Nvr thght History was gr8 out of d books - Day 2, Lonar

The nite ended rather early. I was already up by 5.30 in the morning. I had been instructed by my other two "campers" that we had to catch the first bus at 7.00. Well I got up, freshened up, only to return to find that they were still sleeping in their cozy beds.

Anyways, we finally made it to the bus stand on time. The scene at the bus stand was awesome. It was hell crowded. We managed to get "one and half" seat only, such that at any point of time, either I could sit alone or only the other two... :P

We reached Lonar after a cruel 150kms and 5hrs in the state transport bus. A short stint in the rickshaw and there you are at the Lonar crater. Now you have to trust me about Lonar Crater; it is the most beautiful place that I have seen so far... Created some 55000 years ago, this crater is 1.8km in diameter while 137meters deep from the top. At the base of the crater there is this lake and it is 1.2 km in diameter.

Well we stayed at the MTDC bungalow (mind you it is the only place where you can stay there). It is a sprawling multi-storey building, with several rooms and dorms. The bungalow itself was very beautiful... you might even consider not getting out...

Well we started the descend by 12 noon with the sun on our head. But the location was such that we completely forgot about the heat. Well 500 mts above the sea level it's a bit cooler too... The hedge at the bottom of the crater is dense, awesome path moving right into the jungle...

One small standing instruction for first timers with regards to trekking in Lonar; the water of the lake is Alkaline. Loads of caustic fumes around. Carry a large cloth, wet it and tie it around your nose and mouth.

Coming back to Lonar... the region is damn pollution free and the skies are so clear and blue that once you look up, you are just "sky-struck". There are 12 temples around this lake; we figured out around 8 of them.

Most of these temples are abodes of bats. But then one of them is maintained very by the locals. There are some Shiv statues in various forms around this main temple.

The view around the temple was awesome. Apart for the smell, colors were so very good that one could just stay back and keep looking. Green waters, blue sky the perfect tree and a beautiful lawn... I had almost decided to build a house there; only a little while later I got choked with the smell after a waft of breeze swept across.

We took a different route to go back to the top. The structures on the way back were equally enthralling... who placed them there or why where they there in the first place....we had no idea.....

After we reached back to the top, we sat on the edge to relax. As the view surged in, our contemplative sides started to take over.

The lights slowly started to fade out as the night started to take over. The evening over the crater was as breathtaking as the crater itself. Soaking the last rays of the sun we let our tired bodies breath as the last 2 days had been quite tiring physically.
We slept quite early partly because of the tiring 2 days we had so far and partly because of the classic malvani food that the MTDC resort had cooked for us.

The morning of the next day was as beautiful as the whole place itself. A classic view from the back of the hotel gave a beautiful panorama which I had missed earlier...

We left the hotel in the morning and started for our final phase of our classic trip...


Aastalavista...
Abhishek