Lakshadweep - Paradise on Earth

Lakshadweep, I was wanting to visit this place since ages I would say. Finally it was decided to be our 3rd marriage anniversary vacation spot.

I started searching for information on internet but was disappointed by the lack of it. Very few personal blogs and moreover the booking process also was not mentioned properly anywhere even on the SPORTS website http://www.lakshadweeptourism.com/
Started calling up the SPORTS office in Kochi but was not at all given correct information. Finally I decided to go via agent route. The agent also booked us 2 night stay at Kochi as he suggested us to keep buffer in case the ship arrival is delayed. There was various packages to opt for visiting Lakshadweep. I opted for Swaying Palms package that provides exclusive visit to Minicoy Island. The package included Kochi - Minicoy island - Kochi ship travel and 4 night stay at the Minicoy Island resort.

So on Friday 29th Nov, we departed from Pune by car as our friend was kind enough to drop us at Panvel Railway station. At 6 PM, we boarded the train from Panvel to Kochi. As the luck would have it, the train got delayed and we reached Kochi on 30th Nov at 7 PM. We were supposed to pick up the ship tickets and some complementary goodies (T shirts, caps and maps, etc) from SPORTS office at Willingdon Island, Kochi a day before departure. But as the train was late, the agent did that for us. We stayed at Hotel Greenland Residency near Ernakulam South station.

Day 1 (1st Dec ) :
The hotel was good but food was not. So next day, asked our cab driver to take us to a good place for lunch before heading to Willingdon Island to catch our ship. He took us to restaurant named Arya Bhavan near Ernakulam South station. We loved it, especially the sambar.. We were asked to report Willingdon island office at 1PM by our agent. First a quick visit to SPORTS office and collected the tickets and complementary goodies, then headed to the check in point. The ship mostly carries locals on the island and very few tourists. After luggage scan and all, a bus took us to the actual boarding point and that's where we saw our ship M.V. Lakshadweep. I had opted for Diamond class accommodation on the ship (costed a whopping 4500 per head) that provides double occupancy cabin along with complementary dinner and breakfast on board). The cabin was worth the money spent and a SPORTS representative was there all the time in case any help was required.

Day2 (2nd Dec) :
Woke up at 7 AM and saw through the cabin window that it was raining. My heart skipped the beat. I travelled half the way across India to witness spot clean sunny beaches that Lakshadweep was famous for. As it was rainy and windy, the ship halted long way before shore line and a small boat arrived us to take to the island. Another SPORTS person named Sidhek came along with us to drop us till the resort. We were the only tourists that were gonna stay in the resort. It was good as we had the beach all for ourselves. After arriving at beach, we were given customary coconut water. Immediately after freshening up, we headed to beach and did some Kayaking. The same guy Sidhek, helped us learn Kayaking and then took us for snorkelling as well. Snorkelling was one wonderful experience as we got to see many colourful corals. The lunch provided was good one with 2 veg and 2 non veg dishes (fish and chicken), roti, rice, dal, curd and fruits as dessert. The same menu was there for next 4 days with alterating veg dish and chicken dish. Although all of the dishes had the typical Kerala (coconut) tinge. Rest of the day was spent just lazing around the beach and resort.

Day3 (3rd Dec):
Again in the morning after some kayaking, we went for snorkelling in some deep water to view different types of corals. After playing in water for a long time, again after lunch for the rest of the day we just lazed around on the beach. In the evening, the resort had arranged for a trip to show around the island. First on the list was the famous Minicoy Lighthouse. Entire island can be viewed from top. Also the west side of island is visible (the non lagoon side). It does not have beach, mostly rocks along the coast and the sea gets deeper almost immediately. After that we went to the jetty wherein the big ships halt when whether is friendly. Then we were showcased the village system. There are 10 villages on island with each one having a village-head. We also visited a local house. On island, the culture is completely different. After marriage, the groom goes to the house of bride... forever. :)

Day4 (4th Dec):
On this day, the tourists from Samudram package arrived on Minicoy island. Samudram package consists of visit to any 3 islands in Lakshadweep where in you spend nights on ship and during day time you spend time on the islands. Almost 130 tourists had arrived that day, so the look on the beach was completely different. Kids played along and there was hustle and bustle as compared to other days when only both of us were on the beach :) . Yes, we were the only tourists in the resort that were staying overnight although this was peak season. (Lak. is highly under-rated). Personally I wanted this to be a more lazy trip and hence did not opt for Samudram package. That day again some kayaking and lazing around the beach (my favourite part of the trip).

Day5 (5th Dec):
This was the penultimate day of our stay and so we decided to do Scuba diving finally. The cost was 1500/- per head for some 20-25 mins underwater wherein all the gear was provided by the resort. They even took our photographs and videos underwater. In the evening, as it was our last night stay, the resort has arranged for candle light dinner on the beach side. As there was no one else on the beach, it became and exclusive dinner for us and that was one of the best experience we had in the trip.

