24-Sep-2004 -- This is the 20th out of 29 confluences on our tour from Germany to China, the story continues from 18N 74E.

On day the thirty-third day of our tour we started at 8:00 a.m. in Karad about 30 km north of the confluence. Guang and I left the hotel while Jens was still sleeping. As we had agreed with Jens, who wanted to start biking that day, we unloaded his bicycle from our car and put it in his hotel room. Then we moved on with our Toyota Corolla. Our goal for that day was Goa, actually a long drive. By making some detours, I saw that we would be able to visit two confluences on the way.

From Karat we headed towards Kolhapur on National Road 3 (which was under construction at the time) and took a turnoff onto a small county road 38 km north of Kolhapur. We came to the village Shirala Bilasi and continued following that beautiful sealed county road another 3 km. Unbelievable, but the road lead us to within 38 m of the confluence! We were able to take the GPS reading on the engine hood of our car. We parked the car under a nearby tree in the shade and wanted to get our zero reading. But the point turned out not to be accessible. We had to cross a thorn hedge and a water channel. We tried to make a walk-around, but then got stuck in the mud. At a remaining distance of 16 m we finally gave up and shot the pictures.

It took us a while to get back on the main road, but still, with this smooth visit we were motivated to go for another visit one degree further south.

CP visit details:

• Time at the CP: 10:40 a.m.
• Duration: 30 min (until we were back on our route)
• Distance of car parking: 38 m
• GPS height: 551 m
• Description: In the Western Ghats on a flat spot. Mountains in 3 km distance. Exact location in a rice field, a sugar cane field is nearby. Scarcely populated area.
• Given Name: The Muddy Ricefield Confluence

Story continues at 16N 74E.