Bike ride to Chikhadara -Part 5

25th Dec:
The day started at roughly 7am with all of us lazing up to the morning blues. NEWS: No water! Dammm! This hotel was getting our nerves now. So as all were waking up, a couple of us with a neighboring guest went down to the reception area and kicked the couple of sleeping hotel staff awake and yelled like crazy at them. Soon they came off their slumber and said since the lights were off there was no water. They then started the generator and connected a pumping machine to some external water drums and pumped water to the tanks. But the process was slow and could easily take over 2 hours, we did not have that leisure. So took our buckets from the room to the tanks and got it filled in. Slowly we were done with our morning duties, and decided to skip bath for the day.

The neighboring guest guy started heating water in a metal container using some firewood and bricks, some of us gathered around the fire to warm ourselves. The bikes were wet with due, just to indicate how cold it was the previous night. Oddly though the rooms were warm. We then had another round of arguments with the manager of the hotel and paid them less of the non-service. Avoid this hotel "Hotel Yuraj" -Sillod affiliated to MTDC at all costs! Soon we blasted our steeds to life and roared off to a near by tea stall(1133kms, 9:32am).

The place was small tea shop with an adjoining dhaba and served an amazing snack only available in these parts - "bun wada" it was amazing just the reverse of a wada paav. The bun is covered in the dough and deep fried. The taste is awesome. Tea too was good -name of the hotel "Agarval tea house". Some of us tanked up at the petrol pump across the road. In about 30 minutes we were on our merry way towards Aurangabad. We decided on synching up some 10kms past Aurangabad.

Mandar was trailing me since the previous day and continued with the same technique (he actually was riding at ~40kmph). In a few kilometers we took a brief halt at an HP petrol pump where Amit an Maneesh tanked up. Post this it was the same blast and bang from my bike and I had my throttle at full and the bike would decide with the gradient and texture of the road weather to go at 50 or hit 70+. Nachiket too stayed behind for this leg, the worse hit part was when we had to ascent a mini ghat just past the Ajantha Caves bifurcation- the bike purred to a glorious 20kmph with blast and puffs as I overtook a couple of trailers! Weird man and really frustrating... So effectively we left my speed at the hands of the bike and no one tried to stop or slow me... it was a weird riding experience.

Eventually Mandar and me rode into Aurangabad city via Chikhalthana and had missed a bypass route(1201.7kms, 11:02am). This side of the city seemed to be pretty modern with malls and a couple of multiplexes. Eventually the city got crowded and post some inquiries we got the right direction, Mandar synched with rest of the gang who had taken the bypass route and we decided to meet in ~10kms. So on we went and rode past Aurangabad city. In some time, we took a halt near a tea stall and called up the others(1231.3kms, 11:44am). In a few minutes the 4 bikes came zooming in and we had our cups of tea. We decided on taking the next halt near Nevasa phata and possibly look for a mechanic there for the bike. In about 20 minutes we rode off.

The highway ride was the same repetition of what we experienced in the ongoing ride, Amit was in a hurry since it was his wedding anniversary and had to be home as soon as possible. Mandar, Nachi and me trailed the pack and the others took turns going ahead and at times trailing back. Effectively we rode at an average of 60kmph. In some time we took a halt at a petrol pump where a few of us tanked up and decided on trying to trouble shoot the bike issue(1260.3kms, 12:42pm). We checked the fuel flow from the petrol tank which was perfectly OK and also dried up the carburetor. I called the hero honda service center mechanic and he suggested changing the spark plug. We planned on getting the repairs done at around Ahmendnagar.

We got off on our merry way and rode off the little city. It was starting to be a pain to ride the coughing machine.. but we carried on. It would get frustrating when some slow vehicle would come infront of me or some one would try crossing the road and would make me slow down. The bike would cough like a maniac when trying to speed up. I still remember on the stretch in MP. where a dog crossed the road and as the bike farted it sprung to its feet in fear staring at me.

By now Amit, Dhanya and Maneesh had ridden off ahead and decided to check for mechanic shops at Ahmednagar. Soon the traffic starting piling up and we were negotiating a huge line of trucks. We were entering Ahmednagar city. We arrived at a turn in the city where Maneesh was waiting for us, Amit had gone in looking for a mechanic shop and Dhanya as usual rode off ahead (he too was looking for a mechanic he said later)(1316.1kms, 13:30pm). Amit returned and said there we many mechanics inside the lanes, soon Amit and me rode of on my bike into the crowded city. The area we went to resembled Nanapeth (in pune) here we bought a spark plug and took it to a HeroHonda authorized mechanic and he said the spark plug was wrong then I had to make 3 rounds to various shops to get the right spark plugs and return the wrong ones. Eventually he fitted the spark plug and checked the bike and said there was some issue with the pickup and starter coils, and denied to fix them soon as he had 3 other bikes in his hand. He said we take a break near Sarathwadi for the bike to cool down before going on. So much for that, we returned to the others and narrated the story and eventually decided to ride off(14:24pm).

We decided to stop at the next available good looking hotel. As we started riding off Dhanya joined us at the outskirt post a bridge. We went searching for a good hotel and eventually halted at one "Hotel Sagar" (1323.9kms, 14:45kms). Here we ordered pitla, methipitla, shengdana thecha and lots of bhakris with rice and daal. The food was amazing and lip smacking. Post lunch we rode off and decided to stop somewhere near Saratwadi (15:36pm).

The ride continued along the highway at gradual speeds. Puffing and chugging through as we rode via a couple of villages, and eventually rode past Saratwadi (via Hotel Navnath we had stopped for breakfast a few days back)(1375.6kms, 14:30pm). We took a brief halt but decided to carry on as everyone was in the groove of the ride. So on we rode and went past more smaller towns and eventually entered Shikrapur and took our routine tea halt(1399.9kms, 17:04pm).

Here we refreshed ourselves and decided to meetup next directly at Gunjan talkies (depart at 17:14pm). My fuel indicator was showing bad signs so fueled up at a pump in a couple of kilometers. Slowly rode ahead as the roads started getting crowded, I guess I was at Wagholi, by now everyone was far ahead and was the last one. Some big VIPs were around and had a huge ground setup for a public meet, lots and vehicles and police had clogged the place. Negotiating the traffic I eventually rode past Koregaon and soon came the traffic signals of Pune, post which all my compadres stood waving at me near Gunjan talkies. The ride had come to an end(1432.7kms, 18:00pm).

