Lavasa & Temghar Dam :- A longtime pending ride finally initiated but remains uncompleted. {06/02/2011}

It was new year 2011 & after our fun short ride to Karnala Sanctuary, it was time for an actual long ride to somewhere we craved to go since long. Najju was out of the city for work & hence he missed the last Karnala Bird Sanctuary overnight ride+trek. So he was determined to go for a ride as soon as he gets back to Mumbai which was scheduled for in last week of January. We wanted this ride to be a full-fledged ride with all the safety gears & hence Najju, myself & Percy went to A.H Helmets just a day before the ride & bought a full set of gears for Najju which included a Dashing LS2 Dragon helmet, Axo knee/arm guards & Cross fibre knuckled gloves. I already had all the required gears although from different brands i.e AGV MPA helmet, Fox Arm/knee guards & Probiker knuckled gloves so I somehow abstained myself from shopping anymore & just got a bottle of Motul SS oil for my bike. We were supposed to leave for the ride a bit late next morning as Najju had some religious rituals to attend to & I got time to change the engine oil of my baby FZ. The destination was yet to be finalized as we had 2-3 options in mind i.e Bhandardhara, Rajmachi etc but we zeroed in on Lavasa at last moment.

Now Lavasa is known for its smooth curvy roads i.e the most closest that normal roads can get to a racetrack. We had heard a lot about it from fellow bikers & desperate to go there but the only issue being it was bit too far away for us considering we had an additional rider Nikhil with us who didn’t like to go on extra-long rides i.e excess of 200 kms, & this was more than 200 kms just one way. Najju assured me that we’ll convince him for Lavasa but not before we are half way into the ride otherwise he’ll turnaround & go back straight to home.

So we left at approximately 11.00 am on a bright sunny morning of Sunday, The 6th of February 2011 & met Nikhil at Byculla. He asked us for the destination we’re headed to & we just kept tight-lipped. I called up Rachit & ketan on my way & inquired about the guidelines to reach Lavasa as I just had a faint idea how to reach there & unlike normally, I didn’t get time to research on internet for chief attractions at our destination nor I could verify the most feasible route to the destination. Rachit & Ketan were kind enough to guide me with in depth details as to how to get to lavasa & it seemed we would finally end up there for sure. With decent average speeds on both the bikes we made out of the city & reached Panvel by 11.45 though Nikhil lost my lead at Sion where I took a right turn for Panvel & he went straight towards Thane but after a call from us, he rectified his route, made a U-turn & regrouped with us on Sion Panvel highway where we awaited him while having a glass of cold Neera (also called Sweet Toddy or Palm Nectar. It is extracted from Inflorescence of various species of Toddy palms. It is sweet, oyster white, and translucent. It is widely consumed in India, Srilanka, Africa, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar. Neera is a non-alcoholic and unfermented beverage) on one of the many Neera stalls adjacent to the highway.

Najju took over my FZ & next stop was straight to Khopoli for a fuel break just before 12.30 pm. The scorching heat was making it difficult but the lovely NH4 made the ride worth it & none of us complained. Soon we were through Khandala Ghats & it was Najju’s first ride on the Khandala ghats on a geared motorbike & he managed scaling it without much of an issue. We had a brief halt on our regular spot just before old NH4 merges into Mumbai Pune Expressway for some photoshoot & pee break by 1.00 pm.

First view of the Expressway

Myself & Nikhil

Myself & Najju (All geared for the first time)

The Happy Bugger after the  swift ride on NH4 & Khandala ghats

Moving on further, we bypassed lonavala marke & I precisely re-collected every landmark which Ketan had narrated to me to look out for. The IRB tollbooth of Lonavala city led us out of lonavala us & now officially we were on the unfamiliar roads on which none of us had hitherto ridden. The open smooth NH4 was an absolute treat to ride & both the bikes were cruising over 80-90 kmph effortlessly.

Best quality roads - I wish all the roads are like these

Najju @ 90 kmph

Ninja Chacha - On his trusted Honda Uni

 Najju was having a blast with FZ & thankfully he decided to let me in the party as we stopped over somewhere before Kamshet. Now it was my turn to burn the asphalt on the lovely NH4. It was irresistibly difficult to keep my FZ below 100 kmph but I didn’t want to loose Nikhil from my rear view mirror which shall lead to a further delay in our already delayed schedule. So I kept cruising just under 100 kmph zone & Nikhil managed to tail by.

