Flaming Fireflies at Wanjulshet, Flying Gold Flakes of Nature..!!

The day before we were supposed to ride, Sky was full of clouds, thundering & roaring.
Next morning at 3 am i woke up with a sound of thundering, i came out in balcony.
Sky was broken loose, It was raining heavily since last 4-5 hours.

All Geared up we started our ride at 4:00 am to reach gathering point at Kalyan-Bhiwandi bypass on time by 5:30 am. our planned route was  chinchoti phata to Kalyan-Bhiwanid bypass.
But everywhere we just saw water, roads were flowing away with logged water. It rained so much in this extreme corner of Mumbai that we had to change our route through Ghodbunder.

Slowly each rider arrived & we were ready to ride again by 7:00 am. Next halt being breakfast halt we wanted to cover 75 km in very less time frame. We arrived at 8:30 am at Baba Da Dhaba; We decided to take a halt before kasara ghat so that everyone is calm when we ride through th ghat & there are very less good budget breakfast restaurants with good washrooms after Kasara for a good stretch of  20-30 km. There is Hotel Green Land as soon as Ghat is over for good washrooms but we always find it expensive compared to other breakfast restaurants as a rider.

Post Breakfast 10 am we increased our speed cause rains fade away, roads were much better to ride in good speed our next halt was Rajur, another 70 km. after 20 km from Kasara Ghat take right from Mumbai-Nashik State Highway on Ghoti-Shirdi Road. after 10 km more take right for Bhandardara road. Continue straight on Bhandardara-Ghoti Road but avoid Bhandardara right turn continue straight on Ratangad-Rajur Road. By this time one case milestone for Rajur.

Roads were curvey, Windy, Larger Landscapes, slopes & downhills, small patches of bad roads but very enjoyable ride because of climate, curves & landscapes.

Finally we reached Rajur HP petrol pump at 12 noon. Local Contact for Wanjulshet from Grassroute was supposed to accompany us from here for next 10 km.
We met VP of Grassroutes Sushma at this petrol pump, very sweet & talkative lady who gave us a lot of information on the initiative.

We Reached Wanjulshet, our Destination around 12:30 pm. 1 hour delayed from scheduled time but considering weather conditions we were happy we could make it by early noon.

The entire VRz Team received a traditional welcome of Tika & Topi, we had registration forms filled & signed for Grassroutes & local SPOC gave us introduction on the initiative, guides & itinerary.

We were told our accommodation is managed in 3 separate houses which accommodates 5, 17 & 8 pax. accommodation provided was very good, Comfortable bedding, 2 homes were very raw & rustic without even plug points & walls pasted of mud & clay. roof of wood & clay tiles. Make Shift WC toilets outside each house,another with 17 capacity was good concrete 1+1 structure with 4-5 rooms on 1st floor. Grassroutes ensured greater sense of housekeeping. Food as well was managed in 3 groups, 3 separate houses, 10 in each house.

And since this moment the actual journey begins...!!!!

Food was awesome, We were very eager to know if non-veg will be available & we did try to manage.we were accommodated in 3 houses so sabji was different everywhere but basic menu was same.

but fortunately we let that plan go because food is awesome, Organic very basic & delicious.
Day 1 Lunch We were served Chapati, Mataki Bhaji, Daal, Rice Very tasty, light spicy but flavorful.

Then we were offered black Tea & bhel. I never have black tea but this was so refreshing.

We were asked to rest And then dinner was ready around 8 pm. Best Food i ever had in any of my such adventures.
PuranPoli, Gulavani(Jaggery Water), Katachi Aamti(Usal), Rice, Kurdai(Crispy fry Noodles made of wheat), Papad.

We ate so much that We were barely able to walk.

Day 2 Breakfast was Super soft Poha with crispy peanuts, Black Tea & we were not over with PuranPoli yet.

So we asked if there is any left. The house lady being so sweet she pulled out her entire bunch of poli's from last night & just kept in front of us to eat.
We finished that off. It was so delicious even next day.

We requested if we can get Pithla Bhakari & Thecha for lunch & no-one in this village says no.
Awesome Pithla very basic again no fancy masala or too much of onions. 2 types of Thecha Spicy & lightly Spicy with peanuts.

