Day 2 dawned nice and early, and a quick walk to the beach was in order. The rains convert this part of the country into a lovely place with profusion of green foliage, the dark skies and the moisture in the air can be gloomy AND romantic at the same time - depends on your company, I guess :)
After a quick checkout, and a visit to the nearly-completed laterite stone temple, we hit the road to Shriwardhan-Harihareshwar. Breakfast was needed, but we planned to catch it at some tapari along the way.
That's when we spotted this virgin beach, a few KM out of Diveagar, just past the hill and a small fishing village.
Sometimes in life you wish you could rewind the last few mins, and live it all over again - differently. This was one such moment for us. The beach beckoned, the cameras licked their lips in anticipation, and Samara laughed off any doubts we had. It was a easy drive down to the water line, and some great pictures.
But the way back was a different story. I knew I needed better traction and momentum, but getting a take off ramp on the thin slice of beach was difficult, and in a heart-wrenching moment of revelation, I knew we wouldn't make it. Just a couple of seconds of wheel spinning, and it was over. The rear right tire was spinning clear now, the axle at a scary angle, and the 2 tonne beast was resting on its underbody.
A few villagers passing by stopped to dispense some very ill-timed advise on not driving on to the beach, others reminded us the tide was coming in - but many dropped whatever they were doing and came to help. A local Singham character marshalled the villagers with the expertise of someone who's seen a lot of "stupid city dwellers" get similarly stuck, and in a few mins - we were clear. Konkan people - you rock :)
Looking back, it was an adventure - it was a lot of fun - and we should have taken the opportunity for a lot more photos and videos. But at that time, all we could think of was - damn, why did we need to do this?
All's well that ends well!
3 comments:
I had similar experience with my Scorpio on the Baga beach few months back. :) Thankfully life guards and local guys helped us in getting beast out from the sand. The trick is pretty simple though. One more lesson that I learnt that day. ;)
So what was the simple trick? Goan Feni in the tank? :)
:)
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