Strawberry Ride !!!

Come Sunday and I suddenly develop this itch to get back on the Road. I had just had an amazingly satisfying and fulfilling Ride to Malshej and it was time to raid the Ghats once again. So early Sunday morning I woke up and taking my trusted steed and pillion took off towards Mahabaleshwar, the most popular Hill Station in Maharashtra. I can give clarification for people who think Lonavala is a hill station. This sunday, on the cards was a ride into Strawberry country..Strawberry country is what most of us normally refer to as Panchgani-Mahabaleshwar, the amazing twin hill stations of Maharashtra near Pune..

The Early Morning cool breeze was definitely refreshing as we rode on NH4 bypass towards Katraj and then further on towards Himesh Reshammiyya's village SUROOR. The good smooth ride was occasionally spoilt by fully loaded buses which were going towards Satara and drove in the center of the road leaving no gap on any side. Overtaking these was definitely a big big pain. To Add to this was a turquoise blue ZMA with an idiot as rider and a nincompoop as pillion who was holding on to three polythene bags and trying to duck behind the rider trying to avoid wind draft. Although sporting a Mumbai Number plate - (MH 06) these guys rode like straight out of Liberia, or maybe Kazakhstan. Taking buses, trucks, and the odd car from any side. Guess some place I gave them a small crash course in safe overtaking. A Good combination of Day Flash and Horn coupled with some smart down shifts, revs and a twist of the wrist often makes each overtaking move a stylized activity.

After running on smooth roads for quite some time I came across the first stretch of Ghats on this route. It was the legendary ONE WAY Khambataki Ghats. I stopped at the beginning of this Ghats to have a sip of water, despite being a frosty morning; a little amount of water always helps avoid dehydration on longish rides. The climb up the Ghats was one helluva experience. I did overtake a couple of goof’s on my way up but then luckily this being a ONE WAY climb there was no traffic running down head-on to me.

Crossing the Khambataki Ghats, the road further ahead was again a smooth 2 Laner each side. That gave enough scope for the Bike to open up and gobbles miles under its rubber. Unlike other rides this time I had not put on any music and hence all that I could hear was the cool wind rustling inside my helmet and the sound of the Jumbo rubber eating the tarmac. Despite being a bike full of Vibes, the pulsar is amazingly silent cruising at 80 KMPH. A little off SUROOR, we came across the diversion to Mahabaleshwar. They are constructing a flyover at that turn so that the Traffic turning right towards Mahabaleshwar doesn’t go and block the oncoming traffic from Satara towards Pune. It’s quite easy to miss this board but then one should keep eyes peeled for such indications on our Indian highways.

A right turn and I was on my way to Wai, the base village to go into Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar. I passed the outskirts of Wai and then was slowly climbing up towards Panchgani. It was here that the second Ghats section Pasarani Ghats started. This road is again one which runs along the sides of the mountains with amazing picturesque views. Twisting up the Ghats we came across lots of buses parked haphazardly where most of the tourists had taken breaks. I stopped at Harrison Folly a flat piece of land jutting out form the Ghats which formed a nice viewing point. The dirt track and gravely surface on this section was a dream ride on the Pulsar which sticks to the uneven surface with good traction. Somehow I guess the dual purpose tyres work great here. A short break and some snaps later it was time to move further ahead into Panchgani. We stopped at a check post and paid 10 bucks per head as ‘Pollution Tax’ (OMG – I never knew it was officially legally allowed to pollute the fragile ecosystem of hills stations). We climbed up to Table Land, the largest and perhaps the widest Plateau this side of the tropic. Panchgani is also known for some of the best Boarding schools this side of the country. Its second best I guess only to Dehradoon.



















Panchgani derives its name from the five hills around it. At an altitude of 1334 m it is just 38 m below Mahabaleshwar. These 38 m translate themselves into a breathtaking 20 kms approach from Mahabaleshwar that swoops around bends with abandon, offering heart stopping views of the river Krishna on one side & the coastal plains on the other. Panchgani is the quintessential hill station, with the Raj stamped indelibly all over it. It can be seen in the old architecture of the old British buildings, the Parsi houses, & the Boarding schools that have been for a century or more.

Amble along the walkways, thickly canopied by lush trees & vegetation & delights in the secrets you come upon. The Krishna River snakes through tiny hamlets, farms & ravines, hundreds of meters below. From the Top of Table Land we can gaze over the coastal plains, looking like miniature water colors. Panchgani is one of the rare places that doesn't crowd anyone, yet in its own unhurried way deeply touches every visitor. We came down and had a scrumptious Breakfast at a local joint. Being a tourist destination the stuff sold there was obviously highly priced but then who complains on a holiday. After all a day earlier I had filled in 10 litres of POWER into Chotu’s huge Tank, so stuffing ourselves was no issue.

After a quick bite we zoomed off towards Mahabaleshwar and paid the same Tax there too approx 15 bucks per head and moved straight to Old Mahabaleshwar, the place which gave this town its name. As we rode into Mahabaleshwar we were crossed by a thundering group of some 10 odd bulleteers. Man that was some sight to see, I guess Biker brotherhood is what I call it.

