Four of us started at 7:30 am from Pune for the Mahabaleshwar-Panchghani trip by car. The weather was cloudy. We had our breakfast at some roadside dhaba and started towards Mahabaleshwar again. Slowly we were in the hills. Before entering Panchgani we gave a toll. And in the entire trip I lost the count of tolls I paid as everywhere people where charging us.
Our first stop was Mapro Garden where we spent some time and continued our trip. We reached our hotel which I already booked. It was a few kilometers away from Mahabaleshwar near Lingamala Waterfall. We entered our hotel room and I was delighted. Our forest view family room at the top floor had glasses all around with some great views. I was happy over my hotel selection :). We just dumped our luggage and left the room to travel around. It was around 12:30 pm by then.
First we went to Arthur's Seat view point. We started enjoying the roads bending through the forests. Slowly it was more cloudy and we were inside the clouds with almost no visibility. We could not even see the nearest car. We got down from our car. We climbed down the steps there to several points. But nothing was visible because of the excessive fog and mist all around. This point is named after British officer Arthur who sat here and gazed at river Savitri, where he lost his wife and children in a tragic mishap. We left it to our imaginations how he must have been sitting here all alone ages back and gazing at the river with chilly winds striking him, at this barren hill.
Then we went to the Savitri View Point which is just next to Arthur's Seat view point. Here also nothing was visible to us since we were in the clouds.
We then headed to Kates point and enjoyed the views of the dam and falls with different shades of green all around.
It was around 3:30 pm by then. We were already very hungry. We came back to Mahabaleshwar town. We started hunting for a restaurant to have good non-veg lunch. We went to Shere Punjab and had a delicious lunch.
We started again and went to the Venna Lake. We took a boat for us and spent some good time sailing in the lake. The chilly winds striking us and the hills around, merged in clouds, made our sailing more beautiful. Even I tried forgetting that I am at Mahabaleshwar and started imagining that I am in Kashmir's Dal lake :). After this we had tea and also played some silly games at the nearby joints which was fun.
We left the place for Lingamala waterfall. It was 6:30 pm by then. We just realized after reaching there, the forest leading to the falls is only open from 8am-5:30pm. So we had to return back to our hotel with a plan of visiting the place next morning. Before entering the hotel I had a short walk around the hill with tress all around. I was amazed by the sound of chirping birds in the evening in an otherwise silent hill. It brought me back some beautiful childhood memories of evening of my small hometown. I found an empty green lawn with some benches, sat there for a while. Also discovered a temple with noone around. I loved spending time at these deserted places with myself before returning to my hotel. From my balcony I enjoyed the evening red sky merging with the hills. It started raining in a while. The occasional sound of rains on our tinned roof and chirping of insects was the melody of our night.
Next day we woke up to chirping birds which we rarely hear in cities. We had our breakfast and hot tea facing the hills in chilly morning. We got ready and headed to Lingamala Waterfalls. Through a forest we reached the entrance. We paid 10 rs as entry fee each and entered the area. We were in a dense canopy of trees with occasional penetration of sun rays through them. We climbed up and down the steps to reach a place which bifurcated into two ways, left and right. First we took the right route and walked around 400 meters in the forest with narrow brooks along our way. Soon we could see the falls surrounded by greenery. We walked through that route till the end and then again started moving back to the same point where we took left. Then we took the right route where we walked around 100 meters and reached a small waterfall where everyone was enjoying the falls by getting wet in it. We did not get wet. We returned back from there.
Next we started for Pratapgad Fort. The road leading to the fort was beautiful with greenery all around and some water falls at places along the road. We reached Pratapgad and started walking through the history with ruins of the fort. But there was a lot of human settlement inside the fort which looked disturbing to me when I was trying to relish the history. We climbed to the top where there was a Shivaji statue. We enjoyed the view from the top half merged in clouds. We returned back and had delicious lunch at a roadside dhaba.
Our journey back home started after lunch. But my last destination was Wai's Dhom Dam which falls on the way back to Pune. We took a left turn and started enjoying the village road to the dam. After sometime we reached Dhom dam. It was incredibly beautiful. Stretches of land with almost noone around, greenish blue water and green hills half merged in clouds, white ducks floating in the water. One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in western ghats. Although there was a boating club, but I did not see anyone boating.
It was drizzling by then. After enjoying the beauty and emptiness of the place we started our journey back to Pune in rains with memories of these beautiful places.
Our first stop was Mapro Garden where we spent some time and continued our trip. We reached our hotel which I already booked. It was a few kilometers away from Mahabaleshwar near Lingamala Waterfall. We entered our hotel room and I was delighted. Our forest view family room at the top floor had glasses all around with some great views. I was happy over my hotel selection :). We just dumped our luggage and left the room to travel around. It was around 12:30 pm by then.
Then we went to the Savitri View Point which is just next to Arthur's Seat view point. Here also nothing was visible to us since we were in the clouds.
We then headed to Kates point and enjoyed the views of the dam and falls with different shades of green all around.
It was around 3:30 pm by then. We were already very hungry. We came back to Mahabaleshwar town. We started hunting for a restaurant to have good non-veg lunch. We went to Shere Punjab and had a delicious lunch.
We started again and went to the Venna Lake. We took a boat for us and spent some good time sailing in the lake. The chilly winds striking us and the hills around, merged in clouds, made our sailing more beautiful. Even I tried forgetting that I am at Mahabaleshwar and started imagining that I am in Kashmir's Dal lake :). After this we had tea and also played some silly games at the nearby joints which was fun.
We left the place for Lingamala waterfall. It was 6:30 pm by then. We just realized after reaching there, the forest leading to the falls is only open from 8am-5:30pm. So we had to return back to our hotel with a plan of visiting the place next morning. Before entering the hotel I had a short walk around the hill with tress all around. I was amazed by the sound of chirping birds in the evening in an otherwise silent hill. It brought me back some beautiful childhood memories of evening of my small hometown. I found an empty green lawn with some benches, sat there for a while. Also discovered a temple with noone around. I loved spending time at these deserted places with myself before returning to my hotel. From my balcony I enjoyed the evening red sky merging with the hills. It started raining in a while. The occasional sound of rains on our tinned roof and chirping of insects was the melody of our night.
Next day we woke up to chirping birds which we rarely hear in cities. We had our breakfast and hot tea facing the hills in chilly morning. We got ready and headed to Lingamala Waterfalls. Through a forest we reached the entrance. We paid 10 rs as entry fee each and entered the area. We were in a dense canopy of trees with occasional penetration of sun rays through them. We climbed up and down the steps to reach a place which bifurcated into two ways, left and right. First we took the right route and walked around 400 meters in the forest with narrow brooks along our way. Soon we could see the falls surrounded by greenery. We walked through that route till the end and then again started moving back to the same point where we took left. Then we took the right route where we walked around 100 meters and reached a small waterfall where everyone was enjoying the falls by getting wet in it. We did not get wet. We returned back from there.
Next we started for Pratapgad Fort. The road leading to the fort was beautiful with greenery all around and some water falls at places along the road. We reached Pratapgad and started walking through the history with ruins of the fort. But there was a lot of human settlement inside the fort which looked disturbing to me when I was trying to relish the history. We climbed to the top where there was a Shivaji statue. We enjoyed the view from the top half merged in clouds. We returned back and had delicious lunch at a roadside dhaba.
It was drizzling by then. After enjoying the beauty and emptiness of the place we started our journey back to Pune in rains with memories of these beautiful places.