Here we exchanged high fives and chit-chatted for sometime. The 4 big tigers from Semadoh was still a topic for laughter at this point and so was Maneesh's "oo ooooooo oooooo". Eventually Dhanya and Amit took their luggage off the saddle bags and bid adeu... Mandar departed a few minutes later and finally Maneesh Nachi and me took off in the direction of BundGarden bridge. Eventually Maneesh rode off then Nachi parted ways near Kumbharwada as I "puffed" "bang" "chugged" the frustrating city traffic and my caughing steed back home(1441.3kms, 18:47pm).

It was a ride, quiet different from the previous ones. In a way that we went away from the coast and this time did not experience sweat or sore butts post riding :).

B.t.w the blasts from my bike were later rectified and corrected by the mechanic, who said it was nothing more than a loose contact of a couple of wires... @#$%$^&*(#@$!!!

Bike ride to Chikhadara -Part 4

24th Dec:
The day started pretty early with us waking to morning calls at ~6:30am. Soon we called up the reception for our buckets of hot water (the hotel heater system was down and hence they would provide us with water). Soon the water arrived and we took turns getting fresh. By ~7:30am we checked out of the hotel and rode down to the little snack shop, and had some quick snacks. Nachiket and me decided to leave early, since we would have formalities to complete with the checkpost guy. (821.4kms, 8:01am).

Here Nachi, had a slip at slow speeds. It was pretty funny, I was trailing him and thought he was taking a stop for a leak and then at a standstill position the bike fell off. No injuries just a few parts got jammed which were rectified soon. Past some twisties we were at the checkpost and started off with the formalities for tickets and shelling off 210/-. Soon everyone teamed in and with the formalities done we took the ghat to Semadoh(~8:30am).

By now we were familiar with the road and jungle, thus left at our own pace downhill. Past the twisties as were were nearing Semadoh, came a huge roar (like a muffled sound) definitely a tiger, monkeys jumped off trees as the sound came in. (None except Amit and me heard that roar... so well, we atleast got to hear a tiger roar in the tiger sanctuary). Soon we arrived at Semadoh took a regroup halt and rode off ahead. Here I was leading the entire way- the bike was not behaving well, it kept misfiring and for me it felt like riding a horse for every misfire blast. Still the smooth roads went on straight ahead at ~80kmph. We did slowdown to regroup and continued to ride in a straight line. There were a couple of close calls as passing by motorist/cars would stop to have an eyeful of us streamlined motorists and thus almost run into us. But nothing bad happened. Soon we rode past Dharni Phata. The road now started getting bad in patches and we riders were now spaced apart. The jungle started to thin off as we started riding along a thin road with farm on both sides. Soon we were following signs for Bhuranpura and Dharni. Finally we arrived at the little village of Dharni -our breakfast halt(896.9kms, 10:25am).

The previous day's food had taken a toll on me and my stomach was not feeling right and with a slight headache decided to skip snacks and just have a cup of tea. Other relished on the local food- which they said was the best they had on the entire ride (grrrrrrrr!). Many villagers gathered around the bikes and kept passing comments. Soon in about 30minutes we left in the direction of Bhuranpura.

For the ongoing route the road was not too good and we mostly had some farmland on both sides with a thin road going straight through various hamlets. At one point an Indica car parked to the left of the road revved hard to let out a plume of black smoke wall on the road and Nachiket rode straight through it at 70kmph - it looked cool, as he passed through- the smoke trailed him through the hole :). I followed him - possibly made similar impact on my trailing compadres. Soon enough we arrived at a small checkpost sorts and rode straight through with a board that read (Welcome to Madhya Pradesh)! Thumbs up and in we were the new state. The roads were pretty thin and continued with similar scenery around us. We kept riding more or less in a single file. The road signs were now in hindi and the overspeeding caution messages too were in Hindi- no Marathi :). At places the roads were pretty bad and we had to pass through some stagnating traffic, as trucks and heavy vehicles blocked a market road at a village. We rode on and soon arrived at a junction with Bhuranpur to the right.

All riders rode right following the lead of Mandar, soon we were crossing a huge river over a wide bridge -Tapi river. We were going in the wrong direction we never were to cross Tapi and simply had to by-pass Bhuranpur. Nonetheless we regrouped soon after riding some 6 kms into the city outskirts, were stopped by cops for a routine check of vehicle-papers. The cops were thrilled to know we had been ridding all the way from Pune, all cops crowded around us like curious spectators, it sure was a funny sight. One of the cops persuaded us to stay at Bhuranpur and take a look at a nearby hill fort which is like an icon for the city. We politely rejected his offer- by now Mandar and Maneesh were in a situation with no RTC papers since their bikes were brand new and the papers had not arrived. Some talks and 50 bucks let them free. We took appropriate directions from the cops and they directed us back 6kms and asked us to take a right towards Ichhapur and eventually Maharashtra via Muktainagar.

So we rode back some 6kms kilometrers and took a halt near a tea stall. Amit came in with Dhanya and we learnt a new story - Dhanya was traveling without papers and had lost the same a long time back. This was pretty bad, but he managed to slip off with us. Eventually Mandar and Maneesh teamed in and we had our cups of tea and Maneesh went down to a mechanic to get his mirror repaired (979.7kms, 12:29pm). Eventually post tea, we decided to ride towards Ichhapur and have lunch either there or at Muktainagar.

The road from here was along a highway and it was pretty smooth - we could speed after a long time. We went riding over a couple of rivers, some were full others seemed pretty dry. Soon we were driving through highway traffic and eventually entered Ichhapur a small town and just as immediately rode through a checkpost sorts with a board indicating we were leaving Madhya Pradesh. The road signs were again in friendly territory. My bike would not let me ride any faster that 70kmph. So I was trailing back, others recognized this and took turns trailing me or ride around me :). The afternoon was pretty hot and a big change from the last 3 cool days- that meant getting tired as you ride. We arrived at Muktainagar, and rode into junction but found no spot where we could have lunch. (1017.8kms, 13:36pm). Post some inquiries locals asked us to have lunch at a near by college canteen. Amit and Dhanya went to check out the restaurant- they called back to affirm the quality and we gathered for lunch.