Day6 (6th Dec):
This was the final day of the trip. We were supposed to leave the resort at 2:30 PM in order to board the small boat that was gonna take us to our main ship MV Minicoy. The whole day we just took photographs of whatever we thought we hadn't captured till that time.. At 4:15 PM, we were aboard MV Minicoy that had started its journey towards Kochi. Now this was a pretty small ship having capacity of 150 passengers. No option for bunks/beds, only push back chairs. As this ship was much smaller, it was swaying much more than MV Lakshadweep that caused my wife to have motion sickness. So we spent our entire evening on a bench on the deck feeling the open sea-wind. If you are prone to motion-sickness, then avoid travelling on this ship. Also the temperature in AC hall was close to freezing point. We somehow managed to pass the night is a single shawl we had thankfully carried with us.

Day7 (7th Dec):
We reached Kochi at 11 AM. Reached hotel and as we had nothing else to do, decided to visit Lulu Mall.

The next day boarded train from Kochi to Panvel and then came back to Pune by car.

Some highlights-
1. Booking has to be done via agent to avoid hassles. The SPORTS department in Kochi is very non-cooperative if we try to contact them directly.
2. Food is good but with a tinge of coconut in everything, so if planning to stay for more than 2 days, the food might get monotonous and its a good idea to carry some of your favourite snacks with you, especiallyif you are having kids with you.
3. Try to book the ships having sleeping facility. If possible by MV Lakshadweep and MV Kavaratti  -these two are big ships and 2/4 bedded cabins are good.
4. Even in December the temperature was about 25 Degrees, so no need to stuff your luggage with winter wears.
5. You will get severe sun-tan, so do carry your sunscreens with max. SPF.
6. There is only BSNL network present, so do get your roaming activated before moving out of mainland.
7. In Minicoy island, there are SBI and Syndicate bank ATMs in case of emergencies. But I would suggest you carry your own cash along with surplus.
8. The resort is good and the housekeeping, other staff are extremely courteous and we never felt out of place.

The trip was indeed one of the best I have ever done and no other beach in India showcased such a beauty. I would say this is a must go trip in one's lifetime.

Ride to Bhimashankar

Date: - 7th July 2012
Route: - Pune - Manchar - Bhimashankar - Pune
Time: - 0630 to 1700
Distance: - 236 kms

June had already passed, but monsoon was still eluding Pune city. So we, Bladerunnerzzz decided to give a visit to Rain Gods simultaneously visiting the Holy Shrine of Lord Shiva at Bhimashankar.

On 7th July at morning 6:00 am, all the BRZZZ met at Bremen Circle. I was surprised to see the number of bikes that had turned up for the rides (19 in total with 2 new joinees). A couple of days back we had heard about a certain Mandhardevi temple, the route to which passes through some scenic ghat. So a poll was arranged whether to carry on with our plan for Bhimashankar or explore this new destination. As majority of people had not been to Bhimashankar, the former was chosen.

This time we tried a new technique to ride in formation (and it worked very well). The whole bunch of 19 bikes were divided in three groups with a lead and sweep for each sub group. Ayush, myself and Rachit were the leads while Sarthak, Sharath and Alok were the sweeps for sub groups 1,2 and 3 respectively. Each and every rider was given a number and it was decided that everyone will follow the sequence. We left Bremen Circle at some 6:30 am. Riding in such a huge formation of 19 bikes did command attention for each and every passer-by we crossed. I wont deny that it felt good :) . Initially being slow, we picked up our speeds after crossing Bhosari, although we never went above 80s as that would have disturbed the formation. Within an hour or so we reached Hotel Purohit for the breakfast stop. the 2 newbies Kinshuk and Sayan introduced themselves and vice versa received the intro of our good ol' BRZZZ.

At 8:30 we left Purohit and diverted off the NH-50 from Manchar to take the state highway. We were expecting rough roads, but thankfully the surface seemed to have been tarred recently, so it was almost pothole free road except a few bad patches that went unnoticable. The surroundings were not very enchanting untill we started ascending the ghat on the way after a small town village Mapoli. We were greeted with the familiar sights of monsoon in Sahyadris with hazy grey clouds kissing the mountain tops. Intermittent drizzles were accompanying all the time. Some 60kms and 1.5 hrs after Purohit, we took the first break to relax and had the regular group photo session. The weather had turned cloudy and everyone had gotten into the enjoyment mode. Cracking jokes, lying on the roads, blah blah.....We started and after some time just when Bhimashankar was some 7-8 kms ahead, took one more break as the visibility has reduced to a few meters. Time for another photoshoot. We could see only for 3-4 m ahead of us. Reached Bhimashankar and were stopped by a check post (not police) for entry fees. Each bike was charged 5 bucks.

Once we reached temple, the visibility reduced further to hardly 1-2 meters. Everyone was enjoying the foggy atmosphere to the core as it was welcome respite from the sunny days in Pune. A descend of few foot steps and we approached the entrance of temple. It was 10:30 am and crowd was growing. We had to wait for some 20 mins in queue for the revered Bhagwan ke Darshan. Once done, we climbed back to parking and there was no point in wandering here n there because of low visibility. Anyways trekking to Gupt Bhimashankar would have taken lots of efforts and its not very comforable to trek carrying the heavy riding gear.

