Naikba (Dhebewadi) and Khandoba (Pali)

Hi,

Last Saturday i.e. 27th Oct. 2007 we visited my "Kul-Daivat" places.

The places called Naikba and Palicha Khandoba. We moved from Chinchwad at 6.30 am and were at Karad at around 11.00 am. From where we move for Dhebewadi. We were at the hill of Naikba on 12.00 pm. After spending an hour we came down to Dhebewadi, where we just tried to find out if any of my families ancestors are till there in the village. Surprisingly found few families with surname 'Deolekar' who till continue with the traditional job of goldsmith.


From this place we can also take journey to Chandoli the wellknown sanctuary for Gawa's.

After discussion with villagers we came to know that there is another way to go to Kashil/Pali. So we adopted the same and start driving towards Patan. The ghat's are so lonely and misguiding that at one place we are thinking to comeback to Dhebewadi again.


But almost after drive of around half and hour we reached at small village 'Malhar Peth' from where we dropped the plan to go ahead for Patan. Instead we reached to Umbraj via Nava Road. And from Umbraj we reached to Kashil and then to Pali. The drive is really tardy as we take stop many time in between to confirm the correct way and also because of the bad road condition.

We leave the Pali at 3.30 pm and reached to Shirwal at 5.30 pm, where we enjoy the food at hotel 'Shree Ram'. Then we start driving for Pune and reached almost at 7.00 pm to Chinchwad.

Total drive was 478 kms. But till not feel much tired. That's the magic of bullet. :)



Cheers,
Paresh

Lenyadri - Ozar

We were at Lenyandri & Ozar last weekend i.e. 20th Oct. 2007.
We moved from Chinchwad at around 8.00 am and reached to Lenyandri at 11:15 am. During this journey we took single halt at Narayangaon.

The road condition till Narayangaon is good. But afterwards it is really the worst condition.

We have to climb at least 450 steps to reach to Lenyandri place. We felt that this trip would be more pleasant during rainy season. Anyway, we move to Ozar at 12.30 pm.


The road condition was to bad that at one place I felt that whether I lost the road or what? :) Anyway also realise that why the villagers preferred bullet over other bikes. After taking drive of around 12-14 Kms we reached to Ozar. After spending half and hour we start to come back to Pune.


Overall journey is ok but not enjoyed upto the mark.
Few suggestion:
1. Plan trip in rainy season
2. Take lunch at Lenyandri rather than at Ozar.
3. Go in group so that by chance if any problem occurs to bike other can take care for it.

Happy journey :)

Trip To Mahabaleshwar.....On Royal Enfield

Hi,

I am back with an account of our trip to Mahabaleshwar on our Royal Enfield.

Anagha and me started from Chinchwadgaon at 6:30 AM on 29th Sep ( Saturday). It was a clear weather and we were looking forward to our first halt at Wai, en route to Mahabaleshwar, which is about 120 KM's from Pune and 135 KM's from Chinchwad.

We travelled through Chandani Chowk, through the Katraj new tunnel, via Shirval.


Wai is a small town, 34 KM's before Mahabaleshwar. It is a serene town, with a flavour of village. It has a beautiful Ganesha temple on the bank of river Krishna, which was built in 1762. The idol of Lord Ganesh is huge, about 10+ feet in height. Just next to it is Shivji's temple, again built around the same time. The building patterns are quite similar.

Both these temples are built by Sardar Raste, who was a prominent courtesan during the Peshwa reign.

About 2.5 KM's from Wai is Menavali,which we visited after a good break at Wai. Menavali has the residence of Nana Phadnavis, the legal counsel of the Peshwas.
We visited his residence, a part of which is now a museum. Behind the residence, is a very serene "ghat" on the bank of river Krishna. A major part of the movie "Swades" was shot around this area.

After spending some time there, we resumed our journey and reached Mahabaleshwar at about 11:30 AM.

As soon as you enter in the township, the agents from various hotels / resorts will hover around you , forcing you to go with them and check out accomodation options. My personal suggestion is that it is quite unnecessary. There are plenty of options, within and in the outskirts of the market place.