The canteen was pretty simple and was built adjoining the Muktainagar college. The owners were pretty happy to see us and we were pretty tired under the sun. Took a couple of tables under the shade of a tree. The waiter kid was an enthusiastic lad and suggested some good food -shev bhaaji, aloo rassa bhaji , vaangi bhaaji and lotsa chapaatis and papads. These parts of Maharashtra are know was extremely spicy food, so we instructed them to make it less spicy. The food was simple and amazing ... the taste was top notch. Even with my rotten stomach I could not resist the temptation. After a long relaxing break we took our leave and took directions and rode off in the direction of Jamner our next halt(1018kms, 14:35pm).

The ensuing road was no different, but post some distance there was this construction activity underway and that meant a lot of rubble. Maneesh managed to slip again, but with no injuries. Soon we came to an extremely bad patch of road where there was a deadloack with a truck entering a ditch an we lining up to get out of it, but soon enough we were on our merry way. The road went through some desolate parts and soon we came to a halt near a railway crossing. Here and individual could not resting patting all of Amit's protective gear and Amit could not resist himself explaining the merits of each. A train passed by but the the gates did not open , an engine passed some 5 minutes later . Eventually the gates opened and we rode through. Roads were no different and we simply kept going. Soon we arrived at Jamner and took a regroup halt, Jamner was to the right we had to go straight. I had to fuel up so did the same while others settled at a tea stall (1065.8kms, 15:51pm).

Here the tea shop owner and few other visitors suggested us not to goto Ajantha Caves as it was to close by 5pm and also one could not ride all the way to the caves. We would have to park the vehicles at a junction then take a bus to the caves. We contemplated on various options for an overnight stay- Pardapur and staying at Dahnya's farm house was one of them. We decided on riding down to Pardapur and hunt for places to stay- The Ajantha caves visit was in the bin. We left for Pardapur (16:25pm).

Rode straight along the highway, my bikes condition was deteriorating and we thought of getting it repaired at some nearby city if time permitted. Eventually post some highway straight drive we arrived at Pardapur neat an MTDC resort. The owners there pulled the gates on us saying it was full, but did suggest an MTDC affiliated resort "Yuvraj" just on the outskirts of Sillod(1095.7kms, 17:07pm). We tried convincing the owner, but was of no avail. Dejected we decided to ride on towards Sillod- Dhanya suggested we had a fallback plan in case no hotels worked out -his farmhouse. We rode on stright towards Sillod.

We had decided to keep an eye out for Yuvraj hotel, Amit and others rode straight ahead to make the search at higher speeds I kept chugging behind. So by now I was riding pretty much alone far behind, in about 45minutes the riders were waving down to me along the side of the road in a distance. It was a butt break halt. Sillod was hardly some 2 kms away -Amit, Maneesh and Dhnya went off ahead to search for the hotel while the rest of us took a halt (I needed one especially after riding the farting horse!). Soon Amit called and said the hotel seemed OK and was just 5 minutes from where we were- as usual the others had ridden away.

Eventually we all grouped up at "Hotel Yuvraj". From outside it seemed pretty neat. The rooms were not well kempt and we took an adjoining less untidy room. The staff had promised to give us 4 extra beds. Thus we wrapped down into the room and decided to have dinner at the hotel itself. (1132kms, 18:00pm). Some of us took a fresh up and others walked off in the open area of the hotel which seemed like a mini resort. Having too many mosquitoes we requested for repellent coils which we got. Later we spent time in the central reception room/dining area as we watched the India-Srilanka match. The cold was unbearable and some of us got comfortable near the bhatti (where they bake naans and rotis).

Here drinks were ordered which arrived after about 45 minutes, the dinner came after about 2 hours- pathetic service. I had already dozed off at the table and Mandar gave me neat massage in a bid to keep me awake- Thanks Mandy!. Later Mandy and the owner went down to the drinks shop to change the drinks since they were outdated, and it turned out the drink shop owner had over charged! Eventually dinner arrived and it tasted horrible- chicken handi was like rubber pieces, the veg handi was made in chinese gravy after this we could not have anything. The only good part was having all those 12 boiled eggs before the dinner.

Eventually tired and disoriented we retreated back to our rooms. The beds had not arrived only 3 extra beds were there and no blankets. Lots of shouting eventually got in 2 blankets and an extra double bed, this irritated most of us and we went out and blasted the manager and the owner of the hotel at 12 midnight. The bozzos had not given us anything and expected us to sleep tight in the cold night. Finally they assured we would get everything soon, at ~12:30 am all the blankets arrived amidst our sleep. Irritated I snapped at the manger who got the blankets, Maneesh who was sleeping next to the door woke up mid-sleep and went "Huuuhh.. hooo ooooo ooooooooooo oooooooo ... blah blah blah" blabbering in his sleep "sleep off man" I snapped at him and just as immediately he dozed off - Nachi and me enjoyed this, and we kept teasing him for this for the rest of the trip.

Eventually we called it a day at ~12:35am. The next day our ride was to end and we could do that at a leasurly pace, but with my bikes bad condition meant our speeds would be hampered. The next day was to see a major influence cased by good old CBZ the fart buster!

Bike ride to Chikhadara -Part 3

23rd Dec:
The night was calm and possibly full of roars from black Romans... Woke up with the alarm at roughly 7am and got down with our routine. No one was in the mood to be up eventually we ordered our tea. Looked like all except me were in the drowse of a mood. Tea arrived, eventually at ~8:15 Nachi and me took a stroll down the road to the nearby little hotel(New India Cafe and Nashta House), where we had our next share of tea followed by some amazing pohe. The place was like a typical hill-station, many tourists were getting off buses and other getting ready for their morning stroll. I amused myself playing with a little pup. It was chill, the sunshine gave some much needed respite from the cold.

Back at the hotel, our riders got down and we were chatting with the hotel folk asking for places to see around. They shared enough info and we decided on doing some sight seeing first followed by the Jungle Safari. All of us, then visited the little hotel again for a round of breakfast...(~9:30am) pohe, wada, misal, daal wada all with rassa and tea was the menu. Chit chatted a bit and returned back to our hotel. The chicken too could not cook-a-doodle with a cold down their throat. We spent some time down at the lobby as others took turns to get fresh for the day.

The hotel staff had indicated that the dormitory would be vacant that day and we decided to take a look. It was on the terrace but was untidy. The view from up there was wonderful! The rates for the dorm were similar to that of our rooms combined, hence we continued with our rooms.

