Distance walked 68.2km
As I was exhausted and had to stop this day 5km short of the target I was also too tired to write.
The tuktuk arrived at 7am but it was not till 7:45 that we were packed up and ready to go. The ride was expected to take 1 hour to Navi Mumbai but took longer. First we waited at Mulund for Mahesh but he was stuck in traffic so we continued to APMC where Shashikant, Pankaj's brother in law met us to take the bags.
The day started late at 9:45, when Mahesh arrived, and within a very short time it was very hot. Manesh again walked with us so we were 3 formost of the day. We found the pedestrian bridge across the railway with no difficulty and started along the road parallel to Mumbai Pune Expressway.
The first rest was had at Juinagar Station where a cart was selling watermelon. Alas my photo is no good as my hand was bumped and I did not realise. As I put my phone back in my pocket I turned it on in video mode. There is a lovely 3 minute video of the inside of my pocket.
Rest 2 was taken at Nerul shortly before joining the main road to Panvel River bridge where we found a shady tree.
There were road works at Belapur where a flyover was being erected. While asking for the best way around it Mahesh and Pankaj were told there were major roadworks on the road to Dapoli and maybe we should go a different way. At this point I totally lost my temper. First Pankaj had said we would drive around the route when we arrived in Mumbai over 3 days, then he wanted to spend that time visiting relatives and there was the visit to the Mayor and press conference. He then said we will survey the route 1 day ahead at the end of each day but the traffic made that impossible. My concern that we were under-prepared for the walk as notes had been made just from Google Maps and many of the landmarks could not be found on the ground.
Just before the bridge over Panvel River was this field with oxen and flamingos in the back ground which are not really visible.
We crossed the river on the old bridge, now closed but still used by motorbikes and tuktuks. The Dapoli Targath Rd is a major construction site for the new Navi Mumbai International Airport. The road is closed twice a day at Ulwe Hill whle they blast away the hill. Fortunately they stopped blasting a few minutes after we arrived at the check point and we were able to continue amidst and endless stream of dump trucks.
Mahesh left us at Dapoli village after we took our 5th rest break in his car. There was a large sign at Dapoli showing all the sons of the landowners who were promised work on the scheme as part of the compensation for taking of land. The jobs have not eventuated.
By this stage I was reaching exhaustion point, I did struggle on until the bridge over Kalundre River just before Panvel. Shashikant met us here. We did a drive over the walk for the next day as far as Chouk, where we had juice, then took us back to his home. I had a shower and went to bed. I was woken for dinner - a wonderful meal with chicken, fish and lamb prepared by Smitha Pankaj's sister. I ate almost nothing of the fabulous cooking.
We were invited to the rotary in the evening but I was to tired to go. Pankaj went and received several donations. Also another relative cam from Mumbai to meet me but I had gone back to sleep after dinner and slept until the alarm went off at 6am.
Published from Panvel 9.15pm 6 December
As I was exhausted and had to stop this day 5km short of the target I was also too tired to write.
The tuktuk arrived at 7am but it was not till 7:45 that we were packed up and ready to go. The ride was expected to take 1 hour to Navi Mumbai but took longer. First we waited at Mulund for Mahesh but he was stuck in traffic so we continued to APMC where Shashikant, Pankaj's brother in law met us to take the bags.
The day started late at 9:45, when Mahesh arrived, and within a very short time it was very hot. Manesh again walked with us so we were 3 formost of the day. We found the pedestrian bridge across the railway with no difficulty and started along the road parallel to Mumbai Pune Expressway.
 |
| Mahesh and Pankaj approach the railway overbridge |
The first rest was had at Juinagar Station where a cart was selling watermelon. Alas my photo is no good as my hand was bumped and I did not realise. As I put my phone back in my pocket I turned it on in video mode. There is a lovely 3 minute video of the inside of my pocket.
Rest 2 was taken at Nerul shortly before joining the main road to Panvel River bridge where we found a shady tree.
Just before the bridge over Panvel River was this field with oxen and flamingos in the back ground which are not really visible.
We crossed the river on the old bridge, now closed but still used by motorbikes and tuktuks. The Dapoli Targath Rd is a major construction site for the new Navi Mumbai International Airport. The road is closed twice a day at Ulwe Hill whle they blast away the hill. Fortunately they stopped blasting a few minutes after we arrived at the check point and we were able to continue amidst and endless stream of dump trucks.
By this stage I was reaching exhaustion point, I did struggle on until the bridge over Kalundre River just before Panvel. Shashikant met us here. We did a drive over the walk for the next day as far as Chouk, where we had juice, then took us back to his home. I had a shower and went to bed. I was woken for dinner - a wonderful meal with chicken, fish and lamb prepared by Smitha Pankaj's sister. I ate almost nothing of the fabulous cooking.
We were invited to the rotary in the evening but I was to tired to go. Pankaj went and received several donations. Also another relative cam from Mumbai to meet me but I had gone back to sleep after dinner and slept until the alarm went off at 6am.
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