Lady being sweet again offered us Mango's for dessert from her own farm. May be she has seen our love for Mango's.
Again we had to struggle to stand up after food. But one has to have open mind to enjoy this Food.

Water, we did ordered & paid in advance for 2 ltr of water bottles each; however we ended up drinking normal water there no major taste difference & it was light.

There were several treks or walks, guide will take you to; which are through plateau, farms, cliffs, slopes, then you see the similar view to Garadia Mahadev Kota, Panoramic view of the River in necklace kind of u shape encircled to nearest hill.

Guide carries Mangoes, First aid box with them; Mangoes so that you eat them at right place at river bank. Talking of Mango's, They were in abundance.
Guide gives you as many as 1 dozen per person & they were better than alphanso's

River water was calm. shallow at places good for swim. you can actually cross the river to go other side. there are trees with sweet jamun's at the other side.

post this trek we did rest for night trek.

And the best part of the trip, Fireflies, not only in millions; they were in trillions.
Every Tree of Wanjulshet was lighten up. If you are seating at Temple you see them, Seating at home you see them.

They fly around you shining, they are on your cloths, shoes; in Umbrella. Few flew back to our home-stay past midnight.
When you look at one tree, another tree is lit up, then another then another. Pattern changes.
It's like you can actually seat down on grass & watch then whole night.
Marvelous, Fantastic, Awesome these words can not express what we saw what we felt.
Each tree was xmas tree, seemed like there was some artificial lighting done. we were roaming around for 2 hours. Guide was with us throughout. We couldn't capture much but i found something on internet which correctly depicts what we experienced that day.

People in Village or guide who were with us Datta, Santosh. Great People..!
Very knowledgeable about fireflies, they knew their spots. They took us for evening walks, River Swim, Mango Hunting.
And they were very polite. Even kids are so sweet that couple of us was picking up freshly dropped mangoes from tree, these 2 sweet girls came asking us not to pick up as they were Raw & spoiled. They ran inside their home & got 6-7 big ripped sweet Mangoes for us. without expecting anything back.

Same kids in the evening when got to know we are their for fireflies, cought a few in their hand & ran to our home-stays to show us.
They made our day. Good we packed a few snacks & sweets for kids at the village.

Top of all this, there was a wedding in the village, Me & My wife we had a brief chat with groom & bride; they were waiting for their barat.

which eventually started late night, they were dancing till late as we were returning from night trek; villagers invited us to dance with them.

Couple of us danced till they dropped until midnight & thoroughly enjoyed.

In Morning, Guide Datta came to wake us up for a Morning walk. also took us to Mango hunting. Pluck fresh from Tree, Jamun's too.
We had a bag full of Mangoes to take back home for each one of us.

And then the souvenir from Villagers to remember each moment we spent there a clay Ox & Potli of Fresh Harvest Peanuts.

 With such Warm Memories & Once in lifetime experience we left the Village post heavy lunch at 3 pm, Road through Ghoti. Halted for a breakdown; still managed to reach home within stipulated time frame of 9 pm.

Thanks to Grassroutes for such lovely arrangements & noble cause. But a bigger thanks to Villagers, our guides like dutta santosh who has bigger hearts to show us we can never write, tell or express.

Thanks & Regards
SpokenSunny

Rameshwar Vaibhav & Padsare Waterfall- Ride to Unique Mist & Deserted Monsoon Paradise.

2016 Monsoon was delayed, we as Valiant Riderz were eager to open our Monsoon Riding season. The first 2 weeks of June were dry, Our Rides were set; Riders were set but Nature had plans to make us wait.
Then came the third week, drenched days of June'16; Monsoon arrived & arrived with a bang.

I heard a lot about this place, searched on internet a lot about this place but very little information is available as such over internet. All in all what I could gather is haunted, deserted, and secluded but heaven in monsoon.
I was skeptical as this was very first ride with my wife after wedding & we usually have more than 25-30 riders with us for every Monsoon Opening Ride.
It was the first Sunday of July that we roared to conquer roads to Rameshwar Vaibhav Hill Station & Padsare Waterfall.
47 of us decided to explore this untouched route by any biker or to be specific any social motorcycle riding group. VRz was all set to explore the unexplored.