By 11am we were all attired and ready to stroll. Except Nachi's thunderbird all vehicles took the road and "BhimKund" was our first halt, which was 4kms from where we were. We rode along a presumed direction but then eventually were riding along a clean straight road which later went down a ghat, after some 11kms of riding I decided on stopping the procession. We were in the wrong direction for sure and also my fuel was indicating "not good for fooling around". Thus we turned around and when we saw the board "4kms Chikhaldara", we stopped and what seemed to be a sort of view point, decided it was our Bhimkund and made all sorts of mockery and enjoyed the views. It was a clean and clear day and the views and spirits were high.

We then rode in the direction of the city again and spotted the board for Bhimkund (we had actually ridden past the right turn had taken the following right ). Following the boards we went along nice smooth roads and eventually came to a halt at what seemed to be a hight point for the start of a ghat road as we spotted many buses parked along the side and a school picnic was making way off the road down a slop along a walk way. Assuming this to be a parking lot we parked our vehicles and strolled down the slope. It was a simple walk down which eventually went over a little footbridge along the side of the hill and eventually walked down to the same road where it came to an end at a vantage point.

Truly speaking we could have ridden down till the point.. well alas we were here. Where the road ended there was this huge triangular vantage point with a parapet wall running along the valley side. The valley was deep and beautiful, much bigger than what we proclaimed to be our BhimKund. We spent some time around the vantage point and later walked past it and trekked down the slop to what seemed to be the start of a water fall from a little natural water reservoir (kund... possibly BhimKund). Spent some time fooling around the spot and in awe of nature. In some time headed back to the vantage point where Amit played with some school kids who ran off in fear! :). There is a notice board indicating the history behind the place it basically said "Bhima had beheaded Rakshasa Kickhak and flung his body down this vally and washed the blood off his hands in a little pond which is now called 'BhimKund' and since the event this place was called KichakDara (dara as in dari in marati) and with time it became ChikhalDara". Knowledge++. Eventually we trekked back along the hill slope to where our bikes were parked. Maneesh had no idea we had to walk this far and came all attired in protective gear and helmet (he looked like an astronaut teleported right off the moon).

We got on to our next spot- "Malvia Point". This was not too far from where we were. Simply retraced the route and took the boards indicating to Malvia Point. The road eventually ended and we had to go though some really bad paths (it was simply carved off the hill ) -which was no more than dust and rubble and too slippery. Maneesh slipped off this road but fortunately at extreme slow speeds. The path ended when we felt we could ride no further. A small walk down the dent in the hill and we were at another vantage point, which was just some distance from BhimKund- The views were similar. We could spot Gawilgad fort in a distance. Spent some time fooling around before heading back.

Devi was our next spot to be seen, We eventually got off the dirt track and made our way towards Devi with Mandar and pillion Nachi heading the route. We reached Devi which seemed to be like a little temple with a huge pond along side it where they had boating and horse riding activities and was heavily crowded. We simply rode past towards GawilGad fort.

The fort in a distance seemed to be pretty huge with a mega big entrance. Post some discussion we decided to enter the fort and sped a few minutes. There was possibly a college trip that had come on a visit here and hence the crowds. The fort was in ruins with just the bastions intact. We walked some distance inside and could see how vast the this fort was ... seemed to be over a kilometer wide. After some time we explored a little more before retreating back to our vehicles.

Here we met a gentle man who on seeing the bullets asked if they were 500CC and continued to say that no other vehicle could ride this far. On getting knowledge that 150 and 350 CC too made it till here ,he chose silence and walked off. Another couple of people asked if the bullets were running on Diesel, on denial they simply gave an awkward grin and walked off. Well diesel meant more fuel efficiency and thus the query.

By now the clock was ticking at ~13:15pm and we decided to ditch any other spots of interest to lunch. We pre-decided to have lunch at Satpura resort. So off we rode in the direction, Now we could see the roads we had taken the previous night... it was wide but the turns were pretty actute and dangerous for the dark. Eventually we were at Satpura and were directed to the dining area. Soups, Waradi paneer, zhunka, bhakri curries made up our lunch. We relished on the mouthwatering food, sure it was a bit spicy but was amazing. Post lunch spent some time around the resort lazing and chit chatting and deciding on what is to be done next. Jungle Safari it was- but what about fuel!?

My CBZ, Maneesh's bullet and Amit's pulsar were showing not so good indications. A visit to the nearby petrol pump indicated no fuel till 30th of December! They were selling fuel in black but we decided against the same. The nearest place to get fuel was Paratwada which was some 35 kms from here (the same route we had mistook as the BhimKund route in the morning), but also we had to do Jungle Safari which was 25 kms down the road in the other direction at Semadoh. The clock was ticking around 3pm and safari was to close by 5pm, so the taking Chikhaldara-Paratwada-Semadoh was out of the question which was some 80kms away and would mean missing the safari. So it was decided to take a risk- ride down to Semadoh have the JungleSafari then ride on to Paratwada, where we fuel in and then come up to Chikhaldara. It did seem pretty weird to go all this far just for fuel, but it had to be done and fast too.

So back we got attired and back on our steeds to leave the place towards Semadoh (714.5kms, 15:30pm). In a few minutes we reached the checkpost where we were asked to take tickets again, since the tickets were valid only on a daily basis. So 210/- lost again and 20 more minutes gone. With all this done we eventually rode down the curves through the jungle in broad day light. The jungle was beautiful and thick. It did have a few straight stretches but many were curves, one could ride at a max of ~60kmph. We rode more or less in a file spaced far apart. There was some road construction work going on (we did observe this the previous night too), the only bad patch. Also with a string of mud lying along the central part of the road meant we would automatically cling to one edge of the isolated road. Eventually we got fairly low and the distance reading for Semadoh along the mile stone kept decrementing. A fence appeared along the 2km mile stone to the left and we rode past the checkpost near the Forest Dept. Guest house. We regrouped at this point and rode inside the guest house premises. (739.7kms, 16:30pm)

The place was neat and big. Quick inquiries with the concerned officials revealed that we had to arrange our own vehicles since the forest dept vehicle was away on duty. The official asked us to act fast in booking a vehicle at Semadoh(which would be very easy) since the safari would stop at 5pm (basically he said if we reported past 5pm the safari would not take place.). The safari was to cost 120/-. Amit and me wasted no time going to the Semadoh village looking for a vehicle. Villagers pointed us to a place where we could book a vehicle, and people from that place pointed us to another (hospital) where we could meet a person who would arrange the vehicle. We reached the spot and inquired for the person who came and said he would reach the Forest dept. guest house in 15 minutes before 5pm. He charged 500/- for the hire(a green Maruti Van).

