[aneezan]

Nice travelogue and excellent pictures. Your TUV really stands out. I have a long trip planned later this year and hopefully shall remind myself to cover this as well.
Thanks.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by aneezan

Nice travelogue and excellent pictures. Your TUV really stands out. I have a long trip planned later this year and hopefully shall remind myself to cover this as well.
Thanks.

Thank you Aneezan for your compliments. Do let me know if you plan to visit any of these places and I can help you out with the route planning. Shivthar Ghal is a bit in the interiors, but the others are very near from NH4 (Bangalore-Pune) section near Khed Shivapur and you can manage all three within a day.

[LoneRidder]

Lovely Photologue! Enjoyed the quick read. Your explanation with photos kept engaged. Your kid taking over as 'guide' in Photo 24 is inspiring!

[umeshd]

Dear AutoIndian,

Very nicely (and patiently too I guess) written post and lovely photo's. Been to all these places multiple times. Varandha and Shivtharghal are at their best in monsoon.

There's a modern story about Shivtharghal that close to the entrance of the actual Ghal (Cave), you don't get any GPS lock since the GPS satellite signals don't reach there. This was floating around on whatsapp and FB for a long time and had almost forgot about it. Just out of curiosity, I'm going to go to Shivtharghal again and check.

Did you by any chance get to check this ?

[xs2mayank]

Very well compiled post with loads of pics to Enjoy. Lot of useful information in the travelogue for someone planning to visit the place.

Orange Tank looks superb...

[advaitlele]

I can very well understand what the passengers in your tank would have gone through covering those 6 KMs. I have travelled to Shivtharghal 4-5 times on my Thunderbird and have taken that road(?) to reach the Ghal. Every instance is one great experience. But it was easier for Thunderbird on two wheels, not easy for sure for the Tank.

Nicely compiled log

That now makes me read your ownership report. That is equally well compiled.

Originally Posted by umeshd

There's a modern story about Shivtharghal that close to the entrance of the actual Ghal (Cave), you don't get any GPS lock since the GPS satellite signals don't reach there.

Sorry to jump in here...but I did check about that during my last visit a few months back and didn't notice anything that was stated on Whatsapp message. You can try as well

[J_Man]

Hey AutoIndian

This is really a great Travelogue, a very well written complimented by good snaps as well. This kept me glued for some moments.

You are having a gala time with your orange tank. I wish you do many such trips and let me travel with you through such beautiful travelogues.

[FINTAIL]

Very well written!

Have been to these places; and in particular, to Sinhagad Fort loads of times.

Must plan to again visit. Thanks for refreshing my memory.

[freedom]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Total distance covered - 284.4 km
Travel time - 06:53 hours
Stoppage time - 05:07 hours

Awesome trip !

You should have done Shivthar Ghal and Raigad on day 1. Stayed at Raigad overnight and done Singhagad on the wayback

[mahesh_sn]

Nice travelogue AutoIndian! Your tank looks awesome in orange shade.
You have rekindled memories of my Shivtharghal trip in the monsoons of 2013, taking the same route as yours. We spent a day in Mulshi enjoying waterfalls of Tamhini ghat and left for Shivatharghal next day via Chandani Chowk, Bhor and Varandha Ghat. As you said, this place and road leading to this place is mesmerizing in monsoons and a must visit for all nature lovers.

This dry waterfall that you snapped

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

48-Seen here is water trickling down, but in monsoon this is a huge waterfall covering the cave[/b]
Attachment 1455255

looks like this in monsoon



These are the ones that feed the waterfall pictured above.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by LoneRidder

Lovely Photologue! Enjoyed the quick read. Your explanation with photos kept engaged. Your kid taking over as 'guide' in Photo 24 is inspiring!

Thank you LoneRidder for your compliments. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, thought of taking and sharing them as much as possible. My kid and guide, yes indeed he is, he makes all my family members run behind him all through the day.

Originally Posted by umeshd

Dear AutoIndian, Very nicely (and patiently too I guess) written post and lovely photo's. Been to all these places multiple times. Varandha and Shivtharghal are at their best in monsoon. There's a modern story about Shivtharghal that close to the entrance of the actual Ghal (Cave), you don't get any GPS lock since the GPS satellite signals don't reach there. This was floating around on whatsapp and FB for a long time and had almost forgot about it. Just out of curiosity, I'm going to go to Shivtharghal again and check. Did you by any chance get to check this ?

