After the short ride to morbe dam on a Saturday morning, our
very own columbus Aditya Venkat suggested that Pawana lake should be the destination for the next ride. As it was a much more beautiful location than Morbe and one
could go and sit by the lake.
Roughly around 20 kms from lonavala, it didn’t seem to be a
tough ride. But little did we know what we were heading towards.
After a delay of around couple of hours from the scheduled
time, we left from nerul on three bikes for lonavala. The initial plan was to
have breakfast at ramakrishna hotel (For
the ones who havent tried Ramakrishna at lonavala.. Please do visit. highly recommend this one. ).
We took the old mumbai pune highway route. i.e. taking the right turn towards panvel after
Mac donalds at kalamboli.
But due to the delay , we had to take a halt at khopoli for
a quick breakfast before we hit the ghats. The old mumbai pune highway is
probably one of the most scenic routes especially during the monsoons. In the
rains, the fresh green expanse gives one the feeling of riding through a
painting. Such is the beauty of the
route that it mesmerises one completely.
The scenic route wound through ghats and plains with the backdrop of the
mountains and valleys and brought us to Lonavala market area.
We took the right turn from the market area towards amby valley
. the road leading to amby valley is quite good and involves a few sharp curves
over the hills . We progressed on the route till the road split into a fork .
we took the left which headed towards pawana lake. It was then that the quality
of the road started to deteriorate. A signboard indicated Mahindra club resort
Pawana Lake at a distance of 8 kms. We kept following the signboards which took
us through patches of wilderness and kutcha roads. After a rough ride when we
finally reached our destination we were shocked to see that mahindra club
resort had come up at the place we were looking out for and it was a private
property now,off the public limits. It
was sheer disappointment as we could go close to the lake at the point
which was now bounded due to the resort. We were already exhausted by the time we had
reached the resort as the sun was at its peak.
Then the security guard told us that there was an alternate route to reach the lake. We had to return four kms on the way we came from and
then take a right. We thought that itnot much and we should give it shot
especially since we had come a long way.. little did we know how close were we
to the lake shore.
That left turn took us all the way around lonavala through
all kinds of terrains i.e. hills.. plains..wilderness..with an experience of
riding through good roads, tar roads, bad roads, NO Roads( literally off-roading)
. the road would come close to the lake but never did it reach a shore. There
were few other bikers (locals) riding alongwith us. The road went up and down
hills but never seemed to meet an end. we rode for around 15-20 kms and then
took a break. there was some local shrine which the other bikers were visiting. With no sign of the dam, our spirits gave up
and were contemplating to return through the same arduous route.
After discussing with the local persons, we found the dam
was approximately around 3 kms riding distance and that there was an alternate
and shorter route to reach lonavla from the dam. Drained of all energy, yet we
geared up to move forward. The road moved downhill and lo behold what lay in
front of us was perhaps the most beautiful scene in the entire day for us.. the
huge expanse of the lake with the backdrop of the hills , speed boats racing
through the waters. The road further wound downhill till we reached the
location of the dam. 
However there was no shore where we could go near the water. Hence after spending some time in enjoying the beauty of the location we left for lonavala. The return route was much shorter and more picturesque. We stopped at many places to capture some of the scenes.
Later the road turned into a narrow alley which gave way to a path which cut through the hills. As soon as we entered the alley, we experienced a sudden fall in temperature which was a soothing and welcome relief. This route went around malavli village which is the gateway for lohagad fort and visapur caves which are famous trekking locations in lonavla.
Finally we managed to reach lonavla by around 5 pm. What was
supposed to be a simple around 20 kms ride turned into a good 60 odd km ride
with varying experience and landscapes. We happened to have covered the entire periphery
of lonavla that day
For the bikers who wish to plan a ride to pawana would
recommend the route through malavli village. The amby valley route is better if
you are heading to the Mahindra club resort or if you are looking for an
adventurous ride.
