[varunraizada]

Originally Posted by Swapnil4585

Excellent narration and beautiful photos there!

I liked the 1st advice.

The Aurangabad - Ajanta road is inherently bad, is 100 km long, and we don't expect it to get well soon.

Oh how I wish I knew this before ! But the perennial sorry state of the Ajanta to Ellora road is really shocking considering the marvelous spots these 2 are ! Surely MTDC / government needs to do something about this

Is there a way we can raise this to them ? Or sign some petition etc ?

Originally Posted by reverse_gear

none other than our humble onion. The greater value in the fields under the foot, not in the flowers!

For me, the drive between Shahapur and Igatpuri on NH3 over the Kasara ghat remains one of the most enjoyable drives around Mumbai. Especially in the aftermath of the monsoons.

Wow Onions ! Yeah the drive is beautiful and agreeably extremely enjoyable.

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Maybe one of these days.

Avoid the summers!! Go during the monsoons

[PGNarain]

Hi Varun, nice travelogue and narration. Your trip bought back memories of a similar trip I had undertaken few years back.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post2473532

Hope you have many more travelogues in future!

[AshyRocks]

This travelogue made me travel back in time to a balmy weekday afternoon, listening to the teacher as she talked about Ajanta and Ellora, and you got it spot on with that photo that really was the cover page of our history text book! Great photos indeed Varun!

And yes, to your question on the white flowers, I believe reverse_gear has already answered you, it indeed is the quintessential ingredient of every indian [non sweet] dish, the Onion! If you happen to see spring onion shoots in the market, you would probably recognize the upper half of our more recognizable friends!

[varunraizada]

Originally Posted by PGNarain

Your trip bought back memories of a similar trip I had undertaken few years back.

Wow a superb one Narain ! Having 2 cars always is awesome. I remember driving to Hubli in two cars driven by me and dad

Lonar is calling me especially after reading your travelogue !

And a big learning is to always have your camera batteries charged !

Originally Posted by AshyRocks

This travelogue made me travel back in time to a balmy weekday afternoon, listening to the teacher as she talked about Ajanta and Ellora, and you got it spot on with that photo that really was the cover page of our history text book! Great photos indeed Varun!

And yes, to your question on the white flowers, I believe reverse_gear has already answered you, it indeed is the quintessential ingredient of every indian [non sweet] dish, the Onion! If you happen to see spring onion shoots in the market, you would probably recognize the upper half of our more recognizable friends!

Thanks for the encouragement and Onion it is !

[Inner Voice]

Lovely pictures
I especially liked the 'Onion flower' & history textbook cover picture. I guess, Maharashtra has a lot to offer to the tourists. But it should have the support system (transport/roads, stay and food) developed for the same.
Its good that you had a pleasant experience with MTDC.
MTDC has resorts (can i say 'resorts') at very nice locations, but they somehow give impression that they are not ready to keep up with time.

[GeeTee TSI]

Lovely photos, especially the low light ones inside the caves. We had driven down recently to Aurangabad, can vouch for bad stretches of roads almost entirely from Shingnapur (went via Chakan-Ahmednagar-Aurangabad) all the way to Aurangabad. Stayed at MTDC Aurangabad, the entire city had crumbling roads (looked like a joke). Drive to Ajanta could be termed hazardous to both man and car. MSRTC Volvo day trip from (MTDC) Aurangabad highly recommended if staying there

[varunraizada]

Originally Posted by Inner Voice

Lovely picture
I guess, Maharashtra has a lot to offer to the tourists. But it should have the support system (transport/roads, stay and food) developed for the same.

MTDC has resorts (can i say 'resorts') at very nice locations, but they somehow give impression that they are not ready to keep up with time.

Well I have a first hand experience of the Ajanta one and have heard a lot about others as well from close sources. The feedback has been unanimously good for the cleanliness and hospitality of the place.

Roads - Totally agreed. I strongly believe that we should put this up to MTDC as a petition signed jointly by a lot of us - Mods can help coordinate this on the forum ? I volunteer for this !

Originally Posted by GeeTee TSI

Lovely photos, especially the low light ones inside the caves.
Stayed at MTDC Aurangabad, the entire city had crumbling roads (looked like a joke). Drive to Ajanta could be termed hazardous to both man and car. MSRTC Volvo day trip from (MTDC) Aurangabad highly recommended if staying there

Thanks for the compliments on the pics - All were taken by Canon EOS 70D with Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 lens at ISO levels between 800 and 1600.

Definitely rented / public transport should be the only way to ride between Ajanta and Ellora - STRICT no for your own vehicle .