The journey that never ends - Wish to ride on this lovely NH4 all the way till Bangalore

FZ - In my control now

With all the fun on the highway that I was having, I forgot Ketan’s directional advice & lead ourselves straight on NH4 through pune rather than taking the Mumbai-Pune by pass road. Soon we got stuck in heavy Pre-Pune traffic & I knew I had made a goof up somewhere although I didn’t realize it. Ketan had asked us to carry on with Mumbai pune by pass road which shall lead us directly to Chandni Chowk & it was a simple 40 odd kms from there to Lavasa but we were heading towards Pune city & thankfully I had Googlemaps for my assistance with directions & our current location which showed Pimpri Chinchwaad on GPS. It was approx 2.30 pm by then so we took a brief halt for some delicious veg lunch on a roadside hotel & post lunch I had a discussion with the owner of that hotel who kindly directed me with the shortest route to Mumbai-Pune By pass road via wakad.

Nikhil had grown impatient by then as it was almost 4 hrs & about 150 kms into the ride & it looked like we were nowhere near any destination. Finally we had to tell him we’re headed to Lavasa & he looked nothing but unimpressed. All he asked me was how many kms further, & will there be any water body or waterfall around there? I frankly had no exact answer to any of his question & hence we just insisted him to follow our lead.

It was getting late & I was determined to get us all to lavasa before 5 p.m so we got back on road, I inquired directions on every possible junction of the road & finaly made it to chandni chowk by 4.15 pm.  We took a right turn from chandni chowk & after few kms, there was the initial road signs reading 42 kms to Lavasa & we were relieved to know we’re on right roads now & Nikhil finaly had an answer to one of his question. The roads & the ghats weren’t honestly the utmost beautiful that we had ridden on that day but the views were getting better as we ventured further towards lavasa & that kept us motivated.

A small break on some ghat on the way to Lavasa

Najju hoped on with Nikhil on his UNI to give him some company & click some of my best solo riding pics ever

My gorgeous lady in white & blue

The roads started getting better & better & the curves deeper & deeper. I was having time of my life riding solo on those quality roads but i couldn't rip on as Nikhil was taking it slow & I wanted to stick with him rather than moving ahead. Meanwhile Najju clicked some handsome shots while on the go. (NOTE: almost all of the clicks are by Najju so all credit to him for the wonderful photography)

Curves to kill

A nice video of beautiful roads full of curves

All of a sudden there was a small river flowing by on the left side of the road & I was relieved Nikhil I got answer to the second question by Nikhil. Yes ther’ll be water (little did I knew back then, that a little bit ahead, there’ll be as much water to fill up an ocean). So even though we were getting late for lavasa, I searched for an offroad path from where we can take our bikes off the main road & as close to the river as possible & found a trail to do so. Soon we were going nuts in the cold fresh river water & finally there was a smile on Nikhil’s face. We knew it was getting late so left the spot shortly & moved ahead.

Some pics at the river:

The babes by the river

& the brothers by the rivers

We were riding on smooth Temghar roads & soon the sight of the mighty Temghar dam behold in front of us as the road crossed by the hugest of the dams. We stopped by the group of people who were enjoying the sight of mighty dam. We parked our bikes on the side of the road & decided to walk as close to the dam as possible. It was an unbelievable sight. The Dam was the biggest that I’d ever seen up close & personal.

We clicked a hell lot of pics, did some TP & finally found Nikhil his waterfall, although it wasn’t a natural waterfall but a man made one, but who cared.

Water flowing in full force through small subsidiary outlets of the dam

Some posing

Nikhil's waterfall - Dedicated to him

We went in wearing all the safety gears as we were too lazy to remove them

Some Poll dance practice  

We climbed quite high.. Courtesy: the monkey within us

Some Videos

One by one, we hoped into the freezing cold water & spent quite some time loitering around. It was already close to 6.00 pm by then & lavassa was still a good 20 odd kms away & seeing how fast the sun was setting in, we knew it was impossible to reach Lavasa city before nightfall & then no much to see around after dark so we rescheduled our target to carry on towards lavasa as far as we can & get a wonderful view of sunset & then return back to Mumbai after seeing the sunset.

We rushed to our bikes, hopped on & sped off towards lavasa. The curvy roads were an absolute treat to ride on. 

Heavenly roads

It was a race against sunset as it was getting darker every passing minute & the beautiful orange sun was in no mood to wait for us as we saw the sun getting generously ready to vanish beyond the horizon. Finally we settled for a place on the road which had a beautiful view of the valley with magnificent hills, lovely Temhar lake backwaters & a picturesque sunset waiting ahead for us to witness. We rushed to get into the scene & capture a few frames in Najju’s camera before the beautiful sun went extinct for the day alas.

A wallpaper shot

Those two jumped into the frame

& then I joined in too.. With self timer in use

In Solitude

Thereon, we marked the end to our trip at approx. 6.30 pm & started the return leg of the journey. On our way down, we stopped at the Temhar Dam wall for some final pics of the day.

