I do not know if anyone is reading but still will finish the job.
Pics from Lonavala

In the midst of cloud found this lake

This image is a blind image in the sense I clicked with the flick of the wrist while being on bike without seeing the screen but it came good I suppose.

I donno how deep it is but the cloud is covering.

Three lions infront of some villa's gate.

Sight of the Express highway

to be cntd........

Nice pics. I really enjoyed this kinda travel story(many pics & little log). Waiting for the rest.

Thanks amit ,here is more of the story with images

Clouds below the road

This image shows the visibility at that place....ride safe

But we find really good views of the Express highway


Grass on rocks, Observe the net to prevent rocks from falling on to the road

Scenic

No This image is not taken from an aircraft.

There is a stretch on which bikes have to travel on the Express Highway ,I think its a 10-12KM stretch if I am not wrong, Thats where its very scenic, You also find a few people enjoying their weekends.

Mr.M


People enjoying mini waterfalls


One more of clouds


Waterfalls from a height, Drums are placed to prevent the traffic from going near the hill side for safety.


Into the Tunnel,It is interesting why they had not cut the mountain instead of boring a tunnel. One can observe that the road for the oncoming traffic is open...strange


Few more capturing the nature's beauty

The place was so captivating that you don't feel like to leave from there. Then for the bikes one has to take an exit to Khapoli,


Ooh...I don't want to move/leave


Move on mate, There is always a next time


Now again NH4 towards Panvel and Mumbai

While entering Mumbai, It was raining cats and dogs...We were completely drenched...but moved on as the traffic cleared the way because of the rains.Reached home by 1430hrs.

Total Trip Distance:572KM

Coming up next ....Short ride to Aamby Valley..

Hi Mike,

i like ur style.Let pics do all the talking rather than writing a detail log.Carry on ur gud work.hope to join u soon.Lets plan for cumin weekend.

This is the second short trip, Wandered to Aamby Valley,
So Mumbai to Aamby valley in a long way.

On a saturday morning when I got up it was raining and I didn't want to spend another weekend with no activity watching the rains from the room ,so decided to make use of the situation and go on a ride exploring. There was no fixed plan as such but the plan was to go to pune first to a museum in Kothrud and while returning explore a bit in and around Lonavala. But changed the plan when the signs indicated Pavana after Lonavala. As it was planned late just went solo.

I am not very sure of the route but I estimated it.

There was a plan in mind to cover all three water bodies viz. Pavana ,mulshi and varasgaon but I did not review route before the start so the details were sketchy.Probably should have taken a left turn near Pavana dam but intuition made me turn right..but as it was just about exploring......... cool, but after seeing my route on map...interesting

Although it was same NH4, Had some time this time to enjoy the environment. But Venturing into Panvel was a bit of a nightmare, Loose gravel , traffic, construction and what not all the thinks a biker wants to avoid are in there.
Wahan Road pe gadde nahin, Gadde mein road hain.
Anyway moving past Panvel, Few interesting clicks


Start with a bridge in panvel.


After Panvel this board is confusing, Shows arrows to Expressway,Which is what bikes need to avoid.


Road condition,decent most of the time ,but there was more truck traffic as compared to last time.


Lord Shiva,There is also a temple there.


Then I find this from nowhere.

Condition of road at some point, less asphalt......... may be


Water falls and multiple of them

After this entered a Khapoli, There was a good restaurant where I liked Idli for a change. On exiting Khapoli , started climbing the Ghats ,there was greenery pleasing the eyes and the water falls were adding to the pleasure.


Tights bends on the climb, Have to be careful, If you are off line, gravel makes things difficult.

I was trying to balance between riding and enjoying the surroundings,For the first time I felt,I wished what if someone rides for me, me being pillion.


Buses passing on the climb

And the water falls

Pleasing shot for me, more falls to come

Clicked a B9R on expressway.

