Cycling near Pune: A weekend trip to Bhaja and Karla Caves near Lonavala

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1. Introduction

Pune has changed dramatically over the past two decades. Earlier, it was recognized as one of the best places to live. Now it has become no more than a concrete jungle and with rapid economic development, the ecological aspects have been thoroughly neglected.

Now let me stop the ranting and come to the point. The cycling bug was troubling me for quite some time and I wanted to escape the ‘filth’ of the city. So decided to do a weekend ride that would re-energize and keep the cycling spirit alive in me.

2. The plan

This time around I would put my long-pending desire to see Bhaja and Karla caves near Lonavala to rest. These popular destinations have been alluding to me for quite some time.

• Day 1: Pune to Malavli (64.9 km) -> Leave by 9 AM and reach by 2 PM. Cover Bhaja caves and waterfall.
• Day 2: Malavli to Karla and return to Pune (68.3 km)-> Start the day at 9 AM. Visit all destinations by 1 PM and reach home by 6 PM.

However, just like most of my plans this also did not work out perfectly!

3. Day 1 – Rider gets ready for the ride

I woke up Sunday morning feeling tired and lazy, thanks to a super busy week. The weather with an overcast sky did not look very promising either. I quickly put together all essentials for the trip and set out in the gloomy weather at 10 AM. Before starting, I took a moment and patted my thighs! Those would be the four-stroke engines powering my journey. A drizzle started as soon as I left my home and had to put on the raincoat, which was going to be my standard attire for the entire trip.

4. Food for cycling

Being in a rush, I had forgotten to have breakfast. Now, as I crossed Khadki and entered Dapodi, hunger pangs began and I stopped at a sweet shop named Bhojwani Sweets at 11:30 AM. I had two big samosas which tasted heavenly in the rainy weather. Food is fuel to cover kilometres for a cyclist. With a full stomach, I was now ready to cruise.

5. The boring patch

Now I was cycling on what I call the “boring patch”. The stretch of road from Dapoli to Bhakti Shakti Chowk is very wide and full of traffic. There is nothing at all to see and enjoy about that road. I talked to myself to escape boredom.

6. First Glimpse of Thrill

After Bhakti Shakti Chowk the environment changed and it was full of greenery and the road resembled a proper highway. I realized that I had now come out of the actual ‘city’. The trip was now getting better.

I crossed Dehu road and Talegaon and took a rest stop. I had completed 44 km from my home and the time was 1:40 PM. Being a Sunday there was heavy traffic on the road as everybody wanted to dash to Lonavala to enjoy the “temporary waterfalls”. I did some vlogging under a tree by the highway and then cycled on.

7. Food is life

The two samosas from morning breakfast had been digested as I neared Kamshet ghat and I started feeling the loss of power. It was time to fuel up. I stopped at Hotel Shivraj to try out their famous thali. I ordered a veg thali, which is my favourite, and savored it in the cosy environment of the restaurant. The time was precisely 2:37 PM when I dug into the food.

I was feeling extremely lazy after food and could not move for a good 15-20 mins. The climb to Kamshet ghat, which was the challenge for the day, had to be done and I had to reach Malavli before 5 PM. Shaking off my laziness, I resumed the cycling journey. It was 3:15 PM when I left that place and by now I had covered 49 km from home. I know it was pathetic progress by any standard, but I was out on a leisure trip.

8. The feared Kamshet ghat climb

I am not sure why, but the very name of Kamshet ghat makes alarm bells ring in my head. I equate it with an obstacle that comes in at such a point on the route when one is completely exhausted. The road from Pune to Lonavala is a continuous upward gradient, which only a cyclist can realize. Otherwise, it looks like a normal road with some undulations.

As I neared the base of the hill, I mustered the courage to do the climb. I used all the lower gears on the cycle and maintained a steady pace for the climb. Due to heavy rains, there were small seasonal streams and waterfalls around the hill and passing vehicles had made a stop there to enjoy these water bodies.

Huffing and puffing I reached the top after a continuous climb. As I said, it is difficult not because of the ghat’s height but because it comes on the way at such a time when one’s energy is totally spent. Once at the top I yelled ‘Yee’ ‘Haw’, winner feeling. One challenge was over. The upcoming smaller ghat would be much lower and easier to tackle.

Till now I was the only mad cyclist on the road. Being a Sunday, I expected some cycling enthusiasts either on the way to Lonavala or on their way back. But it seemed that nobody wanted to brave the weatherman’s alert of heavy rainfall for the few days in that area.
The downhill from Kamshet ghat top was thrilling, to say the least. The beautiful landscape in front of me was just enthralling. All this trouble in rain was really worth it. I will let a few pictures say it.