Thank you umeshd and I agree with you that monsoon is the best time to visit this place. GPS lock and GPS satellite are are good travel aids, but quite alien to me so I cannot comment much on them. Call me orthodox or laid back, but I mostly rely on my instincts and the local tribe to get the directions.

Originally Posted by xs2mayank

Very well compiled post with loads of pics to Enjoy. Lot of useful information in the travelogue for someone planning to visit the place.
Orange Tank looks superb...

Thank you for your compliments xs2mayank.

Originally Posted by advaitlele

I can very well understand what the passengers in your tank would have gone through covering those 6 KMs. I have travelled to Shivtharghal 4-5 times on my Thunderbird and have taken that road(?) to reach the Ghal. Every instance is one great experience. But it was easier for Thunderbird on two wheels, not easy for sure for the Tank. Nicely compiled log

You are quite right advaitlele. That 6km stretch is suited for 2 wheeled rides like your Thunderbird. Other bikes with small tyres or cars with low ground clearance should never attempt that. The worst part of the stretch is that if you are stuck-up or don't want to continue further there is no way you can turn back, at least for a car, for a bike it should not be a problem.

Originally Posted by J_Man

Hey AutoIndian, This is really a great Travelogue, a very well written complimented by good snaps as well. This kept me glued for some moments.
You are having a gala time with your orange tank. I wish you do many such trips and let me travel with you through such beautiful travelogues.

Travelogues or not many such trips in my Orange Tank from here on are definitely guaranteed. Will keep sharing them here J_Man and thanks for your wishes.

Originally Posted by FINTAIL

Very well written! Have been to these places; and in particular, to Sinhagad Fort loads of times. Must plan to again visit. Thanks for refreshing my memory.

My pleasure FINTAIL. This fort being one of the nearest to Pune is well maintained and everytime you visit it you discover one or the other new thing about it. Do visit is once again and share your findings.

Originally Posted by freedom

Awesome trip ! You should have done Shivthar Ghal and Raigad on day 1. Stayed at Raigad overnight and done Singhagad on the wayback

You are quite right freedom and thanks for suggesting the clubbing of Raigad fort in the Shivthar Ghal visit. Actually it dawned upon me very late when I looked at the google maps after returning from the trip. Neverthess Raigad is still on my radar, through the Tamhini ghat/ Nizampur route.

Originally Posted by mahesh_sn

Nice travelogue AutoIndian! Your tank looks awesome in orange shade. You have rekindled memories of my Shivtharghal trip in the monsoons of 2013, taking the same route as yours. We spent a day in Mulshi enjoying waterfalls of Tamhini ghat and left for Shivatharghal next day via Chandani Chowk, Bhor and Varandha Ghat. As you said, this place and road leading to this place is mesmerizing in monsoons and a must visit for all nature lovers.

This dry waterfall that you snapped looks like this in monsoon

Thank you so much mahesh_sn for sharing the pictures of the waterfall in my travelogue. Though I had the picture of this waterfall taken in monsoon, it was way back in 1998 (when we didn't even have digital cameras). I was wishing so desperately that somehow I could get the waterfall pictures in full fury and you did it, cannot thank you enough for that.

[ghodlur]

Hi Deepak,

Superb travelogue with some great pics. We have one more thing in common as discussed and looking forward to seeing the orange tank in Pune very soon.

I would be interested in Shivtharghal as it seems pretty doable distance from Thane.

I remember my ride to Sinhagad fort during the last monsoons. Going up to the fort was a cake walk. Coming down was a big headache due to vehicles parked on the 2 lane road (Its not even 2 laned I guess). Add to that the zipping jeeps loaded to the brim with tourists and it was one scary drive down to the plains.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Hi Deepak,

Superb travelogue with some great pics. We have one more thing in common as discussed and looking forward to seeing the orange tank in Pune very soon.

Hey Girish, it was nice talking to you this afternoon, thanks for calling. I never thought we could bump up like this through TBHP. Do visit our home next time when you are in Pune.

I would be interested in Shivtharghal as it seems pretty doable distance from Thane.

Yes, a one day return trip from Thane is quite doable. Get on to the Goa highway from Panvel and then take a left diversion from Mahad. Total distance should be around 175 kms (3.5 hours)

I remember my ride to Sinhagad fort during the last monsoons. Going up to the fort was a cake walk. Coming down was a big headache due to vehicles parked on the 2 lane road (Its not even 2 laned I guess). Add to that the zipping jeeps loaded to the brim with tourists and it was one scary drive down to the plains.

