{"id":3302,"date":"2020-01-05T09:37:59","date_gmt":"2020-01-05T09:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/?p=3302"},"modified":"2026-02-24T13:30:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T13:30:58","slug":"time-to-go-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/05\/time-to-go-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to go back"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Just as Sid and Priya had told us, Alibag turned out to be a very popular beach destination. It also seemed to be way off the tourist track as we didn\u2019t see any other foreigners around while we were there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having cycled all morning to arrive there, we found a park by the sea to have lunch. We then decided to continue a little further down the coast to some smaller beach towns, looking for somewhere to stay that was a little less packed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We made our way down one long winding road, passing through several small villages as we looked for both a place to stay and a data connection (I had work the following day). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving Alibag behind, we passed through a few villages before we found a small town that seemed to have an ok data signal. A little exhausted by this point, we wandered around in search of somewhere to stay. After calling the number on the side of a hotel we had located on booking.com, someone came to open the place for us. It turned out to be very much a work in progress with many of the basics such as bedding and electrics not yet ready for visitors. On the plus side, we had the whole hotel to ourselves and we were right by the beach!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cycling around in search of somewhere to stay<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We spent the next morning relaxing on the beach while enjoying a coconut, before walking along a dusty road leading to a fort. As well as admiring the colourful buildings throughout the town, we tried to work out what some of the food was for sale in certain shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, the hotel\u2019s electricity and the local reception for data were unreliable and became more so as time went on. Though this would normally have been a welcome relief and a time to shut off from technology, the fact that I was supposed to be teaching in a few hours took all of the joy from the situation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debating for a few minutes, we decided the best option was to head back to Alibag and try to find some accommodation there. So, packing bags and loading the bikes in record time, we raced out of town back along the roads we had so peacefully travelled along the previous day. Miki began to bang on the side of a passing truck (much to my confusion!), and a few minutes later after having convinced the driver to give us a ride, we and our bikes were cramped into the back, now making excellent time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
In the back of the truck as we raced back to Alibag<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Back in Alibag we were faced with a new problem, it was a weekend, nearly Christmas and the town was packed. There was no accommodation to be found! We searched frantically online with every option we could think of, then raced from one hotel to another around the town, but no joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, relief, as I found a hotel online with a vacant room. We plunged back through the crowds of the centre heading towards our final destination. Upon arrival we were met by the manager and assisted in getting to our room. I sat down, began to make my \u2018office\u2019 and to ensure I was ready for my lessons with just 50 minutes remaining. Somehow, we had done it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just as Sid and Priya had told us, Alibag turned out to be a very popular beach destination. It also seemed to be way off the tourist track as we didn\u2019t see any other foreigners around while we were there. Having cycled all morning to arrive there, we found a park by the sea to … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,14],"tags":[311,310,255],"class_list":["post-3302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cycle-touring","category-india","tag-coconuts","tag-seaside","tag-the-cycle-diaries","latest_post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3302"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3311,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3302\/revisions\/3311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickispen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}