[samdarshi.pali]

Last week one of my close family relatives visited my place to spend some days with us in Mumbai. We decided to use this opportunity to visit Shirdi, Shani Shingnapur, and Nashik (Triambakeshwar Temple). We were a group of 7 persons ( 3 children, 4 adults). I got my leave sanctioned on 11th Oct. and we decided to start early morning at 5:00 AM next day. This is my summary of this tour.

12th October 20, 2010 6:20 AM
Half of persons are still sleeping. There are morning lights and Sun started rising. List of items to carry checked. Watchman instructed to clean the car. Moved bags downstairs and arranged in car dickey. No. we can’t make an early start to escape office traffic at Thane/Kalyan.

12th October 20, 2010 7:20 AM
Checked. Car is washed & cleaned. Last minute check completed, everything required are in place.

12th October 20, 2010 7:30 AM
Trip meter reset to zero. Odometer reading is 19842. Set destination on SatGuide GPS on my N82. Everyone seated and we start our journey. Decided to use Thane-Belapur Road and follow the route - Shil Phata > Kalyan > NH3 > Nashik > Sinnar > Shirdi.

12th October 20, 2010 8:30 AM
Entered Kalyan and immediately realized we are late. There was lot of traffic on road and our speed slowed down. Finaly reached Bhivandi turn and started driving on NH-3.

12th October 20, 2010 9:45 AM
There are significant improvements on NH-3 from Shahpur-Igatpuri stretch. Almost whole stretch is now 4 lanes. Driving is now comparative easy and stress free. Major improvement is on Kasara Ghat. Now kasara ghat has entirely separate very well laid road lanes for driving upward /downward. Driving on this ghat section is now a pleasure experience. I was able to maintain 40KM/hr plus speed on most of climbing.

12th October 20, 2010 10:14 AM
First stop at Manas Resort. Children are very happy with this place. They enjoyed and spend time near pool. This stop we used for our morning breakfast also - masala dosas, sada dosa, set dosa, bread-toast with tea. Good food.

12th October 20, 2010 11:19 AM
Re-started journey from Mansa Resot. Now Raj is driving. Just outside Igatpuri, observed the diversion from Ghoti to Sinnar & Shirdi and adviced Raj to take right turn on this new route. Recalled that this is a new route and it is possible to by-pass the Nashik and reach Shirdi early. Immediately realized this was a bad decision. This year’s mansoon seriously damaged this road and driving is very difficult due to patholes. Stopped near a road side shop and inquired about the further road condition. Quick chat among all adults and decided to take u-turn and continue via Nashik using NH-3. Odometer reading - 19969.

12th October 20, 2010 12:29 PM
There are many diversions and most of the traffic is running on service roads due to NH and bridge construction works. Traffic is very slow. Raj is driving in Nashik and he is a very aggressive driver. He is honking, speeding & aggressive overtaking vehicles. He put car to real test and sometime maintained 120KM/hr speed between Nashik and Sinnar.

We missed a turn and based on GPS suggestion decided a small village route that turned out to be a path for ‘pat-yatris’. I observed that rush driving is reflected on car and front bumper was slightly came out.

12th October 20, 2010 2:45 PM
Finally we reached Shirdi. This is Tuesday and there are few devotees. We parked car opposite of road near Mandir complex. There was small queue and our turn was quick for darshan. Post darshan we visited Mandir complex. I observed there are several modifications/additions in the premises. I was carrying cash from some of my friends for donations that I paid and collected receipts. It was a peaceful, quite day and we spend some time just sitting under a tree.

We were expecting a lunch-break but Raj was having some other ideas in his mind. He was thinking to cover the Shani-Shingnapur quickly and drive back to Mumbai. We discussed it & tried to explain that this will be very difficult but finally agreed to try.

12th October 20, 2010 4:24 PM
Re-started from Shirdi for Shani-Shingnapur and refilled the petrol just out-side Shirdi.

12th October 20, 2010 5:33 PM
Stopped at a road-side hotel (Hotel Sai Bharosa) for quick breakfast and to confirm the route.

12th October 20, 2010 6:25 PM
Reached Shani-Shingnapur. There were few devotees and darshan was very easy.

12th October 20, 2010 7:35 PM
Raj took control of driving with determination to reach Mumbai as early as possible. Around 8:34 pm we stopped at a hotel (Hotel New Geet Ganga). 'No eating' Raj was very clear. Quickly use the wash rooms & come back to car.

12th October 20, 2010 8:59 PM
We are back at Shirdi. There are demands for food in the car and we decided for dinner in a dhaba.

