Birds in my backyard...

Maina...
Faintail Flycatcher..

Indian Koel - Female..
Small Sunbird..
Golden Oriole..

Harihareshwar

Was ithcing for a ride for a while now..Finally on friday the 24th i decide the destination will be Harihareshwar..
Harihareshwar is a place in raigad on the coastal line of India famous for its beautiful beach and Lord Shiva temple..
Its situated at a distance of around 210kms from mumbai..

Route taken - Mumbai - Panvel - NH17 - Mangaon - SH97 - Mhasla - Srivardhan - SH98 - Harihareshwar

Started the day at 5.15am.. I am already riding in reserve for the last 2 days..So want to fillup the tank asap..
Go under the sion flyover to find the bunk closed..ride on..
no bunks till chembur maitri park.. reach the next bunk.. its also closed.. Finally find the pump working near Mankhurd.. fillup 500rs worth..9lts..

from here on its ride on.. hit the NH17 in no time.. chill goes thru the spine.. its that cold.. dint even imagine this.. i was shivering.. my helmet fills up with mist..
have to wait and wipe off the mist.. ride slowly now.. i take a hour and fifteen minutes to cover a distance of 63kms and that too when there is no traffic on the road..

ride on.. reach pen and stop for pani.. click a few snaps..






keep riding till i reach mangaon.. take the right from there.. the board says Srivardhan 43kms..
stop at a road side hotel for breakfast.. dont remember the time i reached there..
had a tea and idli-wada..
the roads from here are real treat.. thru the trees and winding with ample opportunity to lean..



this is the ghat section..




just after the ghat.. the roads are again butter smooth...


wonder if he thinks i am an alien with all the gear on me..


but not alls well.. the not so good part of the road is the last 20 odd kms.. its PIA.. one can do around 40kmph but i have my front mag already bent so dint want to take a chance..
this is the road condition..


one more ghat where constrution is going on for alternate road..

but the main road is neglected.. its steep and had rocks and craters and wat not in the way.. have to be really careful.. one slip and u r gone !!
did not click any snaps for the steep section though..


reached srivardhan breach at around 10am to find that the beach was empty.. literally ek kutta bhi nahi tha..

there is a nice little resort type on the beach..

he has caged turkey and ducks..


finally after an hour or so started back for Harihareshwar.. its 17kms from Srivardhan.. the roads.. again butter smooth..
on the way ..



Harihareshwar temple..

going around the temple for Pradakshina you have to go through the mountain and the Sea.. actually its less of pradakshina and more of sightseeing..
climb up..


go down..

thats the steepness..

and go through the sea..
erosion caused by the water..


view of the beach from top of the mountain..


hunger strikes and i move to MTDC. which is just half a km away from the temple..
its a really beautiful and quite place for a getaway..



waiting for lunch i spot this.. no its not a reflection.. might be mating season has begun..

the lunch was starting at 12.30 so had to keep cliking..



finally lunch arrives at 1..fill up myself with the jeera rice.. dal fry and the mangola..

start back at 1.45 from harihareshwar.. a tempo driver tells me to go through Borli village.. so i could skip the pathetic ghat..

route taken while coming back - Harihareshwar - Srivardhan - turn towards Dighe village - Borli - Mahsla phata - Mahsla - Mangaon - NH17 - Mumbai..

but again the first 10 odd kms are craters..with good roads ahead..


reached back to mumbai at 5.45..

statistics..
total distance covered - 440kms..
Fuel cost - Rs.550..
bike mileage - approx 45kmpl..
time spent on road - approx 11hours..

album link..

Ride to Bhandardara...

Aug 15th 2008 -- 61 years of Indian Independence..
A ride through the craters of NH3 (Mumbai-Agra) we reach the Igatpuri village.. Take a right for Ghoti and from there its on SH21 to Bhandardara.. the roads of SH21 are much much better than the NH3..
Total distance covered 360kms..

Somewhere on the NH3..

Stop just after taking the right at Igatpuri..


anup,amit and gopi..

Gopi trying to catch the clouds through the new Canon DSLR..

portable rain cover..

on the greens..


Macro.. i love..

current desktop wallpaper..

trying to get down the incline on a marshy land..
this is wat happens..Gopi 1st..


Darth ooorf amit 2nd..

can these two push it up..

naaaaaa..
that needed 3 people..

poser!!

red and green combination..

i like this photo.. but for the RTR back there..

the DSLR owner testing it..

Anup..

wonder what he was doing in that field..

Game on.. Counter Strike..

Morpheus..

lake arthur..

spot anything weird..??

he is holding the cam in the right hand and looking thru the left eye..
step into the lake..

four of us..

bike and the background..



the full album..