As cos has put it slow internet connection is the culprit.I have already uploaded all the pictures of Day 1.Just need to link them in this thread.Day 1 log is also on the finishing stage. If everything goes well it should be up by 6.30p.m.

we are waiting MG....

Good to see you back MG, lovely pictures dere

Day 1 log and pictures

27th October 2008

Didn’t get any chance to prepare as the plan was decided last evening. While coming to Shirwal from Pune few days back the ghat section outside Pune city caught my eye (Later came to know that the name is Katraj). That day I decided if I get a chance then I will come and visit this place.

Started from my place at 7.a.m (Pretty late by my standards). The plan is to first visit Katraj and then continue with the usual route that I decided. NH-4 is pure bliss with arrow straight roads and hardly any traffic. It took me 40 minutes to reach there. This is the first time I’m using a P150 for any ride but I was quite happy to see that maintaining 80-85 was rather easy. The tunnel at the entrance was definitely the USP of this ghat section. Stopped at a point from where the whole Pune city is visible from this ghat section. While coming back I observed a pair of vehicle in my R.V.M. It turned out to be the soon to be launched Fiat Linea. They were camouflaged but easily identifiable. Before I could react with my mean machine they vanished. But luck was on my side and soon not 1-2 but 20 vehicles passed me and we (Refers to me and my camera) had a good look at them. All the vehicles were doing 70-80 on the ghat section and mind you the ghat section was not in very good condition.

View of Pune City from Katraaj


Wild Flower


Fiat Linea at Katraj







Tunnel at the end of Katraj ghat


Traffic didn’t increase at all in these two hours and I reached Shirwal in no time. Stopped at a place called “Shriram Best Vada Pav” and I must say that the Vada Pav was very tasty. Resumed my journey and within minutes I spotted a river/big lake (Map says that the name is Nira). The place was very beautiful and being the first one in the trip it caught my imagination very well. Pity that I couldn’t spend any time at the place and had to move on as I had pre-decided that I will reach my destination for the day latest by 4.30p.m. By now I could feel the excitement which was somehow missing since all this happened too early to digest.

Somewhere on NH-4 just before Shirwal





Nira River




The Vada Pav shop


“Hey I can spot some hills at a distance. Maybe Mahabaleshwar as the map says I’m very close to the turn for Mahabaleshwar”.

In the meantime the second ghat section started (Khambatki ghat). Till now I was of the view that all the ghat section in and around Pune are in outskirts and while leaving city in any direction you need to cross them. Didn’t know that I will find a ghat section bang in the middle of a NH (How stupid of me to compare NH4 with the one in and around Delhi). Man this ghat need some specific mention as it has a one way traffic going with pretty wide well laid tarmac. You can actually maintain very good cornering speed (Cornering speed of 85-90 is very much possible) in this stretch.

Just before Khambatki ghat







Khambatki Ghat


I was right as at the end of this section I spotted the board for Mahab. After crossing Wai the third ghat section started (Pasarni Ghat) and by this time I was smiling behind my lid. Pretty well maintained ghat but Khambatki wins hands down. Crossed Panchgani and I found an open piece of land. A honeymoon couple was there who were getting cozy and were busy clicking pictures. My presence made them a bit apprehensive of what they are doing and soon they left. The place looked ideal for a small photography break and the presence of a haunted house made it even more appropriate (My fascination with anything that looks haunted never ends)

Honeymoon Couple


Haunted House


Some more pictures from the same place






Next stop was Venna Lake. One of the important point of attraction in Mahabaleshwar the lake is indeed very beautiful. The water is clean and the colour of water is actually blue. Clicked some pictures and promised myself to come back here sometime in future and spend a full day in Mahab. The only reason why I left the fast NH-4 was to check what’s so special about Mahab is and it turned out to be quite magnificent with rugged hills, water bodies and forests crowded with plant life.