Rain has been very kind & very harsh at the same time to us throughout the day; we started from Nallasopara with initial 10 riders to our first meeting halt near Ghodbunder Toll Naka.
After a brief wait of Riderz who were supposed to join from this halt we started again for Panvel.
Next catch up point was JNPT, 47 in Count 35 bikes, One Name, One Tag & One Pride VRz.
Instructions out, Brief done, route explained & numbering done, RE, Bajaj's Honda's no limitations in VRz all are brother & all are equals.
All thumped towards one destination Rameshwar Vaibhav Padsare Waterfall. This ride was ride of punctures. By the time we reached Chowk Phata already 2 Riderz lagged behind to take care of punctured tires. But smooth coordination & earlier briefs helped to gather everyone again at the same place for breakfast & we started together towards Khopoli.
Straight Roads, Lush Green Landscapes, Foggy Mountain were hiding their head in clouds. We were cruising at 60-80 kmph on the smooth roads towards Khopoli.

After Khopoli Market with One Rider covering the turn to ensure everyone passes through correctly we headed for Khopoli-Pali Route.
Crossed Imagica, one more Rider who came all the way from Pune to ride with us has joined the formation.
Again a stretch of 24 km full of Landscapes, Rain, Farms, Ponds, People waiting for Bus, Auto & kids playing in mud waving at our big convoy of 35 bikes.
The first HP petrol pump, we decided to Halt for bio-break, Fuel or sutta & one more puncture.

Now we were supposed to enter the terrain of the secluded roads, again with a brief to minimize gaps, being slow & to be in a single line we geared up & started again.
Narrow Roads, Crossing Villages, Muddy Roads, we reached at a point where road cannot be seen. It was just water flowing from one farm to another. Rain God was still very kind & we yet didn’t get a single moment to dry. We decided to move slower & cross that patch carefully. I was hoping one of the riders would catch all this in his Go-Pro cam.
Then we were on the smallest bridge on Amba River, the bridged was filled with mud, tree branches & all the debris, rubble & the water level touching the bridge was shouting loud Water has just leveled out from this bridge. We were on time or were fortunate that we could cross that Bridge on the angry river in time.
Then came all the turns & twist of the Rameshwar Vaibhav hill station roads. Within 10 minutes of climb we were surrounded by mysterious Fog, Cloud, and Rain & wet Winds. It was impossible to see anything on 10-20 ft. distance.
That particular 5-7 km patch explained all the mystery & stories around the Hill Station.
It was like any typical horror movie scene. Tree at the both side, Fog covering Road, Valley at left which depth you don’t know because you just see Fog & clouds, Mountains at right you can’t see height because what you see is fog & cloud. You can hear small Waterfall, sound of water but don’t know where it is if really it is the sound of water because what you can see is Fog & cloud.
It was way too difficult to know if we going right directions but we decided to go after inclined, we did miss a turn but finally we reached the Padsare Waterfall.
I won’t call it force of water, it was way beyond that.
The wrath of the Waterfall reminded me of the monstrous face of water in Uttarakhand floods, it was flowing profusely.
We had no intention to go in & be in the way of that force & take that wrath. We found a very tiny place with very small scope of risk & clicked a few pictures there.

With a heavy heart & empty stomach we left that place surrendering to hunger & started towards Shangri-La Hotel.
The Only Hotel & Restaurant on the entire Hill Station. Situated in the midst of the deserted bungalows some are completed, beautiful Some are incomplete, even dead by plants, Trees & fungus.
The Hotel looks like a 3 Star constructions from outside, Maintained well from inside as well.
Hotel Manager agreed us complimentary rooms to change & get freshen up although we were there only for lunch.
Unexpectedly very delicious food was served, Chicken Handi, Kaju Masala & Dal Tadka is a must try, we had hot Roti's made to order.
Cherry on top there was a rapid water flow exactly in the backyard of the hotel, again secluded.
minimum risk, one can seat in the flow & enjoy water.
It was very regretful to come at such mysteriously deserted but wonderful location only for a Day Ride but with a promise to self to stay back next ride We Roared back to home.

Swapnil Pabrekar
Team VRz