Mumbai - Goa ride

AS SAID BY MY FRIEND KAUSTUBH (COS_GEO)

A trip log finally . :)

Mumbai to Goa G2G-----------------------

Day 1

Finally after week long discussions and switchin between dozens of destination and almost canceling the trip we finally zeored in on Goa, a weeked dream destination. Even after final plans were drafted i was a bit skeptical bout the ride (ppl have too many personal commitmentz these dayz ). As per planz I was to fly frm kolkatta to mumbai & meet Anup Shiva & Aman at Pnavel mac @ 12 am . Reached mumbai @ 8.30 but cause the f**kin traffic reached home by 11.00 . Packed up got freash arranged cash & left home around 11.45. Reached panvel around 1.20 am (only 1.20 mins late, didnt break ny records).

Every thin was fine till the helmet was on. Broke my glasses wen tried to remove the helmet (A stupid action ). So with no spare lenses in the bag and almost no hopes for fixing the glasses the ride was almost over for me. Was depressed, ambaresed wen Sumit gave me some hopes as power of his glasses was close to mine. From nowhere Razor jummed in and bandaged those glasses (This ride wouldnt be possible without his support. I owe u Gopi).

Around 1.40, with darkness as the compannion and broken glasses on 7 riders were ready to burn petrol on NH17 frm Dusk to Dawn .

Day 2

After riding on Kashedi ghats we took a break ahead of a bridge. The motains were tooo foggy & the mist around us was troublesome. The visors & the glasses were foggin, so couldnt see through it. Took a break to clean those. The dark night was slowly vanishin into the light & the sun was ready to say goood morning. Ther sunlight trying to penetrate the fog was an awesome sight. Then as always we had an XBHP Dog headin towards us (No ride is complete without a dog). He stared at us posed for some snaps & was back on his way .

Had some red bull + water & back on the horses. Then from somewhere the Cow Killer emerged. Im not witness to the incident as me & nikil had taken a photo break. As Anup recounts the events, there was beautiful curve and anup & shiva were crussin around 70+. Anup entered the corner saw some cowz & bullz on the road, luckily everyone was eatin grass on the road sides or yawnin on the other lane. Anup dodged them on the ambition and crusised ahead. He was so sure tht somethin was goin to happen tht he breaked some 100mts from the curve. So ShivaZMA follows anup on the curve, till the time shiva entered the corner the cow yawnin on the other lane had strted crosssin the road. Seein this shiva pressed the break lever, the ZMA strated to skid on the tarmat thx to the zappers (There are some heavy discounts on zappers i guesss. All bikes have them.) So using some brain & keepin some trust in God, shiva opened the breaks & BANG, straight into the cowz stomach. Now heres the interesting part Shiva was standing & balancing his ZMA & the cow fell . (Thz ZMA power, thtz why itz the most reliable & best tourer avaiable in India. HH waitin for the FI version). There is a big list of wht brok in the ZMA, nothin visual. Anup was waitin ahead and watchin the whole drama. According to a cospirasy theory thts goin on in my mind. Anup was felling sleepy, so for some action in life he pushed the cow in the other lane went ahead and waited for the stunt .

Every one took a break after this. Anup was laughin & narrating wht jst happened. As the cow fell & Shiva was standing we changed ShivaZMA to Shiva- The Cow Killer. Took some photos. Ashish & Shiva were busy acessing the damage . Shiva also had a problem with his clutch, he was not able to rip the ZMA at alll. So we strated our journey again. We were supposed to reached Goa by 12 but we had not even reached Ratnagiri & the clock said 7.00.

10-15 km off Ganpatipule Anup stopped. He was feelin sleepy. Found some shade & grass went to sleep. Till we reached there he was fast asleep. After his Bhutan trip he is famous for sleepin nywhere. We too followed him on the grasss. I was sleepin while ridddin. The bike was jst drifitin to the side. The Banglore-Kolkatta-Mumbai was showin itz effects (Aboard a Flight). Whenever i used to drift ashish & nikil used to horn loudly, back on track. I was almost about to hit a man after fallin asleep. Soo I tooo hit the grasss. Slept for 1hr got up at 9.00. Ashish & Shiva were not sleeping but fixin the ZMA. Removed the spedo as it was shakin tooo much & put it the saddle bags & zooom we were back on the highway. A bit freash this time.