So we started back to Pune. Time for photo shoot of the guys with their rides. We chose a spot where road was passing through middle of the jungle for the photo shoot. I bet whenever anyone passed by us ( be it a car or a bike or a bus),  he/she must have been hell scared of seeing group of 19 guys on their bikes almost blocking the way ahead of them. Although that was not our intention. We just wanted to have a good snap for our next month's calendar page.

As soon as we started back, it started raining and this time it was heavy .... damn heavy. We got completely drenched in a matter of few mins. But doning ourselves with riding jacket, helmets, knee gaurds and gloves, we hardly felt any rain beating us. We cruised along cautiously at speeds of 30s-40s. It was an unbelievable experience. This was not th first time I had ridden in such a torrential rain. But everytime I do, it gives a sense of enormous satisfaction. We kept of riding for next whole 1.5 hrs in this rain and managed to cover 40kms only. Once we descended the ghat and crossed the village Mapoli, the rains subsided, but I bet it was still raining up beyond the ghat. We stopped for a small petrol break and decided to take a somewhat different routeback home. Instead of going straight to Manchar, we took a right to directly catch NH50 at Peth. No one knew the condition of the road and everyone was a bit thrilled to take this route. After taking the detour, hardly after a couple of kms, the road ended and we ended up on the gravel track. Asking a few construction workers on the way, they told that the road is good ahead of this small patch. A small ghat was staring ahead of us. But the torrential rains had taken toll on one of the R15s chain. It literally came off and it had to be fixed like the one we do for a cycle. It kept of slipping off the sprocket and we had no other alternative that to carry on like that untill we find some mechanic on the way. Once ghat was over, the chain behaved properly and we were able to reach Peth very soon. Just before Peth, we found a mechanic. Abhishek(R15 rider) was fixing the chain with mechanic and suddenly looking at the Vada pav kiosk opposite to the mechnic shop, everyone's hunger pangs increased the intensity a hundred times. We had not eaten since the breakfast in morning at 8:30 and now it was almost 3 pm. we ordered that guy some 20 vada pavs, and 20 bread pattice. He had to fetch some essentials from nearby shops so as to cater to us. In short, uski Lottery lag gayi. The mechanic was unable to repair the chain and there was no other alternative than to carry on till Pune and show the bike to Yamaha ASC. So Abhishek and
Sourabh started ahead slowly approacing Pune. Meanwhile, we discovered that we had eaten more than 35 vada pavs and 15 bread pattices. Typical BRZZZ again. With our tummies satisfied, we made our final dash to Pune kindoff impatiently. Reached Nashik Phata by 5 PM and bade goodbye to each other leaving behind the memorable moments we had.

This is only the second ride this monsoon and we are already are drowned in the intoxication of riding. Hoping so that many more are coming........

Ride to Jog Falls & Murudeshwar

Dates: - 21-23 August
Route: - Pune - Dharwad - Yellapur - Sirsi - Jog Falls - Murudeshwar - Sawantwadi - Amboli - Kolhapur - Pune
Distance: - 1400 kms

Day 1 : Saturday 21st August
0530 : I am ready. The bags are packed and hauled onto the Red Stallion. I am a bit nervous like I am before every long ride. But this time its gonna be 1000km+ adrenaline gushing ride through mountains, jungles and beaches. I just cant wait to start. My mother is in the parking to wish me a happy journey. She is as usual cynic about why I am going for such a long ride again. I don’t have an option to kick start (it feels so good to kick start a bike) so have to push the start button to bring the RS to life. Start from my home at 0540 to meet the rest of fellow bikers at Chandni Chowk. When I reach there, I find only Faiz along with his yellow FZ-S. Ayush comes after a few mins on his black Thunderbird. Sagar astride his black P150 is waiting for us near Sinhgad bypass.
0545 : Rest of the team is going to be late so we three decide to start the journey and head towards Satara leniently so that others will catch up soon. Sagar starts on his own.
0730 : We reach Satara without any break leisurely cruising on dear NH4. (NH4 has went on to acquire highly sentimental value among bikers in Pune. Such is the beauty of this road). Sagar joins us too. Come to know that Bharat is not gonna make it to the trip because of his tooth surgery and Royd will be catching us up on his Red Fazer very soon. Ankur and Arti join us on his black CBZ.0800 : 5 bikes start from Satara. Hardly after 40 kms I notice Faiz’s rear tyre is low on air. We stop to check and find that the rear tyre is almost flat. Sagar goes ahead to find a puncture-wala. The guy says he will not be able to mend tubeless tyre. So its decided that Faiz will walk back some kms and mend the puncture in that village. Meanwhile Royd joins. Enthusiasm somewhat subsides because of this event but still we decide to move on.

