Group Members: (as per Bikes)
Pulsar 150: Mayank Gupta & Dheeraj Kumar
Karizma: Krishnaraj Sreekumar & Komal Jansari
Bullet: Abhijit Singh &
Pulsar 150: Amol Makhar & Quais Hussain
Pulsar 150: Mitul Surti & Garima Bhatnagar
Honda Unicorn: Me & Bhavik Shah
Apache RTR: Dinu Nair & Devika Verma
Apache RTR: Ravi Tanuku & Ritesh Shah
23rd January, 2009:
In the morning, we had quiet an early start, as per plan at 7 in the morning, but again, as usual we got stalled a few times, before finally getting on our way at 8.
We headed out of Pune through Nasik phata. After covering about 35 kms of distance, had our first official stop for breakfast. The breakfast comprised of simple poha, idlis and tea.
Not willing to lose any more time, we left soon afterwards. That was the point that we really hit the road, so as to speak. The road was good, NH 50 most of the way. We stoppped for a brief moment at a ghat that came in the way, and took a few snaps.
Finally, after about 90 kms of travelling, we reached the winery. Actually, we overshot it by about 4-5 kms at the first go, and had to retrace our steps a bit. But finally, after stopping at a few places to ask around, we did manage to reach the place. It was called Chateau Indage, a winery set at the heart of Narayangaon. We were informed that the tour happens in the morning. Since we were quiet a big group of 16 people, we were told that there would be aguided tour right there, if we wanted. We all were game, and so, after paying 150 bucks for each, we set upon the tour of the winery. Two of the guys from the place led us in a scooty, while all of us were on our bikes. First, we went to the grape crushing plant. They showed us the machines which were not working then, but explained the details of the process. See, the grapes are supposed to be crushed early in the morning right after the sun comes up, as the sun helps with the bacteria fermentation.
Next, we went to the distillery, where actually, the crushed juice is processed, stored, turned to wine or champagne, and bottled, sealed, and put to casks. So the whole process is done at this place only. We got to see the huge tanks in which the juice is fermented before it is processed. The guides explained to us also, the difference in the processing of various types of wine.
After that, we went to the wine tasting laboratory that they had.
Next, we moved the party to the the old winery building that they had. It only has champagne producing units now, and we were not granted access to this section, since there were shortage of labourers on that day, and all were diverted to the main building for work. The place looked real old. But it gave out a good vibe too. The scene looked like cut out of a very old english movie.
After this, they took us back to the entrance, after a short stop at their field where they cultivated the grapes, and a nursery.
On return, we decided to have lunch as it was already 1:45p.m., and all of us were starved. The only thing missing in the winery visit was tasting of the wine that they produced. We filled that gap too, by ordering one of their product during lunch. It tasted good, to tell you the truth, much lighter than the other stuff I have tasted.
After lunch, we were again back to our high level of enthusiasm. We started planning for our next destination. There were some spoil-sports, as always, who started suggesting a journey back to Pune. But we were not to be stopped so easily. We planned to go to a nearby dam, Yergaon Dam(dharan is what they call a dam in marathi). It was veyr near, just about 2-3 kms from the winery. At first sight, we thought the dam to be closed, but then 2 of our group members, Amol and Quais, decided to look further if they can find another alternate route to the water. We waited, and sure enough, in some time, they called back with the good news. We followed them, and soon came to the dam. But it failed to live up to our expectations, to tell you the truth. So, after a few snaps, we decided to try out a nearby fort too.
The fort that we decided is the Shivneri Fort, the birthplace of Shivaji. It was quite some distance away from where we were, but distance is one thing which was not going to stop us that day. Our enthusiasm beat it by far. So soon enough, we were on our way to the fort. The road was off the highway, and although the road was good, it was too short a road, and our speed was beaten down quite a few notch. Anyways, we reached the fort at around 4:30. We decided to walk up to the top, me and Dheeraj, at least, and the others decided to go as far as they can. We left the others behind, and started our climb.
Admitting this grieves me a lot, but I understood that I have lost a lot to account for the few pounds that I gained near my midsection. Earlier, it used to be an ok kind of an effort to climb any place. I have earlier done quite a few treks too, and never any of them gave me as much breathlessness as this relatively easy climb did. At some point, I was about to give up, but the flurry of enthusiasm from Dheeraj made me continue too. The best part of any trek is the feeling of achievement that you get when you reach the top. And this was no different too! It took us a long time and lot of effort to reach there, but when we did, we were really glad. These pics were taken at the top only.
Finally, we decided to go down, as it was getting late too, and we had a 100+ kms of road to cover on our way back too.
It was 5:30 already, so we started our way down. After a drink of tea and lemonade, we started on our bikes, and with a fully satiated mind from a good day out, came back to our abodes. We signed off at 9.
It is this kinds of things that happens, almost impromptu, and adventurous, that we need from time to time. It really helps us maintain our sanity, incredible it might seem, in the extraordinarily boring life that we lead, everyone of us. Looking forward to the next one...