9. The Plateau

After overcoming the first challenge of the day the smaller climb was easy. Quickly crossed it and then entered the ‘Plateau’. This is the flat land that runs all the way to Lonavala and it’s kind of a wide valley with far-off hills to the left, right and centre of sight.
I had to pedal on this stretch for about 5 km before taking a left on Ekvira Devi road towards Malavli railway station. It was now just a matter of moving at a constant pace in heavy rain. The fields were lush green on either side of the highway and mostly they were flooded. I visited Lonavala in January 2022 to accomplish the hyped Pune to Lonavala 0 milestone circuit. It was winter, but it felt like summer at that time. Cycling in monsoon is so much better as there is no sun to burn you.

As I moved on, I observed a strange phenomenon. At first, I thought it seemed like an error but once I started spotting the crabs multiple times and evenly spaced alongside the road, I became curious and had to make a stop to find out.
My subject showed itself soon after I stopped. Hidden in the wayside grass were a crab, bright yellow in colour and a truly beautiful creature. It was not alone. There were hundreds of them along the road and some wanted to cross the highway but met their death in the process. I captured an image of this beautiful creature with my camera. Let me present it here for your delight.

10. Just a few km to my destination

At around 4:30 PM I reached the junction from where I had to take the left for Malavli Railway station. The road to the right went to Karla Caves and Ekvira Devi temple, which was my destination for Day 2.
The road immediately deteriorated but I did not have many issues navigating it on my MTB.

My map research had suggested that it was going to be a very scenic route for 5 km but it did not live up to this expectation. The road was pathetic, narrow and busy. To add to the trouble, it was raining. Soon I came to the river Indrayani bridge which is really narrow and traffic gets held up here if some large vehicle tries to cross it.

As I reached the railway crossing near Malavli railway station, the number of bungalows, guest houses and hotels started increasing. Clearly, it was a popular tourist location for a weekend trip from Mumbai and Pune. At around 5 PM, I checked into my accommodation. Just as I did so the clouds came pouring down.

I unpacked, took some rest, had a good hot bath and then slept for a good half hour before my phone rang. It was my friend Manoj, who wanted to have dinner at Babbi da Dhaba near Kamshet and asked me whether I was interested. I was hungry and wanted to go out as well, so we agreed to the plan. He would drive down from Pune to my accommodation, pick me up and then drop me off after dinner. The only challenge was the heavy rain. But thanks to my friend’s spirit, he braved the heavy rain and arrived in his car around 8 PM.
We went in his car to Babbi da Dhaba and had a good dinner there.

After our sumptuous meal, Manoj dropped me back at Malavli and headed back to Pune. I went into my room and climbed into bed. Soon I went into a deep slumber amidst the only sounds of heavy rain and croaking of frogs coming from the farms around.

11. Starting the day with dark weather and renewed spirit

The next morning, loud banging at the door woke me up at 8 AM. I got a reminder call from the staff that my breakfast was ready. With dreamy eyes, I replied that I would be down at the dining hall soon. It was a good forty-five minutes before I could even move out of my room. Outside, it was still raining. It had rained heavily all night and the momentum seemed to continue.

I devoured poha and then sipped away the cold tea. ‘Pet’ pooja done, I headed back to my room to get ready to move out. I packed my belongings and set out at 10:30 AM after settling my dues. Today would be a long day with two major places to cover followed by the ride back to Pune.

12. Bhaja, here I come!

The previous day’s exhaustion was no more an issue as I had good food and proper rest. I was feeling fresh and went out in the rain. My first destination would be the Bhaja caves and waterfall. These two locations are close to each other and were within 4 km from my stay. I crossed the railway ‘fatak’ and went over to the other side of Malavli. The road for Bhaja goes over the Pune Mumbai expressway and brushes past the surrounding hills of the ‘Plateau’.

I asked for directions and quickly reached the touristy Bhaja waterfall. There was a huge crowd gathered there enjoying the milky waters gushing down the side of the hill as a fierce waterfall. There was screeching, screaming and whistling by the crowd in a state of full enjoyment.

After watching adults behaving like kids in the waterfall, I was amused enough to move on and enquire about the way to Bhaja Caves. I saw a series of winding steps alongside the waterfall that led to the caves. However, I was more inclined to climb up on my cycle and enquired whether the road going up the ghat went to the cave or not. The shopkeeper directed me to move up the ghat but after struggling quite a bit on the inclines, it dawned on me that I had taken the road to Visapur fort instead and wasted my energy.