0900 : Faizs heads back and we move on. Decide to stop at Sai International before Kolhapur for breakfast and reach there by 1000 something.
1130 : After a good and heavy breakfast, we target Hubli straightaway 230kms ahead. Top up the fuel tanks and start the ripping. The NH4 stretch after Kolhapur till Belgaum is heaven. Sparse traffic. Excellent roads. Even speeds of 100+ feel like its nothing. Stop in between for some photoshoot while crossing some random lake on highway.

1300 : Reach Belgaum and rains start. They start as if there is no tomorrow. We keep on continuing but speeds drop a little.
1415 : We are in between Dharwad and Hubli where we find a turn straightaway going to Yellapur by passing Hubli. 15 mins gone but Ankur fails to turn up. Ayush goes back and both the bikes re-appear after few mins. Ankur’s bike is not picking up speed. Try a lots of stuff. Also my bike shows low battery. I ignore it. A couple of good hearted villagers come and help out by cleaning the spark plug. But still that doesn’t help. To worsen the matters, rain starts again. We take a shelter under a bridge as Ankur shows the bike to a mechanic we find luckily. He is unable to help and tells us to go to Dharwad to mend it. After half an hour of rains, we start towards Dharwad towing Ankur’s bike (actually pushing it with our legs). I go ahead to find a mechanic. Luckily find one just 2-3 kms ahead. Tell him the problem. He goes back on his scooter and somehow manages to bring bike to his shop. When he opens spark plug, he smiles and just resets the distance between two point at head of spark plug and voila!!! The bike is up again. Then it strikes that we are hungry and have skipped lunch. So munch on bananas at the shop besides the mechanic. Now its my bike’s turn as it refuses to start. The mechanic suggests a battery shop 2 blocks ahead. He says starter relay is gone and needs to be fetched from a Bajaj shop on other side of town. Royd takes the guy as we are new to the city and I sit at his shop to man the counter (Yeah!!! This is what he requests me to..). After almost 25-30 mins, he turns up and fixes the new relay. The bike is working again. Look at watch and its 1730. Our plans to reach Jog Falls that day itself falter. We decide to target Sirsi.
1730 : We start for Yellapur. The state highways are in a pretty bad shape and somehow we reach Yellapur and fuel up the tanks again.
1845 : Catch the road to Sirsi. Now this road seems to be a single lane without street lamps and completely submersed in a jungle. We decide to ride in formation. 1. Royd. 2. Sagar. 3. Ayush . 4. Ankur .5. Me. The ride through jungle starts. Its pitch dark and nothing else except 4 sets of tail-lights before me and sinister night behind me. Some occasional vehicles pass by. Otherwise its just dark. After almost 60 kms, and more than an hour we reach Sirsi. Decide to take a halt and find a suitable hotel. Find it very soon.
2030 : The owner says dinner will close by 2130, so quickly change and come for dinner only to find that the menu consists of Rice Plate and nothing else. Being grateful that at least some food is there and we pounce upon rice plate like anything. After super heavy meal, just head to the rooms and crash on beds. Even before I hear something its already bright outside window.
Route: Pune – Dharwad – Yellapur – Sirsi.
Distance: 560 kms

Day 2 : Sunday 22^nd August

0800 : Packing up we decide to head to Jog Falls straightaway as breakfast will eat up most of the time in Sirsi. Nitin + Gita are gonna catch us at Murudeshwar from Pune astride Red P150 .
0900 : Leave for Jog Falls from Sirsi. Some directions from locals and we are on way to Jog Falls. And that is where I find the shit-iest road I have ever rode upon. For every 50m, I could find loads of dung cakes happily lying on road waiting to be cut across by not so fortunate wheels of the tourist vehicles. I am finding it pretty hard to avoid cutting these (dung) cakes as I don’t want any part of those things upon my riding gear or my bike. At last reach Mavingundi on the SH towards Jog Falls. Reach there by 1030 something.
1045 : Security guards tell us that we cant go to the base of falls during monsoon and also they cant keep a vigil on to the bags we have put up on our bikes using bungee cords and all. Again a super heavy breakfast. The bill amounts to some 600 for 6 guys and what we east is only idli-wada, dosa and omlettes. Roam around Jog Falls. The water level in falls is at normal level so do not find the views as breathtaking as we saw on internet. But still the view is amazing. We laze around for quite some time.

1500 : Start towards Murudeshwar. The roads are straight i.e. no diversions but there are lots of twists and turns and we all enjoy them to the core. Encounter ghats and fog reduces visibility. Stopover for a photo-session.

1545 : Start again and fog disappears very soon. The twists and turns are too good to resist and our speeds increase. But the roads are not so good and we really cant rip off. One scary incident when I almost go offroad on the wrong side while negotiating a left turn. I come back to my senses and reduce my speed.

1600 : A similar S turn ahead and I take it easy this time. After the turn watch the RVM and don’t find Ankur. My heart skips a beat. I turn back nevertheless and as I approach the S turn find 2-3 people around Ankur and Arti. He has hurt his knee but thankfully she is fine apart from a sprain in ankle. But the bike has lost a lot. The visor, headlight dome and RVM are gone. To top it off my battery again is low and I find out that the battery is about to go.

