This blog is about my shortest ride till date, which was a cut down version of a longer ride but definitely a memorable one. After having a number of long and frequent rides, I was in a kind of hibernation, not eager to hit the road again soon. But after staying at home for few consecutive Sundays and holidays, started feeling bored. So, planned to ride somewhere with my colleague, Punit Dubey, who is also a dedicated rider, on 2nd October holiday in 2010. Initially the plan was to ride somewhere within 200 km radius from Navi Mumbai. We have chosen down south i.e. NH 4 and NH 17 since we have more choices. So we agreed to meet up at JNPT Tollnaka on 2nd Oct’10 early morning and to finalize the destination on-the-spot, depending upon mood.
As per the plan, we met at JNPT Tollnaka, near Panvel around 6 am in the morning. None of us were looking enthusiastic for a “100 km+” ride. So we settled for a ride to Vardayani Waterfall, located near Nagothane, a very less explored place and none of us had been there before. It was just a 70 km long ride. So we started riding on NH 17 towards Nagothane and had a halt at Vadkhal Naka for breakfast. Nothing eventful till here, only accept I engaged in fighting with my bike for gear Shifting ($&%&^#^%^) while Mr Punit Dubey drifted towards sleep on his Royal Enfield Thunderbird, may be because of the relaxed posture of sitting on his bike or due to eventless ride. Anyway, after having several cups of Coffee there, I cooled down from my anger on my P200, as Punit got warmed up for the Ride. After making several enquiries at the restaurant, we came to know that the waterfall is near Kherwadi Village, past Jindal Steel Factory.
It was early morning around 7:15 am, the road was less crowded. As usual, I over speeded and crossed all the landmarks, which I realised after riding 4/5 Km more than required. As Punit joined me, we took a U-turn and this time also, we were unable to find the entrance of Kherwadi Village. On the third go we were able to find that village, hiding roadside with a very shabby and rusted gate. So we took a left turn from NH 17 on that village road. After quite a bit of off- roading, we reached a place where there are no roads. So we parked our Bike there, had few snaps and set out for a Trek, through Jungle, where the actual fun began.
Surprisingly, on that dimly lit jungle way, Mr Dubey got fully charged up and came back to his usual charm. Not sure of which route to follow to the waterfall, we started an easy trekking towards the core part of that Jungle. Actually to reach the waterfall, we need to cross that jungle. Eventually, many time we got lost in the bushes. But we continued following every possible trails we got, sometimes footprints of animals, some pug mark or many times; along a pipeline (I am still not sure of the logic for following that Pipeline). But anyway, when adventure is the target, you don’t need a reason. After a hiking of 20-25 min we reached some flat grassland, we love to call it the basecamp. There, we met an old couple from the nearby village, grazing their heard. After a short break and photo season, we continued towards the waterfall.
After getting direction from them we entered the jungle again. We arrived at a small stream on the way. While clicking at anything we followed the stream with a hope that it will lead us to the waterfall. But soon, our journey was challenged by group of aggressive monkeys and we had to step back. So alternate route was required and while trying that we got lost again. But thanks to God, we met that Old man from the village, again. On promising a handsome tip, he agreed to take us to the “Dabdaba” (waterfall in Marathi). We finally reached the destination around 8:45 am.
The natural beauty of that waterfall was gorgeous. It is 40-45 feet high, with a quite handsome flow of water. It was in its full strength, with the supply of rainwater. We asked Raghu, the old man from the village, to come back after an hour to take us back. Without wasting time, we rushed to the waterfalls. We bathed; we played with the water, posed as we wanted to be photographed and took some beautiful snaps of the fall, small bushes and flowers around. At the same time, we realised that we could have planned it in a better way. First, we didn’t have any towel, so we had to soak ourselves by lying under the sun, on barren rocks. Secondly, we had no food as well as water. Anyways, the fun went on.
Finally, around 10 am we decided to start the return journey, being felt extremely hungry and thirsty. Eventually, Raghu didn’t turn up by that time, so decided to go on our own. We met Raghu on the way again. He led us to near the village. We thanked him again for his help, gave some tips and bid goodbye. We liked that place very much. But more we liked that our little and dull ride turned up to such a nice adventure. Our heart was full of joy of having that little trip to Vardayani Waterfall. We promised ourselves to go back there again, with better plan and lots of preparation and if possible, a night stay in tent may be on that flat grassland (courtesy to Punit).
But one thing to mention that we noticed a lots of plastic bottle, packets of eatable etc. were scattered around the waterfall. May be the left out by some picnic party. Both of us didn’t like that. Why to contaminate the nature, when would people learn to keep the place clean. We made a mental note and promised ourselves that we will take care of the garbage (not to left it on the spot, but at least to gather and pack it and drop it in a nearby dustbin) in our future rides.
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