okay, you started again. shall keep an eye on this thread so that I won't miss some good stuff!

did you attempt the 'off the cliff' stunt like in the CBZ-X ad?

the different world too seems to have tar roads... where was it BTW?

Oo awesome teasers,
ab to computer theek karna hi padeaga

And yeah what's the place?

2200 Km trip!!!!!! seems pretty BIIIIIG... Expecting the log soon for more info... bring it on.. common fast fast

u went to Vidharbha??or mahabaleshwar?one shot seems from ajanta ellora caves..or bad guess

dint you have a red P220??

Firstly this trip was done long back(27thDec - 31stDec,08).I didn't get any time hence couldn't upload the trip log and pictures.Hopefully I will be able to upload everything in the next couple of days.

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After my last unexpected trip I was raring to go for the next one. No problem with holidays as I had worked a lot in the past 2 months to ask for a 5day break. Initially I was planning to do Udaipur-Jaisalmer circuit in Rajasthan but being the last week of Dec I knew that it will be rush season in Rajasthan and hence rates will be sky high. Also the total distance will roughly come around 3000-3500km which means more time on road than spending quality time on places and personally I don’t like mad run if unless it is very much required. So I started searching for a new place and this is when I came across this place called Chikaldhara which lies very close to the border of M.P in northern Maharastra. A bit more search and I found this place to be ideal for a 5 day getaway with the some interesting places enroute. So I finalized my 5 day trip with possible visits to Melghat Tiger Reserve, Chikaldhara, Ajanta, Ellora, Paithan & Bhandardara (Details about all the places will follow as I move on with the trip log). But there was one big problem that needs to be resolved before the start of the trip…..

Bike!Yes I don’t have any bike with me and unless I manages one this time round like last time the trip will not materialize. Even before one week of the trip I didn’t knew whether I’m doing it or not but I somehow managed to get the same Blue 220 in which I came for the Lavasa trip(See here). But the bike was not in a good shape. The front suspension was out and the rear tyre was almost gone with multiple punctures. Spent a whole day in rectifying all the problems.

Day 0: All the preparations and planning were completed and I was supposed to reach Melghat the first day and stay at one of the hotels or FRH or else stay at Chikaldhara 40 km away. Always had an idea that Chikaldhara is a place far away from the reach of tourists so didn’t bothered to book hotels. In the evening I thought of calling one or two hotels and check the status.

“Sir sare room full hain and aapko koi aur hotel bhi nahi milega pure area mein” - All the rooms are booked and you will not get any rooms in the whole area.

This was a complete shock and I dialed all the other hotel numbers one after another. Yes the guy was right- No rooms available either in Chikaldhra or in Melghat. Now I was in two minds whether to go ahead with the plan or change destination as it is now guaranteed that both the places will be jampacked with tourists. For the next 2 hours I tried to figure out all the possible options in case I’m not going to Chikaldhara but couldn’t finalise one destination. So without finalizing anything I went to sleep at 8.00p.m leaving the decision for tomorrow morning.

To be continued….

@hydbiker,anjit-Updated.

Vidharbha it is.And yes your guess was right.The Day 4 picture is taken from one of the caves in Ajanta.

Read the above entry of mine.You will get your answer.My P220 is still in Delhi.

Nice teasers there MG.
Waiting for the rest of the logs and pics.

Northern maharashtra at this time of the year is HOT! I read that you did this in the winter season last year so things must have been OK. You must have experienced a wide range of temperatures. Awaiting more details about the places.

Nice teaser pics.Eagerly waiting for the rest!!

Nice prologue dada

waiting for the rest

Nice one there MG! Though an relatively older trip, but nevertheless would love to see more pictures of the same. Thanks for sharing.

Expecting some good stuff MG! Waiting

Day 1:27th Dec 2008
Kms:737
Route:Satara-Pune-Ahmednagar-Aurangabad-Jalna-DeolgaonRaja-Chikli-Khamgaon-Shegaon-Akot-Paratwara-Chikaldhara

Clicked very few pictures on Day 1 which will compensated from Day 2.
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Whole night I had dreams of me riding to all different place on different bikes. By 3.30a.m I had enough. Got up and the first thing I said to me was “Man let’s do it. Let’s see what’s in store for me”. By 4.30a.m I was ready and out. Unlike last time I’m fully prepared this time round with tank bag, saddlebags and full riding gear.

The ride from Satara to Pune was uneventful . Had done it 7-8 times till date either by car or by bike. The job was simple. Stick to left most lane and keep the speed at around 70-75. It was pretty cold but bearable. I was riding on one of the fastest highways in India but somehow I never find confidence in doing triple digit speed at night.

