An Ocean, A Bike and a Beach – What makes for a good road-trip!

“What makes for a good road-trip?” asked she, sitting on the pillion as we cruised ahead towards Alibaug. I wondered. Was it the bike, the road, the pillion, the rider or the emotion?

“Emotion. Road-trip is an emotion”, said I. “It is liberating. It makes you forget that you have a home, a job, and your mundane routine. I think that is what makes for a good road trip.” She nodded her head in agreement – I saw that in the rear view mirror. I also saw her clicking this pic.

Wait a minute, I think his travelogue needs a better narration. Let me attempt! 

It was my birthday week, and she wanted us to go to some remote place, away from the ever bubbling maximum city. We chose to go to Kashid via Nagaon and Alibaug. And boy what a decision it was!

The trip started with us packing all our stuff in small bags and tying it all up onto Faisalwa (my Avenger 220 cruiser). We reached ‘Bhau-cha dhakka’ – a small time port in south Bombay. The name is funny but it is actually well-christened. For 150 bucks, some 3-4 ‘Bhaus’ (Bhau = Brother in Marathi) pushed my Avenger up on a small ferry.

A bike on an ocean. Ain’t that amazing!?

A couple of hours later, we got down on Rewas fort. From there started a rather refreshing bike trip to Alibaug. The road is single lane, and pretty empty on weekdays. On one hand you have hills, and on the other, the ocean. Tall grasses lined up the road shoulders and we cruised ahead humming songs of Lucky Ali.

(aS Note: The helmet was taken out momentarily only for the photograph. Pl. wear helmets while driving and ride safe!)  

A bit about the tarmac and road safety here. At places the road was super smooth, but intermittent were stretches full of gravel. It was becoming even trickier at the turns. I was noticing a fellow biker who was ahead me for some time. He wasn’t wearing a helmet and calling his style of driving rash would not be an exaggeration, judging by the way he was swinging his fazer side-ways. Suddenly a tractor came out from the left and I did see this biker almost hitting the mega-vehicle. Thank God for his brakes and well threaded tyres. I also applied the brakes and thanked God, for I was maintaining a comfortable distance from the biker. I bent forward and looked at my front CEAT tyre and felt a re-assurance. I always make it a point to check my bike’s tyres before cruising out. Maintaining safe distance from heavy vehicles ahead is a deliberate choice, and maintaining comfortable speeds of around 60-70 kmph with a Helmet on never killed anyone! (Bad pun, I know!) A quick and timely disclosure here. I’m chronicling my road trip adventure for CEAT Tyres in association with BlogAdda. And you thought product placements were only a thing in the movies! ;)

Anyway, this small incident did not dampen our spirits and we went ahead with the road trip, stopping for lunch in Alibaug. And then we skipped its beaches for better places ahead. At night we stayed at a small private homestay at Nagaon – a place almost mid-way between Alibaug and Kashid.

I just cannot further this travelogue without talking about the sereneness of Nagaon beach. Imagine this. A beautiful sunset with ocean till the horizon and a glossy thin layer of the water extending on the beach, touching our feet in waves.

It was mesmerizing. I took my Faisalwa for a ride on the beach while she clicked pics. Have a look.

(aS Note: The helmet was taken out momentarily only for the photograph. Pl. wear helmets while driving and ride safe!) 

The Babe, the Bike and the Beach.

The next day we biked ahead and reached Kashid. A secluded place with another beautiful beach and waves. We came across a wonderful resort adjoining the hills which bracketed the small beach town. Amazingly well designed resort with rooms having private balconies overlooking the hills and the ocean. The night went on a high. Quite literally. It was an amazing experience, lying on the grass on a random balcony on the side of a random hill, overlooking an ocean as random.

Cheers to the places life takes one to!

With a couple of content hearts and travel-worn souls, we headed back the next morning. 

(aS Note: The helmet was taken out momentarily only for the photograph. Pl. wear helmets while driving and ride safe!) 

The Alibaug-Nagaon- Kashid trip definitely raised the bar for our future road travels. And some months later, we went to Goa. But that’s another story for another time! Keep visiting arbitSpeculations.com/travel for the next update! :)

Admin.

arbitSpeculations

more

Trekkers' delight - To Harihar Fort and beyond!

The thing about the monsoons in Mumbai is that it will make you beg to come and it will make you beg to leave.

I can see many of my friends and colleagues already begging like a lunatic for the rains to go away. But they don't realize that with the rains going away, the lush green, misty, almost ethereal greenery of the western Ghats would also vanish too, leading to that dull dusty foliage we all want to make a blind spot of.

But behold the beauty of Autumn! October and November are the evergreen months to visit any place they say. How about trekking up to a couple of forts this Autumn?

