Bike trip from Mumbai to Rajmachi

Fridays are usually very busy in office and it was the same this time around. Our trip to Harihareshwar seems jinxed as something seems to go wrong every time we think of making it happen--it was the same this time around.
Saturday was the 6th of December, a historical day for more than one reason and to add to that, Mumbai was on high alert. Another reason to escape for the weekend.

Harihareshwar was left for another time and I was left thinking of alternatives through the day. My mind had almost settled on doing a trip to Jawhar--almost. While looking through the net for information I stumbled upon the account of a bike gang's trip to Lonavala. The last strip of 16 kms was total offroading and something that I had never done earlier. This was at 9:30 PM when I was almost about to leave for home.

I had been to Rajmachi earlier, actually that was my first ever trek and my most memorable one till date. It had taken us 5 hours in the blasting April sun (with no water reserves) to just make it to the base village of Udhewadi.
But that was through the Kondivade (Karjat) route--this was through Lonavala. I remembered how everyone we met last time told us how easy and picturesque the Lonavala route was and how we had taken the "wrong route" for that time of the year.
Like many of my other brilliant decisions, I made a last minute change and changed our destination to the twin forts of Manoranjan and Shrivardhan.

Everyone was informed and I roped in Dhaval who was still in office when I called him up. He got off his shift at 8 AM and he had office again at 10 PM. The 14 hours he had in between were actually meant for sleeping but he felt it was better spent riding bikes to remote villages and then trekking up forts. Who can argue with that!

We were off on time and zipped to Khandala stopping at Kalamboli McDonalds. After you get off the Lonavala exit the road goes on below the flyover and as soon as you get out, look out on the left for a road that leads down. There is a board on top of the entry point that says Summer Hill, you cant miss it. Ask locals if not sure but make sure you mention Rajmachi fort, the locals first directed us to Rajmachi point, which is lovely by itself but you would need a glider to reach the fort from there.

The road is OK for the first 8 kms. At this point we reached a dam. There was a wall of a mountain right in front of us and the road went left along its side towards more mountains. This is where the road ends and we were on a kuccha road that was more rocks and stones than mud and gravel. The road was the worst at places where it passes over smooth round rocks like those found in a river bed. These are river beds--but only in monsoons.
It was a terrifying to imagine how much more difficult this area would be in the monsoon... I look forward to finding out ;)

I had a fall on one such patch.
It wasnt exactly a fall, I was going up a steep 60 degree incline when my front tyre hit a rock, which threw the bike sideways. My feet slipped and the weight of the bike just seemed too heavy for my battle worn wrists. Me and Swapna got off and I let go of the bike. Thankfully, it didn't slide down the the incline.
Swapna had been taking a video of the ride while all this happened and she later told me that the first thing I asked after the fall was, "Did you get all that?"

The last 10 kms took close to 2 hours to cover but that includes many breaks where we just stopped our engines and enjoyed the view. The entire stretch is just too beautiful--nevermind the rattling human bones and bike parts.

At the village, we stayed at the same place I had stopped at last time around. Everything around was just the way I had left it. After a refreshing break and food and drinks we set off for the village pond. It was right at the edge of the plateau and the sight is worth the detour. The moon was out, undeterred by the afternoon sun--and it just added to the sight of the magnificent fort walls.

The trek to the top wasnt easy and we were left panting more than once. I got some good snaps and we headed down through a different route from the windy side of the mountain. We collected our stuff from the village and headed out 4 PM to make sure we reached the main road before the sun went down.

The setting sun allowed me a few more pretty looking pictures. We stopped at the top of a waterfall, or atleast what should be one in the monsoon, on the way back. This spot looks like a mini Konkankada from the top of Shrivardhan and the view of the forts from down there was no less brilliant.
The trip back was safely uneventful and I can now boast of having conquered Rajmachi twice.

2008-12-06_Rajmachi