Prologue :
Aug 15 : 9.30am :
It was a usual start of the day . A thought of waking up early and then feeling lazy knowing nothing special to do early morning . Checked whatsapp messages on my mobile – no messages !!. Checked FB , no notifications !! ? Still in sleep lazily left my bed .Thought of preparing some tea .Opened the door of the refrigerator ,no Milk ! .F##@ . Lazy me ,forgot to bring Milk packet yesterday .Went to the living room and switched on the TV . Watched some news . Lost interest after some time. Felt hungry and thought of making myself some French toasts .Reached kitchen Shelf .Shit, only one egg and only 4 slices of breads, now more frustrated .Grrrr ……
Aug 15 : 10.15 am :My mobile phone rang .
Asim (Dude No 2): Hey ,Yo ! buddy , whassup … ? Still at home ?
Anup(Dude No1) :Yo ! bro , where I should be ?
Asim : What are you doing then ?
Anup : trying to keep myself busy making breakfast .
Asim : I am coming to your home ,by 4pm .
Anup(me) : Bro ,Dry Day today .And no stock at my home .You still wanna come ?
Asim :Feeling bored , yaar ! I am coming .Lets go some where .
Anup :Come to my home , then we will decide Okey .
Aug 15 : 10.30 pm Door bell rang and here comes Dheeraj(Dude No-3) – Starting the sentence with a ‘F’ word .”Dudes i had a bad day today . Got roughed at office during my shifts . BC itne sare P1 n P2 issues . Resolve karte karte phaat ke haat mein aa gaya tha . Lunch bhi nahi kiya yaar issi chakkar mein .Jenna haram kar diya and then escalations ,uff (and ended the sentence frustratingly with a F#$% word ). When everyone is having 15th Aug as a bank holiday why my project says I have to be at office today ? I am not feeling well after getting roughed . I am taking a sick leave today . Nai hoga re babba ittu sa salary mein itna sara kaam .” You know how we all ‘IT guys’ get frustrated ,sometimes .
Asim : “Chill maar , you follow European holidays ! We have a surprise for you that will cheer and chill you up . Me and Anup made a jugaad of a 1L of ‘Old Monk’
Dhiraj : “I will be joining you soon , but first let me inform my manager that I won’t be able to come to office today .”
Anup: “Waiting for you yaar .After that go freshen up and join us soon please.”
Asim : “Ruk . Pehle ,ye Amritraas ka ek chottu sa pack maar le. Gala Sukh gaya hoga explanations dete dete.”
Dheeraj : “Tu hi mera sacha dost hai yaar . Ek strong pack bana ,sarr joron se dard kar ra . Ab toh ek do pack ke baad hi thik lagega .C#%@*%a life hai apni …”
Asim : “Pani ke sath ya coke ke sath ?”
Dhiraj: “50% rum , 40% Coke and 10% water and ke sath bana yaar. Tu bhul gaya kya .”
Asim: “abe,ye kya chemistry lab hai ? Titration karru kya be 40%,10%,50% le ke ?? Pyar se bol- Dost ek strong pack bana de ,please ”
Anup: “Le ye 60ml strong pack ,mar le .”
Aug 16 : 12.15 am :
Asim : Gandos(means Pagle in Gujrati ) chokoro ,Tamara pinum samapta karo ,ratribhojana taiyara che.( English translation of Gujrati “Dudes if your drinks are over then let’s have our Dinner” )
Anup : “Lets finish our 5th and the final pack and go for Dinner .”
Ate our dinner and we retired to our respective rooms .
How We Made A Mad Plan to Visit Lonar Crater
Aug 16 : 3.45 am
Dheeraj : “Anup !! Are you still awake ? I am not able to have some sleep “.
Anup :“Mujhe bhi nahi aa ree, be . Am tossing around and Feeling sweaty K”
Asim entered my room .
Asim : “Dudes, Neend Nahi ho ree be mujhe bhi.”
Dheeraj : “Aja tu bhi andar Anup ke room mein.”
Anup : “What to do ,now. Its 4 am .”
Dheeraj : Lets have some more from our stock of rum.
Anup : Marro se nee hoga aur . Tum log ennjoyyyyyy….
Asim : “I am also full . No mood for more . Instead,let go out somewhere on a bike trip ?”
Anup : “Now ! Are you F#@%ing Crazy ??”
Asim : “Why not.” Dheeraj : “I am ready .”
Asim : “ I am not drunken to the extreme but I can drive at a stretch .
Anup : “Let me Check . If it would be its would to somewhere we have never been before .”
Asim : “Yeah , That like a good plan”. After some googling
Anup : “Let go to Lonar crater. “
Asim : (Confusingly) : “Never heard of the place , but I am ready . You plan all the stuffs .”
Dheeraj(No idea what to say, confusingly said) : “Okey . Brace up Lonar ,We are coming !! ( loudly )”
Anup : “abe sun toh lo pehle .Its a tough ride of 400 +kms .”
Asim : “No worries , we can go “. Then lets try to have a quick nap . We will leave Pune at 5am.