In continuation of my last 'bro finding things before they happen' travel post, here I am with yet another possibility - A trek to Harihar fort and Brahmagiri - Bhandardurga fort on October 8th and 9th.

more

Anybody up for a trek this weekend to Raireshwar – Kinjalgarh?

Things are changing at arbitSpeculations – travel section. Earlier we used to post travelogues in retrospection (well, that’s how travelogues are meant to be, anyway!) But then a sweet chap quipped, “What’s the point of talking about things that happened. Tell me what travel things are about to happen bro!”

And hence this ‘bro’ decided to find out about travel things that are about to happen and post about it.

Google searches didn’t help much. Our friends at goeventz portal did. I did stumble across this upcoming trek to Raireshwar – Kinjalgarh, ‘about to happen’ this weekend – September 24^th 2016. But where the eff is Rair..whatever is that you ask?

My turn to ask questions first. Are you in Mumbai or Pune? Do you love traveling around? Do you brood about the last few days monsoons and the associated greenery of the western ghats is going to last, and do you want to do something about it?

more

The Motorcycle diaries: #4 To Lavasa & back #IndianArmyFC

And why the #IndianArmyFC hashtag in the title you'll ask. We'll get there soon.

As if a 155km bike ride from Mumbai to Pune was not enough, I took Faisalwa (my Avenger 220) for another spin, only a day after. And this time we were three - Pranav with his white Bullet and Mathur with his black one accompanied by my red Avenger. The plan was to ride up from Pune to Lavasa, spend the evening there and come back - some 130kms doorstep to doorstep.

A tale of two Bullets and one Avenger.

The Route - The Good, the Bad and the Godly.
The boys did have the toys but none of us knew the roads to Lavasa. GPS Mata ki Jai, but we didnt have no pillion riders to be our navigators even. Precisely here came to our rescue an old purchase of mine from Mumbai's grant road - a GPS device holder for bikes. Fortunately I had taken it with me for the Mumbai Pune ride. It had been unused till then.

As a wise guy, Sir Vedder once said, "...just where to put all your faith and how will it grow."
I put that random purchase of mine to task.

 

Long live Eddie Vedder!

And the GPS screen showed this - 65 km ride up into the mountains!

The delay.
We were enthusiastic but we were also super hungry. One thing led to another, and we found ourselves getting super late for the trip. The original plan was to leave at 3pm, by 4:10 we were still in a small coffee shop, sipping iced lemon tea. So much for our first ride up into the mountains!
Anyway, we packed our stuff, put the helmets where they belonged and throttled up the beasts.

An hour later, we were again having tea, but this time in the mountains. Oh my love for recurrent tea breaks while biking knows no bounds!

The Indian Army Fan Club.

One day before all this happened, both Pranav and I had done some bro-shopping at Pune Decathlon - you know, this pair of running shorts... that hell of a wind cheater etc. We both had gotten two full sleeve t shirts with the Indian Army camouflage design. And we both wore that to the Lavasa trip. a few jokes later, we named our pack 'Indian Army Fan Club Riders'. Wannabe stuff, but it stuck like all wannabe stuff.  Yeah, what's in the name they say!

 

Now you know the secret behind #IndianArmy FC in the title!

Lavasa bike trip - A couple hair pin turns too many.

The road remained good for almost 2/3rd of the trip. Then things began to fall apart. Next thing I knew, my GPS holder (with my darling nexus 5 phone) spun off on the road from the bike. Thank God neither did it roll off the hill, nor come under the tyres of other vehicles. I promptly put the phone back where it belonged to. Inside my jeans pocket. As we reached up, hair pin turns started appearing more frequently. Things did get tough on a couple of occasions but we managed our way!

 "Darling, let me show you the hair-pin trick". (Opens the lock.)

"The North Remembers."

Make photographs while the Sun shines.

And we finally reached a high point from where the entire Lavasa could be seen. Sun was setting faster. Time for us to get some quick snaps!

Mathur looks like Danny Denzongpa.

Wine colored days.

 

Almost posing in front of a painted landscape. Almost.

Lavasa - The night of colors.

Finding a budget one night stay in Lavasa can be tough. Fortunately not the case for us. We managed an easy access to Lavasa clubhouse's landscaped amphi-theatre. A beautiful open sky amphitheater with the lake forming the backdrop of the stage. And distant colored lights making hazy images in the water.

Writer's note: The activitied & discussions that went on till late night/ early morning on that amphi-theater have been censored. Jai Gajendra Chauhan. 

When the stage in front goes in the background.

 What the dawn revealed.

All things good come to an end.

Time had come to return back to our senses. And bikes. And senses. We had come to the clubhouse in awe. We left in awe. Beautiful it was. Everywhere!

A colorful morning with a promising return bike trip ahead!

One for the road!

A sunny, happy, chirpy morning in the mountains.

Epilogue.