Parked the bike aside for a while.
There is a huge jam on the way from pune to mumbai, even the buses which were supposed to reach mumbai by 7 AM were still seen there when the time is around 9:30 AM.
Moving on, Passed through Lonavala then again after going for a distance, there appeared signs for Pavana, After a bit of thought took a right towards Pavana. The road was not so great , a single line with a lot of path holes...so kept moving,but there were a bit of thrilling and blind turns.As always the rain was accompanying but not too heavy.

Road towards Pavana, I was following that figo for a while.Extremely difficult to overtake on such roads with some incoming traffic.See the condition of the road, It was mostly like that.

After crossing the village we get a sight of pavana dam.

Pavana dam, Had i turned left near the dam, probably it would have taken me to the Mulshi dam ,but I took right and came back to Lonavala

There were a few more water falls around.

I would have loved this image to come well, But because of the rain,The screen was not visible,Though luck, But a few people were enjoying,little up there in groups.


Pavana is a huge water body


Few guys enjoying have come on scooters.


Must be some hotel or resort but have to appreciate the location. Few other spots were there but the rain prevented good shots.


Roads a bit narrow with twists and bends.Followed along the water body for a while.


Good Stretch


He he,Stretch of the day, When through it an Innova came a bit rash..gosh

The greenery was more pleasing,Appeared to in a completely isolated place.

View from the bikes angle


One more waterfall, from a height, thought of going there but preferred to go straight.
Then after a bit of riding , find again the Express way or the NH4, Dint knew where exactly was I. But ultimately figured out that its again Lonavala as the milestones were indicating the same.Then thought why noy visit Aamby valley. Asked for directions and Go!!!!!!!!!!!!

Water falls inviting from a distance,

This is the best image I could post,others are spoiled by the litter on the road.

First sign to Aamby Valley.
Then on the roads were smooth. There were lot of cars going and I followed them.

Even though the replies to the thread are few ,its encouraging to see it reach over a thousand clicks
A few friends have talked prior to the tour that the route to the Aamby valley is a bit dicey with low visibility. But I wanted to see whats coming, So after the sign board I see few crowd, persons shouting parking parking, There are indications that there is a Bushi dam but I really dont see it. After that I find my self follow a few cars up hill with a lot of hairpin bends. Now the visibility is going down, meanwhile as I was riding cautiously a couples of beamers passed me. I finally decided to follow a flashing white Skoda superb into the fog/cloud/rain or whatever. Whatever it is it was enjoyable.The roads was real smooth though.

As I was following the traffic, did not venture to take images, Which I decided to while coming in the return. All of a sudden I find the visibility drop further There was some gathering and small shops, Decided to pull aside.

Look at the visibility or the lack of it.

Parked the bike near a shop, There were some eatables there ,ppl were enjoying corn and stuff.

This is a real deep cliff, I understand it must be Kandala, but do not know .

The cliff is deep, but how deep............the cloud prevented to gauge. While I was standing near the cliff a Ford Figo was approaching the cliff, I started waving to stop....he was just playing a prank...poor me.

Then there were thoughts of weather to continue ahead or not, But put them to back burner, As the excitement grew. The idea was to ride cautiously by taking cover of some vehicle ,so started looking for the same.

This was the visibility there.

But as I progressed after a few KM visibility has improved.

Road in better visibility


The Destination....Unfortunately not allowed to enter. Looks like not in the privileged list but no problem. There was also a an airstrip around.

There were not many images I could take,Basically I dint feel to take, May be because I thought It is better to experience than the images present,I seemed to be in a completely different world like being in a vaccum (or Shunya) away from daily environs.

I proceeded ahead to see if anything more interesting is there,but found that there is a workshop for vehicles, The road seemed to end there and then at a distance there was a huge mountain. Took a couple of snaps for the Yummie and silently appreciated the ride it provided.Then the return.

Can see a huge mountain in the background.

Images During the return

The Hairpin bends on the road. A descending Xylo.

An ascending Xylo

Tool an opportuinity to take a snap.

Will sign off this tour log with this image which summed the weather on that day.

Bye for now!!!!!!!!!!