hmm ok , ya I understand. Even though I have different beliefs , will try to follow it from next time

Bherrry Bherrry Naish...now bring on the full set of muddy pics!

Prologue : The Quest Begins

The party consisted of the following adventurers(and their steeds),

1. Ashutosh (Hyperion) : RTR 160
2. Nikhil (niks_devil666) : P-220 DTS-Fi
3. VJ Pillion with Nikhil
4. Sandeep (Kr4zy54n) : RTR 160
5. Sahil (dragking) : ZMA
6. Harshad : P150


The rendezvous point was near the Megamart, just ahead of College of Military Engineering on Pune-Mumbai road.
The meeting time was decided at a very painfully early 6:30. SOmehow I managed to drag myself out of bed in time.
We met at the predetermined spot at the scheduled time. However, Harshad was running late and it took us til 7:30
to begin our venture.SO thus we set off, 6 adventurers and 5 rides.

Here I present the map, which was to be our guide for the rest of the trip...


(Note to Mods : Not very legible at 800x600 so uploading in original size sorry)
And as you follow our adventure, you will have to often refer back to this map.


Chapter 1 : The mystery of the Bhandara caves

We were out of city limits in no time. It was drizzling intermittently and very lightly. Once we hit the highway, search for a fuel station
started. Finally we pulled over at one of the many fuel stations that come before Talegaon Dabhade.
Once we were near Talegaon Dabhade, we started looking for the right turn to take(as described in the map). Now there are many right turns, that
seemed the right ones. After asking near Talegaon for "Tolani Beach", the local there told us to take the right turn some 2 kms down the high way.
We followed the directions, we soon learned that we were on the way to Chakan, now this wasnt mentioned anywhere on the map. We tried looking for some
signs on the map and trying to find them on the road. After a lot of search and tracking, we finally decided to stop over at one of roadside taverns
(This one obviously didnt serve any ale ;-))

There we cast off all our riding gear, ordered some Misal Pav. Now the misal pav here was a rather comprehensive. It came with Salad,curd and even papad.
It didnt taste bad either. After the mandatory chai, we asked the owner for some directions. There was a hill right in front of the hotel. The shopkeeper
told us that the hill yonder is home to some kind of caves and that we could drive all the way to the caves. Now, as you will notice, Bhandara caves is
mentioned on the map. That also told us, we were way off course. Fantastic, this is what adventuring is all about, getting lost.
But now that we were here and full of wanderlust, we said to ourselves, why not do some spelunking while we are at it.
And so excited on the prospect, we set off towards Bhandara caves.
The road was nice and winding, the green covered the sides of the road. After a very short ascent, we were at the top of the hill. But all we could see was
a village with a temple.
Asking a local shopkeeper, he pointed us to a small trodden path that lead down the hill. He told us we will have to go on foot from here.
So we set off on foot. Now this journey wasnt without its perils. There was a very strong indication of humans frequenting this place whenever nature
beckoned. So we had to watch our steps. The traps were laid such that an unwary adventurer could well have his shoe full of s**t. However, even after
a few hundred metres of descent we found no signs of the caves. We also surveyed the surrounding hill side but to no avail.And so disappointed, we returned
to the top. We did find some nice view of the surrounding area from the top a very good opportunity for some pictures....








This is a picture from the hotel we stopped in. The hill straight ahead is the Bhandara caves hill.














After descending, we decided to leave for Jadhavwadi dam which was in the vicinity.But we were quite set back by not being able to find the caves.
The location of the caves, to this day, remains a mystery ...

Coming soon,
Chapter 2 : The Perilous road to Jadhavwadi

Nice.Will go through it later.

@Hyperion-I think I saw you on Rameshwaram on 28th June(Or whatever the name of the restaurant in Lonavla).You had parked your bike just besides mine.

Correction: That's Rama Krishna..

But that day other riders were not present i guess..!!

Rama Krishna

Is it? What a great coincidence. Yes I was in Lonavla that day. Had done Pune->Mulshi->Lonavla ride. I was there around 12:30-1 pm.

You parked your bike alongside the Castrol(Polka doted) Zima.

Yes, now I recall. Sahil (Yellow ZMA) was with me too. I remember remarking to him about the bike. When you said your bike, I was thinking of P-220

You posted the proposed map but this wasn't followed actually , check my pics , there would be another map which shows the actual route.

Thats okay. I will post the actual map at the end. The map contains all the locations we visited. Although we didnt follow the route in red. All in good time.

nice pics and from that I infer that you people had an awesome slush fest

Chapter 2 : The perilous road to Jadhavwadi

After leaving from Bhandara hills, we left for Jadhavwadi dam which is North-West of Bhandara caves. The road to Jadhavwadi dam started
with a small insignificant turn in a nearby village back the way we came. The road itself wasnt much of a road. It was basically a pathway of
mud,rocks and water puddles.

It was time for some off-roading action.The road seemed long and unending and was really taking its toll on my back.
All of us were trying our best dodge all the puddles and loose rocks. Mud was definitely the most dangerous hazard present with the tyres refusing
to grip and spinning in place. If not too careful, it could well mean getting horizontal with the bike. However, after much trials and tribulations on the
road we finally reached a smallish looking dam.Looked more like an oversized bund.The water level of course quite low. A grim reminder of the pathetic
water situation in the state.

Nevertheless, we took our bikes over to the dam's platform. For some nice landscape and the mandatory photo session.











From here, we needed to push on to our primary desitnation , Andra Dam. It was going to be a long ride and roads would continue to be what we have seen so far..or worse.
Will post the trip log and pictures as soon as I finish it.

Anybody tried 'rock-riding' on this.

Only Nikhil , without his bike though
But trust me , the roads we rode on to arrive here were only *slightly* more motorable.

Damn ! wht didnt it strike us there , it could have been done