The fog now has started to become a bit anooying. You love it for 20-30 mins but for 3-4 hrs itz jst pain. The climate was jst awesome. Atop the mountain we could see the whole ground coverd by the fog. It felt like ur above the clouds. Then as u start the decent ur enter the dense fog & the only thing u can see is tail lights. Waited somewhere after ratnagiri the ambition needed some petrol. Took a small break. I took the oppoprtunity, grabed my sony & clicked some snaps. This was my worst trip considering photos. Was not patient enough to click snaps, clicked everythin in a bit hurry. Will surely improve nxt time. Had some snaks near the petrol pump & headed toward Goa. We were late, it was 12.00 & 200kms more to cover. So were started crusin, it was fun. Ridding non stop, cooly & calmly feeling & enjoin every bit of the ride. We lost Aman, Ashish & Nikhil after kankavli. Realised tht after 30kms. Waited for them to catch up near Kudal (150 kms frm goa). The R15 needed some petrol so they had stopped to refuel. Buckled up after a small break & rode non stop tilll Goa.

Finally around 3.00pm we had crossed Goa border. Waited near a Indian Oil petrol pump. My uni was thirsty. The petrol was 4rs cheaper than mumbai. Took a small b reak had some snaks & headed towards Anjuna Beach. Around 4.30pm we were at anjuna beach but to out dissapointment there were no rooms avaiable there. So we headed towards Baga beach. Got 2 rooms for 800 RS. Parked the bikes, took bath & crashed in the rooms.

Some pics:

the cow killer -zma

dogs & bikes

dont know what they were trying to do

the symbol of power

So itz time to party. So all ppl waitin for some action tune in.

Day2 Nite:

Tired souls with drooping shoulders some standing some lying on bed. It seemed like we had done some 6000 odd kms but to my disappointment the trip meter displayed 600 km. No idea why everyone seemed to be so tired. So two rooms & two groups. One room for the bewdas & one for the nons. For a sec it was I thought should I start to drink to be with the bewdas all night, I fall in the non drinker category .

Aman desperately wanted to be on the beach for sunset. In the mountains for sunrise on the beach for sunset. He was stalking everyone to go to the beach, it seeemed like he was supposed to drag our a** to see some naked chick there. Had a bath, all the dust was gone but skin color definitely was different. Anup was under the shower for hours, the clock was jst tickin & tickin. The clock was tickin, the sun was settin & aman was un settin, it was a scene. So finally everyone was ready to hit the beach, Bagha Beach.

I didnt mention the roads leading to this beach. This is one patch ill always remember. One side you have coconut trees and on the other side of the road a small stream gushing past yout to meet the sea. A small toy bridge acrosss the river leading you to a patch of black tarmac surrounded by lush green fields and fenced by two parallel lines of coconut trees. The blue sky above you and the black tarmac below and you are cuttin the air and moving forward with the horses underneath you. Thtz Goa. Ullelilala ulleoooo ullelilala aeeeooooo (Sorrry I dont knw how to spell it).

Back to the beach. As alwayz goas white sand was there to welcome us. Unlike wht i had expected, the beach was an open restaurant by the sea. Was a bit disappointed by it. The sun had already set but the orange glow had engulfed the whole beach. Found a table by the sand and everyone was set for first ound of drinks, to drown in the cheaply available ocean of alcohol as the sun went down in the blue waters of the Arabian Sea. I took my sony and headed to the sea took some snaps of the beach. Back to the tables orders some soft drinks. Anup & Shiva had finished a bottle i guess till then. Ordered some chicken and starters. Meanwhile I got a call from my bro who stays in goa. He is sort of page 3 stufff in Goa. So casually as a good small bro I asked him to arrange some party sharty enteries for tonight. So in 10 mins we were on th LoungeFly guest list. DSidnt knw where it is so asked a waiter at the beach for direction. He said it is close by but there is a big party tonight & entry only by invitation. So the night was all set and ANUP, SHIVA, AMAN & ME were all set to rock. Jst I had to pay a small price for this setting had to go for dinner with my brother. He was @ Mira Mar Beach, Panjim. So discussed with Anup all the plans. I was goin to miss the blast at the dinner. Took my bike and headed to Panjim. There is onething bout this city, here life begins after dusk. The lounges by the river, the casino, the big bridge ligthend by einstiens invention & the river water engulfed in moonlight. You feel special. Meet my brother @ Mira Mar CCD. Had a big long family chat there. Wre tooo a coool restraunt had some lobsters. There is one thing good to be with a big brother, U dont have to pay the bill & the best part is you dont have to even pretend to do so . (Anup / Aman pls post wht ulll did @ the dhaba)