Back at the guest house we informed the officials of the same and once the driver arrived we were appointed a guide who with a smiling face joined us all inside the van. Amit, Mandar, myself, Maneesh and Nachi sat behind while Dhanya sat with the guide and driver in the front seat. The van drove in the direction of Dharni Phata for some 10 kms before taking a right to a checkpost where we had to show the JungleSafari booking receipt. Some cars and vans were coming out in the opposite direction, The road was nothing more than a dirt path that went through the thickets for about half an hour. We were told we would eventually enter Semdoh from the other side.

All of us were pretty exited and were expecting to see some animals around this part. The guide purely believed in smiling at his customers and preferred chatting with the driver. The driver believed in chatting with everyone , Dhanya believed in pep talk with his new found companions and the rest of us believed in making non-sense talk when none of the informed ones pledged to talk with us. So we had our laughter riot. The only information we got and that too from Mr. driver was that all trees were "Sagwaan wood trees". The guide even on questioning felt too shy to open his mouth. Duh!

A passing vehicle in the opposite direction indicated that there was some animal or something in a distance , but our informers believed otherwise and took us rocking and shaking though the dirt path past streams and over streams. All we saw nice thick foliage in various shades of green and brown. Not one insect in sight- we at least could spot monkeys on our ride along the tar roads! Not even a cat or dog in these parts!

We reached another checkpost which marked the end of the safari and meant we would be on tar roads again. At the exit a couple of motorists (possibly new to these parts) inquired in "Yahan se shortcut hai kya?" pointing towards the trail we came from, to which Dhanya in all frustration answered "Haan haan .. dhikhe chaar bade bade dhike" extending his hands out of the window proving his point. We got into a laughter frenzy and it was fit we simply could not control, we still keep giggling about it till date. The poor motorists decided on following us all the way to Semadoh instead :).

The driver said that one can spot bears if not tigers, but that was possible only during the summer months when animals would come down to water holes near the trails. He said that at this time with thick foliage, even if an animal was nearby it would be camouflaged. So much for tigers we drove back to the forest dept. Here we completed all formalities. But one thing is for sure, the place is thickly forested and beautiful!

At roughly 6:15 we departed from the place to the Semadoh village tea hut for some tea. A group of bikers from some near by village were here and the cold in all its might was here as well. Some gulps of tea later we rode off in the direction of Paratwada which was along the state highway. The cold was relentless but the roads were good. It went straight at occasions and twisting and twining at others, the high beams from heavy vehicles in the opposite direction was an issue, so we would simply stop and let the vehicle pass. Riding on for many kilometers later we came to a ghat section and went on to a descent along curves, we could spot a huge cluster of city lights in a distance -possibly Paratwada city. In some time we took a halt along a straight road and inquired for directions to Paratwada and followed the directed path.

The city of Paratwada is huge and seemed like a modern city from what we saw. There were many petrol pumps but none of the residents believed in following a queue system. Mandar and me tanked up at an Indian Oil pump while others did the same at HP petrol pump (784.5kms, 19:56pm).

Post tanking up we were in for another blunder from Dhanya, who went missing- but not for long. We utilized the time in getting the appropriate directions to Chikhaldara. We were to go via Dhamangaon to Chikhaldara up the same road we mis-took in the morning. In ~30minutes we rode off.

We went in a single file, the initial stretch was straight and eventually went along twists upwards. Enroute I took a halt on the ghat since I just could not control the cold and had to clean up my nose! Riders went up some distance and Nachi and Dhanya came riding back in search of me. We had a hearty laugh later when I told them the true reason :). The ride was pretty event-less with us riding past various little village boards and eventually via twits up the ghat to Chikhaldara. Here we had to pay an entry fee - This we were told was the Govenment fee and what we had been paying earlier was the forest dept. fee. We were pretty irate with this and gave them a piece of our mind, but there was nothing they could do either. Eventually we reached our hotel (817kms, 21:20pm).

Back at our hotels freshened ourselves up. There was some function going on in the near by public hotel- loud unheard blaring music. We like the tunes and were dancing to it! Soon we decided to have dinner at Satpura resorts and rode off in that direction. It was very cold and unforgiving. We were all wrapped but the cold still got to us. We had dinner indoors and had ordered similar food as afternoon. It was sumptuous. Post dinner rode back to our hotels in the dark and ice-cold climate.

We decided to leave by ~7am since we would have the forest dept. formalities to complete on the way out. By now my bike was showing signs of bad exhaust notes... I was not sure what it was. We slept off at ~11pm, the next day we would be riding via Madhya Pradesh and stay somewhere near Ajantha. It was a long day and demanded some sound sleep- which we did get for the night!

Bike ride to Chikhadara -Part 2

22nd Dec:
The mouse did make some of us wakeup past midnight. It was morning, with us lazing up at ~7am. Again Dhanya was in a drowsy mood, so all of us except him went for the morning tea. So off we got 3 bikes from the garage and away we were. Took a break at the tea stall where fresh tea was being prepared, post that we went off in the direction of the crater. The town was sleepy and a complete contrast to the previous night. The air was chill and a good feel all over, as we rode off the town in the other direction towards the crater.

In no time past some turns in a distance the plateau seemed to have caved in, up we revved our engines as we came to a juncture and took a right and later entered one of the guest house premises that had a wonderful vantage point. The crater was visibly huge. Sure enough this Lonar halt was big success(we were brainstorming over a halt at Lonar or Akola the previous day), none of us had seen anything like it before. But again if seen in the non-geographical interest angle it seemed like nothing more than a huge hole with water within. Yet it was beautiful , the water was salt water and we stood there in awe. We did contemplate going down to the bank, it seemed to be ~500feet deep, but it had to be done on foot so that translated to time consumption and add up to delays for the days destination and hence it had to be chucked out. Some local kids did ask us to visit the hot water spring, but time constraints got the better of us and we rode back to our lodge. (~8:20am)

Back at the lodge, packed in all the stuff had a fresh hot bath and decided to throw off the pack of "rusk biscuits" since our rodent friend decided munch on the snack. We did report the same to the lodge staff and Mandar held a 1K bet too and won the same (naaa... we did not cash in). Nonetheless it was ~9:25 (389.3kms) by the time we were leaving Lonar and traveling in the direction of Mehekar.

