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(This is my first log, so please bear with me. Your suggestions are most welcome.)
Around January, we were reading Onkar Oak’s blog about his “Pune - Varandha - Mahabaleshwar - Pune” ride. That’s when we decided to go on this ride in this season. Now came the hard part - waiting till the monsoon. After enduring the summer, finally the monsoon came. Excited, we started planning about the ride. Finding a free weekend was the first task. 27 June was decided as the D-Day. Vidish joined us with Ashwini and Manasi as pillions. Our steeds were TVS Apache (Yours truely), Yamaha FZ (Swapnil) and Honda Trigger (Vidish).
Finally came the D-Day. We had planned to meet at 7am near Vadgaon Flyover. But as it happens with most of my rides and treks, I couldn’t show up at the given time. As someone has aptly said ‘Problem with being punctual is that nobody's there to appreciate you’ and I wholeheartedly follow that.
So everyone showed by 7.30am and finally our grand ride started.
Google Maps - https://goo.gl/maps/nfZZjvwXGxN2
Route we had taken
It is always difficult to get out of the cities like Pune due heavy traffic. But as it was early morning period we were lucky enough to avoid that hazard. And then the beautiful NH4 welcomed us. The sky was clear with swatches of clouds. Not exactly a good start for a monsoon ride. We had planned to fuel-up at one of the petrol pumps on highway (saves some money
). A few miles ahead, found a decent looking petrol pump. Vidish and Swapnil fueled up while the girls were busy taking selfies (as usual :P). We too joined the selfie round. Who doesn’t like a group selfie, right?
Petrol Pump Selfie :P
We were to reach Bhor by the Kapurhol exit, so took the U-turn after Kapurhol square and left the highway. The road upto Bhor is a small two lane road. But the road condition is quite good. Our first stop was the famous ‘Necklace Point’ where Neera river takes a 270 degree turn to form one the most mesmerizing landscapes I have ever seen. It’s just before Bhor city as we start to descend the small ghat en-route Bhor. Bhatghar dam is also visible from this point. Me, Swapnil and Vidish clicked some landscapes which was followed by Manasi and Ashwini’s small photo session. Packed up and left for Bhor. We had planned to have breakfast in Bhor at a hotel called ‘Shriram’. But god had some different plans in mind. We had read about the hotel in Onkar’s blog. So I was assuming that Swapnil had inquired about the hotel beforehand and knew the location. Coincidentally he was assuming the same thing about me.
As you would have guessed, we didn’t find the hotel. So no breakfast in Bhor. Received an earful from Vidish, Ashwini and Manasi for this blunder and moved on to next target, The Varandha Ghat.
Necklace Point
The road to Varandha Ghat is broken since the beginning of human civilization. No exaggeration, as I been hearing the same road condition for ages. Continued forward at slow pace along with avoiding ST buses whose drivers think that they own the road. No horns, nothing even on blind turns. Stopped at a few places along the way as the scenery was hard to miss. One such spot was near Neera Devghar Dam. Raireshwar enveloped in clouds in the background and the dam’s backwater together made an awesome frame. Did some bike photo session as well. Our girlfriends need some attention too. :P. Took a short Tea-Biscuit break and carried on to Varandha summit.
Our girlfriends getting some attention!
Varandha Ghat is unique in nature. The actual ghat is quite small but the road to reach that point is pretty long, twisty and broken. But the view you get from the summit just compensates the frustration and irritation you may have experienced on the earlier part. There is a small hotel near the summit and that was our breakfast stop. Everyone was hungry as hell thanks to our fiasco. Placed orders for Misal-Pav and Bhaji pronto. Everyone made calls to home for a quick update and waited eagerly for the food to come. Hunger does this to you, can’t help. Munched on the tasty Misal and Bhaji. Satisfied, left the place for our next stop. Less half KM ahead is the famous Varandha view point which provides a magnificent view of the valley and the waterfalls. Clicked a few snaps and group photos.
Kaay rao paus naay kaay naay!!