Anup gave a call to chk on me & told me tht they had their dinner & were now bozzin at some cafe near titos . It was around 9.30 i headed back to Bagha. Reached the cafe by 10.30. Saw Anup, Shiva & Aman sittin at a corner table. Parke th bike & joined them on the table. Ashish, Shiva &
Winzeee were tooo tired & prefered to sleeep (Ull missed the action big time). Anup had found the best cafe, the best corner,, the best table, the beast place on tht table & the best angle for babe watching in goa. As it was saturday night & Titos around we had a eye one every type, firangi, desi, latino, asian..................... (Thtz enough). I was starnin my eye to catch a glimse as i didnt have my glasses. Shiva was tooo tired even tooo open his eyes. Paid the billl were out of there by 11.30.

Lounge fly party was supposed to start at 11.30 so asumming that as in mumbai the action will start late we decided to reach there by 12.15. Went to the rooms, used some deos tht the bulls were carrin with them. The tired trio was fast alseep. Checked ourselfs & vrooooooooooom to the club. To the ZMA & R15 instead of 4 bike, the reason behind this was Shiva was too tired & drunk to drive & i opted not to wear my broken glasses to the club. So I & Shiva were pillions. Found Lounge Fly, parked the bike on the sand (thtz the parking lot , cool). Some girls present there were gosssipin how could we get a entry wen they r not allowed to go in (We were tooo under dressed, Anup was wearing shorts ). Tht was enough for Anup to get charged "Ab tooo mujhe kuch bhi karke jaaan hain". So as we were late & our assumption of goa being like mumbai with all lazy ppl around was wrong, the dance floor was full & they were not allowing nyone in. Called up my bro, anup did some talkin & they let us in. So the late thing cost us a phone call & RS 700 (who gave the idea to be late ). The party was rockin with Nikhi Chinnapa in the house & hot desi & firangi chics on the floor. The trio had some alcohol, showed some moves, stared at some girls & were out of the disc by 2.00pm. Had to get up early in the mornin to start riddin back home so we straing went to the room & offf to bed, batti band.

Some pics...........

Some pics of flowers...

Aman with his R15

Shiva on Zma

The Gang: (L-R) Kaustub, Winzee, Anup, Shiva, Aman

The beach

Party time : Lounge Fly

Practically dead: actually tired

Hope all had fun reading the blog: Mumbai - Goa...hope all visit this enchanting place

Bhandardhara - A rainy ride

The long Weekend...is over and i am still tired, thought that this weekend i will sleep and take ample rest as i have been working very very hard these couple of months.(Seriously)

6:30 pm: On my way back from work on August 14,2008, i get a call from darthlucifer asking if i want to ride to malshej ghat. i was more than happy to hear "malshej" cause i missed being there when all the others had been there. I remember my friends saying about their trips to malshej (thrice) this season. i told darthlucifer that i was driving and will call back once i reach home by 8:00 pm. The worst possible traffic zone in Mumbai could probably go to the Powai stretch and considering the long weekend everyone was out on the street either reaching home early from work or are leaving city for weekend. Nevertheless the story of the horrendous traffic can be put on hold....

9:00 pm: Still on the roads negotiating the traffic, the phone rings and its darthlucifer again and he says malshej is an option but lets see if Bhandardhara can be done too. He put it across saying that it can be a loop. Mumbai Bhandardhara 180kms Bhandardhara Malshej 160 kms and the last streach of malshej Mumbai 120 kms approx so it seemed fine considering the riders who chose to come....

So here comes Razorblades...back from London...with his new made in pakistan bought in London jacket namely *RST* made by the underage labors working in shanty in unhygienic conditions tailoring the jacket....ok whatever he wanted to pose his jacket and his riding gear and he also had not been to any ride for a very long time.....so he readily agreed...





