Biker Blaze

After a really long time Chrys and I undertook a bike trip... this one not so long, just to Khandala. But, we soon realised that we are really and truly out of shape... either that or the bike isn't serviced well enough. Our collective bums started hurting even before we hit the mid-way mark.

We started off around 7:45 am on Friday. The roads were empty and the skies were cloudy. Pretty soon though the clouds cleared, however it wasn't too hot. We encountered a little bit of traffic in Chembur, but from the time we reached the Vashi creek bridge, it was smooth flowing. We took a little drive-in break at the McDonald's in Panvel and shot off over the old Mumbai-Pune highway.

From our trip we have learnt that the expressway is actually more crowded than the old highway and it's a boon that bikes are banned on it (read: grapes are sour!)

We stayed at the Dukes Retreat which is neatly perched atop a mountain overlooking a gorgeous valley and several other towering mountains. The view from our room was slightly obscured by mango trees but I wasn't complaining. Lovely exotic birds perched on it's branches and provided for wondrous entertainment.

The first day we relaxed most of the time and jumped into the surprisingly warm pool late in the evening. Pretty soon we sheepishly climbed out coz some little kids really embarrassed us with their amazing swimming skills. I can't swim, neither can Chrys (although he will stiffly contest that)

The evening was nicely rounded off with drinks and dinner at the open air cafe overlooking the valley. Chrys however was disappointed with his long island iced tea which strangely tasted like pan and was served in a glass with Budweiser written on it. Later we lounged on the swinging chairs watching the stars gradually shift across the sky.

One more day was spent lazily and pretty soon it was time for us to leave. On Sunday we had a nice heavy breakfast in their restaurant (which too has an amazing view) and set out (after a little bit of haggling over the charges applied for items in the mini-bar which we never touched) around 11 AM.

We liberally applied sunscreen on our faces and exposed parts of our arms. But we truly under-estimated the power of the Sun God. Within a few kilometres, the blazing sun started sapping our energy. To top that Chrys felt the bike swaying and suspected a puncture. Thankfully there was none. We took a wrong turn at Panvel and went several kilometres the wrong way... along really desolate and depressing landscape with a lot of quarrying activity throwing up clouds of dust everywhere. Finally we stopped to ask someone and we were told to take a U-turn.

By now we were really parched. Thankfully I had carried a bottle of water (which had turned really warm in the sun). Cribbing and cursing we reached home only to find ourselves badly sunburnt. Since Chrys is so fair-skinned he took the major hit. His arms and face are an angry red and burning hot. We applied tomato juice which provided only temporary relief.

So here we are, nursing our sunburns, but glad for the amazing weekend we had.