Aug 16 : 6 am All still sleeping . I was still feeling too sleepy . I said to myself its only 400 km we can make it today by 12am .Let me have some more sleep .
Aug 16 :11 am : Anup : Abe, utho Kumbhakarna ke auladon !! We were supposed to leave 5 hours back . And see how you two are still sleeping.
Asim : I am awake ,not sleeping :p . Please, Dost aur ½ hours sone de na .
Anup : Utho be ,late ho jayenge !
Dheeraj seemed to be in deep sleeping . Was so in peace ,with a smile on his face , I was wondering what he would be dreaming. Seeing no chance of others getting up, I went back to my room and slept .
Aug 16 : 12pm Finally , it was a good morning for us .When it was Good afternoon for others.We hurriedly had our lunch ,packed our stuffs,cameras etc etc .The plan was to hit Shirur some 80 km from Pune by 4.00pm and Ahmednagar(60km) by 5.30pm .Then after some brunch leave Ahmednagar for Aurangabad(114km) by 8.30pm .And last leg from Aurangabad (135km) Via Jalna(90km from Aurangabad) and reach Lonar by 12am .
Start Of Our Bike Trip
Aug 16 : 2.30pm We left our room and were on Nagar road ,heading towards Shirur . Everything went as planned till Shirur .We hit Shirur at 4.30pm . And then things started going a little out of plan .With lots of pee stops , tea breaks, cig stops it seemed we will be late by 1.5 hours to reach Ahmednagar . Worst part ,all concerned predictions went on to become real . We hit Ahmednagar at 7pm and Aurangabad at 10.30pm . We are not bikers who can ride at a stretch . Out stomach was craving to have something to go in it . We went to a roadside dhabba and ordered a lavish dinner . It was a satisfactory dinner and our body revived after some stretching and some food .
We thought of taking up a hotel room to retire , but Asim pressed on to move ahead .And so left the beautiful Auranagabad city and headed towards Jalna at 11pm . We hit Jalna at 12.30 am . The road was really punishing .The State highways roads were less wide than the roads we left behind at Jalna and were infested with potholes .We were not able to hit a speed of even a 50kmph on our bikes . Both man and machines started taking toll. So exhausted ,our occasional breaks turned out to be bit too lengthy .Each time we were having discussion on should we press forward or should we find some hotel rooms, retire there and make a dash to Lonar early tomorrow . This discussion always ended without reaching a conclusion .
Dhiraj : I can push myself a little more how much more distance is Lonar from Jalna ?
Asim : I can manage as I am a pillion driver for Dhiraj .
Anup :Man . We have to cover more 90+km and mind it the road is too much painful for our already squashed up body .What’s say ?
Dhiraj: Let have the pain .
Anup : You mad asses . Lets go then .
Finally we reached Lonar at 2.30am .The roads were a real test for biking spirit. We started to rethink on our planning . Worst part we missed a right turn which directly would have taken us to Lonar .Anyways headed forward some 14km more towards Sultanapur . That very moment I grudged on my Google GPS. I switch off my mobile and kept that inside .Headed straight to Sultanapur and then took a right turn to reach Lonar . By that time our palms and shoulders went numb .We were not able to feel our hands anymore .Head became so heavy with exhaustion and sleep that I felt like I am going to tumble down with my nose hitting the ground first . Booked a cheap guest house with big three bed room and we fell on our respective beds . We passed and didn’t knew what happened after that .
Aug 17 : 10am :With head still craving from more sleep and stomach crying out with hunger ,we woke up .Only to see open rooms doors and the room tube lights were on .Last night we were so dead tired that no one bothered to lock the room and switch off the lights before going to sleep .Searched for some biscuits in my bag , we ate those and again went to sleep . There was not even 1% of support from our body .And due to constant riding on bumpy road our bums went red and sored .We were just not able to..(imagine how difficult for our morning chores) .
Aug 17 :12 am: Got a hot water shower and were ready to go to crater site . We walked to the crater site after eating up some Biscuits and Bananas (no restaurants were there nearby and that’s what we got hold our hands on L) After entering only we were able to see the sheer massiveness of the lake .
The lake was glimmering under the afternoon sun. It was multi colour with greenish blue at the centre, Turquoise green colour, and lemon green colour in the banks . The lake seemed be not so big if you see from the top .But once you enter inside you will get astonished by its sheer vastness. The lakes may be some few kilometres in breadth .
Some facts on the Lonar lake (Source Wiki )
(Lonar Lake is a saline soda lake located at Lonar in Buldana district, Maharashtra, India, which was created by a meteor impact during the Pleistocene Epoch. This lake, which lies in a basalt impact structure, is both saline and alkaline in nature. Geologists, ecologists, archaeologists, naturalists and astronomers have reported several studies on the various aspects of this crater lake ecosystem. Lonar Lake has a mean diameter of 1.2 kilometres (3,900 ft) and is about 137 metres (449 ft) below the crater rim. The meteor crater rim is about 1.8 kilometres (5,900 ft) in diameter. The circular depression bears a saline water lake in its central portion. The crater’s age is usually estimated to be 52,000 ± 6,000 years (Pleistocene)although a study published in 2010 gives an age of 570,000 ± 47,000 years.)