Vaibhav aka pulserider is darth lucifers friend and all i knew him was for the Rann of Kutch ride that i saw on this website and he was coming for the ride..although I had never met him personally but hell who cares who ever comes..its the biking brotherhood that matters in the end.

D DAY oops... Actually it was INDEPENDENCE DAY....while the city slept we lurked out in the rainy dawn at 6:00 am to meet at Thane..the road that leads to NH3....waited like a moron till others came which was just another 10 minutes....no gas filled on the bikes..i was almost empty tank and there is shortage of petrol in the city..petrol pumps work only between 7 am and 9pm..these days...so we were a bit worried as non of us had fuel on the bike except razorblades....
we moved slowly on the road that leads to Kalyan..just ahead near the Bhiwandi bypass junction we found a Pump and stopped there for Fuel...tank full and here was a bright smile on our face....

7:00 we crossed Kalyan and we were somewhere close to Shahapur on and off we were slowing down either due to heavy rain or because we wanted to stop for breakfast but cound'nt decide on a place. Slow and Steady we reached the Ghats....The traffic was moving very slow..due to very bad roads....it was really the worst roads i have been too...

11:30: We enter ghoti and the inter city roads were much better than the national highway...somewhere far we could see the huge mountain ranges...amazed by the beauty of the greenery. Clicked some photos there and then while riding on the way darthlucifer comes screeming at me saying "Hey Anup Kuch Off Roading karte hai kya"!!! bought instant memories of Mahabaleshwar ride where i asked him something similar....do u"ll think i told him no...i wish i had....








darth fell twice and razor thrice ....and vaibhav was waiting for the kodak moment with his Sony....haha...


1:00: we reached the place Bhandardhara...directly roade to MTDC Lakeview resturant to grab some meal...had thali and lots of Gulab jamun.

checked out few places there...we were totally wet how much ever u prepare and wear rainy gear..u get wet if u ride...i was shivering at bhandardhara..and i had only one option that was to shove papers in beween my clothes to get some warmth. ok it didnt happen..i just kept on shivering in bhandhardha...

damn cold...but very beautiful....worth a visit during rainy season....






Our other plan to malshej did not work as the road conditions were unknown and it would have been damn difficult to ride back after dark...

Considering all the options we choose to ride back on the same potholed rode ....started at 3:30 to reach back at 7 pm..at the end of the day i covered 363kms..on my trip....

back ache still persists.....







Cheers to Darthlucifer, Razorblades and Vaibhav....awsome ride...will be cherised...

Xploring Maharashtra through Vader Travels and Razor Lens

This was written for Xbhp.com hence ID has been used to address people.


Rider: Razorblade(Goopi) & Darthvader(Anup Abraham)
Rides: RTR & HH Ambition

Here goes the story!!!

After the Kashid episode there were many plans for a G2G in the month of March and the dates came (15th March) and went by…it got postponed to 22nd March but then as the days came closer so did the Xbhpians came with better excuses….Sorry folks!!! I can understand that work and family etc comes first and then comes the rides….

Well!!! I know many of my friends are going to kill me now…

By far one of the best ride. There was everything right from the beautiful roads to dangerous NH3 to the State highways some off roading, zooming past villages to talking to people and understanding the village life and their culture. So many things! So here we go…..

It all started when meisrossi and motionfreak said that they cannot make it for a ride to mahabaleshwar due to priorities. I wanted to do something and something that atleast I can be proud of, but riding alone is something that only Darthlucifer can do, I would die of boredom. 4 days of holiday and I spend 2 days sitting at home. As Good Friday ended I get a call from Razorblade and he tells me that he wants to ride. It was at 6 pm, I was taken in for a surprise and I didn’t want to miss this opportunity to ride. I told him to start backpacking there were so many things to get done with. My Bike was not serviced either. Place also was not yet decided. I told razorblade “Ellora” he also oked it in a go. No idea how to go where to go, then I did what anybody else would do “Outsource Work”. Shaiju was with the internet and getting razor print outs of the road map. I was pestering Lucifer with some calls and enquiring on the best roads and places to stay etc.

