Helmet_Stories_Mahabaleshwar

In Continuation with the previous blog on Helmet_Stories_Mahabaleshwar series. Please follow the link below for the previous part. https://riderwithmettle.travel.blog/2020/02/06/helmet_stories_mahabaleshwar/

I would like to mention the history about Mahabaleshwar. According to legend, Lord Brahma had performed the penance for the creation of human beings and life itself, in the forests here. While deep in meditation, two asura brothers – Mahabali and Atibali – tried to intimidate him. When things got out of hand, Lord Vishnu came to Brahma’s rescue and Atibali was killed. But even Lord Vishnu could not harm Mahabali as he had the boon of ichhamrityu (death by one’s own will).

So Goddess Mahamaya was called in to help. She was so beautiful and charming that she enchanted Mahabali. Overwhelmed, Mahabali vowed to grant her a favor. Waiting for this moment, Mahamaya asked for his death. Mahabali felt compelled to submit to her will but, as his last wish, he had asked his name to be attached to Lord Shiva and the place be known by name Mahabali+Eshwar=Mahabaleshwar.

Mahabaleshwar has so many breathtaking views, mountains, landscapes, trees, greenery. It will awestruck the one who gets involved in nature. Roads are not on par, but the riding spirit kept it manageable. The one popular view that comes to mind when thinking about Mahabaleshwar is Elephant point. So, our first place of interest in the morning was to see Elephant point.

We decided to wake up by 05:00AM the next morning, fresh up and quickly get to sunrise for some breathtaking views. But with our sleepless day we couldn’t able to wake up and guess the time, it was 09:30 AM by the time we were up. But our friend Shiva was able to witness sunrise, birds chirping, and the early morning aroma on the roof top of our room as he got a call which rose him. The environment around our room was awesome. One of the best things about hill stations is the greenery. It makes you feel very close to nature. I’m damn sure you won’t be disappointed to witness it by yourself.

The love for having tea when I wake up and that too with an environment like that, it is hard to miss tea. Being on highway, we had little availability to have one. To amaze us, the tea was extremely wonderful by the room service. It was a perfect blend of Cardamom, Ginger, dry ginger, tea powder, and of course creamy milk. It gave that morning boost to our sleepy souls to start the morning.

The foremost important tasks were to lube the chain and to refuel my Dominar with coolant. I have this one issue with Dominar. The coolant oil evaporates too quickly, I even had troubleshoot at service center but none could fix it. I think there might a pressure leakage in the hoses. Also, as a rule of thumb, we need to lube our chain for every 500km i.e. we need to lubricate the chain with chain spray (preferably Motul) for smooth functioning and also to prevent damage to links. We did our two major things and are set to explore Mahabaleshwar at 10:30 AM hoping for no issues in our journey further.

One more fascinating things about Mahabaleshwar is Strawberries. Mahabaleshwar strawberries contribute to almost 85 percent of the total strawberry production in the country. That’s a huge number. On our way, we were drawn by the smell from the strawberry field. It felt really mesmerizing to watch as it’s not very common to watch. We had a deal with the owner that if she allows us to visit farm, we will purchase strawberries. We kept our word and took 500grams of strawberries which turned out to be our breakfast. To make it special, we decided to have them sitting in front of valley and staring mountains. The sourness of strawberry and the huge valley in front of us was a kick to mind.

On our way, locals directed us that we were heading towards Mumbai. Thanks to Mahabali, or else instead of mountains we would have to see vast sea. With their guidance we changed our route. As mentioned earlier, the roads are not good. Even the hair pin bends at Ghat has Potholes which was a pain in ass to corner with ease. One advantage is the sign boards. They are very frequent which reduced our effort to depend much on Google maps and save our battery for time ahead.

We first reached Lodwick point as we assumed it to be elephant point. It was not like, park your vehicle and just have a glance and come. There is walkway of about a kilometer to reach the viewpoints. Well, it is a treacherous way and one should walk carefully which was like an exercise. The roads will definitely be difficult to walk in rainy season. I was expecting to watch Elephant point but to our disappointment it was not that. We got to know that it is at some other place. However, we were camouflaged with the spectacular views. It was so peaceful and mesmerizing that I can actually feel the calmness. The cold breeze, the unpolluted air, the moisture, and the greenery within the reach of our eye to every direction we turn, I totally lost myself. With our photography skills and humor, the enjoyment was at its peaks.

Our next course of action was to eye at Elephant point. We asked few locals, Google it and got to know that it is at Kate’s view. We fixed our enroute and started our ride. It was no exaggeration about it and is truly awesome. It was just like someone crafted it. Yes, you guessed it correct. It was nature who did that and after all humans are inspired by nature.  The lushness in rainy seasons will be more and there will be greenery in every reach of your eye. Visiting Hill stations has its own bundle of surprises and it won’t leave even a single stone unturned to astonish you. It’s been said that a waterfall is also there at Kate’s view but we couldn’t notice one. However, in the silence and reverberation, we heard waterfall humming. We understood from locals that there is a waterfall, maybe it can be seen in monsoon.

The best time for us of the whole Mahabaleshwar is Table land. The plateau is very vast and it’s plain everywhere. One can be lost into the nirvana and peaceful environment at Table land. And it is the best place to watch sunset. If you are going to Mahabaleshwar, visit table land during sunset time. There is a football ground, running track, cave point, and also a cave restaurant. There is a special mention about table land in monsoon. It will be with flowers and grass all around that we will not be allowed to walk on it. There will be a separate path to walk and witness it. Everyone must have seen the Gladiator movie where Maximus walks in path will full of grass of meter length. It reminded me of that.

With the inspiration given by sunset at table land and amaze filled soul, we headed back to our rooms, had margarita pizza at Mapro garden which is a must try. Now, the challenge was to take strawberries to home for our kith and kin. I say it as challenge because they are delicate and we are on bike. When we can overcome the hurdles and difficulties we faced in our ride, taking strawberries is like a cup of tea for us. We sorted out and arranged a small cardboard box, packed it in our bags and tied it to the vehicle. Thanks to the spare of bungee cord we kept. And to our joy, we accomplished to get them home with minimal damage and in a condition to blend and have juice.

Mountains are calling. There is one particular connection with mountains and me. I feel lost just like in a trance state and forget every trouble that is there is rat race. The vastness of mountains, the breathtaking views of landscapes, the silence, the lushness and the adrenaline rush we get from Ghat road, Man, they are the best. Many places that I visited are mountain regions. It’s a connection which always draws me towards it. Nature has its ways which are very difficult to interpret.

With the energy filled soul and the peacefulness of mountains, we started our enroute to home at 09:00AM on 27^th Jan 2020 and reached home by 11:30 PM in the night. The return was easy and the roads are good. We came from Pandharpur road which was decent followed by Sholapur state highway. It was a ride, a weekly sabbatical and journey of three motor heads to Mahabaleshwar.