Mumbai to Alibag: A Journey Beyond Boundaries

It all started with a breathtaking view at Gateway of India, sun is about to rise, with people waiting to for their turn to enter the ferry. The sky is blue, the sun is bright, but we are not able to hold our breath to get a sigh of what Alibag would look like. Alibag is a coastal town in the regions of Maharashtra, sharing short distances with Mumbai and Pune, nearly 100 Km. 

Gateway of India @ 6:45 Am

Gateway of India, Passenger pointing towards the SUN

Staring at the sun, looking at the ferries and waiting for them to make a move we all waited down the line there to reach our destination. With sun touching are feet we moved towards a journey we have never experienced before. It was seven in the morning and we could not have asked for a better morning, showing us a glimpse of how beautiful nature around is.

Ferry Stand at Gateway of India

Somewhere in Between

Though it was a Sunday morning, hoping people would be relaxing at home. I saw a few people working on another ship. Though it did not bother me much, but taught something that life is not so easy my friend, be it a weekday or a weekend, life never stops. This is something you will realize very much by staying in Mumbai. Be it five in the morning or two in the midnight, the work keeps happening.

The work never stops, even if it is in middle of the waters

As we moved ahead, we noticed birds, roaming across our heads, some in search of food, and some entertained us. Migrating birds are all around us making sure; every person on the ferry will divert their mind in seeing them play. Some sat near a corner and gazed them until we reached and some on the way fed them, some tried capturing the heavenly moments.

Migrating Birds

Water is a free land

Migrating Birds on the way to Mandwa 

It's Show Time

Beautiful but ugly truth is it spoils what we might not enjoy in future. As I engaged myself capturing various delightful moments around me, I saw something, which was very overwhelming. People are sharing their foods with the birds, which in some way showed humanity, but at the same time the waste is going into the river. As you keep moving with a flow, you keep noticing the dirt and the waste that we as humans are spreading in our surroundings. A few seconds later my colleague pointed towards a ship, where I could see large quantities of oil is generated in the sea. There is a question that arose in my mind; maybe next visit to this place sometime in future would be more devastating or eye-catching? 

Oil Waste Generated from the Ship

We Feed, But we do Spread Waste around Us 

Therefore, before we could reach Alibag, we had a stop at Mandwa, which is 45 minutes drive from the destination we are looking forward to. We took a rickshaw, which costs us around Rs. 400. The streets are just beautiful as you are on your way to Alibag; the greenery that surrounds you is just compelling. Therefore, we nearly covered the span into 40 minutes, and we finally reached the place, which we were waiting for quite a long time. As I said, it was a Sunday afternoon, the place, was full of people relaxing along the beach sides, while some indulged themselves into the waves near the seashore.

At the Alibag Beach

As it was crowded, we planned a move to another beach namely “Nagaon Beach”, which was around 9 km from the alibag beach. It nearly took us 30 minutes to cover the distance. While we were about to reach the beach, we were to cross a area surrounded by coconut trees, greenery was something I experienced all around myself making me a happy person. Moreover, as we reached, I could see many shacks and small shop sellers, before the beach could start. However, it was as crowded or I would say more crowded from our previous visit to alibag beach. However, what made me happy was the area, as it was far better than the experience to alibag beach, as it was greener and we finally had a place to sit quietly.

Nagaon Beach

Therefore, as it is late in the evening, we made a move to our guesthouse, which we took near a beach itself. It costs us around 800 Rs for four people. Rest stays history, the next afternoon; we were ready to depart for Mumbai, so we again had to take a tempo back to Mandwa from Nagaon, which took us 1 hour to reach Mandwa.

When we were on the way back to Mumbai, I was capturing the birds that mesmerized us at the day 1. While I was doing that, I saw a ferry worker, stepping down the stairs leading to a small underground room. Just to look over what he is doing down there, I went near those stairs to see what is that made him walk down the stairs. I was wondering that a ferry would not need much of labor work. But when I noticed him working, it surprised me that how much it takes to run behind such things. In life, we always lope behind things not knowing how much effort it takes to run them.

Worker at the Ferry

And he works so Hard

There are many things that I learned over this journey or got an experienced of, some came out and the rest stays with me as a learning to reach out to you all in near future. As it is already 45 minutes, we almost reached the Gateway of India, noticing a beautiful hotel Taj, alongside Gateway of India at its best. Before, travelling to alibag, I read a beautiful line, which I pretty much experienced over this journey.

"Alibag Lovely beauty of Nature, Eye soothing greenery with coconut trees standing in Queue near Quick sandy beaches. Atmosphere is Pleasant with Twitter of birds, Tasty food, and the festival of colors in the sky"

Hotel Taj on the left, with Gateway of India on the right