Now that we were all set “ Bikes Serviced, tank full, Bags Packed, Carried Electoral, Red bulls etc etc….called razor and told him to be ready by 4 am and start riding to Thane and be here at 4:30 am we will ride to Nasik first and have our breakfast. This was somehow transmitted to Lucifer and he called me and told me about the harrowing NH3 roads. We postponed it to 5:30 am departure from Thane cover most of the beautiful roads till Sahapur which is 60 kms from thane till sunrise and then we can have the bright sunlight to show us the bad roads.

Day 1:
Well Razor was on time the next day I was so eager that I got up at 4 am and was watching television, did some exercise, bathe and got ready listing to some Talvin Singh….oh yeah peaceful sound in the morning…as it was my turn to be on the road I waited under the flyover for razor to show up..boy o boy was he there on time…I was so happy that at least this Xbhpian shows up on time…we discussed on the riding pattern and who is to lead and what speed to keep and how many distance to cover…once this was decided we started……

In the beginning, it was razor who took the lead. Better headlamps. cruising at a speed of 70 – 75 kmph…getting the rubber heated up, engines to have a feel of constant moving of piston inside her moving..; )

We crossed Sahapur in no time and far away we saw the sunshine, wasn’t it looking beautiful from up there on the mountains. We took some photos and smoked our second cigarette here.




There was a pulsar with florescent green alloys that was speeding and trying to catch up with us and also temp us a couple of times to drag with him but we had our cool and let him go by… on and off we were overtaking him then he used to come back at us….once the sun started to shine we rode fast and fast as in 90 – 100 kmph and this time the pulsar never seemed good to catch up with us…we left him way behind..

The next stop was abruptly taken after 20 min of riding just because the hills. NH3 lots of work are going on. The government is drilling on the hills probably for wider roads or may be mining…but somehow the hills are disappearing.



We did not stop as we wanted to reach Nasik by 8 am and our target Ellora was to by 1:30 pm max.

Almost 90 more kms to go to reach Nasik and almost 6:45 am we felt that its time to ride steady and safe and cover the distance at our target time.. And yes we were at Nasik at 8 am. It was nice to visit Nashik..It had signboard written everywhere “Welcome to the land of Pilgrimage”. We rode to one small restaurant that was open at that time “Hotel Welcome” had Dosa, Poha and Misal Pav. I had a cup of tea while razor went in to catch some snaps. Here are a few…



We left Nasik and we were on the lanes and small roads that would lead us to Aurangabad. Those roads were bad..actually I guess work is going on in the entire state of Maharashtra..there was no potholes its just that the roads are yet to be tarred.. it was a boring and a slow ride, however no complains it was just the beginning of the ride and we were all pumped up… It was such that our machines where undergoing some shocks…and we were worried as the RTR is still only 5 month old baby and I have a 5 yr old grandmother that can pass away anytime…we wanted to keep these safe.

Well after the grueling ride and crossing Niphad, Yeota, Vaijapur, took a bypass towards Devgaon and reached Ellora... We had bypassed Aurangabad in this run only because we were running in late due to the bad roads. We stopped suddenly since razor was whining about the bee which stung him. There was this one guy who appeared in another rtr, and claimed his top speed was 140kmph. We tried explaining him that `meter karab hua`. We don’t know how he took the words and he was insisting very hard to drag. We reached at Ellora by 2:30 pm...that was one hour late thanks to the on going road repair work... “Somewhere I had in my mind Lucifer saying that these caves shut by 5:30 pm” We quickly checked in at hotel kailas Rs 400 for a day..that was a cool deal…



Freshened up and quick grub and there we were at Ellora caves at 3:30 pm.



There was this auto walla who promised us to show us all the caves of ellora for jus 100 bucks. We thought that it will be a good idea since bikes were not allowed inside.



He took us to the first cave, told us to roam around the cave for 30mins and look all the beautiful sculptures. Since he specified the time “30 Mins” I had a suspicion, and there it came true when he disappeared. He went to load other customers. Darn! We were waiting for about 10mins for him. We waited for him about 10mins in all the caves!


^^took this photo while waiting!!

Huge monuments and structures….those people were really crafty at their work…looking at the size of each and every structure amazed me 15 15 feet statues and that too it was crafted to perfection. Here are some pics…..




