3-8 October 2011
I took the opportunity of Dashara ( Dasha-Hara = Victory of Good over
Evil ) holidays to ride out to Northern Maharashtra this time. It was a Solo
ride and the purpose was to see the famous Ellora caves.
Some pictures at:
Since I left in the afternoon of Monday, I
halted at Chitradurga 200 Kms, on NH 4 and continued my journey the next day on
National Highway 13 and then 211. Preferred the
straight road up north and
country side roads. Deccan Plateau was very windy. Roads are not so good from Chitradurga to
Hospet. Unmarked speed breakers can kill your back and your bike shocks if you
don’t watch out. The warning sign boards are almost next to the speed breakers
;-) After that it is a 4 lane highway (under
construction) up to Solapur. Though I had Ajanta on mind I could do only Ellora. Ajanta would
have taken me another day and a half.
The caves are a real treasure of ancient
India and the kind of thoughts people had, and expressed it by way of architectural excellence
and sculpting skills. There are Buddhist, Hindu and Jain carvings. The Kailash
temple and the temple for Mahavira are really good. All these dates back to
about 8th century AD ! Enroute the Doulatabad fort is historic and
from about the same period. Interesting
places to see in Aurangabad are the mini Taj Mahal, Aurangzeb’s resting place,
naturally harvested water bodies, a sleeping Hanuman Temple ! Two days stay at Aurangabad was at
‘Tirupati Hotel’ with South Indian food ! The weather was good biking weather
all through. Returned by the same route.
Route and some logistics:
(Overnight halt underlined )
Bangalore > Chitradurga > Hospet > Bijapur > Solapur > Taljapur
> Osmanabad > Beed > Aurangabad
> Doulatabad > Ellora > Aurangabad
> Bijapur > Hospet > Bangalore.
Aurangabad - Hospet was 710 Kms my longest so far in one day.
Total Kms : Home to Home : 1895 Kms :
Aurangabad > Ellora Aurangabad was by AC/Cab ;-) and hence 60 kms not
included.
Total Gas consumed: 41.25 Liters
= 45.9 Kms. The petrol rate was lowest at Beed, Rs. 70.44 per liter.
No comments:
Post a Comment