21 Sep – Started
off with the travel journey from Mumbai. We had booked Neeta Sleeper Volvo bus
for 23.30 from Kanjurmarg but because of less number of passengers traveling ,
Neeta guys called up 4 hours before and told that the bus has been cancelled
and asked us to board the bus at 22.30. One hour packing time reduced.Whew..
Finally, we boarded
the bus from Gandhinagar bridge near police chowki at Kanjurmarg . Comfy 2+1
sleeper bus
22 Sep -
We reached Mahabaleshwar around 5 am morning. We didn’t have
any issue in finding the hotel since it is in the centre of market and next to
Police station.
Next to the hotel is a nice Hanuman temple
First day, we visited Panchgani which is famous for boarding
schools where Kajol and Twinkle have studied (that’s what every taxiwala or
guide tells you J )
Visited Table land on a horse –
Some of the sightseeing activities -
Pandav footmarks
The one and only tree on tableland where some song was sung (
STML :) )
There is a cave on one side of table land –
Ganapati visarjan lake –
Beware of the monkeys
on table land. They can pounce on you if they see any eatables
One of the famous boarding schools on the way back from
Table land –
Parsi Point: This
scenic point is situated on the way to Mahabaleshwar, and overlooks the Krishna
valley and the blue shiny waters of the Dhom Dam.
Bhilar waterfall –
Next in line was the Malas Factory. Localites say that it is
the best as compared to other brands like Mapro.
And then finally visited the Mapro Garden. There is a
transparent window through which we can see how chocolate is being made.
Some of the scenic views from Mapro Garden –
Nice seating area
One should not miss the fresh pizzas and strawberry shake
with cream
And then returned back to hotel. Took some rest and strolled
around the Mahabaleshwar market
23 Sep –
Next day, we went for Mahabaleshwar tour .
Visit to old Mahabaleshwar :
Panchganga mandir –
Mahabaleshwar temple –
There are many more temples within the city
Next in line were the ten points –
Lovely whitish fog seen at these points in the valleys.. It's like milky ocean all across..
Next in line were the below mentioned 3 points –
Beware of the monkeys at this point.
Beautiful elephants head –
Next visit was to Strawberry Lite Garden & Restaurant
where the guy gave us info about strawberry plants –
And yummy strawberry shake with ice cream
Done for the day... Came back and took rest at hotel
Sep 23 –
Security guard at our hotel - Bhoomar
Came for next round of Mahabaleshwar tour.
Wilson point ( also known as sunrise point )
And then visited Kings chair with the help of a guide. One
needs a guide at this point since this is more of a trekking point where we
need to travel through a dense area before reaching the top.
Fortunately, the rain gods were also happy and so, it
started raining –
Kings chair can be seen at the extreme right in below
picture –
Green dense forest behind
Some more walking
Old people and those with knee pain are advised not to visit
this. Instead, they can stay at the Lord Ganesh Temple and others can proceed
to visit the Kings chair
Next in line was the Lingmala waterfall . Too many steps for
old and weak people
There are 2 points. Once is a small doha which is nearby( when I say nearby , one has to still walk along the steps for 10-15 mins one way )
Other one is big waterfall for which one has to walk around
1.5 kms
Then visited Venna lake which is famous for boating
Savoured
the corn and chai at this point and came back to the hotel
Sep 25 –
Leisure day to relax and stroll around. Since this was
Navratri time , Lordess Durga showered her blessings by giving darshan
At 21.15, we got a call from Neeta saying that our next day
afternoon bus had been cancelled and we were being given semi-sleeper which was
one hour late. Immediately, we decided to catch the same night bus at 21.30 since
that was sleeper bus. So, we packed our luggage and checked out of the hotel
in a matter of 15 mins.
This reminded me of a similar adventure I had with my wife
where we had woken up late to catch early morning flight from LA to DC and had
rushed through the packing/checkout/travel process and finally boarded the
flight at last moment.
Journey through Neeta sleeper bus was pretty smooth and
reached home sweet home early morning at 4.30 next day