Old Mahabaleshwar has some 3 temples which date back to prehistoric times and officially was recognized as a pilgrimage place in the 13th century. Old Mahabaleshwar nestles around the source of the Holy Krishna River, with a temple dedicated to Krishna' locally known as "Panchgana" (meaning "Five Rivers" - i.e. Krishna, Koyna, Venna, Gayatri and Savitri). The earliest shrines here date back to pre historic period, but this Krishna temple in its present form is attributed to Singhan, a Yadav King ruling from Devagiri in the 13th century. It was later restored first by Chandra Rao then Jaoli in the late 16th Century and later by the Great Maharatha Shivaji himself in 1635, then by Sahu (1670-1709) and lastly by the 19th century banker Parashuram Angal.

There is a legend behind the origin of these five rivers on the site. The myth goes as follows: On this site many ages ago Lord Brahma along with the other two Gods Vishnu Mahesh (Trinity) and his younger consort Gayatri were performing Yagna. While doing so Brahma forgot to wait for his senior consort Savitri. When Savitri arrived she was enraged at this insult and in her fury she transformed these four into rivers, but not before they retaliated, turning Savitri into a watercourse as well. Brahma became the Venna River and started to flow east then South and both Gayatri & Savitri became the river of the same name, Vishnu became the river Krishna and began to flow east and Mahesh got transformed into river Koyna and started to flow south. Whew! Whatta Legend. Now how does that explain the existence of these Gods parallelly along with the existence of there rivers even till date. Hmm!!!! Some transformation!!! The first place where I stopped at Mahabaleshwar was the Mahabaleshwar temple, belonging to Lord Shiva. It was a very peaceful experience; somehow a visit to a place of worship during a bike ride always refreshes me up. After the Mahabaleshwar temple we also went to the Panchganga temple and then decided to move into Mahabaleshwar town for some sight seeing. By now the sun had started beating down on us though the temperature was still comfortable. Looking at the crowd which was now getting thicker I decided to cancel the city visit plan and move to some of the far placed ‘scenic points’. I turned the bike around and moved towards Arthur’s Seat.



















The roads around Mahabaleshwar are very shaded and practically run all around the mighty hill station like a network of arteries. These roads run through Forests and I noticed a lot of Boards warning about WILDLIFE CROSSING. I would have disposed it off as a joke had I not experienced one strange phenomenon on this ride. On the road right in front of my eyes were the Forest guards pointing out to something in the dense undergrowth exclaiming on the sheer size of it. I Stopped the Bike, got off and ran with them towards the other side of the road armed with my camera and right there in front of my eyes a HUGE GAUR ran across the road. There were two of them and I immediately tried to tail the other. This beast was about 7 feet tall at the shoulders and wasn’t quite bothered as I chased him in the undergrowth. After about a couple of seconds he stopped and turned around looking me in the eye. I froze. What if this guy decides to charge at me and check out his HORN strength? NAHIIIII..I turned and ran back to the Bike, forest guards in two. I guess these mighty beasts disappeared in the undergrowth in some time. I have heard stories of people being badly mauled by Wild Bison’s and I didn’t want to add to the same, but nevertheless I got an amazing shot at the Beast.

I proceeded off on my bike and reached the legendary Arthur’s seat. This was an outcrop from the cliff where a British Author named Arthur was alleged to have sat and written many a story about this mystical place. Legend again I may say, but then this place had a certain mystical aura as I could clearly see different landscapes from here different floral patters, rock structures and on top of all of that ..Dense fog. And mist. Visibility dropped oh so frequently as we trekked in the clouds.

Back to the bike it was time to rush back and we rode back again till Panchgani. On my way back took a much deserved break at MAPRO Farms, the place where the strawberry and fruity stuff gets made. Had a solid treat out there and saw how Jams and other confectionary are made. The place was getting more and more crowded as late afternoon was approaching so after a short break we decided to zoom off towards Panchgani. Saw lots of Strawberry fields all over, after all we were in splendid strawberry country after all. It was at Mapro farm that my wish of getting wet in the rains at Mahabaleshwar got fulfilled and a sudden cloudburst appeared out of nowhere. Split second later everything around us was drenched in cold water and a mild chill started setting in. We decided to call it a day and moved off from the Farm after packing our backpack with tons of goodies. Took a short breather at Gliding point watching couple of Para gliders jump off the cliff soaring and riding on the thermals. The ride down the Pasarani Ghats this time was fantastic as I managed to take every corner with panache. Despite a throbbing headache, I guess because of the suddenly cold weather due the cloudburst I rode through, and managed to reach Wai. After Wai the ride was becoming slightly uncomfortable as chilly cross winds made a chill run up my spine every now and then. .



















I took a break at Suroor finally and had a good steaming cup of tea. That was all I needed to start my system reboot again and then I was as fresh as ever back on the bike. Riding back to Pune was another harried experience trying to dodge over enthusiastic trucker and car drivers rushing back to Mumbai/Pune trying to overtake from left right and had it been possible even from top or under. A mad rush through the Khambataki Tunnel and then the Katraj bypass tunnel and rest of NH4, made me reach the outskirts in no time. The open road gave me another chance to test out the twist of my wrist capability of Chotu. I managed to see a reading of 110 on my Speedo, that too with a pillion. May not be fantastic but I guess I am satisfied..Rather I am obviously thrilled. Finally I managed to reach home tired but very very very thrilled. Saw the Speedo and noted down the reading. WOW. Whatta Ride. Wish I can do it again and again and again…

Till Then keep riding.

Watch Entire Set of Pics HERE