12th October 20, 2010 9:54 PM
Re-started from Shirdi. Raj is driving. Initial few kilometers are very difficult. Road is cut from sides for widening work. And there are rains. Driving is becoming difficult. We discussed the plan again and decided for a night halt at Nashik.
12th October 20, 2010 11:35 PM
Reached Nashik. I was aware of a hotel (Hotel Dwarka) on the Sinnar junction at NH-3. We spend night in this hotel. OKiesh for a night halt.


13th October 20, 2010 10:11 AM
All are ready. I arranged for a quick car cleaning. Everyone is fresh and we feel energetic. Hotel check-out completed and arranging bags in the car boot.

13th October 20, 2010 10:54 AM
We started from Dwarka Hotel, Nashik. Destination is Triambakeshwar Temple. I’m driving. Slow traffic in the morning. N82 SatGuide GPS is not able to locate the destination. We stopped at few turns to find out that we are going in the right direction.

13th October 20, 2010 10:30 AM
Breakfast stop at Amrut Garden Restaurant. Everyone agreed on aloo-parantha. Children started playing in the garden. There are lots of mud and water due to last night’s heavy rains. Overall atmosphere is good. Parantha was good and we fill refreshed. I tried again and this time N82 SatGuide was able to find GPS & destination. We discussed the route with restaurant manager.

13th October 20, 2010 12:30 PM
I started driving. Nashik - Triambakeshwar road is good. There are some potholes but driving is easy.

13th October 20, 2010 1:10 PM
Reached Triambakesh temple. Someone directed us to a parking place. It’s the worst parking place I have ever seen. There were lots of big boulders. We managed to park our car at a place. Raj immediately noticed that car in front of us did not have sufficient space to move out due to a big boulder in front. He re-parked our car and we started walking towards the temple.

Camera/ mobiles are not allowed inside temple complex and we have to deposit the same at a shop. Rs. 10/- is charged for each article. Small queue and we were quickly inside the temple. I noticed there are ‘purohits’ inside temple with switched-on mobile phones.

We came out of temple and moving around the complex. There are showers but its pleasant environment. I tried to explain the architecture & history of temple to Raj but he was not interested. I thought he is too young to take interest in such things. Childrens found a purohit who was distributing ‘rudraksh’. We spend some more time inside temple.

There are many small shops outside temple and we started looking for something interesting to purchase. Diwali is near and we purchased few ‘Torans’. My daughter observed wooden replica of classic cars and wife also shows her interest. After a small bargain we purchased two car models.

We are all in car again and discussing our purchases. We observed that except few food items all other items have ‘made in china’ tags.

13th October 20, 2010 2:57 PM
Started from Triambakeshwar temple. Destination home at Navi Mumbai. I’m driving the car as I’m more interested to see the new downward section on Kasara Ghat. It is very pleasant experienced to see a entirely new section, well maintained, intact and safe after a heavy mansoon this year.

13th October 20, 2010 5:34 PM
Stopped at Pushkar Mela Resort, just before Kalyan diversion at NH-3 for tea.

13th October 20, 2010 6:12 PM
Started again. Raj is driving. Turned towards Kalyan and we immediately faced the heavy traffic. Very slow movements but finally we came out of Kalyan and started moving towards Shil Phata. It’s raining. Heavy rains and there are many trucks on road. We again forced to slow down.

13th October 20, 2010 7:45 PM
At Shilphata we took left turn and started moving towards Kalamboli/Panvel and just after toll naka we have right turn for Kharghar. We are reaching home.

13th October 20, 2010 8:09 PM

Reached home. Odometer reading 20580. Trip meter reading 737.9.


Conclusions:

Overall a nice experience
GPS navigation is good but we can’t entirely believe on suggested routes. Need to inquire for road condition.
Lesson learned - always visit destinations around Mumbai only on weekdays. Its totally different experience.


- Samdarshi

[hvkumar]

Smart decision not to take the Ghoti-Sinnar route, that road is a disaster at this time of the year.

[jeevmenon]

Regards Ghoti-Sinnar, I did the blue marking below on the 13th Oct 2010 (which covered part of the Ghoti-Sinnar route. The first 18 km or so was hard-core panchayat road (which was difficicult) but then it was ok for another 25 km or so till Sinnar. So just wondering if anyone has done the complete Ghoti-Sinnar recently. This would be important to many since the 30 km approach to Nashik and 20 km of Nashik-Sinnar is not that pleasant.

[PAVAN KADAM]

I had been there with my family last October

Lovely trio. especially Triambakeshwar is an awesome experience.