Return trip was faster than what we had expected. As I rode up and down the mountains with blind turns and known hair pin bends, they all seemed way more familiar than they should have been. The sun shone bright on the horizon, rising & getting stronger by the second. Cool winds made the head bands useful and brushed past our cheeks, as we made our way back to the Pune city.

I realized how much sense it all made - taking my bike from Mumbai to Pune and then to Lavasa. A good break from all the monotonous shades of a corporate life. I promised to myself I'd cruise more. 

And more often.

Cheers!

Alok 

Pune - April 10th 2016

P.S. The Pahadon waali Maggi should not be forgotten. It fed the Indian Army FC Riders well. Three glasses down to the Pahadon wali Maggi.

more

The Motorcycle diaries - #3 Mumbai to Pune on NH4

Maintaining any kind of blog is cumbersome. A travel one at that, even more so. One, the job world robs you of (m)any such traveling chances, two the lethargy that sets in after a rare travel or two kills the rest of the scribbling mood.

Anyway, beating all that and a hiatus that has seemed to have spanned a couple of centuries, here we are - aS travel tales are back, with an additional flavor of motorcycle grease (I know. Bad pun; in my defense, didn't i say I was on a hiatus?).
And so I re-start with my recent joyride from Mumbai to Pune on my Faisalwa- Bajaj 220 Avenger.

 

Faisalwa eyeing Dum Biryani midway. (More pics below) 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The analysis paralysis.

So many reviews on the internet about biking route maps from Mumbai to Pune and all too confusing! I remember having thought of taking my bike along for a spin whenever I went to Pune in the last year, and that has been like at least 7-8 times. Each time I would read some 4-5 reviews, contemplate the pros and cons of a bike ride on highways and end up taking one of those "cool cabs". All the blogs talked about how you have to make sure you never touch the Mumbai Pune Expressway, how you would anyways touch the Mumbai Pune Expressway, how you would have to have a good eye on the signboards how you should never assume and how you could be fined by the cops for riding a two wheeler where it ain't allowed. And of course there is worse.

I don't think travelogues should discourage travelers.

The Go.
And one fine day (Gudi Padwa I guess), I had had enough! I just took my riding gloves, my helmet, my keys and hit the road on Faisalwa. Simple as that! Let's tackle one signal at a a time, let's tackle one sign-board at a time, like the Kapur son had said recently to his father. I understand pro-bikers will remark that Mumbai-Pune bike trip is no big deal; the thing to remember here is, I have never rode for more than 30 km at a stretch, and we are talking about some 155 odd kilometers.

The Route. The Rule.
 One thing I really like about Maharashtra in general and Mumbai in particular is that there is always a sort of discipline in everything they do. There is always a rule for everybody to follow. And if you find yourself walking in the wrong 'lane' on the pedestrian part of an overbridge, you'd often hear "Mumbai mein naya aaela hai kya?"

Anyway, the rule of the game here is, there is a route parallel to the much hallowed Mumbai Pune Expressway, partly formed by the NH4 and Old Mumbai Pune Highway and partly by other side-roads. It's a biker's delight. The heavy vehicles (also, most cars) would never tread this route (for it's longer) and the bikers would stay away from the expressway for obvious and legal reasons.

TL;DR? Zoom this pic and ride off.

Above is the route I took. From Dadar in Mumbai to Koregaon Park in Pune. Took me some 4 hours to size it up. If you're a biker who has reached this blog only to get gyaan on the Mumbai Pune bike trip, here's where you should have scrolled to directly instead of reading all the arbit speculations above. ;)

One more thing before we begin. Here's the google maps link for the trip: http://bit.ly/2d6qknq . All the Mumbai Pune Bike trip blogs I read had failed me here. You can read all the warnings and suggestions and get even more confused or you could just hit this link and ride off. And no, this is not what you'll get by default if you search yourself on maps. No option there to disable the expressway but keep the highway. I had to manually add all the places I rode through, in retrospection. Thank me later. ;)

1. From Dadar to Panvel Naka: Easy peasy. Reach RK Studios. Take whichever route that strikes your chords. Then head on to Sion Panvel highway - keep on driving, you'll hit NH4 at the Panvel Naka. A friendly advice: After you reach Panvel, go hunting for the McD in Panvel. No, McD hasnt paid me for this. While doing that, you'll avoid the flyover which will directly take you to the mouth of the expressway. And McCafe has been good lately. ;)

2. From Panvel Naka to Lonavala: Stick to NH4 like it's your long lost love. It will take you home. Well, almost! When you reach Lonavala, you'd suddenly be betrayed by her and would find yourself driving right on the cruel expressway! Ignore the infidelity and drive on for 6-7 kms (highlighted in yellow on the map above). Take the Lonavala exit ramp and hug the AH47 now. She's a beauty with her curves. She's amazing.

3. Lonavala to Pune: Keep hugging AH47 and pass through Vadgaon. I had tea there. Bad tea. You may choose to move on. You'll reach Dehu Road. A tea here, maybe?