[@Chaand]

Originally Posted by varunraizada

Do it in the monsoons - Would be super awesome in my opinion

Unfortunately, I am in a situation, where leaves are in short supply, so climate preferences take a back seat :(
The next available long weekend in March, I guess i should be headed to this place. I am more keen on Lonar though.

Originally Posted by varunraizada

That's quite awesome ! We definitely should meet up ! How do we connect here on the forum ?

Have sent a PM to you.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by varunraizada

The field of white flowers - Anyone has any idea what these are ?

Thanks to Ram Khedkar for dropping an email!

It is called “Umbel of onion flowers”.

The flowers are of ONION and they have been grown by the farmer to make seeds out of it.

[Dodge_Viper]

Originally Posted by varunraizada

Small villages where the inhabitants looked quite dangerous - So we were even scared to stop for a chai

The drive through Malshej Ghat in the night was a harrowing experience with blind and sharp terms making me concentrate very hard. It was not an easy drive but the quality of the roads made up for that

Malshej ghat road is a drivers paradise . One of the best roads in the state. I would agree driving in night could be tricky for first timer but it is fun nonetheless. And regarding inhabitants they are more friendly than dangerous, trust me. I have travelled to some of remote interior places and never heard/faced any situation wherein the people looked dangerous.

[Dr.Q]

Originally Posted by sudev

First lovely coverage.

Just a small feedback.
Can you elaborate?

I agree completely with you. I was driving in the right lane next to the shrubbery dividers on the same Mumbai-Nasik Highway and witnessed this first hand.

As I drove ahead, I could make out a cow crossing the highway on the other side and coming on to the divider in between. I crossed it just before it got up completely on the divider and witnessed on my ORVM how it descended onto my side of the highway and right in front of a speeding Maruti Ertiga behind me. The Ertiga somehow managed to stop bang in front of the animal. The cow continued to cross the highway unabated.

Drive on left side of the highway on these types of roads.

[varunraizada]

So, this my first post as BHPian

Originally Posted by GTO

Thanks to Ram Khedkar for dropping an email!

Thanks GTO for sharing this and many thanks to Ram ! It's unimaginable what nature can throw at you !

Originally Posted by Dodge_Viper

Malshej ghat road is a drivers paradise . One of the best roads in the state. I would agree driving in night could be tricky for first timer but it is fun nonetheless.

Tricky - Yeah totally. It was my first time there !

For the first timers there, during night drive:
1) I would suggest drive with high beam always as you never know what's ahead.
2) Also, if possible find a good driver ahead and follow at a safe distance
3) Overtake with high degree of caution as it's not just the traffic you need to care about

Originally Posted by Dodge_Viper

And regarding inhabitants they are more friendly than dangerous, trust me. I have travelled to some of remote interior places and never heard/faced any situation wherein the people looked dangerous.

With so many people vouching for this, our experience could be a one off I believe, or we could just have been paranoid !!

Originally Posted by Dr.Q

The Ertiga somehow managed to stop bang in front of the animal. The cow continued to cross the highway unabated.

Drive on left side of the highway on these types of roads.

Thanks for sharking this Dr. Q! My God !

A double thanks to Sudev for the tip ! It's a habit that needs to be changed immediately.

[abhay_D]

Very well written and thanks for all the tips and advice! They are very useful. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images...humbs%20up.gif

I have lived in Mumbai for most of my life and have never been to Ajanta and Ellora. I keep on hearing that it is not well maintained and is not worth a trip. Now your travelogue has really inspired me to do a drive there, most probably will do so after the 1st rains!

I have driven a couple of times on the Malshej Road a few years back and it was really a enjoyable road to drive on. Looks to be a good alternative to the Pune / Ahmednagar route.

[varunraizada]

Originally Posted by abhay_D

I have lived in Mumbai for most of my life and have never been to Ajanta and Ellora. I keep on hearing that it is not well maintained and is not worth a trip. Now your travelogue has really inspired me to do a drive there, most probably will do so after the 1st rains!

I guess that will be the ideal time !! There will be greenery all over .. The following pic is downloaded from Google for your reference

Originally Posted by abhay_D

I have driven a couple of times on the Malshej Road a few years back and it was really a enjoyable road to drive on. Looks to be a good alternative to the Pune / Ahmednagar route.

Absolutely .. But do it during the day to catch the lovely scenery that I missed out on ... Keep going absolutely straight without any diversions till you reach Ahmednagar.

[vikrantwagh]

Hey varun

I am a resident of aurangabad

Just wanted to know how the trip was and how did your lalu perform