My Weekend Odysseys

I am here once again with my another adventure - another vacation - another exciting place. GANAPATIPULE - Ratnagiri - place synonymous with mangoes, famous Swayambhu Ashtavinayak temple and gorgeous beaches. One fine day my cousin called me, asking me to plan small vacation in December and to zero in on such place where kids could also enjoy during Christmas holidays and also the adults. After lot of deliberation and searching we decided to go to Ganapatipule Beach in Ratnagiri district.  Two things excited me about this place was, not very common place like Lonavala, Matheran etc and not very far from Mumbai. Another plus was train timings from Mumbai. We checked some hotels online and also with yellow pages but nothing could even come close to perfect hotel and facilities provided by MTDC. (It doesn't come cheap but worth the price after experiencing) Booking was done well two months in advance to avoid last moment disappointment. D-Day arrived after long wait.

Nilshi - Sleepy village 64 looooooong kms from Lonavala. (Looooooong because in your vehicle when you turn from Lonavala towards the destination, its a village road with barren hillocks on one side and tiny and far flung hamlets on other side). It all started with work pressure everyday, meeting / not meeting targets, daily process update hurdles becoming boring and monotonous routine in office. A midst all this was plan formulating in mind of my colleague & team leader Ghatak for trip to Nilshi. He was the only one who had visited this place once. Not one had any idea where the hell is Nilshi on maps. One Saturday morning after shift, we had a bus ready with organiser & contractor auntie ready with our sandwich breakfast. People too desperate to loosen up from daily office routine. So here we were in all 20 + people ready to go on team outing but not knowing what the place had in store for us. In fact what mattered for everyone was "OUTING" FUN" "BOOZE"

One town which is so vibrant, so lively and close to Bangkok city is none other than PATTAYA !! Only just a nap could bring you from Bangkok to Pattaya. It is the nap that could give you an experience to tell anybody you have ever been to Pattaya. We checked in one of the hotels on beach road (Soi 7 - Sunbeam hotel). But you will get many hotels here according to your budget. We were welcomed in Pattaya with light showers, very common in this part of the world with tropical climate. As soon as we checked in late afternoon. I was off to the beach which was just walking distance from the hotel. (Don't be amazed to find people from different continents as the place is melting pot of different cultures.) For Indians looking for Punjabi / North Indian food, there is small eatery run by Punjabi family. or for more exotic Indian food, you can try AHAAR (soi post office) run by Marwari with Nepalese wife. Food here is mouth watering, finger licking with options of Veg