After spending four days in Mumbai, I started on the next phase of my journey. I woke up late in the morning (7:20 a.m.) and this made me feel that I should take a break that day as I was late to leave but that would not have been a good idea. So I left at 7:30. Mumbai was already in its full vigour by the time I hit the road. I wanted to enter Gujarat today itself but as per my earlier plans, had to stay at Manor, Maharashtra. Manor is just a normal town and when I reached there, I got the impression that I would not be able to find accommodation over there. I cycled further and for the last time in Maharashtra, had a “pav” dish known as Missal Pav. It took me about 50 kilometres to cross the crowded Mumbai, and I wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible by taking all the flyovers and not getting stuck in the traffic jams.
I stopped for Lunch at 2 p.m. at a dhaba in Tawa on National Highway 8. It was expensive as it was the only eating place nearby. After having some food, I asked the owner for a place ahead on the highway where I could stay. He asked my whereabouts and the purpose. I explained to him and he told me that I could stay at his farmhouse, which he often gives to travellers for rest. The fare he asked was more than half of my daily budget but later, after I told him my budget, he conceded after consulting with his wife.
This place did not even have a good mobile network and I was not feeling good having stayed there. I had already cycled 116 kilometres that day and it was very hot in the afternoon. I knew I would enter Gujarat the next day and I still had to decide about my stopover over there.
