A morning in Gorai Beach, north western Mumbai

A morning in Gorai Beach

North western Mumbai

It was early morning and Adithya and I were at the Gorai Beach waiting for the sun to rise. Gorai Beach located in the north western suburbs of Mumbai is favourite weekend destination for Mumbaikars.

Horse Chariots on Gorai Beach, Mumbai

Adithya and I were not Mumbaikars and we were not on a holiday either. Both of us were in Mumbai as part of a Wikipedia workshop known as Train The Trainer (TTT). TTT is a three day residential training workshop to groom leadership skills among the experienced wikipedians.

Sunrise at Gorai Beach, Mumbai

TTT is organized by Centre for Internet and Society – Access to Knowledge (CIS – A2K). 2020 was the 7th edition of TTT and was held in Knowledge Excellence Centre (KEC). Adithya and I, along with 21 other wikipedians were part of this training centre.

Horse Chariot, Gorai Beach

It was a rigorous training session and a traveller like me made it more rigorous by making short trips to the nearby beaches every morning.

Adithya my room mate was from Hyderabad. He joined me on the second day excursion, when we visited the Gorai Beach, the most scenic and touristic beach of the region.

This early morning excursions were not easy as our training centre was located about 1.6 km from the main road and walking to the main road was the only option. Time was also a constraint as our classes started at 10 am and breakfast was served till 9:30 am. So utilize the time a early morning start was necessary.

Horse Chariot, Gorai Beach

On the second day Adithya and I hit the road at 5:15 am, it was 29th Feb and it was still dark outside.

About 20 mins of walk took us to the main road from where a 5 km auto ride would take us to the Gorai Beach.

Since it was early morning and the autos demanded ₹ 200 for the 5 km trip. Finding it way above our budget we decided to wait but kept on bargaining and ultimately the it came down to ₹ 80 and we were at last on our way to Gorai Beach.

The auto dropped us on the main road and a 100 m walk along a narrow dirt trail lead us to the Gorai Beach. There are a couple of resorts on both sides of the dirt trail and the entire stretch is lined with sacks selling sea food and other snacks. Sadly it was early morning and none of them were open.

Horse Chariots and cycle, Gorai Beach, Mumbai

We hit the beach just before sunrise and the beach was buzzing with fishing activities. There were a couple of piers on the beach and we got on one of these piers to catch a glimpses of the sunrise.

Fish being dried at Gorai Beach, Mumbai

Apart from two of us there were two cyclist, who have paddled all the way from Mumbai. They have taken the Marve – Gorai Ferry to reach the beach. The Marve – Gorai ferry, located near the Malad station on Western Line, provides easy access to Mumbaikars looking out for a weekend break in Gorai Beach.

Life Guard, Gorai Beach, Mumbai

Soon the sun rose behind the tree lined eastern edge of the beach, turning the sky and the beach into a golden glow.

The sun rose about 6 am and we still had about two and half hours to explore the beach.

Our first stop was the fishing activities as boat loads of fish were unloaded also fishes were left to dry on bamboo scaffolding.

As we observed and photographed the fishing activities we notices a horse drawn chariot on the beach. We quickly made our way to the chariot hoping for a ride of a lifetime. But sadly we were informed that the chariot was not for tourist ride.

A Grotto, Gorai Beach, Mumbai

On further inquiry we were informed that this was a training ground for the horses and these trained horses will later pull chariots on Mumbai’s more famous beaches like Juhu and Alibaug.

Disheartened we decided to walk along the beach in the northern direction, with the the chariot pulled by a pair of horses thundered past us.

The sound of the hooves, the whistling of the horse man along with the barking of the accompanying dogs made a mesmerizing effect.

The beach was very clean and red flags marked the area suitable for bathing. It was early morning time and the beach was yet to have any bathers or tourist. Next to each flag were a life guard equipped with a rescue tube and other equipment ready for action.

A resort on Gorai Beach, Mumbai

The tree lined eastern side of the beach had several hotels and homestays along with makeshift sacks to sell fresh sea food and snacks. We continued along the beach till we reached a rock region topped with a small grotto. This small Christian shrines with statue of Jesus or Mary are quiet a common sight in this part of Mumbai.

As the sandy beach gave way to a rocky patch and we decided to move off the beach towards the main road. Soon we were on the main road. An auto ride (this time at ₹ 7 per head) and a walk brought us back to the Train The Trainer (TTT) workshop venue right on time.