I wanted to ride to Maharashtra for quite some time. Finally the day arrived. It was a cool Sunday morning. I started from my home and reached the medchal NH7 at 7am. It was a 2 lane highway and was pretty smooth with not even a single pothole. So I was maintaining 80-90 kmph and occasionally touching 100 kmph. I wanted to ride till Maharashtra non-stop which is like 400 km from my home. I also wanted to test how long I could ride non-stop and how long could my bike go non-stop.
A song came to my mind at this thought
"Aa dekhen zara platina mein kitna hai dum"

So I did just that. I thought that the highway would be 2 lane throughout, but it was not like that. The 2 lane ended at Kamareddy which is just around 120 km from hyderabad. The old single lane NH7 started from here on. I had to reduce my speed to 70 as the roads were not good with frequent potholes and lorries and bus drivers overtaking like maniacs. This continued and I crossed Nizamabad which is 160 km from hyderabad. After some time the 2 lane highway restarted but it had a lot of diversions. I had to ride at 20-25 kmph at some of these diversions as the roads were full of sand, stones and mud. Anyhow I managed and crossed Nirmal which is 210 km from hyderabad.

Now the real roads start. There was a nice ghat section with monkeys on the road. I had entered the Kadam forest. Crossed Adilabad which is around 300 km from hyderabad. Entered Maharashtra and crossed some villages and took my first stop after riding for 400 km non-stop. The time was 12pm. Took rest for half an hour, stretched my arms and legs and I was ready to ride back.

On the way back my first stop was Pochera falls. The place was nice. It was a mini-waterfall. Spent another 30 minutes there in clicking pics and headed to Kuntala falls which is the highest waterfall in AP. Descended the 400 odd steps and reached the falls. Got into the water. It was cool and relieved me of the fatigue. The rocks were very slippery and I slipped several times over them. Spent some 2 hours at the falls and climbed the 400 steps again. I was totally exhausted and my heart was beating at twice the normal rate. It was 5pm by now. Started back, saw Pochampad dam on the way and thought of visiting that as well. Spent another 30 mins there and started for home.

It was getting dark and I wanted to reach Kamareddy before sunset as the roads from there on were superb. But that was not possible as herds of buffaloes and goats came into my way. The road construction was also going on and there was a traffic jam due to the road rollers. I somehow managed and zipped through the traffic(benefit of a bike) while other cars, buses and lorries were stuck in the jam. It was already dark and I reached the 2 lane highway. I wanted to reach home as soon as possible so maintained 80-90 kmph again. Reached home finally at 10pm. My whole body was aching and I crashed to bed immediately as I had college the next day.

Total distance covered: 800 km
Riding time: 11 hours
Bike: Bajaj Platina 2008 model

Conclusion: My bike lived up to my expectations!

Who says Bajaj bikes are not reliable???

Pics




My first stop after 400 km at Maharashtra.




Pochera falls










Kadam forest










Kuntala falls







The 400 steps




The falls







People enjoying the falls







The ghats




Monkeys on the road




Pochampad dam




The bike which survived the 800 km trip




The sky





Complete album

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