Yes you are quite right. Never ever visit Sinhagad fort on a week end, due to the maddening crowd and the maniac Bolero drivers. Since buses or bigger vans are not allowed on the ghat road, all these tourists are ferried by these Boleros and they give you a very harrowing time. Allow them the right of way and you would be safe and happy.

[jd10ent]

Really superb travelogue & pics and the combination of bright sunlight and copper orange color of the TUV makes the vehicle stand out superbly. I've passed through Varandha ghat multiple times but never visited Shivthar Ghal. Must do it the next time I'm traversing that area. Sinhagad has become a nightmare, thanks to the horrible road and maddening crowds, especially on the weekends. Many more interesting & lesser frequented places around Pune, case in point is the Purandar fort.

[AutoIndian]

Friends did an impromptu trip to a place called Nighoj near Shirur (off Pune-Ahmednagar highway). It has the world famous calcium rock formations and the Malaganga Devi temple on the banks of Kukdi river.

(Note: Mods, since this is just one place that I visited and almost one week after my previous (Sinhagad-Shivthar Ghal) trip, I am clubbing it here. If you don't want it to me mixed up and calls for a separate thread then please do not hesitate to create a separate thread.)

Actually we had planned to start a bit early (at least by 08:00am), however getting out of the daily household chores got us late. We could only start by 10:30am. Also Orange Tank was hungry. So after crossing Pimpri, I took the left diversion at Vallabhnagar to tank up at the Shell bunk near Hotel
Kalasagar. Diesel was @ Rs 51.05/- to a litre. Tank gulped 48.37 litres and the car had traveled 686 kms before this tankful, giving me a mileage of 14.18 kmpl (not that bad for a car that is yet to see it's first service). The lady attendant at the bunk spilled some diesel after the tank was full. I thought of giving her a good reprimand, but let her go. I continued my onward journey, Kasarwadi-Dapodi-Khadki-Shastrinagar-Kalyaninagar signal to touch the Nagar road. Being Saturday there was bearable traffic. Crossed the Kharadi bypass, then Wagholi. Continued further to Loni-Kesnand, Bhima-Koregaon, Ranjangaon, Shikrapur.

When we reached Shirur one road was going straight into the town, while the highway took a right diversion to bypass the town. On asking a bike rider, he recommended us to continue on the bypass as passing through the town was not advisable. We followed his advice. After we bypassed the town we got a left diversion. We turned there but stopped at the junction. Asked another local biker. He informed us to continue straight on the highway, we would come across a river bridge, after that we have to take the left turn and that road goes straight to Nighoj. After crossing the river bridge there was a right curve and we got a left diversion for Nighoj. We again stopped there just to be doubly sure that the road, which we had taken goes to the destination. Unfortunately at most of the junctions there are no signboards, which adds to the confusion. The road to Nighoj is good for most part with some bad patches in between. After crossing 10-12 kms, we came across a signbaord showing Ralegan-Siddhi, 12kms towards right (this is the town of famous social activist Anna Hazare). We continued
straight and after 20kms we reached the village Nighoj. We saw an arch on the left side, but continued straight for 50 metres, when we thought of stopping by and asking. That was a good decision as we had missed the destination road by 50 metres. We had to actually enter through the arch, but we missed it. We took a "U" turn and proceeded through the arch. The road after coming out of the village is very bad. This 4 km stretch right upto the river is WIP, hence barely driveable. But the Orange Tank doesn't mind such roads, rather it likes it. Roads or no roads, it does not make any difference for the TUV.

Finally after 111 kms and 3 hours of journey we reached the destination. From a distance we could see two temples and the river bed. I took the TUV off the road and parked very near to the first temple. Here are some pictures.

01-TUV is the first one to offer prayers. This is the new Malaganga devi temple (currently under construction)


02-This landscape is quite deceptive and doesn't give an iota of hint what would be in store a little further down the line.


03-TUV still wondering why have we come here in this forsaken land


First I will show you the two temples and then what lies between them

04-The older temple as seen from the other side of the river


05-The deepmaal (or lamp post) in front of the temple


06-Kids enjoying in the temple premises


07-The little one wondering where have we come


08-This is the hanging bridge connecting the two temples on either side of the river bank