Google Map Location of Lonar Crater
Start of our Decent to the Crater
It was too humid inside. With air smelled like potash and soda ,we felt like as if we were in a chemistry lab :p . Our plan was to reach the temple in the eastern side of the lake . It was a mini trek sort of thing that we did .The trail which took us through the thick foliage . Our trail was surrounded with very tall trees and occasionally we could hear of peacock . After jumping off two springs and walking some 1.5 hours under the heat of the heat we reached the banks of the lake . The lake seemed so tranquil, we sat there for some time to enjoy its beauty . Mind it the lake is too acidic for any life to sustain and its not at all drinkable forget to take a bath inside . But its sight was ultimate and soothing to our eyes .Got to see lots of birds and lizards around the lake . We clicked in some pics of ourselves . From the point we were clicking our pics we could see the temple in a distance .
The time now was 4.15pm .As we can see the temple was still some 1 or 1.5 kms away. Short with time we decided to head back before it starts getting dark . The heat and the Sun , my God it was still burning like furnace sucking all our bodily juices. We never anticipated so much of heat and humidness .We felt like that we were on a frying pot. Bad part of our return was ,we had exhausted our stock of water .And the path was whole uphill. It took something around 1.5 hours to reach the start of concrete steps to the top of the mountain .Phew ! hell lots of adventurism in a single day for people like us .
On way out again we ate more bananas .Bananas were the only abundant food we laid our hand on ( it seemed we did such a treacherous bike trip , only to eat bananas :p) . After filling our hungry tummy with a dozen of Bananas we started going back towards Jalna . The road we had chosen this time was not the usual one through Sultanpur to Jalna . Instead we took a short cut road as suggested by a local boy. Each kilometers was accounted and it was a good decision that we headed on the shortcut around the outer periphery of the crater . The roads were nice and best part there was no traffic at all , apart from occasional bullock carts and stray dogs lazying around on the road . It really cut short our distance to Jalna by 8km .It was 6pm when we reached Jalna .
Seeing we have to push some 300kms more we decided to have a quick stretch and it was resting time for both man and machine . The tea and snack break just boosted our morale till Aurangabad. By seeing the traffic jams and lots of trucks movements we concluded we have reached Aurangabad city . The time was around 8.30pm . We sat on a over bridge near to highway . The mosquitos posed to be a lot of irritant to our stretching break . It was making us too irritated .We could not leave the place as we were out of option to find a good and calm place around .
Dhiraj : Abe !! suno , lets have our dinner somewhere near . My stomach is rumbling . So we went to a road side dhabba . We didn’t felt like eating much .But we ate just for the sake of eating something .
Aug 18 : 12.15am – On way heading towards Ahmednagar we reached to the highest level of frustration ,out of non stop Bike riding .
Anup: I am not going to ride any more . I am not able to feel by bums (Rubbing my bums). (Angrily and frustratingly saying) Dudes , I am going to leave my bike here some where and Sleep on the road side pavement . Cannot torture and push on a little further. Enough of riding for the last 2 hours and 100+kms .
Asim: Even I am barely able to keep my eyes open due to heavy exhaustion .Lets take a lodge here at Ahmednagar ?
Dheeraj : Dudes I have office tomorrow and I have to be at Pune anyhow to reach office by 9.30 am to attend the daily status call .
Anup : Keh di na ye, senti wale IT gags .And now we ‘have’ to push on .Even I have office tomorrow but I do not want to take a sick leave .Bro it will be too much hectic . Even if we reach Pune ,taking our current slow speed we will hit Pune by 3.30 am and to Our House by 4am .
Dhiraj : I am moving forward towards Pune . You two stay .
Asim : We cannot leave you alone .Anup , lets push on .Prepare for Glory !!!!
Anup : Asim ,you ride my bike and I will be a pillion to Dhiraj’s bike.
The night was dark , the roads were lonely and the breeze was dead . Only from the distance we were able to hear occasional barking of street dogs .How bad it can be for 3 dudes like us .Continuous riding, torturous roads and the exhaustion .The potholes and the rugged roads ahead showed no mercy and ensured further sufferings to us .But we 3 Dudes kept on pushing . And we headed forward miles after miles and miles more , ignoring all the pain and sufferings .
We didn’t stopped at Shirur. Now, It was a continuous 100km ride for the last 2+ hours ,a real test to both man and machine .
Finally Home
We had to take a break after we crossed Shirur .Not for our dear bums and backs but for our bikes . And the last 30 kilometres (from Viman Nagar to Wakad) after reaching Pune was just a hard hit to all three of us .
Aug 19: 4.15am We found ourselves on our respective beds at 4.15am . Not sure of others but I felt like I have reached Heaven . A long sweet dream ,a happy ending …………
Another version of my same Bike trip experience to Lonar Crater
Lonar Crater Lake : Bike Trip through Road-less Travelled | Travel And Trekking
