[Damu]

I read this article in today's edition of Deccan Herald which relates the attractiveness of this region in a different context:

A district in India where everyone uses toilet

Hope all the country follows this example!

@MX6

Lovely pics! Are you using your 10mm yet?

[vikrantj]

Bhimthadi Jatra : SSPMS grounds in Pune , Oct 23 2010

[MX6]

Originally Posted by Damu

@MX6

Lovely pics! Are you using your 10mm yet?

Thanks for the complement Damu. I was armed with 4 lenses, 3 cameras in a recent trip. But couldn't take much photos. Waiting to unleash my 10 - 20 mm in India yet. The last it captured were the beauty of Scotland.

Originally Posted by vikrantj

Bhimthadi Jatra : SSPMS grounds in Pune , Oct 23 2010

I missed this. Excellent photos there Vikrantj. Will it be there till end of Oct?

[vikrantj]

Originally Posted by MX6

I missed this. Excellent photos there Vikrantj. Will it be there till end of Oct?

Nopes tomorrow is the last day ...

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by vikrantj

Bhimthadi Jatra

Do you know meaning of BHIMTHADI?

Bhimthadi is older name of 12mati.
The Bhimthadi jatra is organised by relative of our agri minister whose hometown is 12mati.

Originally Posted by MX6

Will it be there till end of Oct?

I hope, you are still thousand km away from pune.
If possible, visit this jatra next time positively.

[vikrantj]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

Do you know meaning of BHIMTHADI?

Bhimthadi is older name of 12mati.
The Bhimthadi jatra is organised by relative of our agri minister whose hometown is 12mati.

More importantly it is organized to show-case the produce of Mahila Bachat groups all over Maharashtra. I did see quite a few stalls from Rajasthan and Delhi too.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by vikrantj

More importantly it is organized to show-case the produce of Mahila Bachat groups all over Maharashtra. I did see quite a few stalls from Rajasthan and Delhi too.

Yeah, thats right.
This jatra has become very important turning point for mahila bachat gat produce marketing.
I am happy that some constructive work is going on front of mahila bachat gat.

[MX6]

Elephanta Caves ranks No 2 in 10 holy caves across the globe, a list compiled by National Geographic!

Yet another Magnificent acheivement for India!

Top 10 Sacred Caves - Travel - National Geographic

[MX6]

Before I continue with Nasik episode, let me drop a quick one here about Diveagar.

It was Diwali and way back I'd promised trainees in my team that the one's who stay back in Pune and have no plans for Diwali, will have a surprise trip with me as I'm not going anywhere for Diwali too.

A week back, 4 of them told me that they are here in Pune where as others were off home.

"What are you guys planning?", I asked them.
"Planning? Saar. We depend on you"

Yeah yeah. My memory is groggy. Where shall we head out?

To the beach!

I put the ground rules.
1. No risking life or limb.
2. No getting beach sand / water in my car.

Route was decided.
I'll pick them on saturday at 8 am at pune station. Drive to Bhor, Varandha ghat.
Have Vada pav and tea at varandha. Reach Diveagar for lunch. Based on their time spent, we can have a look at Murud Janjira if possible.
Drive back through Kolad, Wakan, Pali, Khopoli and I drop them at their homes late in the night.

Here are some teaser pics of the trip.

The vast expanse.


Age no bar, sex no bar, para-sailing baar baar.


Sorry neglected guy. I use BP.


The star attraction of Dive-agar - MTDC exotica.


We wait for you.


Graffitti of crabs. This is at 10 mm - for Damu.


Under the watchful eyes of a father.

[MX6]

This was the route we took.


I was up and ready on Saturday. 7:30 I got a message from my team as well that they are reaching station in 20 mins.

I was there in Station by 7:50 am.

We soon left towards Warje from there at 8 sharp.

My earlier CRV3 batteries leaked almost messing up my DSLR. After some extensive cleaning, I decided to load the AA size duracells only when I shoot the pics and remove them when not in use. So my camera went in the boot and I didn't pull it out till I reached Varandha.
Following are photos taken by my team using their 2 mp camera in their mobiles. So pardon me for poor quality of the following snaps.

The cockpit and the pilot


NH4 - towards Kapurhol. Left lane - 60 kph. Perfect way to start a holiday.


Team was thrilled on the New Katraj Tunnel. Small things give big pleasure.


Bhatgar dam - Water in full flow!


Can we expect better roads soon?


Nira lake - Candid moment


Here's one for good times sake.


