good time. Soon we took the right past Karad and headed towards Malkapur. The first few kilo meters were good as the road was newly laid. We took a short halt at a hotel for loo and headed on. The road then got very bad and it was tough going.
In the ghat just before Malkapur we came across a fabulous 'palash' tree were we took some photos. Then on to Malkapur and Amba. At Sakharpa we took the right for Devrukh. For once we headed on towards Sangameshwar without halting here. From Sangameshwar it took some finding, a missed turn, but we finally managed to get to our destination. The last kilo meter or so was a dirt track...
The 'sada'
Early morning Fog!
Looking at the west valley
12000 year old art — Petroglyphs
a traditional kitchen
Testing the PD36R in the night
Chafa near the temple
Early morning!
Malkapur hinterlands
...
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