We arrived at the ferry port in Murad. Not your typical looking ferry port, it was a maze of stalls selling food, soft drinks, the usual trinkets and of course the coconut wallah . But the post held a few surprises.
Firstly we were told that we had to drive the bike down this ramp and then quickly turn right as, if you go straight on, there is only a small stretch of road then you hit a low wall and it's off for a swim. Believe me the ramp was a lot steeper in real life than it looks in the photo. Even without me sitting pillion, the bike with Colin and the bags weigh 280lbs. There was no way I was going to be on the bike when it was being driven down the ramp and I didn't want Colin on it either.
Lucky for us one of the ferrymen took it down for us as he also seemed to be doing with the other passengers with bike.
When the ferry came in I went for a look at it. I soon realised that there was no ramp to drive the bike on to the ferry.
The second surprise then was having to manually haul the bike onto the ferry.There was a lot of huffing and puffing going on.
Halfway on.
Just about there. Colin now looking on quite anxious as his pride and joy is getting tossed about.
Bikes secured on the ferry - hopefully. Our bike is the only one were the seat is held together with gaffa tape.
Leaving the village of Murud behind.
Indian tourists taking a boat to Murud Janjira, a fifteenth century fort on an Island just off the coast of Murud.
It's quiet spectacular when you see it from a distance.
Unloading the boat at Dighi Port. Colin is just standing shaking his head at the prospect of having to manually carry the bike off again.
At least I was prepared with the video to capture the bike getting lifted off. Look at Colin's face when they finally get the bike off. I don't know if it's a look of wonder or relief but it sure is comical. Make sure the volume is up and you'll hear the effort being made.
If the look on Colin's face had been one of relief, then it was short lived. The bike was sounding really rough and when we were going uphill it was losing power. It was still early in the day and we had several hours of driving still to do but the bike didn't sound like it was going to go much further. We checked the map and seen that there was a small town called Shrivardhan not that far away. We decided to head there, find a room and then look for a mechanic. Colin managed to nurse the bike there and we found a really nice place to stay. Then the bike just died.
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