Malkapur- Lonar Crater

On 3rd April 09 Ravindra Mishra, Manoj Shriyan , Denzil Dsouza and Ashish Negi set out for Malkapur to visit Lonar—(Worlds third largest crater of basalt rock). We reached dadar station to catch the Howrah mail at 8.50 p.m. After finishing our homemade dinners which myself and manoj had got we decided to go for sleep since we had to get up early morning. I and Ashish had a good sleep, whereas Manoj and Denzil would have slept for not more than 2 hours. We reached Malkapur next day at 5.30 a.m. The station was quite calm without any hussle and bustle of passengers. Very few passengers alighted at the station. We started our photo session with the snapshots of the Malkapur station board and a group photo. We finished the brushing of teeth and washing our faces on the station itself. Immediately out of the station there was a rickshaw stand and few tea stalls. The appearance outside the station was of a small town with limited stores/stalls. We halted at the Satyam Pan Mandir and had tea, poha and vada-pav. The tea was really good, however was too sweet (peculiarity of interiors in Maharashtra). The bus stand was roughly 1 k.m. from the station and we caught hold of one to take us to the station. They charge INR 5.00 / person. Outside the station there is this single road which takes to the bus stand. On the way we got the glimpse of the city, which was like any other traditional small towns of India. The shops had not opened since it was just 6.15 a.m. in the morning; however the atmosphere was quite thrilling. We were able to breathe in lot of fresh oxygen and the calm, tranquility and peace being experienced by all four of us. We had reached the bus stand, which was almost at the centre of the market. Surprisingly it was not as crowded as one would have imagined. I checked for the bus timings and was told by one of the cunductors that the first bus was at 7.00 A.M. he also informed us that it would take 4-5 hours to reach Lonar. This set us back as 4 hours of journey was going to be painful and trying. Manoj threw the idea of going by rickshaw. The same person who had taken us to the bus stand agreed to carry us, however put the total damages at INR 1700.00. Finally we all decided to go by Maruti van, which was being offered at INR 2200.00. After hectic negotiation the final price offered by the guy was INR 1700.00. We disagreed and moved on for some other travelling agent. In the interim we bought lots of fruits from the vendor and he advised us to go to Satyam stores for the vehicle. We finally landed at satyam refreshments after a walk for 10-15 minutes. It was a refreshment centre selling tea. Poha, colddrinks, sugarcane juices etc. He first showed reluctance of arranging, since just a month back, some tourists had come for a vehicle to take them to lonar and at a remote place asked the driver to step down and took the vehicle away. We somehow managed to convince the person and who agreed to arrange for the vehicle. Finally the deal was stuck with the driver for INR 1400.00 to and fro. It was already 8.25 a.m. by the time we left for Lonar. We were comfortable seated with Negi at the front and rest three of us at the back. The road condition was quite good and was a main road with trucks, buses passing by. We could see fields, as far as we can see and mountains which was not so tall. At one place there was a temple where we halted for darshan and took snaps from there. We crossed 2 toll naka on the way which charged us INR 30.00 each for return journey. We crossed Buldana on the way, and few other places where one can stop for refreshments. We finally reached Lonar market at around 11.10 a.m. It was a good sized marketplace with lot of villagers who had come for buying, selling their produce. The place however was decent and we could find shops of all types along with guest houses including AC. Within the town itself the van took a right turn and we proceeded toward the crater. After driving for just 10 minutes we had arrived at Lonar crater. It was a magnificent view from the top. All we could see was blue water at the middle of the mountain. We started taking snaps from all the angles possible. We could find lot of bushes with thorns and one needed to be careful of not walking onto them. By this time the heat started taking its toll. The place was quite dry and the suns ray was striking us directly. The temperature was roughly around 42. We returned back and came to the main entrance. We asked the driver to wait for us at the entrance and we started our march to the base of the crater. We found lot of villagers who had come to this place; however they had come to visit the ancient temples which were one the way to the base. We reached the first temple it was quite old and the carvings and the looks of the temple really gave it a great appearance. There was a water stream inside the temple and all the devotees were taking bath. We proceeded downwards and the way down was full of slopes, however not so difficult. We came across one more temple which was of Lord SHIVA and quite old probably of 5-6th century A.D. there were lots of devotees and nearby villagers taking bath, washing clothes. We proceeded further and came across the last temple of SHIVA which was in dilapidated order and the walls had fallen down. The carvings inside the temple was really great and was of 5th century A.D. we found lots of monkeys over here and the place was really quiet, cool and pleasant. Surprisingly very few devote come to this temple. We halted and decided to quench our thirst and hunger with grapes and other fruits which we were carrying. Finally after relaxing for 15 minutes we proceeded further and reached the water. There was human habitat at the base and they were carrying out farming. The base of the crater turned out to be a disappointment as the view from the top was much more spectacular then from the base. The journey to the base took us almost 45 minutes. There were buffalos that were enjoying the summer heat in the water and we could see one temple of DEVI at the other side of the lake. We rested over there for roughly 15 minutes and decided to climb back. By this time the heat started taking toll on us and we were terribly hungry. Climbing up was a bit challenge since everyone was tired and we halted at the second temple on the way. I decided to lighten myself, by taking a bath and did so and was really fun. Reaching at the top we asked the driver to take us to some good restaurant. He took us to a restaurant type of setup and we ordered lots of chappatis, dal, rice, butter milk. We had our tummy full to the last with no space to accommodate. The food was simple and tasty; however was by no means cheap looking at the place. Total damage was INR 167.00. We started our journey back to Malkapur. We were consuming lots of water since it was really dry and we could feel the heat and warmth. We had closed the window of the car as the air was quite hot. Finally at around 4.00 p.m. we arrived at Malkapur. Since our train was at 10.15 p.m. we decided to rest in some lodge since there was nothing else in Malkapur where one can spend time. The driver after enquiring with few lodges took us to Rohini Hotel and we settled for the non ac room. Total damages INR 300.00 for 5 hours. We took bath and rested back watching TV. At 7.00 p.m. we decided to go our for dinner and shopping. Manoj, Denzil and Negi tried Pani Puri which was really cheap. Then we for juices i.e., pineapple, mango, sugarcane. We visited the wholesale market, which was really big and was in two lanes. Finally we took the dinner at KHADEKAR Bhojnalay as recommended by the locals. It was a pure veg joint which was frequented by all sorts of people. The food was simple and spicy and total damage was INR 148.00. We visited a sale offer of Chinese items and picked up few items for home. Finally we came back to the hotel and set for the station. Finally we had tea at Vaibhav tea near the station and went to catch our train ( Vidarbha Express). We arrived at dadar station next day at 6.25 a.m.

Key Takeaways: Avoid April till June, Avoid going by bus, start early morning.


For photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30002962@N05/