1630 : Reach Honawar and make some amendments to Ankur’s bike. My battery is gone and it requires push start every time (courtesy – no kick). Start for Murudeshwar and reach there by 1730. Get to hear from Nitin that Gita is not feeling well, so they halt at Yellapur itself.

1800 : Check in RMS residency at Murudeshwar. A beautiful resort overlooking beach on one side and Arabian Sea on other side. Feels really peaceful. After a walk on the main road, decide to have dinner at Naveen beach resort. It is for those tourists staying in RNS residency who wanna booze and have non-veg. Both these things are not allowed in RNS as it is adjoining the Murudeshwar temple and also a gigantic statue of Lord Shiva resides in RNS as well. Funny indeed!!

2000 : A nice dinner at Naveen beach resort. Come back to rooms and celebrate Ankur’s birthday as well.

2300 : Sleep off after another eventful but satisfying day.

Route: Sirsi – Jog Falls – Murudeshwar
Distance: 160kms

Day 3 : Monday 23^rd August

0600 : I wake up and start packing my bags. I am gonna head back to Pune alone as I need to be home for Rakshabandhan the next day. The other guys gonna head to Goa for a day and then to Pune the next day. Royd has to attend an important call at 1300 and he decides to accompany me till Goa so that he can reach his uncle’s house before the call.
0700 : Push start the bike (I keep on doing it till end of trip) and head towards Goa. The roads are bad from Murudeshwar till Honawar (30kms). After that the good stretch starts and we keep up the good speed. I call up Nitin asking should I come to Yellapur in case he needs any help as Gita’s health is still not so good. She has high fever running. We decide that they can take rest that day and head off to Kolhapur / Pune next day depending on her health. Push start…
1030 : Reach South Goa border and take a break to tank up as Royd’s Fazer has hit reserve. We continue together till Panaji.
1130 : Reach Panaji and Royd bids good bye. I continue towards Sawantwadi. As soon as I hit Maharashtra border, bad roads start and continue till Sawantwadi. A right turn and I head towards Amboli ghat. Once again rains decide to accompany my lonely soul. Even if I need to take a break to drink water, I search for a slope so that push start will be easier.
1230 : Start ascending Amboli ghat. Rain is pounding. I feel thirsty so I just open up my visor and taste the sweet rain. The water is sweet indeed. But decide to stop nevertheless as quenching thirst through raindrops means I will require rain all the way till Pune. Just before Amboli waterfall, witness a part of road battered by a landslide. It scares the shit out of me. Its like I am travelling on a road climbing a ghat and suddenly there is no road. On your right is a huge mountain, a muddy stretch of 100m in front of you about 3-4 meters wide and a plunging valley on the left without any barricade. I just halt there although I know that is the way I have to go.  I see a vehicle coming after some time and entering this patch from other side. So I start again and make it to the falls and decide to have hot bhajji- wadapav, etc. The stall owner explain me regarding the landslide and how I wont encounter rain after crossing Amboli. Push start…

1330 : Start from Amboli towards NH4 near Nipani. The roads are boring, bad, monotonous, etc. Moreover I am completely drenched. So open up my jacket a bit to let some fresh air in. I take a bad decision for the route ahead. Instead of heading towards Sankeshwar via Gadhinglaj, I take the internal route to Nipani to save a few kms. Road quality worsens intermittently. I cross into Karnataka and I loose track of route as all sign boards are in Kannada. So I use Indian GPS i.e. locals at every next village to ask directions.

1445 : At last I hit NH4 and I feel relieved as if I have reached home which although is almost 300 kms ahead. Deciding not to waste time I hit the accelerator and reach Kolhapur.
1530 : A stop at McDonalds for lunch. I want a dal-roti kinda thing but settle over here as I need to move quickly. Fast food literally. Push start…
1630 : The battery is almost discharged and my horn is working infrequently. Indicators are dull . I fear for headlight. So I forget everything and make a point to reach Pune before daybreak. Practically impossible. But still I can try. Again fuel up the tank and I am off to Pune. Push start…
1715 : Reach Karad. Make mental calculation that I covered 83 kms in last one hour. Its amazing as the bike has been seriously battered in last 2 days and still its running this good. But however I try its not hitting top speed in excess of 100. So I cruise along at 90-100.
1800 : Reach Satara. Lubricate chain as its making some noise. The mechanic gives me a stare looking at my bike, me, my attire, my body language. I am hopelessly tired and ignore him. Push start…
1900 : Reach outskirts of Pune and cross Katraj tunnel. Traffic starts.
1930 : I reach home. Notice that I did Kolhapur-Pune in just 3 hours including a couple of breaks.My fiancé is dead worried for me so she comes home to visit me. As usual mother is happy to see me. Manage to change and take a bath. Have dinner.
2100 : I am dead asleep.
Route: - Murudeshwar - Panaji - Sawantwadi - Kolhapur - Pune
Distance: - 680 kms
Total Distance :- 1400kms (Approximate as trip-meter got reset during the battery fiasco..)

