Pune - Ahmednagar - Aurangabad - Ajanta - Buldana - Chikli - Mehsar - Lonar (500 Kms )
3 peoples have confirmed for this ride.Tushar was coming from Mumbai,Me and Deven from Pune.Like the other rides plan was to leave early by 5 AM.Tushar was about to meet us at Shikrapur.As usual i was sleeping till 5:30 and then got a wake up call from tushar that he has reached the meeting point..I said.. Oh what !!..You were not supposed to come that early :D.In couple of mins got a call from deven as well that he has reached Kalyani nagar - Gold Adlabs.where we were supposed to meet and head for Nagar(Ahmednagar).
Did the daily stuff and geared up quickly,reached kalyani nagar in 10 mins.Then we started for shikrapur.Tushar was waiting for us for past one hour :).Had an tea and sutta session and discussed the plan that where we will be heading first..Ajanta OR Lonar.
Actually i wanted to go Lonar first,as i wanted to explore the NH222 route which takes us to lonar from internal roads.But to our surprise no was aware of any place named LONAR.we asked and enquired about Route to Lonar with so many peoples,but no one had any clue about it.
In between saw some GENDA-PHOOL plantation.
Lovely highway and other two buggers :D :D
Pretty soon we reached Ahmednagar.Road connecting to Pune - Aurangabad is in very good condition..it an smooth 4 lane with verry little traffic.
stopped in nagar to enquire about the place..but this time in a different way.Asked an autowala in more descriptive way ' arrey woh aasman se bohut bada patthar gira dharti par aur waha bada khadda ho gaya hai,woh jagah'.In between Tushar googled it from his mobile,and it was showing a route from Aurangabad.
So here we decided that lets hit Ajanata first,stay there in the night and tomorrow morning we will start for Lonar.
All of us were very hungry,so the plan was to pull over at the next good looking,nice smelling dhaba-hotel.reached Aurangabad,since i was tailing these guys took wrong turn which takes to Ajanta.And we were like travelled 10 odd kms on that route and then my mind clicked that this ain't the way.
We turned back..refuelled in Aurangabad.Just ahead of Aurangabad we stopped for the Breakfast break..and there a bad news came.Tushar's got a call from home that her grandma is not doing well.He gor very tesned and disaapointed.We asked him to come with us till Ajanta then leave back for home.
Descending down to Ajanta caves from Ajanta Gaon
It was around 1 O clock and we made it to Ajanta.Unlike Allora one cannot take his own vehicle to every cave.We have to park it outside and then take a shared tourist bus till the caves.Actually previously all the vehicles were allowed till the cave,but due to narrow road,traffic congestion issues..they introduced this bus system.Good thing i say. :D
Deposited all our stuff at cloak room after reaching the caves.
It was 2 o clock..and day was quite hot.Damn were all drenched in Sweat.but then a group of beautiful firang girls from Mahindra college motivated us to visit all the 29 caves.
Ajanta Caves -
Caves in the starting are known for their incredible painting art and the caves in the end are known for their fine sculpture art.
Cave 16
Beautiful paintings - See for yourself
Cave 21
a lady posing for my lens
Cave 26
Other caves and Misc
we were finished watching caves in just 2 hours..so were fulltoo free to ride ahead.Came back to the parking lot had some food and drinks and started for Lonar which was another 150 kms from there.
Small break on our way
Did some non stop streches and reached Lonar around 8 in the night.Road was not that good though.
Checked-in into the dorm..for 200 rs per bed.Anyway no one else was there..so whole dorm. was ours :D :D
Had some booze and food and crashed into the bed.
Day 2
Lonar - Jalna - Aurangabad - Ahmednagar -Pune
Lonar lake was right in front of the MTDC resort.2 mins walk and you are there at the lake top.But to reach at the base of the lake one has to climb down for 2-3 Kms.
Some attempted macros...
Duhh..I hate this part :) .Me and Deven started to climb down,in few mins we were at the basin..in the other words,Inside the jungle.Forest at the lonar basin was very dense.
Deven baabu ;)
Lonar Lake is a saltwater lake.It got created by a meteor hitting the Earth.Intresting thing is lonar lake is both saline and alkaline in nature.
Circumference of Lonar lake is about 8 Km.Its basin is completly covered with different species of trees,one can find many peacocks and monkeys out here.
Lake Water
There is an interesting legend about this place
As per Skanda Purana, a demon named Lonasur who lived in a subterranean abode used to devastate the surrounding country and even challenge Gods. Lord Vishnu, on an appeal by the people of the region, assumed the form of a handsome youth named Daitya-sudan, charmed the giant's two sisters and discovered the giant's abode and then removed the lid of the den where he was hiding and destroyed the giant. The present lake is claimed to be the den of the giant, and a conical hill near the village Datephal, some 36 miles to the south-west, is said to be the lid of the giant's den. The water of the lake is likened to the blood of the giant and the salts that it contains as the decomposed flesh of the giant. It is also believed that a perennial spring, at the head of the path which leads down to the lake is linked to the Ganges river.
We explored few ruins of the Temples which are there at the Lonar basin.While returning we got lost...we were unable to find the route from which we came down,as it was a very narrow path.After 2-3 rounds on the same route again and again,we finally managed to find the route from where we came down.
On our way to Temples
First One
Now the climbing part started.. :D :D..Both of us had a hard time climbing up..Thanks to the heat,steep climb and Sutta we smoke :D
See for yourself :D :D
we reached back at the MTDC hotel around 10 O clock,we had to quickly check out from the hotel to avoid the second day charge.
While returning we took a different route
Lonar - Sultanpur - Jalna - Aurangabad - Pune
My love for signboards - Fav pose ;)
From Jalna till pune its all four lane road.We ripped all the way till Pune.I reached home at 7:30..While Deven reached home around 8:30.
Awesome ride and great company,totally enjoyed it.
Cheers
Biru
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