^^dog fish found in a pond inside the cave.

the caves are representation of three era and three religion…so there was this section that was build by Hindu King….had lots of Lord Shiva Statues and other Hindu Gods….
then there was King Ashoka who build some caves with Buddha Statue in them…
Jain King got some Mahavir Statue in some other caves…



The Monolithic excellence,



There must have been some definite competition that each king got in and got his men do these amazing work..whatever it is…it’s the best place to be at….plus a feeling of fear when u are alone inside the cave and bats making the squeaky sounds..damn…..all and all it was fun….Hope these photos do justice….



We gave our auto walla / tourist guide 80 bucks and he accepted since he himself knew tat he had made us wait for a looooong time :P

When we finished the last cave and during the return walk to the hotel, found an interesting number plate,



and an interesting board which says “NON HOKERS ZONE”



We returned to the hotel then. We heard someone playing guitar and razor went to check that out. One of them was preparing an espresso outside his room.



He said “HI” and we enquired to find that they are a few Swedish bikers returning from Goa, who are on an Indian road trip. They had 5 English born thumpers.



It was 6:15pm and all we could think of is how to get booze…it was a dry day “Holi” and the hotel didn’t serve…we took our bikes in search of locals and people who knew where its available….guess corruption is here to stay…we found it and took some that should be enough to quench our thirst after a day long ride….we had our dinner and went of to sleep…..

Ok now do u think that I can do that……here’s actual story we got 2 McD for me and 2 Cannon 10k for bro Razor…got into this small Dhaba and ordered Some nice Spicy chicken Starters. It was so damn neat that we had 3 plates of those..


^^ our dhaba chef!

While relishing this I didn’t realize that I am almost done with mine…and I wasn’t even getting high….we went back again and this time around I got a bottle of the Monk….boy Monk….(previously he said no monk available here hence settled for McD)…anyway this time we decided that we should head back to hotel before its too late anyway it was around about 9:30 – 10:00…rode back real real slow and reached Hotel which was very near…then came out the monk and the beer…chicken that was taken as parcel and also we had got some Pickle parcel too…..It started to drizzle at round about 1 am and we were at the corridor sitting on the chair and looking at the sky talking nonsense and drops of water falling on my face, that was a pleasant experience….it started pouring heavily and I was getting drunk all the more…I told razor that I am off to sleep and he could enjoy the rain and the beer…he actually did that…I realized this when after getting so high I was unable to sleep and my stomach churning wanted me to throw the waste material out….i ran to the corridor and puked my intestines out…..it was a great relief for me….i was happy to see razor fooling around at 2:00 in the night at the corridor…he had 3 chairs lined up and was resting on them as he wanted to enjoy the drizzle…



At last slept by 2 am…



Day 2:
It was too late for us to get up in the morning plus hangover…10 am and I was still on the bed.. I knew that we had to head back and we require only half a day to do that 360kms is not much….so I was in a relaxed mood….Sunday…we apparently decided lets go to Ajanta atleast and check it out..now that we were just 100kms away we could finish off Ajanta in 5 hrs and then head back..my body was ok mind was saying no…hangover u see….called up Lucifer again and asked him if we should do that…he said no..as it was getting late and he also said that “ if u”ll had a day in hand Lonar was a worthy trip but anyway” and the line got disconnected…we were thinking for a while…Lucifer u ass hole u tempted us to Lonar….then we made a couple of calls to our Boss….It was actually true…we left Ellora late also because of heavy rainfall in the night and I didn’t want to ride on watery road surface….We left for Lonar thinking that 190kms will hardly take any time…later did we realize that the roads were Pathetic…seriously…no roads at all..i was standing most of the time just to avoid the stress on my spines….it took us almost 7 hrs to reach this place…it was our fault..we had time in our hands and also we knew the road…its just that we wanted to visit the villages and the village roads…
just to check em…so we took the inroads…..



This was a heaven in disguise when we found this road after a heavy off-roading. So we decided to celebrate it with a smoke and clicked few snaps.



After this again the hell no-road drive. It was almost 3:00pm and we were hunting for a place to eat. We enquired the people for a decent dhaba.