Semi Ashtavinayak Ride

Date: - 4th April 2009
Route: - Pune -Daund - Siddhatek - Theur - Pune - Khopoli - Mahad - Pali - Khopoli - Pune
Distance: - 485 kms
Time: - 10 hrs

Long weekend!! Pre-planned that will be going out to Matheran for two days along with my parents in our new cage "Chevy Spark". On Thursday night, get a shock that trip-plan needs a change and finally decided that will be going to Mahabaleshwar for one day trip on Saturday.
Now I am left high n' dry. With nothing to do on Friday with a holiday.
Suddenly I remember that I am supposed to take my mother to Ashtavinayak (a set of 8 Ganesh temples in Pune/Mumbai/Nashik area which are considered highly important from religious point of view) in coming month. So I decide to get my P200 to some temples before I take our cage there. I did some homework on the maps through wikimapia on Thursday night.


On 3rd April morning 0630 I set off for Siddhatek on Solapur Road.
No sooner than I cross Hadapsar, I just get a rude morning alarm on the highway.
"A slow trailer moving in front of me. Being the single-lane road, can't overtake from right side as I see a long line of trucks coming from opposite side. Decide to overtake from left hand side. While I am overtaking the trailer, hear a huge bang and see debris flying all over me from the truck on my right. I don't understand what is going on. See the trailer wobbling and I get shit scared because there is a almost 5-6 feet pit on my left. I rev my throttle to get out of this as soon as possible.. anyhow. Again hear the bang on my left and again some debris flying over me. This must have lasted only for 5-10 seconds, but seemed like an eternity to me.
Finally cross the trailer. Get my bike on the left side of the road after some 100m and look back. The trailer had stopped. The truck driver either had lost control or went asleep or must be drunk. He had hit, I think, 3-4 trucks sideways coming from opposite lane one by one. The driver side windshield was shattered to pieces. I couldn't make out the condition of driver. But I don't think it was serious as the truck was quite slow. See people gather around the
spot. I am just numb for a couple of minutes and keep on looking at the sight before me. I made out that the debris that fell on me must be some stuff from the load the truck was carrying."


After some time I gain my composure and start off to Siddhatek. A good 100 km from Pune towards Daund.
Clicked some snaps on way to Siddhatek. I am not that good of a photographer. Just always keep on trying ;)

Bridge just before Siddhatek temple

Pune Solapur Road

Reach Siddhatek by 0815. Dist. covered :- 110 km.

Now next destination being Pali near Mumbai. For that I again need to go back to Pune. Start back for Pune. Reach Hadapsar by 1030. The curious keeda inside me leads me to the Pune bypass from Hadapsar via Saswad road. And I end up in Chandni Chowk by a good 10 kms long route but traffic conditions still same. Disgusting.

At 1100, I am at the the common tapri we all BNers hang out at before heading for any ride towards Mulshi. Have a cold coffee which is anything but cold.

Dist. covered:- 230 kms.

If I have to go to Pali, I need to cross Tamhini ghat. The roads arent good and its getting quite hot. My home is just kms away and I almost leave for home when I decide that I will go via NH4 and Madh Ganpati temple. I am happy because I just love NH4. Soon I am hitting triple digits. In meantime, take some snaps of expressway as seen fom Old NH4 near Khandala ghats.

Reach Khopolo by 1245. Dis. covered - 312 kms

End up at Madh Ganesh temple which is just 1 km from NH4.

Its damn hot and I drink whatever I can lay my hands on - Limca, coconut water, sugarcane juice on the way.

Start searching for the way to Pali temple. Stop for purchasing a water bottle and ask the shopkeeper for directions. He says"Go straight. You will hit a bridge and then take first left."

I again hydrate myself as its very hot and start for Pali. Soon I reach the bridge and then head for Pali. After sometime I notice that the roads are really good and somehow I didn't expect such good roads for Pali as its not even a state highway. I see the signboard reading Penn. Shit! I am on my way to Alibaug and I forgot to take that left after the bridge. I am almost 15 kms ahead. Take a U-turn and come back to that bridge and there I notice a left heading towards Pali which is now at my right. As expected road conditions deteriorate. Pali is 33 kms. Make to the Pali temple. Start back to Pune. Again decide to skip Tamhini ghat and come back via same dear NH4 route. Take a small break for some refreshment

Time:- 1415 . Dist. covered :- 377 kms

First time I think about getting my snap. Somehow manage to get it, happily munching on the Horlicks energy bar. The energy bar is a recommendation from my side. It substituted for my lunch.

The water from the bottle is so hot that I would trade it for a hot bath on any chilly morning. Don't even want to taste it, but have no option as heat is at its peak.

Head back for Pune. Soon touch NH4 and am off to home sweet home. Surprisingly I don't at all rip off and happily cruise on 70-75. Maybe I subconsciously want a good mileage from my bike.