We rode in a single file and soon reached Sultanpur (400.8kms, 9:25am). Took the straight road that led to Mehekar. The road was a single lane and went through some rich country side. Street signs indicated the proximity of Mehkar and soon we entered a little town and took a halt near a little shop (Hotel Ganesh) that was serving tea and some hot munchies(412.6kms, 10.02am). A huge crowd gathered around us and were chatting as to who we might be etc. (now this was pretty much a know behavior for us since attired people on bikes is a rare sight around these places). Here we had some amazing daalwada, wada paav pohe and loads of tea. A gentle man helped us with directions to Chikhaldara and also drew us a nice map and since we were on a joy ride on bikes he suggested we take a route via PopatKhed to a place called Semadoh to Chikhaldara, all via the lush jungle of Melghat. He also asked us to stay at Semadoh (which is the base of Chikhaldara and thickly forested too) since we could expect tiger roars etc at night which would be a rarity atop. Loaded with information , some of the bikes tanked up at a near by petrol pump, off we were (10:20am).

The next destination was decided to be Akola some 100kms away since we were fresh and ready for the speed run. The ride was not characterized by any special events per say, it was simple ans straightforward keep riding in the direction of Akola. We did keep circling our places around each other in the line of bikes. In about an hours time as our backsides started to pray for a break, signboards for Akola started to emerge. We soon got over a highway after taking a right, regrouped and rode in the direction of Akola. We rode for some distance and came to an intersection near an St. bus depot (it seemed to be the outskirts of the city). Here we took a left and a halt near a tea stall and took directions for Akot, which was nothing but straight along the turn we took. Maneesh steered off left and retreated back to where we were (514.6kms, 12:08pm). Took a 20 minute halt before Mandar and me rode off to tank up at a near by petrol pump (518kms, 12:40pm). The pump helper asserted our directions and was happy to see riders in this direction. Soon we all teamed up and rode through the heavily crowded Akola city and off it in the direction of Akot. We passed through a ghat section partway which was pretty scenic, but no one was in the mood of a halt. The later part of the ride was not eventful but pretty comfortable as we rode into the town of Akot (561.4kms, 13:30pm).

Akot was crowded and we could not spot any decent hotel. Amit expressed his urge to have lunch at the right time if possible and we decided on the same. Some quick inquiries and we were directed to a hotel in the vicinity(Swad and Shet hotel). The place was not too big, but nothing to grumble about either. So parked our steeds in the crowds and in we were (in these parts, people do get curious looking at loaded bikes but do not do anything mischievous either.. sure we would ask the owners of the hotel to keep a watch and they'd oblige). The lunch was really good amazing waradi theecha with bhakris and some lip smacking curries. The butter milk was not so much to talk about though. Amit had a long and lengthy discussion with the owner of the hotel and a couple of his friends, who were possibly in their teens, about directions and places to stay at Chikhaldara. Here too they helped us in all possible ways, with telephone numbers etc. Loaded with all this information off we were in the direction of Semadoh(14:35pm).

The road soon got off the crowded city and we were riding on some not so good roads, a river made an appearance by the side and in the distance was a range of hills. These were the Melghat ranges. I was a bit irate that no one took halts at the previous picturesque ghat between Akola and Akot, so out came my camera and lo behold started clicking as we rode. Dhanya was trailing me all along and he too started with the recording spree. One could not ride too fast since the roads were OK-ish. Soon we rode past the board pointing to Semadoh and rode through thin vegetation, we were riding under tall trees and eventually under a thick cover. Dhanya rode all around our file recording with his camera (later he was irritated that he forgot to click record!.. hahaha). The cover as wonderful and very serene. The road had a lot of sand on the path and thus our speeds were at bay. Soon we came near a checkpost. We were at Khatkali Naaka(585.8kms, 15:20pm).

We had to part with 210/- (Rs. 15 per vehicle and Rs. 20 per head) and the guards there gave us precise directions to Semadoh. In roughly 20 minutes we were done and were off riding through the jungle. There was a stream along side and some truckers were having their bath as they waved out good byes... The road led in an upward direction through twists and rubble. For the most part the road was good, but there were pebble and mud along most parts of the road and hence the risk of slips. The lead riders would generally stop and sych up at every occasion since some of us were having difficulty negotiating the acute turns at high speeds. Soon we reached a vantage high point (there was this concrete shed constructed there) and that's where we got an amazing panoramic view of the Melghat jungle. It was huge and wonderful, thick and green. There are ~60 tigers in this forest, we were sure it would be a rarity to spot any(~16:00pm) Many snaps and off we were on the road ahead in 10 mins.

The twists continued and one occasion the whole road for a good kilometer was nothing laid with cut stones(the ones they layout just before making the road). Slow but steadily we kept riding along many slips but no falls we were moving ahead. Soon the road gave way to some nice tarmac and took a slight descent as it went through a nice country side with various streams and farms. Soon the jungle reappeared and so did the twisties. Along this road we were pretty fast and soon came to a T junction -Dharni phata(641.2kms, 17:10pm). Lots of langoors were dancing on tree tops. The place was amidst the forest , the road to the left went to Dharni and eventually Madhya Pradesh and to the right led to Semadoh. Some quick inquiries with a couple of people on vehicle confirmed our direction and off we were.

The ensuing roads were simply amazing, one could rip at break-a-neck speeds on these roads... but again it was pretty dangerous too, since there would be the sudden uninvited turn. We rode pretty fast and heavy, this was a smooth and best leg of the ride (we had to ride back on the return journey as we had to take the Dharni route). For some reason there were speed breakers at regular intervals- we later learnt it was to protect the animals crossing the road. Soon we rode past an unmanned checkpost to the village of Semadoh(663.2kms, 17:36pm). The temperature was at an all time low, it was tough to stand at one spot. We soon settled ourselves at a tea shack and had endless cups of hot tea. Maneesh and Mandar inquired at the forest dept. guest house for places to stay but unfortunately it was full since many of the officials had come for some convention and training session. Later Mandar and myself rode down to the government guest house a couple of kilometers away just to hear the same story. We had no option but to go upto Chikhaldara for the night.