Atlast found a dhaba where we had darn SPICY|MIRCHI Chicken n Mutton curry and roti. We were sweating due to the spicy of the curry! We said thanks for making us cry to the chef and had a group photo



It was almost sunset and we touched the MTDC resort…here is the most amazing sunset that u may have seen..



The cottage was a beautiful abode….the resort was also very beautiful…



We missed going to the crater as it was already dark… It was 7 pm and we had nothing to do.. We asked the keeper if there is anyother place to visit, he tld us about a temple 1km away….we decided that we will walk as we were tired of sitting on the Bike and backs were aching…so we hiked to the temple..did some prayer and retured…in time for the moon rise…here are some pics…its breath taking…



We chatted around a bit with the locals and time for dinner…

At the dinner, the keeper tells us that there was a group of 40 bikers that had come on this weekend from Mumbai, Pune, Hydrabad etc…wonder who they are…the guy says there was lots of Ganja and the women were smoking in style..i loved the way he said this….lol

Anyway the dinner was ok…not that gr8 but enough for us….we went of to sleep and snored the night away..


^^found this cute little dog at the resort

Morning it was time to do a 500km run back home…thinking about it in itself was tiring..it was the 3rd day and I was feeling so lazy that I didn’t get up till 7:15 am…Razor was all ready….I got ready in 15 mins..



visited the crater and look what we found…..Peacock….



And then we rode back….rest would be narrated by Razor…

** Thanks Darthlucifer for the idea and for reading lonely planet for all of us. Thanks for all the suggestions and guide.
** Motionfreak & Meisrossi no hard feelings man..Peace!!! next ride I hope u all are in.


As said by Razorblade:

Day 3

The crater panaroma pic




After visiting the crater, since the breakfast was not available in the resort, we went for a chai to yet again “Welcome Resturant“




We settled the bills and came to know that we just had few hundreds and there were no ATM’s nearby. On the way back we stumbled on this AXIS ATM.



Thanked GOD for saving us from famine.. Darth went and bought a Maharastra Map which will be helpful for us to head home. I was telling him, letz take the Pune route since the roads will be good.. He said it will add up another 100+ kms and it will be really late to reach home. We came to a conclusion that we will take the same Nashik route. We headed towards Aurangabad.

Lonar->Sultanpur->Bibi->Sindkhed Raja->Jalna->Badnapur->Aurangabad

We reached Aurangabad by 2:00pm. Fuelled our tanks full and headed towards Nashik. It was just the ride and nothing else.. few breaks after 80-100kms..
Out-of-energy we stopped to grab a sugarcane juice..



a looong way to go,


We rode, rode and rode.. reached Nashik at around 5:30pm and we didn’t want to stop since we thought of crossing the ghats before the sunset..
But the ghats never came.. It was 6:30pm then. We stopped for a sutta and a redbull. We saw this Bike from a far distance..



all we could see is “Triumph” and I said to darth “Oh yeah TRIUMPH.. he must be a funny guy”..

Then cant believe my eyes after a close look at its engine, it is a real “Triumph”..



Surprised and Shocked. Took the camera and clicked few pics..



It is a 1952 English built thumper. 350cc and its too powerful so that he uses it to pull cars and vans.. He owns a “Maruti Garage”, just before the ghat starts. It has a mono suspension too..

We asked him `if offered a price to buy the bike, how much would you expect?` he said “I do not wish to sell this.. its my antique collection, but if offered 3lacs I will.” And he speaks good English. J

Then we crossed the ghats very slowly as the sun was down and alternative sides of the road were closed for work. It was a single lane road all through the ghats. We maintained 60-70 until we reached out. It was around 7:45pm that time. The board read, 46kms to Thane.. we rode hard and reached Thane at around 8:40. We stopped at the place where darth bid me good bye. We had a smoke and checked the odo, which clocked 1074kms. YipeeeEE one thousand kms J we rode around 540 kms that day..

So when I reached home, the total on trip meter was 1096 kms..

day1 - 360kms [mumbai->ellora]
day2 - 196kms [ellora->lonar]
day3 - 540kms [lonar->mumbai]

Darn good experience we had.. We rode safe all the time and at few instances we rode real fast, sometimes real hard.. Not even a minor accident, no tyre punctures or any problem with the rides.. overall it was a clean, neat and a memorable ride..