Coast to Coast 2021: Surat to Mumbai

With a heavy heart, I was leaving Surat. I thanked my friend Ravi for the wonderful hospitality and started my day. Finally, I was about to leave Gujarat today and enter Maharashtra.

Immediately after exiting the complex, I went straight towards the petrol bunk to top up my tank. The first stop was Dumas beach which was suggested by Ravi to have a look and go before I exited Surat. In my 4.5 yrs of staying in Gujarat, not even once I had visited Surat city.

After around 12kms, I was at the beach. Being a weekend, people could be seen wandering on the beach even though it was too early for the morning. I just took a stroll on the beach riding my bike and ensuring that I did not sink my tires in the wet sand. When I parked the bike to take a photo, I found it difficult to put it on the main stand!

After Dumas beach, I was heading towards Dandi beach which was again suggested by my friend. This was the place where the Salt Satyagraha had culminated. As per my friend’s overview, It was a place not to be missed when I was so close to it.

It was a Saturday and with COVID 19 restrictions still, ON, the beach was closed for the public. This information I got to know when I stopped near a police checkpoint. Instead, they suggested I go and have a visit at the Salt Satyagraha memorial and the ‘actual location’ of the 1930 incident lied inside the premises. It was just a km away from the checkpoint and I went straight towards it.

It was still early in the morning. The time was around 9:30 am. The gatekeeper told me the memorial was still closed and I would have to wait for another 15 mins for it to open. My breakfast was still pending, and right opposite the gate there were some eatery stalls. I munched on some snacks along with tea and waited till the gate officially opened.

The place was really beautiful and well built. This memorial was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modiji. The memorial housed 24 narrative murals which depicted the entire journey of the Dandi March. At the bottom of each mural, an explanation was presented.

Hardly there were people who had come to see the memorial along with me. Only 1 family group was there. We both exited almost at the same time.

I left the memorial around 10:30 am and was now heading towards Amalsad and then towards Bilimora.

Next, I was heading towards Tithal beach hailing in the city of Valsad. This also was suggested by my friend Ravi.

I reached the beach around 11:45 am but did not find it that interesting. There was hardly any crowd there and almost every shop on the beachfront was shut. Instead of walking, I directly took the bike on the walking pavement to have a good look at the beach and move out quickly if I felt that it was not worth it. A few minutes passed and I was greeted by a man who seemed to be the policeman of the beach. He told me that bikes were not allowed to which I replied saying that I was about to leave. With Tithal beach done, I was on my way now towards the Union Territory of Daman and Diu.

From Tithal, I took the coastal highway towards Daman, passing through Umarsadi and Bhimpore.

The UT of Daman and Diu just whizzed off quickly and finally, I was starting to get sun sick. The temperatures had really crept up and due to which I started to sweat. I hit a stop to refresh myself with a cold glass of fresh sugarcane juice. Not one, but I had Four in total! The sun had dehydrated me completely.

I checked the odometer before entering Maharashtra and as per my calculation, I had ridden almost over 3000+ of Gujarat coastal roads. That was by far, a huge number from me. Never in my life, I imagined the coastline of Gujarat to be that big.

The humidity was high and I was feeling it while riding on the Maharashtra roads now. There was no other option. I had to bear it all.

Reached Boisar city, I stopped at the side of the road to ask for directions from a traffic policeman. He got quite intimate with me and asked a lot of questions about what I was doing and about the ride and all. He got very much inspired from my current ride as he too wished to go to Ladakh one day on his Bullet! We had afternoon tea together after which we parted our ways. I felt good. It had been a long time since I talked with a Policeman for good reasons!

After leaving Boisar, the next city was Palghar. Looking at the time of the day and the remaining distance to be covered, I thought it was better to stay in Mumbai and start fresh the next day. I still had to cover Vasai and Virar sections where I had anticipated heavy traffic, both while entering and exiting.

After Palghar, it was Kelwa city and after that, I was going to rejoin the main highway number 48 for the first time. It was going to be a short section as I was going to cut off towards Vasai. This was going to be my first time exploring Vasai and Virar sections, having stayed in Mumbai for almost 3 yrs.

There was no proper connectivity of roads directly to reach Arnala beach and hence I decided to turn my bike and head towards Vasai. The time was around 5:30 pm.

It was basically a coastal circuit that I took before I rejoined the NH highway on my way back to Mumbai.

I was heading towards Kandivali, the place where I used to stay earlier. I planned to skip going along the Mira-Bhayandar since it was already dark. I headed straight for Ganesh’s house in Kandivali.

Later in the evening, I caught up with my ex-roommates living close by and we had a great time reliving the old times. Dinner was served at Ganesh’s house and after a good hearty meal, it was time for sleep as I was really tired by the events of the day. I made up my next-day route plan on the atlas and even checked the possibility of taking a Jetty boat from Gateway of India to Mandvi. All hopes vanished when we learnt that it required a prior booking and also the morning slots were full.

A day full of surprises awaited me tomorrow!