Our next destination was Shivtharghal. Shri Ramdas Swami used to meditate there and narrated the ‘Dashbodh’ to his disciple Kalyanswami who wrote it down. After we descend Varandha ghat there are two ways to reach Shivtharghal. One road starts just at the end of the ghat but is completely broken and not recommended for vehicles. We took the other route which starts from Barasgaon. It’s a bit longer than the other road, but the road condition is good. Reached Shivtharghal at around 1.30pm. The waterfall at the ‘Ghal’ was in full force due to monsoon and the sound was deafening. But the place had a unique tranquility despite the roaring waterfall. We sat there for some time and the left to photograph the waterfall.
Waterfall at Shivtharghal
Now it was time to start our return journey. We were to reach Mahabaleshwar via Poladpur (Ambenali) Ghat. As we neared Mahad on NH17, we encountered rains for the first time. Now we could actually claim that we did a monsoon ride. :P. The rain didn’t last long but drenched us completely. Soon we were at the starting point of Poladpur Ghat. It is one of my favorite ghats since it offers an awesome road full of twisties and climbs at a steady pace without any steep hairpins. Add some awesome sceneries and the magnificent Pratapgad standing tall in the valley. One hell of a view. Took a few photo breaks along the way. Took one very long photo break as Vidish and Swapnil got busy with macro photography. (A willing insect and two mad photographers. You imagine the rest.). Ashwini & Manasi very bored with this so we ordered Sweet Corn from the roadside stall just to kill the time. After an eternity we left the place it was getting really late now.
Reverse Lens Experiments
View from Poladpur Ghat
When you come in Mahabaleshwar, you can’t miss Fresh Strawberry Cream. So took a break at Bagichi Hotel just after Venna Lake. Ordered some sandwiches as well which BTW are also awesome. Bellies satisfied, time to move on. From here we rode non-stop till Pune. Everyone reached safely by around 10pm. As I parked by bike, the ODO read 325 km. Longest I have ever covered in one day. Achievement Unlocked.. It’s a unique feeling to go places on your bike, being free, feeling the wind, feeling the sun, being a part of the scene. It’s a feeling beyond words. Maybe you just have to feel it yourself.
Till the next adventure, Cya.
Around January, we were reading Onkar Oak’s blog about his “Pune - Varandha - Mahabaleshwar - Pune” ride. That’s when we decided to go on this ride in this season. Now came the hard part - waiting till the monsoon. After enduring the summer, finally the monsoon came. Excited, we started planning about the ride. Finding a free weekend was the first task. 27 June was decided as the D-Day. Vidish joined us with Ashwini and Manasi as pillions. Our steeds were TVS Apache (Yours truely), Yamaha FZ (Swapnil) and Honda Trigger (Vidish).
Finally came the D-Day. We had planned to meet at 7am near Vadgaon Flyover. But as it happens with most of my rides and treks, I couldn’t show up at the given time. As someone has aptly said ‘Problem with being punctual is that nobody's there to appreciate you’ and I wholeheartedly follow that.
So everyone showed by 7.30am and finally our grand ride started.Google Maps - https://goo.gl/maps/nfZZjvwXGxN2
Route we had taken
It is always difficult to get out of the cities like Pune due heavy traffic. But as it was early morning period we were lucky enough to avoid that hazard. And then the beautiful NH4 welcomed us. The sky was clear with swatches of clouds. Not exactly a good start for a monsoon ride. We had planned to fuel-up at one of the petrol pumps on highway (saves some money
). A few miles ahead, found a decent looking petrol pump. Vidish and Swapnil fueled up while the girls were busy taking selfies (as usual :P). We too joined the selfie round. Who doesn’t like a group selfie, right?
Petrol Pump Selfie :P
We were to reach Bhor by the Kapurhol exit, so took the U-turn after Kapurhol square and left the highway. The road upto Bhor is a small two lane road. But the road condition is quite good. Our first stop was the famous ‘Necklace Point’ where Neera river takes a 270 degree turn to form one the most mesmerizing landscapes I have ever seen. It’s just before Bhor city as we start to descend the small ghat en-route Bhor. Bhatghar dam is also visible from this point. Me, Swapnil and Vidish clicked some landscapes which was followed by Manasi and Ashwini’s small photo session. Packed up and left for Bhor. We had planned to have breakfast in Bhor at a hotel called ‘Shriram’. But god had some different plans in mind. We had read about the hotel in Onkar’s blog. So I was assuming that Swapnil had inquired about the hotel beforehand and knew the location. Coincidentally he was assuming the same thing about me.