This was the off season, so the hotels were charging about Rs. 500/- per day for a couple acco, in the market place area. In the outskirts, the charges couls go up to 700 - 800 in a decent resort or up to 2500/- in a hotel like Gautam. There are plenty of options available on the Mahabaleshwar - Tapola road, and also on the L.C. D'Souza Road. I would suggest that one scouts around the place a bit, one will surely find a place to his/her liking and budget options.

We stayed at Hotel Mayfair, which is an old parsi bunglow, converted in to a hotel. It has about 13 rooms, with double and family occupancy. This hotel offers the option of lodging and boarding with them, with good food and even better service.

They charged us 700/- per day for a double occupancy , inclusive of the breakfast which was an a la carte menu, along with the usual western breakfast.

On the day one, we rested ourselves after checking in the hotel and then spent some time at the Wilson Point. Mahabaleshwar has plenty of such points, if one is interested. However, the look and feel of each one is almost the same and it can become monotonous beyond a point.

Hence we had planned to make it a REAL holiday by taking it easy. We did spend a lot of time at the wilson point and soaked in the beauty around us. The weather was very pleasant. We returned to the market for dinner and decided to call the day.


Day two, we had planned to visit Tapola. After a heavy breakfast at the hotel, we started for Tapola, which is about 26-27 KM's from Mahabaleshwar. The road is very picturesqe and refreshing. Tapola is a part of the backwarters of Koyna dam, called Shivsagar. The expance is huge. There are various options of rides in the water available: Water scooters, speed boats, motor boats and rowing boats. We took a ride in the motor boat, along with another family. It was a two hour tour through the lake, with the visit to one Dutta Mandir. The time was really well spent.

We returned back to Mahabaleshwar by about 3:00 PM, had lunch and then slept off. The evening was spent in the market place , window shopping. Though we didn't buy much, the market has many shops offering various mementoes and gifts to be taken back home. The costs are reasonable. Also, the speciality is the jelly sweets. One thing that you should not miss while in Mahabaleshwar is " Strawberry n Cream". It's a mouth watering delicacy, which we tried at many places but found the one at "Bagicha" the best. It's a dessert and snacks shop in the market place and the stuff is really good.






Day three, we started for Pratapgad, about 22 KM's from Mahabaleshwar. The road is winding with lots of bends. The condition is OK. On the way, we saw a lot of waterfalls, although monsoon was over. We could take the bike up to the base of the fort. There is a guide service available at the charge of Rs. 80/-.





They show various points of the fort and help you navigate. ot a bad idea to hire one. The fort has about 475 steps, but it is not tiring. There is a temple of Goddess Bhavani on the fort, and the idol is really beautiful. Both me and Anagha thought that it was the best place on the fort.

There is also an handicraft exhibition on the fort, where one can buy mementos. The families living on the fort offer home made food and one can savour it post the tour of the fort.

We, however came back to the town and then took the rest of the day off.

Evening was spent doing some shopping and roaming around the market place.

Next day we started back for Pune at about 9:30 AM and reached home by 2:00 PM, after a nice lunch at "Purepur Kolhapur" in the Pune city.

Happy Riding :)

You can check out our snaps at the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/anaghadev/TripToMahabaleshwar

Visit to Pali and Mahad

Hi all,

Me and Anagha visited the places Pali and Mahad on 22nd Sept. 2007. The path choosen for ride was Chinchwad - Tamini ghat - Pali - Mahad - Khopoli - Chinchwad.

We started the journey at 8 am in the morning. The ride along the bank of Mulshi dam was too good. And ride on Tamhini Ghat was fabulous experience. At around 12:30 pm we were at Pali. Note that once we pass the Tamhini ghat we have to take turn at one place for Pali and one cannot find that easily. So lilbit cautious to miss the route.



We were there for around 1.5 Hour. If interested for trekking then there is Sudhagad is aslo near.

At 2 pm we left the Pali and start driving towards Mahad. But road condition was pretty bad. We reached at Mahad almost at 4.30 pm. Then, reached to home via Pune-Mumbai express highway at 6:30 pm.


We visited these places in September and feel that its the perfect time for ride in Tamhini and else part.