You seldom get to see such a heritage temple amidst such scenic settings in the Background.

Do post some photos of your trip.

[chethan.ram]

Nicely written. Please post some pictures as well.

[soul-on-4wheels]

Hi,

Executed a long pending Shirdi trip on 24th Oct from Mumbai in my 4x2 Yeti. And this time, included Shani Shingnapur in the itinerary as well. Thought I will share the drive details!

MUMBAI – SHIRDI – SHANI SHINGANAPUR – MUMBAI

Mumbai to Shirdi
Distance – 250 Kms. From Chandivili, Mumbai till Hotel Bhagyalakshmi, Shirdi
Time – Start @ 9:00 Hrs. End @ 13:20 Hrs. Total Time = 4Hrs 20Mins with two 10 Mins breaks

The Roads
1. NH3/AH47. Thane – Bhiwandi – Asangaon – Igatpuri – Nashik – Sinnar – Shirdi
2. At 49 Kms, hit the Mumbai – Nashik Expressway. Not an expressway quality road. Uneven at many places, with multiple pot holes – big and small. Add to that chaotic traffic consisting of heavy vehicles and adventurous two wheelers. It pays to drive carefully on this stretch
3. Nearing Nashik is a series of flyovers that ease the drive till the point where one needs to exit the flyover take a right turn towards Shirdi
4. There are signs to indicate to stay left to exit the flyover to reach a roundabout where you will have to turn right (2nd exit) to get onto NH 50/160. This roundabout redefines chaos and it pays to be very careful out here
5. Once you take the right at this roundabout, you are about 85 kms away from Shirdi
6. The road remains chaotic for some time and then you reach Sinnar in about 25 kms from Nashik
7. Sinnar to Shirdi is about 60kms and the last 40kms right upto Shirdi is a smooth ride

To Eat
1. Shiv Sagar @ 47 Kms from Start
2. Vithal Kamat @ 66 Kms from Start
Note – I saw these eateries and made a note. I did not stop at either of these places for food. Breakfast for us was on the move!

Tolls
1. Mulund = Rs 35
2. Kharegaon = Rs. 29
3. Mumbai – Nashik Expressway = Rs 100

Shirdi to Shani Shingnapur
Distance – 74 Kms. From Hotel Bhagyalakshmi, Shirdi till Shani Shingnapur
Time – Start @ 10:00 Hrs. End @ 12:00 Hrs. Total Time = 2hrs with one 15 Mins break

The Roads
1. 50 kms on NH160 and the rest on SH 66
2. Once you turn left onto SH 66 from NH 160, you will be greeted with rows of sugarcane juice parlours by the roadside. Will be a good idea to take a break and sip on the delicious glass of juice!
3. The last 20 kms is a crazy stretch – we saw 2 accidents, thankfully not fatal. The drive is okay-picturesque but never let your guard down. And the roads are not wide enough for comfort
Note – did not keep a record of eateries en route as this was a very short drive! And the only toll was in the form of a "tourism tax" (about Rs 4) just before entering Shani Shingnapur.


Shani Shingnapur to Chandivili, Mumbai
Distance – 300 Kms. From Shani Shingnapur till Chandivili, Mumbai
Time – Start @ 13:15 Hrs. End @ 21:00 Hrs. Total Time = 7 Hrs 45 Mins!!! With 2 breaks totaling an hour.

The Roads
1. Shani Shingnapur – Shikarpur – Chakan – Mumbai/Pune Expressway - Sion Panvel Expressway (SH60 – SH10 – NH50 – NH4)
2. Pretty decent stretch of roads save for some isolated patches.
3. The moment you hit Shikarpur, you will encounter crazy traffic. The right turn onto the Chakan-Shikarpur road is a messy one with vehicles plying in all directions.
4. The rest of ride was peaceful enough though the Mumbai – Pune Expressway was a mess owing to the Sunday traffic back to Mumbai and the authorities cordoning off one lane of the Mumbai bound stretch for nearly a couple of kil0metres fearing landslides. This resulted in a horrendous back-to-back vehicle chain. Took 2 hours to cover the 90 km Expressway stretch – an hour more than normal.

To Eat
1. Multiple options but we stopped for a quick lunch at Hotel Farhat Executive at Ahmednagar
2. A Vithal Kamat just 12 kms prior to hitting the Mumbai-Pune Expressway – stopped for a quick tea break

Tolls
1. Mumbai/Pune Expressway = Rs 195
2. Sion/Panvel Expressway = Rs 35