On the way in between see a patch of land on my left and decide to test my photography skills, again failing miserably.

Reach home at 1640 clocking 485 kms.

Tapola (Mini Kashmir) Ride

Bladerunnerzzz, my corporate biking club sent a mail citing that next trip would be to Tapola which is often cited as Mini-Kashmir of Maharashtra. I was up and ready for yet another ride. After my Nagpur trip, I really never went to any decent ride.
On Sunday 18th Jan, I picked up my cousin from Swargate, as she also wanted a break from her college routine. She was pretty much excited to hear that she would be going for a 300 km trip.

After much of delay, we finally started from the Katraj by-pass. In all, there were 5 bikes and 6 people. After some pet-puja in the way, we reached Panchgani at Harrison Folly. This point is famous for its paragliding. But as it was not scheduled in our trip, we just shot some snaps and were off towards Tapola via Mahabaleshwar.

On the way, I again saw the marker on board saying Tapola(Mini Kashmir) some 40 kms away. I have never been to Kashmir and all I have seen is what Bollywood has shown to me. So I was kind off excited to see a replica of the Earth's Heaven pretty soon. But as we reached Tapola, our excitement soon died down. The place was so hopeless that we just wanted to leave that place right away. Although after some discussion, we decided to atleast have some photo shoots at this place as this was the prime destination for our ride. (What the heck!!!) The surrounding topography can be termed similar to Kashmir with a serene river surrounded by hills and small boats seen moving along water.The restaurants had a setup like Kashmir too. I mean when we were seated on the porch, all we could see around us was water...............

but........

-the hills that surrounded river were not at all green.. they were yellowish with all the grass dried down
-the boats were as hopeless as any boat can be
-the restaurants were small tapris which were just extended with the help of a porch just to be above water.
A thorough disappointment.

This spot is supposed to visited in monsoon. Maybe we will try again I am really that how can someone name this place as mini kashmir???

My second ride when I came to a place at wrong point of time in the year.

On our way back, we stopped at a strawberry farm and picked up fresh strawberries from the farm itself. The farmer was happy to share with us the information as to how the strawberry farming was done.

We headed back to Mahabaleshwar where we did some boating. I got a chance to row a boat for the first time in my life. Again some pet puja at highly bragged Mapro's restaurant before Panchgani. The place is too costly although I love the hot-chocolate brownie that they serve.

Now the only good part of this ride. I was approx 140 kms from Swargate. I covered that distane almost in 2 hours (maybe 5 mins late). Those 140 kms included 20 kms of Mahabaleshwar ghat and again 15-20 kms of hopeless Pune evening traffic. One helluva ride back which saw me taking my bike to extreme limits for a first time with a pillion. My cousin Preshu was a silent spectator, she didnt chose to speak much until we reached her home. In the end, but she confessed that it was exhilirating for her cruising at triple digits. I think girls make really good pillions instead of guys.


Statistics:-
Distance :- 326 kms
Route :- Pune - Mahabaleshwar - Tapola - Mahabaleshwar - Pune

Mahabaleshwar ride

29th Nov 2008
We4 people --Ravi , his wife Trupti, my friend Devyani and me went to a ride to Mahabaleshwar on 2 bikes. Sadly, we chose a wrong day as it was pretty cloudy, but me and ravi were planning for this trip for quite some time and we didnt wanted to cancel the trip again. The decision proved a bit costly.
We started at 0630. The clouds became darker and darker as we approached Mahabaleshwar and mild showers were accompanying us all the way. And then it started raining heavily. As we approached the ghats, we were completely drenched by 0900. Started ascending ghats and the visibility started getting shorter and shorter. And in the end we were not able to see each other's bikes also. Visibility was almost 5 meters. Reached Mahabaleshwar by 1030.
There was no point in going to any tourist spots as visibility was next to nothing. All we saw was clouds. We were almost eating clouds. But then for sometime, the Rain-Gods showed some mercy upon us and the weather cleared a bit. Quickly we made our way to elephant point and clicked some snaps. As we were all drenched up, a hot cup of tea became order of the day. We had tea wherever we could lay our hands upon. But again the clouds got darker and rains...
Finally decided that not point in roaming around here and there. Even a tourist spot like Mahabaleshwar can become a ghost town. We lost our way in the town while returning back to Pune and we were really not able to find any people on the road to help us out. Finally some by passer appeared and showed us the way.
We purchased some strawberries and started back to Pune. On the way, decided to have lunch at Mapro's at almost 1500. Hmm, I had heard a lot about it,, but experience wasn't that good. A bit overpriced and way to over hyped is all I can say about Mapro.
Reached Pune at almost 1930 and I was shivering all the way back as I was completely drenched from head to toe. Making way through hopeless traffic of Swargate and Solapur road, I dropped Devu at Magarpatta City(one corner of Pune). Again making my way back through the same dumb-ass traffic, I reached my home at Pashan (other corner of Pune) at 2130.
Decided I will never ever pick a pillion from the other corner of Pune from here after.
Those final few kms in the city traffic are way more tiring than the hundreds of kms I cover during the day.
I didn't even have a dinner and slept of almost instantaneously as I was dead tired.
Statistics:-
Distance :- 323 kms
Route :- Pune - Mahabaleshwar - Pune