Venna Lake


Somewhere on the ghat


Mahabaleshwar is in the middle of two National highways (One is NH-4 and other one is NH-17) which are running parallel to each other. Now my aim was to move on the other side of Mahabaleshwar and reach NH-17. This ghat(Ambenali) connecting Mahab to NH-17 is relatively narrow and is in pretty bad shape. I got stuck behind a bus and after sometime I realized that it won’t give me way and also there is no way I could overtake it. Stopped at a point and let the bus go. But there was no respite as I could see another bus approaching towards me. Without wasting any time I left the spot. The road condition was very bad and there were multiple slow turns which were also not helping the matter either. The average speed dropped to 30-35 and by 1.00p.m I reached Poladpur (The point where Ambenali ghat meets with NH-17). For people who don’t know NH-17 it is known as Goa Highway and runs all the way through the Konkan cris- crossing Konkan railways many times enroute. The point where … ghat met with NH-17 is a part of another ghat section known as Kashedi. The heat was getting on me and the heavy backpack(My neck is in real bad shape) was also not helping either. Decided it’s the ideal time to take a long break. While resting an interesting event happened. A platina guy came from the other side with a pillion onboard (Most Probably his wife) and he scraped the foot holder at the corner at speed of above 70. I was like :O. No doubt it was suicidal but the guy indeed has some talent.

Mahabaleshwar Hills


Ambenali Ghat


The place where I stopped for a break


After getting some senses back in my neck and shoulder muscles I decided it’s time to move on. During the break I decided my next plan of action since I lost a considerable amount of time. Body clock was also asking for food. Chiplun the next big town was 66 kms away. Decided that I will ride non-stop to Chiplun if I’m not able to find a good food joint on way.

Kashedi turned out to be another fun ghat with long sweeping corners and me fresh from break decided to attack every corner. It was by far my best ghat in terms of cornering speed and attacking the apex. Khambatki was better but being new in P150 I was not confident enough of taking it to the limit. Wanted to reach Chiplun as fast as possible so went flat out with speeds’ ranging from 90-95.The only notable place in between was Khed but since I couldn’t spot any notable eatery so I moved on. Just before Chiplun there is another ghat section named Parshuram . You will have the view of meandering Vashist river running side by side along Parshuram ghat. Stopped at a restaurant called Dwarka. Tried some konkani dish, Surmai Masala tasted like any other North Indian stuff. That said the food was pretty good but very costly.

By the time I started my final leg to Velneshwar(Yes that’s my destination for the day) it was already 3.15p.m and another 44km before I can call it a day. I didn’t expected this section to have good roads but thanks to Dabhol Power plant the road was in very good condition and one can actually maintain good speeds but thanks to heavy lunch I was feeling dozy and my speed dropped to sixties.

"Another one!!! Man this is the seventh one for the day. Never expected to cross so many ghat sections on a single day. Even in my wildest dreams I expected a total of 3 ghat section in this stretch. So am I enjoying? Very much! Touring after 7 months and what more I can ask for. And the best thing is that every ghat section has been different in its own way."

This ghat section is smaller than the other ones but the whole stretch is in immaculate condition and being free from any traffic you can actually scrape your knee which was not possible in any other ghat section without taking undue risk. The doziness which was setting in badly went out of the window after seeing the final ghat for the day.

After riding for 24 odd kms on the Chiplun-Velneshwar section I found a creaky board pointing Velneshwar on the left hand side some 22 kms away. The road from this point became very narrow and as expected not in good condition but the vistas on both sides make up for bad roads. There were many points where I got confused because of diversions but locals came to my rescue. In my last trip to Nagpur I faced language barrier at the interior but that is not the case this time round. Everyone understands Hindi and many even speak Hindi. Of all the locals one shopkeeper helped me in understanding the geography of the area. Just before the final turn for Velneshwar the green country surrounding changed to barren dry land.

“Velneshwar is a small village with one beach and one temple on its list of attractions. The place is strictly for them who love the sound of silence and want to experience the genuine rural konkan life.”