Villagers did persuade us to go up, as it was getting dark. From where we stood there were 2 routes to get atop, one ~25kms straight up though the jungle and second ~80kms via Paratwada along the state Highway. With the darkening surroundings we unanimously decided on the 25kms route :). After spending an unfruitful and terribly cold hour at Semadoh we rode to the checkpost that led atop via the 25km jungle route(This was along side the forest dept. guest house). The Forrest official refused to open the gate, since he said it closes at 6pm , later when Mandar and others persuaded him that we had failed to find rooms and rode a long distance on bikes he surrendered to our pleas and let us through, but advised us to stay together as it was a jungle. It was dark, and got pitch dark as we got into the thickets.

The road was not at all bad, it kept going up on most occasions though twits and we rode in a single file at an average speed of ~30kmph. It was impossible to speed in the dark, the only light we had were our bike beams. We rode obediently Mandar-Maneesh-Amit-Dhanya-Nachiket-Me was the file and it went like a serpent through the tickets. The chill had got us all numb and it was relentless. I started singing to beat the cold. In a distance we could see the valley in the dark and the distant silhouettes of mountain ranges. A couple of vehicles rode past us in the opposite direction and we spotted some road construction workers sitting around a little bonfire amidst the jungle!

In ~45 minutes we reached the top to another checkpost to enter Chikhaldara.(683.5kms, 19:11pm). Here we simply had to show our previous receipts and the guard there made entries for all the bikes. The guard was a pretty cheerful character and shared various stories, he also said he spotted 2 tigers that morning near the checkpost. Well soon enough we were done with the formalities and we were let inside the hillstation.

The road was good and soon past some tuns we came to a juncture from where we took a left to the main city center. We stopped near a Hotel Utkarsh and started on the hotel hunt(688.9kms, 19:30pm). Amit was anxious to get a hotel soon, since his motions were under control for a good 8 hours! Hotel Utkarsh seemed nice at 600/- a room with an extra bed and Amit was more than content with it:). Mandar and me checked an MTDC affiliated lodge but did not find that good for the price and later checked Satpura resort some 2kms away, but found it too expensive. We finally settled for Hotel Utkarsh. The owner of the hotel was impressed with us bikers and also decided on showing us a new hotel he was constructing in the vicinity (which was more of a resort), but Nachi and Mandar were not content with it as it was still undone.

Soon we picked our rooms and changed over for dinner.(~20:10pm) Dhanya again crashed on the bed ad decided not to team in (bummer!). Well we walked down to the new hotel where we expected some campfire and good food. The place was extremely cold and we were shivering like crazy. Walked past a crowded hotel like place which was bustling with loud music, and soon walked past a calm street to the new hotel Utkarsh.

Here we sat with the owner around a small "shekoti"(firewood being burnt to keep the cold away). It was a relief to be there, here we ordered some routine food and loads of boiled eggs. Then started the drinks session which lasted for roughly over an hour, then came in the eggs that we gulped down in no time. Soon food was served and we very reluctantly deserted our hot place to the outdoor table. The food was anything but hot, not even close to be called warm.. Amit commented"Yeh kya Anda curry hai .. yeh to Thanda curry hai bhai". But we were hungry so had some meal and found the kichadi rice good. sent off a parcel to our room for Dhanya. Spent some more time by the fire and finally walked back to our hotel.

Amit kept saying we should do the Jungle safari, many people confirmed the safari is done at Semadoh and one should have their own 4 wheeler to do it. We decided on doing what's best once we wake up the following morning... no one was keen on an early wakeup call. Back at the hotel (~12:15am) we crashed at our beds and off we were zipping though dream land in no time. The following day was to be a relax day with just some sight seeing, and hence we decided on taking it easy... little did we know what the following day had in store for us!

Bike ride to Chikhaldara -Part 1

The last ride barely seemed a day away as we started with our discussions for the next year-end ride. The mails floated around as destinations seemed to toss all around the map. Gujarat and Rajasthan seemed to be very bright candidates as a ride towards central Maharashtra started taking shape. Panchmari (in M.P.) was very much a bright candidate but timing issues finally kept us at bay. The final route we penned down was Pune-Chikhaldara-Pune going via Lonar and returning via Ajantha lasting for about 5 days.

Just a couple of days before the ride, we got ourselves a group t-shirt printed, so "DaRomans" was now itched in print. Getting the "T" printed is a different story in itself. Nachiket, Mandar and Maneesh on R.E. bullets Amit on a Bajaj Pulsar , Dhanya on his HMSI Unicorn and me on the H.H. CBZ were the final candidates for the ride. 21st -25th of December were the dates and after a few initial hiccups, the day finally arrived.

21st Dec:
Mandar, Nachiket, Maneesh and myself left home at 7:10am for Gunjan talkies near Bund Garden bridge. We were to group with the remaining lot and Bandya too decided to come in to bid us adieu. within 10 minutes we were finally at the group-up point as Amit and Dhanya joined us and thus started the bag loading session. Mandar, Nachiket and Maneesh filled in their saddle bags with all stuff from Amit and Dhanya as mine was full to the brim. Bandya joined the party, boosted our confidence as we bid farewell to Pune and took the road down to Ahmednagar (~7:50am, 7.8kms).

Dhanya rode off ahead as his tank was low, and he said he would be waiting near an HP pump at Wagholi some 10 kms away. Little did we know this was be the start of events :). A halt at one of the pumps near Wagholi (17.6kms, 8:05am) held no sign of Dahnya and none of us spotted him anywhere. Hence we decided to keep an eye at other pumps ahead, but still no sign. By now our bike queue Dhanya missing, had Nachi and me trailing and the rest of the pack far ahead, but every now and then we would team in. Eventually Nachiket got a call/message from Dhanya, who said he would be near Ranjangaon. Thus we rode steadily till Ranjangaon(54.2kms , 8:42am) -still no sign of Dahnya. Amit knew of a hotel near the place at Saratwadi a few kilometers ahead, so we took our breakfast halt there(Hotel Navnath - 65kms, 9am) . Maneesh rode off far ahead and some calls later we called him back some 4 kms, Dhanya was missing. Nonetheless we ordered our munchies -Misalpaav, Wadapaav and the first of million cups of tea, some calls up and down with Dhanya finally got him to our place some 1/2 hr later. It turned out he was waiting for us on the wrong side of the highway -Big Bummer! Nonetheless, breakfast was done-simply amazing- and we re-attired ourselves back on our stallions. (~9:45am) We decided to take our halt some 50kms away which was a few kms past Ahmednagar, and also would be away from city traffic. (Khedgaon was our halt point).