Ride to Mysore

Well this one was my first ride. Till now I had never travelled more than 150 km on my Caliber Croma at a stretch. It has almost been 5.5 years now. So before persuading my passion I just wanted to test the endurance of my bike as well as myself. I chose the day as Saturday(obviously) 21st Dec 07 for the first long ride in my life. Mysore is just approx. 150 km from Bangalore.
Saturday morning I made a quick dash to office as had to complete some urgent work. I was done by 1000. I had a nice heavy breakfast of bread-omelet and juice. I started at 1030 from my office at Electronics City. Filled up the petrol worth 400 bucks which was enough for my bike. As soon as I reached Silk Board, the traffic was as usual horrific at its best. Some cynical feeling creeped into my mind. But I was going to do this time around. It took me almost 1 hour to hit the Mysore Road. If you are starting a long journey, start before dawn so that city traffic wont spoil the beginning for your journey. Anyways as soon as I hit the highway, I could feel the difference. No more toggling of the gears. I just put in on 4th(unfortunately that is the top gear on my bike) and zoomed ahead. I knew that my bike wont be able to withstand high speeds for a long time. So I decided to play it between 60-70 /hr. I just looked at my watch it was about 1145. Milo read Mysore as 125km. When I was travelling I encountered quite a beautiful views on the way. A series of small mountains was accompanying me for quite some time. I just stopped for a break and then I realized that I have missed out my Camera. SHAME ON ME! I forgot such a vital thing. As I already had quite a heavy breakfast before leaving, I didnt stop on the roadside dhaba. But just I was midway between Bangalore-Mysore, I saw a coconut-water guy. Immediately I stopped. Had good two coconuts full of water. That's the beauty of SOuth India, you can get rehydrate anytime, anywhere with this wonderful source. That was enough for me to get going till Mysore.
On the way I saw a group of bikers on their ZMAs, Pulsars and all. They just zoomed past me. I was helpless. Anyways soon I would be having one of those. I gave myself some consolation and moved on. The road was just awesome and I reached Mandya in no time. I saw the clock and it was 1300. Mysore was still 60km away. Well almost 65 km in 75 mins. It was OK. I had a small break there as I am not used to such long rides and I already started having some butt-ache. I headed towards Mysore. Just as Mysore was aout 25 km, there was one big procession and one side of State highway was blocked. Suddenly my speedo dropped from 70s to 20s.. It was blocked for almost 1 km and took about 5mins. Whoa!!! Again I hit on accelerator and reached mysore within half an hour. The time was about 1415. Now the big question? Should I head back or go somewhere in Mysore???? I decided to visit my office campus in Mysore. Well 2 years ago, I had my training there and just wanted to reminisce those old days. Got the directions for the campus in no time. It was about 8 km from where I was. Reached there within 10 mins. The time was 1430. I decided to have a glass of juice at my favorite swimming pool-side juice center. Had a nice Pineapple juice. Took a small walk around campus and decided to head back as I was running out of time.(?????) (Just wanted to get back before evening as had a party with some friends at 1930)
Started at 1515. This time I wanted to travel non-stop for 1 hour. As soon as I left Mysore, again encountered the procession. This time I had to take the wrong way as my lane was closed. I dropped the idea for non-stop 1 hour in this part of ride. Kept on continuing till I encountered the Hotel Amravathi just before Mandya. When I was in Mysore, every time I used to travel to Bangalore, the KSRTC bus would stop at this restaurant and I loved the Curd Rice there. Immediately I stopped and had one Curd Rice and a Idli-Wada (Actually I wanted a Dosa, but it was not available in afternoon and I had really heavy breakfast for a full-fledged South Indian meal)
After that I decided to have the non -stop ride till Bangalore almost 90 km away. At 1615 I started from Hotel Amravathi. Again ZMAs, Pulsars, TBs were zooming past me. And not to forget the super fast Lancers and Mercs. Volvo buses were giving them a tight fight. I kept on continuing at my pace but I gradually saw it increasing to 80s. I didn't worry as Bangalore was approaching near. Almost at 1700 I was not able to take it anymore and I had to stop. My bike's sitting position is a bit awkward which led to the strain on my shoulders. Took rest for about 5-10 mins and headed back towards the Silicon city of India and reached by 1745.As soon as I entered Bangalore, I was greeted by enormous traffic jam. Finally managed to reach home by 1900 as the Saturday evening traffic was really very bad.
Well the trip was quite event less but I really enjoyed the ride. Surely will be having many more in the times to come. In all a very satisfying day for me..
Statistics:-
Distance :- 350 kms
Route :- Bangalore - Mandya - Mysore - Mandya - Bangalore