It was more than a month since our last ride and hence after some planning with the usual folks, it was time for another ride while the magic of monsoon still played its charm all over the beautiful Maharashtra. A friend, Shailesh came up with a beautiful suggestion, Kondeshwar temple and waterfalls which were just 75 odd kms away from marine lines. Too short for our liking, hence we added ‘Bhandardhara’ as well on the ride plan via kasara ghat.
Some standard information for Kondeshwar temple and waterfalls:
What: Kondeshwar is a beautiful and much less known attraction near thane/Mumbai which is mainly famous for two things, a magnificent combination of water bodies (read pond, lake, rivers, waterfalls and dam) and an ancient Lord Shiva’s temple. If you visit in monsoon, the place if full of colour with an abundance of greenery all around and picturesque hamlet of villages in backdrop. It is a place I will highly recommend for a short one day outing with family and friends.
Where: The nearest well known urban place will be Badlapur which is nearly 10 kms away. So you get a guaranteed peaceful location away from noise and pollution but not so far away to reach either. Though we didn’t travel via public transport, it did seem quite simple to get a local rickshaw from badlapur railway station or the best option would be private transport as you can drive/ride right to the end i.e. the temple. Also, with private transport, you may take as many stops you wish while on the way to enjoy the picturesque environment which will provide multiple photo-shoot opportunities, guaranteed. If you feel adventurous, take a walk along the beautiful villages while on your way from badlapur station to kondeshwar.
Also, you can’t miss beautiful Bhoj dam just a few kms away before you reach Kondeshwar. It’s a must halt for a refreshing break.
Driving directions: (All these routes are less than 100 kms one way and can take upto 3 hours)
From South Mumbai / Central Mumbai
Route 1: CST/Fort – Sion – Mulund - Thane – Kalwa – Mumbra – Shilphata – Katai village – Ambernath MIDC – Badlapur – Kharvei naka – Kondeshwar
Route 2: CST/Fort – Chembur – Vashi – Turbhe – Mahape – Shilphata – Continue from Route 1
From Western Mumbai suburbs
Route 3: Borivali – Ghodbunder – Thane - Continue from Route 1
Route 4: Borivali – Goregaon – JVLR – Mulund – Rabale – Ghansoli – Mahape – Shilphata – Continue from Route 1
From Navi Mumbai
Route 5: Panvel – Kalamboli – Taloja – Shilphata - Continue from Route 1
From Kalyan
Route 6: Kalyan – Ambernath MIDC - Continue from Route 1
Eat: Not much eateries/hotels/dhabhas around the kondeshwar temple, you can find small shops and roadside vendors for light snacks but you will be better off packing your lunch. Or have your lunch in Badlapur.
Stay: There is a decent resort just close by. Bhoj resort.
Best season: June to October
Other: If you have time, make way to one of the easily trek-able hills nearby to get a good view of the places around.
Please carry your waste back with you or use the dust bins. Don't litter.
Caution: The combination of water bodies around kondeshwar (Dams, rivers, ponds, waterfalls) make it a very beautiful place to be with your loved ones but be advised, it is unsafe to engage in over adventurous activities in water. Kondeshwar is notoriously famous for multiple accidents, especially in waterfall right behind the main temple. The natural force of water in monsoon is no match even for the best of swimmers so let you good sense prevail and abstain from defying the water bodies around kondeshwar. Local people can be your best guides to play it safe out there, inquire with them for further details.
Getting back to our trip to this little heaven. We started early morning from marine lines on July 17, 2011 with 4 of us on 3 bikes. It was raining cats and dogs when we left at 5 am in morning and it looked like we were in for a rainy treat. I had to pick up one of our friend Tushar on the way who was coming by local train to mahim by 6 am. Percy wasn’t feeling well and he was convincing us to cancel the ride as it was raining heavily, but rain encouraged us even more. I couldn’t convince Percy to stay back so he returned from Bandra while leaving the equation as still 4 of us, but on 2 bikes now.
We were taking a bit modified Route 1 (via dadar - bandra - sion) and picked up the pace to cover the lost time but rain made it difficult to ride beyond 60-70 kmph even on eastern express highway towards thane. Sadly no photo breaks due to consistent rains. We took a right turn just after thane toll naka (near kalwa) towards mumbra and shilphata via NH4. A left turn from Shilphata and a further right at katai naka after few kms led us straight to the pipeline road which led towards Ambernath MIDC and Badlapur.
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| Our route |
In heavy rains, it was difficult to contact Shailesh who was riding alone from Kalyan via Route 6. Although a bit late but we met him at Ambernath MIDC and thereafter it was his responsibility to navigate and I was happy to tail the group. After a short drink break of early morning fresh roadside neera, we were making our way through small sleepy village lanes of badlapur towards the destination. It was around 9 am when we had our first real break at the Bhoj dam to click our hearts out as the rains subsidized a bit.