The ensuing ride was via the good NagarRoad. The ride was, so to say, pretty monotonous. Sure people did keep overtaking each other and fell back on occasions. A couple of close calls with other vehicles but all was well. Soon we drove past Ahmednagar and finally arrived at out butt-break halt no. 1 Khedgaon (117.2kms ,10:32am). A quick synchup and off we were on our road ahead. Here the next halt was decided to be a place called Nevasa Phata some 60kms away. Again nothing much eventful took place for the rest of the ride, the sun too was not on a full bask and thus the ensuing ride seemed pretty comfortable.

(177.6kms, 11:35am) It was here at Nevasa phata that Dhanya decided to gorge on some eggs for his cold. The rest of us had some tea. Here we met a gentleman from Amravati and he was pretty intrigued by our bikes.... "kitna deta hai milage yeh bike" he asked pointing at Nachi's bike "... bees ya pandra" .. I said "chaliiss" and he went in a "oh man that cool..." sort'a expression. But again he was kind enough to give us all sorts of directions and help on where to stay etc. Got a few of our pictures clicked from him. With tea done we were headed to our next destination again some 50 kms away at a place called ChikhalThana on the outskirts of Aurangabad, some 1 kms past. All this was Dhanya's territory, since he is from Aurangabad (and despises the same for some off reason ). (11:55am)

So back on our bhps we went zipping down the highway enroute Aurangabad. Again the similar highway. Its quiet funny as you keep riding all the hours within a helmet shell, how your mind starts conversing and start singing various songs. Its quiet fun actually - just a way of saying the ride was pretty good. Very soon the highway took the expression of a big city outskirt and soon we were driving through an Army area followed by the crowded city of Aurangabad. The city was big and seemed very advanced (next to Pune I would say). One good thing, people seemed to follow rules. Soon we saw boards for Chikhalthana and as the traffic started to thin down we took our halt near what seemed to be the end of city. (244.3kms, 13:06pm).

Had a quick break and inquired around for a hotel for lunch. We were advised to ride to a "Hotel Abhijeet" a few minutes away. (13:15pm). A few minutes later we reached Hotel Abhijeet along side the highway (249.1kms, 13:30pm). The hotel seemed good, moreover we did not have much options around. Lots of currys-veg kolhapuri, veg bhoona and rotis with daal kichadi made up the menu. Chitter chatter and lots of teases later we finally left at ~14:30pm. The waiter was pretty happy with us and also asked one of his colleagues to give us some information about Lonar. Our next stop was to be past Jalna at a place called SindkhedRaja.

With my meter clocking low on fuel we took a quick break at one of the HP pumps (263.9kms, 14:51pm) and off I zipped at break-a-neck speeds towards Jalna. Dunno what made me take the speed run, Dhanya and Maneesh were trailing me as we entered the crowded city of Jalna. Nackiket, Amit and Mandar were trailing far behind. Here we missed on of the turns that lets us bypass the city traffic, and so took a halt and inquired for directions and also synced with the other 3 compadres over phone and decided on meeting directly at SindhkhedRaja.

The roads led though some thick traffic and narrow streets as we came near the "Jansi ki Rani" statue and took the appropriate turns to ride past the highway to the State highway that led to our destination. Further inquiries asserted our direction and we rode through the single winding road with the open countryside. It sure felt good and a respite to ride on this road after the continuous highway ride. Soon we spotted our 3 lost riders near a tea stall (Mama Bhanje hotel was the name of the hotel) and synched-up. It was SindkhedRaja (325kms, 6:11pm).

We did have ideas of various routes to Lonar from here, but villagers suggested we taked the book route to Lonar since the other routes could easily mislead us. Some quick cups of tea and stretches later off we were on our way to Lonar. Before this we had to reach the town of Sultanpur and take a right to Lonar. We did want to reach before sunset so that we could, if possible, take a look at the crater at sunset. Here we rode in a single file at consistent speeds as we reached the thinly populated Sultanpur, (372kms, 17:17pm). The sun was setting far in the horizon, as we made quick inquires for the right turn and off we were on our last ~10kms ride for the day. The road got thinner as we took a few twists and turns riding on, I did fantasize spotting the crater in a distance but that was not so. Soon we reached Lonar and took a halt near the ST. busstop as we quickly rode down to a "Krishna Lodge"- a decent looking place bang opposite the St.Bus stand (383kms, 17:30pm).

875/- for the room with an extra bed was a good deal. It had a big bed which could accommodate 5 of us, and 2 bath rooms. What more would you want! With the water being cold, we decided to skip the bath and take a walk around the little town (Dhanya preferred to stay back). All of us attired in the "DaRomans" 'T' and shorts took a walk around the streets of Lonar. The place was full of dust and was crowded. A police van stopped besides us and called Amit and asked him a lot of questions before driving off. The police wanted to know who we were and why we walked with the same T-shirts, when they got to know e were from Pune and rode all the way they were surprised and asked what business we had. They left once they knew we were mere travelers and were here just for an overnight halt by the crater. Soon we visited a Tea stall had some nice hot tea and were back at the rooms. Changed over to better clothes(minus the Daromans haha) and took a walk to a near by hotel for dinner.

We were told by the owners of the lodge to park the vehicles in the interiors of the hotel, there was a good go-down garage where we could park all the vehicles. We did have a nice time getting the bikes through the small door and down the ramp. Soon took a walk to the near by hotel and had some sumptuous food, the waiter was happy to hear we were from Pune. The hit item at this place was roasted Chana and boiled Chana, it was a marvelous we had lots of those and just a few plates of daal kichadi later. It was ~12am or so when we returned back to our lodge (singing giggling and dancing all the way back). Back at the room played a lot not letting people sleep , but called it a night amidst the Roman roars and the squeaks of a rodent.

The day was good and we had ~400kms in our bag. Tomorrow we were to see the crater and later leave for Chikhaldara. The helper at the lodge asked us to visit a water spring where we could have a hot bath.. so all was to be decided the following day.