I reached Velneshwar at around 4.15p.m. Being a very small place I found my place of stay very easily. It’s actually the outhouse of Velneshwar temple run by Mandir Trust. The rooms are extremely basic but clean and cost 50 bucks for a night stay. After dropping my luggage in my room I straightaway headed to Velneshwar temple. The temple was very interesting and the architecture looked very different from whatever I had seen till date. I will let the picture do the talking.

The 50 buck room


Velneshwar Temple












After the temple it’s time to visit the beach. This is only the second time in my life when I’m heading to a beach. The only other time was when I was 8 years old and not surprisingly I have very faint memory of my only visit to beach. Water bodies be it river, lake, stream or waterfall attracts me more than anything else and not surprisingly at the first sight of the beach I could sense the same level of excitement. The place was small but due to less traffic it’s fairly clean with odd plastic bottles trying to peek their head out of the sand. After all the hours of riding this felt like a perfect way to unwind with no one else to disturb your peace and solace. Infact other than the odd villagers I was the only other person on the beach. It felt like owning a clean, private beach. But soon my privacy was challenged by a group of college girls followed by few families. Soon the place bustled with a lot of activities and it gave me the feeling that I’m suddenly transported to some other place. Even though I was enjoying my loneliness but the crowd did add some amount of colour and life to the beach. The day had the perfect ending with the view of that great ball of fire dipping into the sea.

Beach Pictures

Look whose there on the beach other than me



















Resting in peace


Beach Cricket










The Beach Cafe

Dinner at Mandir Seva Trust was very delicious. I felt the Konkani touch in every dish-A preparation of tomato and coconut, coconut dal and another preparation of cabbage with coconut, a pickle made of beans. Just before going to bed I had a look at the photographs taken in the day and like every time I was not satisfied. Went to sleep thinking about the places that I will visit on Day 2…..

One of the few lights in the entire village(Remember 27th was Diwali)



Day 1 details

Total Kms done-297
Route-Shirwal-Katraj-Shirwal-Sural-Wai-Mahabaleshwar-Poladpur-Khed-Chiplun-Velneshwar

Its "Vada pav" i guess .... But u being a Delhite u can tend to make some mistakes....

Not fair yaar...."ye to gadbad kar di"...!! Beechare log dukhi hoke chale gaye..!!!


A same incident also happend to us too(last time when we had been to Mahab)....a passion guy was litreally scrapping the foot pegs of the bike at the speeds close to 70-75 and that too that guy was just in his t-shirt and pants(i mean no jacket, no gloves and not even helmet)...

Mannn.....7 ghats in a day is a real bliss...! Always wanted to do such thing but time constraints and all...just pop in

Just 50bucks for the night stay there....mannn thats real cheap and i guess its the cheapest deal ever(obviosuly if compared to those places atleast some rent charges are there)..



So, all in all a good day for touring haan..!!!!!
Hope to see some more photos from the Day 1.

@Inder-I'm still in the process of uploading pictures.12 more left to be uploaded.

And yeah I know its "Vada" and not "Bada".Don't know how it got changed

Thanks 4 a nice detailed log and pics are really good.

waiting 4 more...

Chalo koi baat nahi ye to hota hi rehta hai....



Another one of your fascination towards anything that looks haunted..

I have finally posted all the images of Day 1.

Day 2 log may take some time but I will try to post some pictures of Day 2 by tomorrow.

P.S:Right now I'm sitting in a cyber cafe and the pictures specially the beach ones are looking ugly(which is not the case in my laptop).I mean I can see the colour of sky spreading everywhere.Is it the same with everyone?If yes then please let me know as I have to check what is the problem with my laptop.

superb pics and the log is quite interesting too!! A+ for the teacher!!!

No, the color scheme of the beach pics looks to be fine..

Now, since all the images are posted...it looks like day 1 is completed...

@MG: wow.. gr8 pics & trip log man.. brought back the memories of my 1st LONG trip with xBhp members.. Velneshwar beach indeed is THAT awesome.

fantastic MG... most of the pics are looking superb...

O.T.- where are you now?

Wonderful triplog MG !! Some pics blew me away.

Waiting for the rest of it.

Good trip and great pictures there MG. Nice, real nice.