so soon? thats bad , i wud love to come for the finale ...

Why is that bad? Its still 3 weeks from now..

@Hyperion - You use the Ninja the way... most people would not want to use it. Atleast I wont... I am little more caring types.

I am not sure where that is coming from, but I would reserve that judgement until you have actually ridden with me . The Ninja is not made of glass.

Thanks. Dont worry.

Thanks Ritwik.

So soon? Not soon, still some time to go.

Part 2 : Ajantha

After we descended the ghat, we saw the signboard showing left for Ajantha. We turned in and immediately arrived at a gate. Here we had to buy entry and parking passes. We asked about the MTDC resort and if there were vacancies there. The guy at the counter mentioned that if we stayed there we would have to stay in an A/C room with Rs.1400 for the night. He said that if drove further down for another km or so, we would find another MTDC approved hotel which was much more affordable. He also warned us that entry into Ajantha will close at 5:30 pm (it was already almost 3 pm). Now by this time all of us were hungry, so we would need to eat first that gave us even less time to explore Ajantha. Not wasting another moment, we hurried off to Fardapur, approximately 1 km later we saw the hotel to our left. This was a modest yet cozy looking establishment. We werent too fussy about facilities anyway. We just wanted a place to stay for the night. The rate here was just Rs.400 per night for a double bed room plus another Rs.100 for an extra bed. This was good enough, we signed on. After we got into our rooms, we quickly got rid of our wet jackets and rain pants. We removed our shoes and socks which were unbelievably wet due to the incessant rain that followed us throughout the trip.

Anyway, we quickly ordered lunch. Vishwas (xbhp : trustvishwas) had recommended Surojit to try cashew dishes when at Fardapur. We ordered some Kaju Curry along with other stuff. The food was good. After
a hearty meal , we quickly left for Ajantha. We were carrying only rain gear ( I didnt have a rain jacket, so I was wearing my riding jacket) and no helmets. We crossed the gate at Ajantha and parked our
vehicles on the two-wheeler parking. There has been a lot development in Ajantha since I had gone last (which was a long time back). There is a full-blown shopping plaza there, nice parking lots etc.
From here, a bus would take us to the caves. We had to find the bus bay. After following the signs to the busbay (which were not really adequate), we finally arrived at the spot from where the buses left.
We used the passes we had bought at the gate to board the bus. In another 10 mins, we were on our way to the caves. The road was nice ,curving its way through a forest and a stream ran along side. It would
have been nice to travel here on a bike. We were dropped off at the base of the caves. The welcoming committee mostly committed of a bunch of monkeys lazing around. We started ascending the steps to the caves.
We finally took out our cameras and started clicking. It was actually raining lightly but the resourceful Surojit had got an umbrella to protect the cameras (not necessarily the photographers) from the rain.
Lest you should think to well of Surojit, let me make it clear that this act of bringing the umbrella was driven purely by self-obsession (read : poser pics). On reaching the top, we were stopped
at the entrance. Seemingly we had to buy passes at the place where we were dropped off to enter the caves. <sarcasm> We politely asked Surojit to go buy the tickets and to which he, more than willingly obliged
and with a smiling face went down to buy the tickets. He also not at all angry when he came back with the tickets </sarcasm>

After we gained entry, well theres nothing I could that the pictures couldn't convey better. So I will let the pictures tell you the story,





















We didnt enter all of the caves, as that required us to remove our shoes and since we were running low on time we tried to maximize the area explored. Still at around 5:30 pm, the local guides there
started locking up the caves. So we decided to turn back. There is a lot of explore at Ajantha, and unfortunately we were not able to allocate enough time for it. We marked it down as a future dedicated
ride location. The last bus was scheduled to leave at 6:15 pm. When we reached down to the bus area, it was about 5:40 pm. Instead of waiting around for the bus, we wondered if we could walk our back
to the parking lot. After checking with the local guides, who said it was okay to walk back, we started walking back. This was a nice little evening walk for us and also a welcome change of pace.
We got a lot of time to take pictures and take in the sights and sounds that surrounded us. It was all green and fresh. We could hear peacocks along the way. Never got to see one though.


















It was dark by the time we reached back. We found our bikes safe in the parking lot. We moved to our hotel. We changed into some nice dry casuals. We also bought some drinks and snacks at the reception and
took it along with us to the room. The room also had a Reliance BIG TV connection. The next few hours were spent in a great series of conversation. It was about 10 pm, when finally decided to get some
dinner. When we were about to leave we noticed an army of ants converging on one of the empty drink bottles. We moved it out of the room and went for dinner. The dinner again was good (and after the evening walk
and tiring wet ride it was well-earned). After dinner, we finally went to our rooms to retire for the night. Anant had developed a budding cold by now so he decided to sleep on the floor (in the company of
the antz) to avoid sleeping under the fan. We set the alarms for 4:30 AM and went off to sleep almost immediately. We were going to start early tomorrow and it was going to be a long yet exciting ride.

Next Part : The Road to Lonar

pictures are breath taking !!

A few pics from my side:

Surojit coming back after getting entry tickets from downstairs


Cave Painting


The controvercial photo inside Ajanta Cave


Th Bus left us..

@Antz.Bin - your pic of the leaves with the dew drops...freaking good.

Thanks Buddy!

Thanks buddy..

anant.. u LIAR... that pic was clicked by ME... and u taking credit...

shut up u liar! when i clicked that pic, you were pissing under the tree with an umbrella in your hand and i have a picture of that too .

Edit:




P.S.: Eat that *****!

Beautiful photos, esp the flower ones.

Waiting for rest of the photos & logs.

lolz... I wasn't doing what u are making people think.. I was busy clicking ...