i started from home after watching Pakistan loose in their world cup encounter against the minnows Ireland.. it was around 4.50am in d morning..
i reached Vashi at 5.15am it took me unusually long time to reach there...might be i was driving cautiously in d dark..
but to my surprise everyone i.e Arun, Dhananjay and Mohit were waiting for me...We were each on a bike..a ZMA of Mohit and 3 pulsars...150 of dhananjay..my 180 v1 and arun on 180v2..
i was driving in reserve petrol for just about 4 kms when i reached Vashi..We drove to Nerul to fil up..it was 5.45 n no sign of anyone at de pump...from there we decided to check Belapur station pump..but that too was closed..no gates here but bamboos for sure..
from here we decided to start our journey even if i was on reserve and had driven some distance but not too much to take any chance..so it was fine....
we stopped at a Panvel Petrol Pump where each had put in 500 bucks worth of petrol i.e around 10litres...it was 5.52 am here..
decided to take de next stop at Dutta Snacks for garama-garam vada pav..but we were too early there for that...they had just started cleaning up de place for start...thot of stopping for a while so that we cud fill up our stomachs after filling up our bikes...but decided otherwise..
took a right to pen still in dark and started our journey towards Harihareswar..
it was absolutely dark on the way to Pen..Panvel-Pen road is a twisty turning H'way NH 17 i.e the Mumbai-Goa H'way..with trucks driving all over with all kind of stuff loaded...some of them carry mud and rocks without any cover and it flies off n sticks on ur face..
but driving in d dark is absolute fun..had never experienced that before...no street lights only de headlight to d rescue...people with weak headlights...dont venture out in d dark on the H'ways...the experience cannot be explained in words...u gotta experience that urself!!
The trucks coming from the other side never use a Dipper and we have the lights going directly into our eyes...after a while of driving all i was able to see was 2 circular coloured spots..
reached the Toll naka and i decided to stop for others to join...it was around 6.30 at this point in time...Mohit joined me right after and Dhananjay and Arun came in after a few minutes...everyone said just one thing...SAHI HAI YAAR!!
we left from here to our way to Nagothane which is about 25 kms from Pen...on de way we stopped on a diversion not knowing where to go...me n mohit were at front stopped there and asked for directions..in d mean while other two joined...
Reached Nagothane at around 7.15 for breakfast...Had Idli-Vada and dosa along with nice coffee...really nice taste but a bit costly...
Saw the sun breaking thru from behind the Mountain in front of the Hotel Indraprastha...
There is a really nice informative board of the distances from the place to the tourist places around...This is where it was Arun shouted..abe Mahabaleshwar to sirf 126 kms hai idhar se...Mohit got excited and we decided to go to Mahabaleshwar instead of Harihareshwar as was predecided...
Started from Nagothane at around 7.45am after a nice breakfast...the next milestone was Mahad..around 65 kms from Nagothane...The roads up till now were really nicely laid...The road to Mahad was also great...little traffic on the road and nice greenery all around...
i stopped in between to inform about the change of plan to my bro..there i took a snap in Bombay Pulsars style...
it took me around 5 mins here..in the mean while others had gone ahead...they stopped in the middle to check where is was...they thot i had a puncture..but fortuntely this time around there was no such incident..i caught up with them n we drove at around 80-90 kmph average to our next stop Mahad...asked the directions and were told to take a left at Poladpur near a statue..
took the left after asking..and started the climb to Mahabaleshwar...it was around 9am at Poladpur...The road is a two way road to Mahabaleshwar..
after some distance we started the twisty and turning Ghat section...its around 38 kms of Ghat to reach M'war..the road is great apart from some sections..but that is ok...reached some 14 kms from the top i.e. covered 26 kms of ghat section and decided to take some snaps...
it was about 9.45 at this point in time...it was just 14kms to the top...we drove some distance .. but just 2 kms into the ghat the road got worse...in some areas the road is dug up on one side as there is some road construction going on..and in other parts there are only rocks...me not confident in driving in these conditions was too slow...then some relief but again the same thing...it was just about 4kms but it took out all the air from me...stopped for a while and reached the top!! it was 10.45..so we took nearly an hour to cover 40kms...but funn it was...
did not roam around too much..went to the monkey point but no monkeys apart from the 4 riding bikes..
the view is great from the top..but have to visit after rains...gotta plan this out and for a stay too!!
we decided to come back via Pune...the road is mostly one way and absolutley flat...u can go flat out here...test the top speed and anything u want...we drove at average 90-100 kmph..reached Vashi at around 7.30...
In the end this is one of the best rides i have had so far n will cherish for a loooong time!!
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