Topic Approved.

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nice meeting You & mandar again

Thanks for the approval Aryan
It was nice meeting you too DK

PS: Links to the last two pics are taken care of. Hope they are visible now.

well thats really quick start to write a triplog. bring the rest soon ketanbhau & let us know what we people had missed... lovely teasers!!!

was this always meant to be a short ride with friends? If not, i would have loved to join. This would have been an ideal opportunity for me to test my group riding capabilities, which i'm certain aren't that bad

nice pics. looks like the weather was on your side. it was really sunny when we visited the place last week

Ketan, the last pic is superb. Nice green fields in the background. I am not getting bored even after so many monsoon ride pics. Roll the rest of the pics.

Thanks Tushar. There are plenty of pics to be uploaded brother. We had gone crazy with the camera It was that beautiful. Also got plenty of vids while we walked through the jungle and while enjoying the waterfall. Will bring them on as soon as possible

Nothing like that Guatam. I tried to contact as many people as I could on Saturday night because that's when the plan got fixed. I am really sorry I missed you But we simply loved this place and am sure we'll visit it again soon. Will definitely let you know if any such plan comes up

Yes Angelo. The weather was good. We didn't feel heat much. But it had rained in Kherwadi village before we reached there and therefore the off-roading was even better So much better that my R15 got stuck in the muck and Najmuddin had to offer a helping hand to get it out. My friend tried to shoot all the action but it seems the vid is lost somewhere

Thanks Ravi. Will bring the rest of the pics soon

Lovely trip there ketan..!
Waiting for more pix..!!!!!

Had an awesome time out there with you guys.. The pics in my cam are indeed amazing too but I'll upload them here on your thread once you finish the log & rest of the pics.
PS: Missed you guys at Korlai fort yaar, it was simply amazing out there too. No crowd at all, we had some great clicks there too.. Will shere them here & FB soon
& lucky you guys left for mumbai soon, I anticipated traffic due to the potholed NH17 & riding 2way NH17 at night with my stock headlights is a pain so started back return journey from Korlai fort at approx 3 pm but still faced up heavy traffic all the way & got back home only at 8.30 pm.
Nevertheless, had a great ride.. Thanks to you, Mandar & Umesh

Thanks Rachit!

Yeah bro, we had to leave for Mumbai as Umesh's sis and granny was alone at his place. We had no choice Indeed we must have missed some real fun and natural beauty at Alibaug. Hope you didn't face any trouble finding Korlai fort.
I'll complete the log and post the pics in sometime. You can post yours after that, as you said.
Meet me at Shivaji Park someday and take all the raw pics without watermarks.

its allright dude.. Actually i was inspired 2 visit Korlai fort only because of your blog, otherwise i'v been to alibaug atleast 5-6 times (twice on bike) in past 4 yrs but never even heart of korlai. I was wel aware of route till Nagaon so reached ther easily by 1.30 pm after a short visit 2 alibaug beach since my pillion frnd had never been there. But the roads ahead from Nagaon till korlai were just too bad, however no problems with directions

will call u in advance if i happen 2 venture around Shivaji park some night this week & get my laptop to share my collection of yesterday's pics with you too tc till then bro.

Varadayini Waterfalls, Nagothane!

As I have written in the introduction, I had company of 4 riders for this ride. We all decided to meet up at our usual meet up point at Panvel Mcd between 5.45-6.15am next day.

Sunday, 19th September 2010
Got up at around 4.30 am and got fresh. Gave a wake up call to Umesh while packing my stuff. I had carried a spare T-shirt, a first aid kit and a water bottle along with all the necessary documents. Ride started at around 5.30 am after meeting Mitesh and Najmuddin at Shivaji Park. I had already picked up Umesh on the way. Everyone knows riding early morning means very little traffic. But most of the city roads(Eastern express highway and Mankhurd by-pass road) are pot hole infested due to monsoon and riding on them in dark wasn't a good experience :| Bike takes a lot of beating on such roads. After about 20-25 Kms Palm beach road changes everything. Covered that patch quickly as both the bikes were cruising at high speeds.

When we reached Panvel, we found only Mandar waiting for us. I called up the other rider to check if he's coming or not and found out he's happily sleeping at his home. We waited for sometime and rolled out of McD towards NH17. JNPT road and the mountains around were under thick blanket of fog. We wished our helmet visors had wiper on'em. A lot of moisture on the visors, making everything in front of us blur.


A quick "Ride safe guys..it's a risky two way highway ahead" alert to all the riders at the start of NH17 and we started moving towards Vadkhal in formation.


Road update: Road surface condition from Panvel till the toll naka after Karnala bird sanctuary is in Ok/Good condition with very little potholes. But road condition after Toll naka, especially after Pen all the way till Vadkhal is absolutely pathetic with crater like potholes and heavy traffic. It is highly recommended to avoid riding on that patch after nightfall.

Greenery all around and absolutely no heat meant we all were fresh and happy.


Riding with Mitesh was a good experience. A nice and calm rider with great road sense. Mandar was tailing most of the time at low speeds enjoying music.

Later on, took our first pit stop at Vadkhal. Everyone Had some food and hot tea to warm up a bit and to give some rest to our sore saddles after riding through that pathetic patch.


Road Update: Road condition on NH17 post Vadkhal is again in good condition with occasional potholes. But road is a bit tricky with potholes at blind spots like at the exit of a corner or sometimes at the start of it. So be careful. Government has tried to fill them up with big stones which can make a bike unstable easily.

Riding for next half an hour or so we reached Nagothane. I stopped by a tea stall and asked for directions. We came to know the destination was still 7 Kms away. Moving on we reached the small village, Kansai. Leaving the NH17 behind, we took the left turn for a very small village called Kherwadi. There's no proper road here. So expect off-roading for a few minutes. I am not much into off-roading and for my relief the village isn't that far from NH17. BUT, we took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up riding in deadly mix of muck n mud We reached a dead end with small water stream flowing ahead of us. The road was so muddy that my R15's rear wheel got stuck in it and I had to get help from Najmuddin to pull the bike out of it and take a U-Turn. Umesh tried to record all this on his camera but it seems the video didn't get saved on the memory card

We reached Kherwadi village and met a local villager, Satish. We asked him about the waterfall and for some place where we can park our bikes. He agreed to lead us to the waterfall and also allowed us to park the bikes in front of him house. We dumped all the riding gears at his place and carried only stuff that was necessary in our back packs.

Our bikes parked in the village


We all then started moving towards the waterfall walking through the forest. I'll let the photos do the talking.












And the route disappears into the dense forest








Those rocks were very slippery. We had tough time finding grip on them..especially Umesh




Beautiful Forest!




hummphhh.. walking on and on and on..


yaay.. Finally we see the waterfall for the first time.. \m/


And here we come to a small stream to be crossed before reaching the waterfall..








And it's time for some posing (L-R) Najmuddin, Mitesh, Umesh, Mandar and Satish(our guide)










and..Finally..FINALLY we are at the base of the waterfall.. woohoo..what a spectacle it was.. Simply amazing!




To be continued..
Hope you like the nature photography

Am glad that my log helped you find a good place which you otherwise would have missed. Yeah sure, let me know when you plan to come and I'll get my laptop to Shivaji Park. Have to show you all the vids we shot while coming back. Will upload them on FB as well.