What's riding without those recurrent tea-breaks? Thank God those Tapris littered around, almost everywhere.

Now where you ask? Well, keep pressing the accelerator and you'd cross Pimpri Chinchwad and then the old Mumbai Pune Highway will do the rest.

Epilogue.
You may think what's so special in a regular Mumbai Pune roadshow. To me it did an interesting thing- it unlocked another degree of freedom for me - the one to long cruises on Faisalwa, and the realization that online reviews for bike trips are needlessly scary. And mostly boring. ( Does that apply to this one too? You decide.)

Anyway, here are some happy memories of the trip:

The Five Pointed star just doing it.

 Chaai with a Chick. (in background)

 Curves ahead.

 "Aaja Shaam hone aayi" "Oh no!"

In sharp contrast to Mumbai Pune Expressway.

 Cheers!

Alok

Pune - April 10th 2016

P.S. - This trip soon led to a more challenging one to Lavasa and back (a 130 km bike-ride into the mountains of the Maha Rashtra.) Will blog soon about that. I hope. :)

more

Atop Karnala fort in Rains: Drenched Bliss.

So how do know whether you have entered a travelling hiatus? Why, do a trend analysis on your daily routine for the last month. If there IS a month long unchanging daily routine, then sadly, you have entered one.

I was pretty confident that after joining the corporate world, my personal lust (yes, lust) for travelling and trekking and all things related would be taking a back seat. One such uneventful Thursday, I was sipping my second cup of coffee in my Mumbai office when one of my colleagues forwarded an itinerary e-mail for Friday. It said something about trekking around Karnala. Few google searches down, I was already wondering where had I kept my cam’s charger!

That's what was up for grabs! 

more

Nature’s Sparkling Brilliance: Fjord Tour, Norway

“Fjord tour? What on earth are these Fjords? At least tell me how to pronounce them? Is it F-silent or J-silent?”

That’s how it all began. Four Indian friends on their exchange study programme in France talking about taking a random series of train, ferry and bus rides between two cities of Norway: Oslo and Bergen in the month of October.

Some 10 days later, after a meticulous planning and a long, tiring train journey into the Scandinavian countries, when I took the morning train from Oslo to Myrdal, I asked these questions again to myself.

By this time, I did know the dictionary meaning of the Fjords, but honestly, I still had no clue of what was about to come in this weird sounding day long tour, and that too in friggin’ Norway, of all countries!

more

Rotterdam, Netherlands: Where the eye goes post modern.

What does a city do when a crazy guy called Hitler bombards it to ashes? Why, it turns post-modern!!!

Rotterdam. It’s a beautiful city; it is post-modern, and no, I am not making a sweeping statement here. Since Hitler’s bombardment in the 1940s, the city has stopped following any architectural axioms. Challenging the existing rules, questioning the axioms, and erecting contrasting buildings with even more contrasting elements hitting right in your face is what post modernism is about. Things don’t go haywire. Thoughts do.

Let’s see if my lens is able to show you what I felt like while walking in Rotterdam:

Mind the different types of buildings, standing next to each other in full glory.

more

Qatar diaries: “Wait, of all the places to visit, Doha???”

“Of all the places, Doha???” was what I got as a comment when I innocently posted, “What’s there to visit in Doha?” on a highly frequented travel website.

“Of all the places, Doha???”

Interesting question. Well, I didn’t have much of a choice. The CEO of my company wanted us interns to visit either Qatar, Oman, Bahrain or Kuwait.

I liked the name ‘Doha’. I reminded me of some Rahims and Kabirs. Some two weeks later, I was lying on a cushioned bed in a three star hotel in Ad-Dwahah, Qatar.

Names. Always deceive.

Now, as I was already in a place which was not supposed to be in the list “of all the places”, I decided to make the most of it. 10 days in the capital city of a country I would have never even dreamt of visiting.

I opened some travel sites. BBC travel and lonelyplanet came to rescue. I made an itinerary for the 10 days and went ahead. Thankfully I had brought my old faithful Sony H55.

That old bastard friend of mine which refuses to leave my hands. Here’s what both of us captured in Qatar:

  Restaurant Deja Vu: May be in some vague dreamy vision, I had been to this place before.

more

What’s the connection between the Arab culture and a disposable razor?

So the other day, I was working in my office, trying to ponder over why disposable razors are not a craze in India (we prefer system razors with spare cartridges refills), while in arab countries, they sell like hot cakes.

And then, like any other post-lunch-yawn-filled office hour, my train of thoughts led me to think about the way people behave in UAE in general and Dubai in particular, and compare it with the rest of the world. And I reached a dilemma. But we’ll get back to it later.

For now, the only word that comes in my mind when I think of the Arab culture is…

“Conservative”. Yeah, I know you had already guessed it.

more