This weekend I went to Alibaug, a town a short ferry ride from Mumbai, which is the jumping off point for weekend beach trips outside the city. Alibaug itself is a dusty junction with cheap hotels, suspicious looking restaurants, and an endless number of generic shops selling the same dozen convenience store items. The guidebook said that Alibaug is popular among Bollywood stars and Mumbai’s wealthy, but our fellow passengers on the ferry ride over resembled neither.
From Alibaug, my friend Benjamin and I set out in a rickshaw taxi for Kashid Beach, which was reputed to be among the nicest and least crowded options available. When we arrived we found that Kashid was far from undiscovered, it was teeming with Indians. We had clearly found our way to the locals beach. Most of the men were playing cricket, volleyball or soccer while the women strolled along, took dips in the sea or sat back in the shade. Far from the Bollywood stars in bikinis, the women of Kashid beach were mostly generously proportioned older women going swimming, fully clothed in their saris.
Still after an hour long rickshaw ride we were determined to make the most of it. We found a spot to set up our towels and were immediately beset by a pack of 15 Indians inquiring where we were from and wanting to have pictures taken with us. We humored our new admirers. By far the funniest part of the exchange was when an incredibly dark Indian fellow asked to see our sunscreen and began applying it apprehensively. He was far beyond any SPF rating known to man, but it was definitely amusing.
From Alibaug, my friend Benjamin and I set out in a rickshaw taxi for Kashid Beach, which was reputed to be among the nicest and least crowded options available. When we arrived we found that Kashid was far from undiscovered, it was teeming with Indians. We had clearly found our way to the locals beach. Most of the men were playing cricket, volleyball or soccer while the women strolled along, took dips in the sea or sat back in the shade. Far from the Bollywood stars in bikinis, the women of Kashid beach were mostly generously proportioned older women going swimming, fully clothed in their saris.
Still after an hour long rickshaw ride we were determined to make the most of it. We found a spot to set up our towels and were immediately beset by a pack of 15 Indians inquiring where we were from and wanting to have pictures taken with us. We humored our new admirers. By far the funniest part of the exchange was when an incredibly dark Indian fellow asked to see our sunscreen and began applying it apprehensively. He was far beyond any SPF rating known to man, but it was definitely amusing.
We shortly found ourselves in the middle of a cricket game with our towels directly behind the bowler (pitcher). While the risk of come-backers in cricket is relatively low we still decided to move. Cricket games continued to pop up around. I am pretty sure were acting as the home run boundary for our next game, “If you hit it past the white guys it’s a six (homerun)”. After many a ball bounced near us we decided to try our hand at India’s national pastime. The nearby game was happy to give a few turns at bat. I connected for two sixes, as well as whiffing a couple of times. The pitching is much lower than baseball so you have to take a more looping swing at it. Net-net I am not likely to have a career as a professional cricketer.
Alibaug was definitely not what we expected but was fun nonetheless.
1 comment:
Hi there. I stumbled upon your blog by searching "alibaug kashid taxi" and then realized you have a boston connection too :) Anyway, random question soliciting advice: how easy was it to find an auto/taxi in alibaug and how much did you pay? I'd appreciate if you'd email me when you get a moment. Cheers
ivahhc @ gmail dot com
Post a Comment