I backtracked and came back to the waterfall. I parked my cycle at one of the shops for a charge of twenty rupees.

The cycle now secured, I walked to the base of the stairs leading up to the cave complex and began the climb.

The path to the top was winding and with beautiful views all around. I met many people who inquired me about my cycling expedition and my plans.

The dark clouds in the sky made the scene one out of a dream. It was continuously raining since morning but suddenly it started pouring. I had a raincoat to protect myself and slowly made my way up to the ticket counter. I paid my dues and entered the complex.

The caves seemed ancient and worn off. It had the main stupa in a prayer hall and there were many other caves alongside the hill. I went inside the main prayer hall and spent some time admiring the scale of the carving and the wooden structure still intact after more than a thousand years.

As there were not many carvings etc. in any of the caves, I enjoyed watching the adjoining waterfall and the scenes from the top. I clicked some pics there and after about 30 mins I was ready to leave. The climb down was swift and after collecting my cycle, I started for my next destination, which was more than 10 km away.

13. One down and two more to go

Following the same road, which I took to arrive at Malavli the previous day, I reached the intersection on the old Pune Mumbai highway around noon. I crossed the highway and started cycling towards the base of Karla Caves hill.

That road was pathetic and resembled the rough water-filled patches of Ladakh roads. My MTB glided easily through these obstacles but I was not too happy with the dirty water entering my shoes and being sprayed by every passing vehicle.

Soon enough, I arrived at the base of the hill. It was going to be the biggest challenge of the day to do the climbing. But I showed strength and resolution to do the climb on the saddle with a heavy backpack.

But reality soon wore me down and I found myself pushing the bicycle up the steep hillside for the better part of the way. Only after I had reached a point from which I could get back on my saddle, did I resume my ride. I wanted to call it a ‘cycle ride’ at all costs rather than make it a ‘cycle push’ trip.

Once, I reached the parking lot from where steps led to the caves, I was faced with a different kind of challenge. I did not find a single, pole or bar to secure my cycle. So, chanting Jai Mata Di, I locked up the wheels, leaned them against a wall and left it to the deity’s mercy for protection.
From the parking lot, the steps to the top went through a busy market selling essentials for worship, artefacts, jewellery, sweet shops and all kinds of miscellaneous items.

I kept on moving and then came across a big surprise. From one point onwards, all the water flowing down from the hill seemed to take the path of the steps. I was terrified at first and hesitant to proceed. Just as I was about to turn back, two young ladies passed by asking for directions to the top. I pointed to the river of water on the steps, but they went ahead easily as if it was normal. Taking a cue from them that it was doable, I mustered the courage to go up the slippery steps against a strong water current while holding on to the railings for safety.

I hardly looked up as I was more focused on placing my feet in the correct places and holding on to the railings. In no time I discovered that I had reached the entrance of the cave complex. At the ASI ticket counter, I paid the dues and moved ahead. There was a huge waterfall right at the entrance, and it was the most frightening scene to see huge rocks coming down along the path of the waterfall.

I quickly went past it and onto the open area in front of the caves. The façade of the caves looked imposing but it was partially obfuscated by the temple of Ekvira Devi in the front. I first visited the temple, did darshan and was again out in the open.

Next, I went in through the security check at the cave entrance and went inside. The experience was surreal. I saw huge carvings on the cave walls and this cave was much bigger and better preserved than those at Bhaja. I spent some time in the prayer hall inspecting the beautiful structure and then came out. There was nothing else to see concerning the caves.

I did some photography of the surroundings and started my journey back. Maybe because I had a sense of insecurity about my cycle at the back of my mind bothering me, I could not linger in the flat open space at the cave complex for long.

While coming down, the rain had subsided and the water flow on the steps was much less now. I found my cycle intact and heaved a sigh of relief. Jai Mata Di, I said to myself. I did not doubt the devotees coming to the temple to do anything but there could always be one or two asuras in the crowd capable of playing mischief.

14. The return back home

I started at 2 PM and it started raining heavily. I cautiously went down the steep hillside over slippery tarmac and back onto the intersection on the old Pune Mumbai highway. From there, I took a left and started crossing the ‘Plateau’ to Kamshet Ghat. It was already past 3 and I was feeling hungry and started looking for a good vegetarian restaurant. I came across one named “Mauli” and had paneer and roti there. It tasted awesome.

After my sumptuous meal, I cycled at a normal pace and reached home at 7:30 PM amidst some heavy Monday traffic.
It was an awesome two days trip! A once a lifetime experience for me.