Guhagarh: aptly I thought described in a travel website as a 'one horse town'. Its one of the few places which still retains its idyllic flavour and is yet to be overrun by the ravages of cheap commercialization that soda pop tourism brings in its wake. The entire (town?) can be covered in 10 minutes flat on foot. Here I get a glimpse for the first time of rural Maharashtra and I must say its charming. The lodge caretaker eyes me with suspicion; a dispute with a drunk, reluctant to pay up tourist fresh on his mind. I haggle with him over the tariff but keep in mind his easy to rile sensibility. The fellow rewards me by providing a worn out hand towel and a glass tumbler...as a special concession. The small joys of life...
The beach is quite inviting; for starters, its not an eyesore. The snack shacks are in keeping with the modesty of the place. What is striking though is a sizeable (forty feet in length as judged by my limited spatial skills) wooden trawler abandoned smack in the middle of the beach. Washed up by a demonic wave to its sandy grave? Perhaps. The corpse with its rutted deck serve a purpose as a backdrop for photo-ops. The casuarina grove lining the beach is perhaps the crowning glory, literally and figuratively. This is my first glimpse of the Konkan coast and I wonder how many more of such gems exist. Its no tropical paradise; teeming hordes of loud, littering tourists ensure that in India. However, if solitude is your drug, this place packs a punch
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