Live to Drive. Drive to Live.


And the road winds around and around the lake.


Missed the SLR's services.


Lake was inviting. But we couldn't stop for a dip.


Amazing views at every turn


And every view led to more turns


The last of the lake. Now off to Varandha.


Fist pit stop - Bio break - saw interesting pattern of dead trees.


Up next - photos of Varandha and Beyond - This time from my DSLR!

[vrprabhu]

Subscribing to this thread has been the best thing I have ever done here... any time and every time I look at the pictures, I am at peace and thank you and the rest for such a wonderful time.

I went to Alibag the same day you went - and if time permits will upload some of the pictures.

But, I can't resist this one -


The Pune - Mumbai Expressway from the old highway at the top most point. Did you know that you could climb that the protruding piece of the mountain? There is even a ladder provided for you to climb up!!

[MX6]

@VRP. Those are some really kind words. Enough to keep me running this thread for some more time!

Incidentally, my team wanted to go to Alibaug on saturday. I changed plans and took them to diveagar instead. Kaash.

And about the ladder you've mentioned -

[Reisender]

@MX6 - I really enjoyed the comment on BP- Shell one... Its nice..

Keep going

[MX6]

Thanks Reisender.

The toll gates on Khed Shivapur was ever crowded. More lanes and booths. Still there's loads of crowd.
There was a car in front that sported party flag (political party).
Man with three women, going on a pleasure trip. As expected, didn't pay toll.

The road till Kapurhol was excellent. Kapurhol to Bhatgar dam was ok. Rough in patches. Why is that jeeps and 4x4s try to push a poor sedan off the road? Why do those morons by offroad vehicles then?

We were extremely hungry when we reached Varandha Ghat 1 hour later than planned time. This was due to a diversion we took towards velhe unwittingly. Then it all swam back to me. This road doesn't exist. I tried reaching here from Raigarh earlier!

A quick U-turn had us back on NH4. Once we crossed bhatgar, it was slow driving to enjoy the views.

We had 11 plates of vada pav, 3 of onion bhajjis and 5 tea in all for 160 bucks.

I was amazed at the beauty of this route. I didn't notice anything when I drove this between 2 and 4 am previous time and realised what a perilous journey it had been earlier to traverse this stretch in the dead of the night.

Imposing view of Varandha Ghat



Quick photostop at varandha


Still loads of greenery. Wish one can trek this sometime.


We motored along and road was bad till Birwadi. Then it improved. Hit NH17 at Mahad. Finally reached Diveagar by 1:20 pm. It was heavily crowded at MTDC exotica. So we thought we'd check out the beach for a while and come back for late lunch.

They've put iron barricade to stop cars going to the beach now. So had to park at MTDC exotica.

The vast expanse of the beach struck us. Very few people. Perfect!


The sun was warm and we had another quick photostop and ventured back to MTDC for lunch.


While my team relished the seafood, I had my standard Dal Kichadi!

[khoj]

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

Subscribing to this thread has been the best thing I have ever done here...

^^+1

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

The Pune - Mumbai Expressway from the old highway at the top most point. Did you know that you could climb that the protruding piece of the mountain? There is even a ladder provided for you to climb up!!

That point is 'Amrutanjan point' and the bridge held up by a series of pillars towards the left is the 'Amrytanjan bridge'. This bridge earlier was for the exclusive use of vehicles of the Tata power company as it led to a private road that cut through the ghats and ran along the race pipes that go on to the hydel power plant just above khopoli. It was also a favoured spot for Bollywood directors to shoot the various Kidnapping, ransom exchange, murders and all other scenes involving gory screenplays. Now a days it leads on to a fork with one side merging back into the expressway and the other taking you to Khopoli via some forgotten yet existing twisties of the old ghat road.

EDIT More Trivia

The point in vrprabhu's photo where you can see the red ST bus and the point in MX6's photo where Mrs. MX6 and MX6 Jr. are standing used to be joined at one time. It was a two lane stretch with a straight climb or slope depending on your direction of travel and was one of the most dangerous portions on the entire ghat road.

Inexperienced drivers would either burn their brakes and some times the clutches too and it was not uncommon to see not just loaded trucks but buses and at times cars too loose traction and dash downwards or even worse roll backwards taking a few unsuspecting ones with them.

After too many accidents this stretch was turned into a one way road for traffic moving down. People driving around during those times will recall that there was only one tunnel at Khandala and that was for traffic moving up. For the down traffic it was still a chilling ride down.