As you would have guessed, we didn’t find the hotel. So no breakfast in Bhor. Received an earful from Vidish, Ashwini and Manasi for this blunder and moved on to next target, The Varandha Ghat.
Necklace Point
The road to Varandha Ghat is broken since the beginning of human civilization.
No exaggeration, as I been hearing the same road condition for ages. Continued forward at slow pace along with avoiding ST buses whose drivers think that they own the road. No horns, nothing even on blind turns. Stopped at a few places along the way as the scenery was hard to miss. One such spot was near Neera Devghar Dam. Raireshwar enveloped in clouds in the background and the dam’s backwater together made an awesome frame. Did some bike photo session as well. Our girlfriends need some attention too. :P. Took a short Tea-Biscuit break and carried on to Varandha summit.
Our girlfriends getting some attention!
Varandha Ghat is unique in nature. The actual ghat is quite small but the road to reach that point is pretty long, twisty and broken. But the view you get from the summit just compensates the frustration and irritation you may have experienced on the earlier part. There is a small hotel near the summit and that was our breakfast stop. Everyone was hungry as hell thanks to our fiasco. Placed orders for Misal-Pav and Bhaji pronto. Everyone made calls to home for a quick update and waited eagerly for the food to come. Hunger does this to you, can’t help. Munched on the tasty Misal and Bhaji. Satisfied, left the place for our next stop. Less half KM ahead is the famous Varandha view point which provides a magnificent view of the valley and the waterfalls. Clicked a few snaps and group photos.
Kaay rao paus naay kaay naay!!
Our next destination was Shivtharghal. Shri Ramdas Swami used to meditate there and narrated the ‘Dashbodh’ to his disciple Kalyanswami who wrote it down. After we descend Varandha ghat there are two ways to reach Shivtharghal. One road starts just at the end of the ghat but is completely broken and not recommended for vehicles. We took the other route which starts from Barasgaon. It’s a bit longer than the other road, but the road condition is good. Reached Shivtharghal at around 1.30pm. The waterfall at the ‘Ghal’ was in full force due to monsoon and the sound was deafening. But the place had a unique tranquility despite the roaring waterfall. We sat there for some time and the left to photograph the waterfall.
Waterfall at Shivtharghal
Now it was time to start our return journey. We were to reach Mahabaleshwar via Poladpur (Ambenali) Ghat. As we neared Mahad on NH17, we encountered rains for the first time. Now we could actually claim that we did a monsoon ride. :P. The rain didn’t last long but drenched us completely. Soon we were at the starting point of Poladpur Ghat. It is one of my favorite ghats since it offers an awesome road full of twisties and climbs at a steady pace without any steep hairpins. Add some awesome sceneries and the magnificent Pratapgad standing tall in the valley. One hell of a view. Took a few photo breaks along the way. Took one very long photo break as Vidish and Swapnil got busy with macro photography. (A willing insect and two mad photographers. You imagine the rest.
). Ashwini & Manasi very bored with this so we ordered Sweet Corn from the roadside stall just to kill the time. After an eternity we left the place it was getting really late now.
Reverse Lens Experiments
View from Poladpur Ghat
When you come in Mahabaleshwar, you can’t miss Fresh Strawberry Cream. So took a break at Bagichi Hotel just after Venna Lake. Ordered some sandwiches as well which BTW are also awesome. Bellies satisfied, time to move on. From here we rode non-stop till Pune. Everyone reached safely by around 10pm. As I parked by bike, the ODO read 325 km. Longest I have ever covered in one day. Achievement Unlocked.
. It’s a unique feeling to go places on your bike, being free, feeling the wind, feeling the sun, being a part of the scene. It’s a feeling beyond words. Maybe you just have to feel it yourself. Till the next adventure, Cya.
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