From Pune I was supposed to take the Aurangabad route. Lost some time inside the city trying to figure out the correct way. Once out I saw the first signs of fog and the chill quotient increased a lot. In the next 15 minutes I was literally shivering. Pulled over and had my first break. The view of the fog setting over a small river was a treat to watch. The clock was saying 7.25 and still no sign of sun.
I was shivering and so was the camera.First picture of the day


This is the river I was talking about


Started again with no respite from cold. Maintained a steady speed of 60-65 till Ranjangaon(FIAT’s factory is at Ranjangaon) where I saw the first sign of sun. 5 kms from Ranjangaon and the weather completely cleared up. Now its time to do some decent speed and make up the time that I lost after Pune. To my surprise the roads are freshly laid and are in immaculate condition. This was a complete surprise as I had been to this route couple of times and after Ranjangaon the roads were in pretty bad shape even a week back. Stopped at a couple of places for a picture or two and by 9.20 I reached Ahmednagar and head to my tried and tested Paradise hotel for a break - fast.
Whoppy finally some sunlight at the far corner


Freshly laid roads


Lonely planet


They were beautiful


Someday I will reach those windmills far away


From now on its going to be a completely new route for me as I had never been to this part of Maharastra. Its almost five & half hrs since I started and I had only completed 200km of the total 750kms that I’m supposed to do. My next big stop would be Jalna which was roughly 175odd kms from Ahmednagar. The road from Ahmadnagar to Aurangabad was four laned butter smooth roads with very little traffic. Did the stretch in pretty good time and by 11.40a.m I was inside Aurangabad city. The city came as a big surprise to me. Whatever I have seen in Pune the roads are in pretty bad shape and the last thing I expected from a small city like Aurangabad is to have roads as good as Delhi with pretty good traffic sense. It hardly took me 20 minutes to cross the city and I was out for Jalna which was another 60kms from Aurangabad. Same story with beautiful road all the way till Jalna. Its important to note that Pune-Jalna is not a national highway but it feels like GQ for most part with 2-3 fast ghat sections.

Clicked this at one of the small pit-stop for water & chocolate


12:30 and I reached Jalna. By mistake I entered Jalna city and boy o boy was it crowded. Lost a lot of time trying to figure out the correct way that will take me out of the city. By 1.15p.m I found a decent place to eat but the chaps at the hotel took a lot of time to in serving food. In the meantime I called the same hotel again to check whether there is any vacancy or not and this time the owner picks it up(Came to know about it later). As expected he said no vacancy. I told him that I’m coming in a bike from Satara and halfway to my way to Chikaldhara. He said that he will call me back in 5 mins. I thought he will not call me back and said to me “MG you need to sleep in jungle tonight” but he did called back and said that he can manage a bed but the place will not be great. That’s it,I said I’m coming.

By 2.15 I started again with some 375 odd kms remaining for the day. Now it was almost certain that I will reach late in the night, the only worrying factor was that for the last 50odd kms I need to ride through the jungle. Sounds great. Isn’t it?

Finally! Finally!
Yes I’m talking about roads. Would have bored to death if I had to ride those GQ fashioned roads any more. This is what I expect from Maharastra. Narrow road full of twisties and great vistas surrounding it and mind you the roads are in excellent condition. I passed a lot of smaller towns in the next few hours and there were a thousand places where I could have stopped for a photo break but the fear of riding in the jungle at odd hours was not making me stop.
Final stop somewhere near Chikli



One from 80's era



Around 5.30 I reached Khamgaon. Now I had two options. Either to take NH-6 to Akola and Amravati and then take a left turn towards Chikaldhara or continue in the same way through small villages and towns. The NH route means that it will add some 70odd kms in my journey. I decided to take the second option as I had been very lucky with roads for the whole day but it was not that simple. Needed to tank up and as far I remember there was no pump in the last 75kms and can’t say when the next pump will come.

Filled gas from a pump in NH-6. This was the safest option, search a pump in NH-6 and then come back to Khamgaon and continue the journey. But by doing all this I lost some more time and when I reached Khamgaon it was completely dark with some 170odd kms left for the day.
The thing that didn’t happened for the whole day has to happen sometime and what better time than when it’s dark. Bad roads. The next 120kms was simply pain in the ass and I mean it. 8.30p.m and I reached Paratwada bypassing Shegaon and Akot .

Surprise,surprise (As if I was not expecting it)- A forest checkpost at the entry point of Chikaldhara. As expected people at the check post stopped me. The senior most of all of them had a good look at me and then he said we can’t allow you to go through the jungle in the night. I tried my best but he was relentless with his points about jungle rules and all. After a lot of pestering he finally agreed but said that you are going at your own risk. If anything happens no one will come to save you.

Started the final leg of the day after wasting 30odd minutes. Man was the road scary or not. First it was very cold. I was shivering like anything. Next it was a ghat section with tight hairpins bends and steep slope on one side and too add you can see tall shadows all around you. A full setup for a Ramsey brothers production. I carefully rode the whole section with my eyes looking for something odd in the jungle. To be very frank I was more worried about dacoits than wild animals. Finally at around 10.00 I could see the first light and it turned out to be my hotel.

While I was checking in a man came to meet me and it turned out to be the guy whom I talked in the afternoon and it was the hotel owner. He said that it’s only because I’m coming from a far away and that too in a bike he thought of arranging something from me. I thanked him for giving me this honour. Had dinner and went to my sleeping place. It was 100 times better than what I had expected…..

More on it on Day 2 log