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| The first view |
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| And the road leading us to the heaven |
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| The Bhoj dam - Up and close |
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| Najju, Nikhil and Tushar |
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| Spartan, all cheered up |
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| Don't try this |
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| Najju and Me |
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| Our rides |
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| View on opposite side of the bridge |
A video to get things in perspective
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| Dont do this kinda stuff out there |
After almost an hour of fooling around, we started the ride again and made it to Kondeswar in no time. The views were magnificent
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| Careful on these small roads |
We reached the end of the road pretty soon which confirms that you have arrived at the destination. Bikes parked and all of us made our way towards the magnificent waterfall right behind the temple after taking darshan of Lord Shiva. We spent a good two hours playing in water and learning a good lesson at the end of it i.e. don’t mess with the nature.
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| Looks small but its not |
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| Small caves |
A video to get things in perspective
We left Kondeshwar around 2 pm and made our way towards the next destination for the day i.e. Bhandardhara via beautiful kasara ghat. Shailesh had joined us just for kondeshwar so he returned back to kalyan bidding us goodbye. I had planned an adventurous new route for the journey i.e. via NH 80 badlapur – barvi lake – Murbad – Shahapur rather than the known highway of Badlapur – Kalyan – Shahapur and onwards to Bhandardhara. It wasn’t a wrong decision at all as the roads on NH80 were absolutely marvelous though just a small two lane road. Unfortunately there was no good view of the barvi lake as I expected, since the lake appeared right next to the road on maps but all we saw was a wall of huge dam. We made it to murbad by 1.30 pm after a brief break to treat our tummies with local vada paavs and get a break from continuous onslaught of heavy rain which stayed with us all the way since Kondeshwar.
We reached Murbad and after briefly riding on the much known roads of NH222, we were having second thoughts to skip bhandardhara and ride to malshej ghat again and bhandardhara from there if we can. I insisted to stick to the planned itinerary since Bhandardhara was an unknown heaven to us while we all had been to malshej multiple times. How badly I wish now that we had ridden to Malshej ghat that day as surely it would have been heavenly, given the rainfall we encountered since morning. Why I wished so? You'll know.
The road from Murbad to Shahapur (NH 79) can be described in one word, ‘Disappointment’ especially after being spoilt by the wonderful badlapur murbad road (NH 80). The pothole infested road was taking a toll on us due to water filled dead holes and continuous rains with little or no views to feast our eyes. The speeds dropped drastically. Tushar being pillion with me requested for breaks often given the bad roads and uncomfortable pillion seat on my bike. There was a direct shortcut village road (via NH44 satgaon – charade – sakurli – panjare – bhandardhara ) just before we reach the main highway on shahapur. I had originally planned to take NH44 to save time but given the condition of roads so far, I decided to skip the village road and get back to the NH3 highway.
Fortunately, we missed the junction to take this shortcut and ended up on NH3 highway near shahapur by 2.30 pm. From thereon, it was a quick high speed run towards kasara ghat as we were drastically behind schedule. Triple digit speeds and less or no rains helped us reach the foothills of kasara ghat in no time where we decided to take a proper lunch break at Sai da Dhabha. It was nearly 4 pm when we started ascending Kasara ghat with full tummies and a modified plan to just reach bhandardhara (65 kms from kasara) by 6 pm and ride post sunset to reach Mumbai (250 kms ) by midnight or beyond.
I gunned my engine and suddenly had my heart in mouth when I tried to slow down at the very first corner since we re-started our ride. The front disk brake had failed, no response whatsoever and I desperately controlled the speeding bike only with the rear brake. I somehow managed to stop safely at the side to check what’s wrong while Najju/Nikhil zoomed past. We regrouped after a few calls to each other and tried to sort out the issue but it seemed there was no response in the front brake at all. We decided to return to kasara and find a mechanic but there was none to help us out and we were told that we can get a decent mechanic only towards shahapur, the place we came from. It was almost 5 pm when we called it quits with heavy hearts and leaving Bhandardhara for some other day, yet again.
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| The curves at kasara where we stopped |
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| Sad faces at a roadside waterfall at kasara before returning home |
Nikhil dropped Tushar to Kasara railway station as I didn’t want to risk riding with a pillion on a National Highway with no brakes. Meanwhile, I & najju started slowly towards Shahapur at speeds safely manageable with rear brakes.
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| The views on NH3 |
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| The dangers on the road |
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| No traffic thankfully. Easier to ride with rear brakes only |
Luckily we found a mechanic few kms before Shahapur who checked the brakes and declared that the brake pads had worn out which was surprising since the brakes were working wonderfully all morning. Luckily he had spare brake pads to replace.
Nikhil re-joined us after dropping off tushar and we resumed our journey back home after sunset. We made it back safely by dinner time. We called it a day with mixed emotions since we had a gala time at kondeshwar but missed out on bhandardhara, yet again.
Nevertheless, we did have that ride to Bhandardhara very soon which was far more adventurous and fun which restores my faith in the saying “whatever happens, happens for a reason”
Cheers.
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