To reach this place , when you are on your way to Murud, take a right turn in Nagaon .... at the chowk where there is a statue of Shivaji. You will have to pay a charge of 25/- here. Karpe's wadi is just around the corner from there.
The place is beautiful no doubt about it. Lots of coconut trees, with hammocks. And the Arabian sea crashing in your backyard. :-)
We are always on the lookout for remote and quiet places. Where we have had a great experience of remote village life on the sea .... no electricity after sundown .... the pitch dark beach with a dome of stars over you ... the silence with only the sound of the waves crashing.
Karpe wadi has been advertised as that way .... which attracted us. Unfortunately, the place was filled with too many people jostling around. And the cottages were in a line ... attached to each other .... too close for comfort. Strange ... coz there is no dearth of space there.
There was nobody at the reception. Finally when we searched out a guy he informed us that the place runs on self service ..... we would get a new description on the word later throughout our stay .... and pointed out our cottage and handed a key. No welcome drink of tender coconut water as advertised. ;-)
We lugged in our luggage. The rooms are small but neat. We were warned that there might be power failures ... and the generator might give away anytime.
Not a very reassuring welcome. Should we have driven on to Murud?
Anyway ... we freshened up and went to the dining area for lunch. It was a buffet layout .... but you are not supposed to touch the serving spoons. A guy will put in just a little of everything on your plate ... almost as if you are suppossed to taste it first and then decide if you want more. :-)
If you ask for a little more, you are given a mocking look .... that calls you a shameless glutton.
The plates you see looked like this after a series of "a little more please". ;-)
Coming to the food ... I know it looks awesome. But it was not.
We love simple and authentic food .... and were expecting the same .... some good and simple local cuisine ..... but were very disappointed. The food was not only completely tasteless ... it was served cold. Everything was cold ... even the dal.
And dinner was worse .... as they serve the same rotis that is made in the morning. Ugh!
But the place is beautiful. If only the people running the place were a little more cheerful, the visit would have been worth it.
At noon.
The same place .... in the evening.
A quiet evening setting in.
We had asked for tea and were waiting. After a while a guy from the reception came over ... crossing the whole place up to the hammocks where we were sitting ... just to tell us that the tea was ready .... and we were to go and get it for ourselves.
I found it very funny ... if he was anyway coming over ... why did he not get the tea? Then remembered ... self service. :-)
And yes, the tea was terrible. So we asked for special tea ... hoping it would be a little better ... but no such luck ... I found the taste absolutely revolting ... as if you were drinking some disinfectant. Gross!
We were already in a pitiable state ... hungry ... they have no snacks ... but we did get a cold drink.
It is sad that such a beautiful place of nature is being used by worthless people to make money. Parallel to the sea ran a pathway in to the woods and dunes. We went for a long walk through them.
On returning we overheard the manager / owner arguing with one of the guests who had approached them for a bar of soap. The person wanted a soap and was being repeatedly told that there has be a soap in his room. He insisted there wasn't. The manager then asked him to wait and sent a boy to check it out. Quite shocking ... for who would want to swipe a wee little bar of yuck smelling Medimix?
People running resorts for tourists should know that politeness and warmth are the keys to success. Nobody would want to spend time in a place where he/she is made to feel unwanted ... we distinctly got the impression as if we should be sorry we picked that place ... and giving them so much of trouble.
And after paying good money too.
The bottom line is .... if you are in the hospitality bussiness .... you should learn be hospitable first.
We left the very next morning ... could not bear to even try the breakfast on display .... some gooey yellow stuff that the people there did not bother to explain ... only mumbled a name we had never heard of.
On our return journey, we came across this little place on the road ... near the sign that says "Akshi" .... called the Sagar Hotel.
As you can see, it is not much. ... but do not go by face value. They were frying hot vadas. We were dying to have something fresh and hot, so stoppped. The simple and good natured father son duo who run this place immediately came over and served us some hot vadas with the softest pav and fresh coconut chutney .... in clean plates.
Leaving us to eat in peace, they went inside ... and made sure to come back and ask if we wanted anything more.
We asked for tea ... and it was made fresh ... right from boiling the milk to hand crushing the elaichi/cardamom. Absolutely divine. :-)
They had a few things on sale .... we picked up some homemade Poha Papad ( they turned out to be excellent ) and some fresh drumsticks. Also some fresh ripe tamarind.
For the first time in 2 days, we had eaten well ... and were welcomed and served with warmth.
The folks at the resort should get some lessons in hospitality from this simple duo.
As far as we are concerned, I can say we were glad to see the back of that place called Karpe wadi .... and would happily give it a miss the next time we plan for a trip to a beach. :-)