One of my most favourite pic - On the top of Temghar dam wall with my babe by my side

A view from above

Post sunset view of the lake from top of the dam

& then some posing by us

We were down there a few minutes ago :) clicking from opposite side

I had been riding my FZ since afternoon as we were in rush to reach Lavasa & now all that was left to get back home safely so Najju took over FZ. I hopped on with Nikhil on his Unicorn & Nikhil was cheerfully happy which I couldn’t help but notice as he handed over his Unicorn keys to me for a test ride. Honda Unicorn was my first choice when I looked for my first bike but its bit outdated looks, delayed waiting period & a premium price shifted me to buy FZ. I had ridden Unicorn earlier but never for longer periods so when I got Unicorn that evening, I went absolute nuts. The bike was super smooth as everyone knows. FZ had smoother engine than most 150 cc bikes but Unicorn was leap years ahead in terms of engine refinement. The cornering wasn’t nearly as fun as on FZ but still I enjoyed the ride on Unicorn & Najju was right on my tail all throughout till we reached Chandni Chowk by approx. 7.30 pm after a blistering fast ride. 

Najju - Solo on FZ

We fueled up the bikes one last time, had a small break at a tea stall for tea + Parle G before finally getting back on Mumbai pune by pass road. While having tea, I noticed a few calls from my boss Satishji & called him back for some work related matters.

A much needed tea break rejuvenated our much needed spirits as we had a long way to go in dark cold night, Nikhil regained control of his Unicorn while I hopped on with Najju on FZ. After a while, I got hold of my FZ again & Najju took over Nikhil’s Unicorn & we managed an excellent average speed all the way till lonavala. Najju impressed me with his improved riding control as he effortlessly managed to stick to me howsoever much I pushed him & he was never out of the sight from my rear view mirror. We were in Lonavala market in no time & it was time for a brief Chocolate Fudge shopping session by Najju/Nikhil while I used that time to call up home informing I’ll be late.

A last click for the day - Expressway shining with vehicle lights

Nikhil was back on Unicorn & our average speeds dropped as he wasn’t as comfortable at high speeds as much Najju was & I didn’t pushed him either. We crossed Khopoli & Panvel neared by as the clock showed just about 11.00 pm. We halted for one last pee break & than nikhil asked for FZ & we happily handed him over the FZ while Najju took over Unicorn. Nikhil zoomed off ahead on my FZ & we never met him again until we reached najju’s home by nearly 12.30 am. Najju finished the job humbly by riding us till his home where we found nikhil resting his back in the verandah of a closed shop. I joined him & so did najju after parking the Unicorn aside my FZ. We had a good 10-15 minute chat over how amazing the trip was. Although we did regret not actually reaching Lavasa city & though we were merely 15 kms away from there, nevertheless we had time of our lives. Lavasa will still be there for some otherday, some other time.

On that note we bid adieu to Najju as I & Nikhil hopped onto our respective bikes & sped off to home. I bid Nikhil goodbye as his home was on the way & I touched my home at last close to 1.00 am. The Odometer on my bike read 420 kms which was a strange co-incidence with our association to 420 number ;)

Ttired but happy, I patted my bike for getting us back home safely & went to bed straight as I entered my house.

Some useful information:

Place description

Lavasa is  among the first planned cities in India, located in the Pune district of Maharashtra. It is located behind the Dam of Varasgaon, near Pune and Mumbai and is situated on the banks of Baji Pasalkar. The distance between Lavasa and Pune is about 60 kms and it is about 190 kms from Mumbai. 

Lavasa is popular because of the mountains and valleys that surround the region. It is because of the location of this place, people find opportunities for adventurous activities like mountain climbing, hiking and trekking.. The popular attractions here include the Lakeshore, which offers opportunities of adventure sports like  boating against the strong currents of the lake, cruises and jet skiing. 

Lavasa is set on the seven hills of Maharashtra in the Mose valley. The city was planned and built as per the principles of ecological sustainable environment and urbanisation. The city is equipped with all the latest means of technologies and facilities, which are being managed by HCC India. 

The weather conditions in Lavasa remain pleasant throughout the year.. The best time to visit Lavasa is during the monsoon season because of the pleasant weather that allows the exploration of natural wildlife and waterfalls located in the region. 

Source - Wiki

Summary of the trip:

Riders:

Nikhil, Najju & Myself.

Bikes:

Honda Unicorn & Yamaha FZ 16 LE

Route taken:

Marine Lines - Sion - Panvel - Khopoli - Khandala - Lonavala - Kamshet - Pimpri Chinchwad - Wakad - Chandni chowk - Temghar dam & Back

Route Map:

Major Highways:

Sion Panvel highway, NH4 & Mumbai Pune bypass road.

Total KMS:

Approx. 420 kms.

Date & Time:

Sunday 06th February 2011, 11.00 am to Monday 07th February 2011 01.00 am i.e Approx 14.00 hrs

Cost:

Fuel: Approx. 1600

Food: Approx 400

Rating:

***1/2