Mahabaleshwar by Car

Winter is a good time when in India to travel. On onset of the arrival of winter in 2009 we picked up Mahabaleshwar as our travel destination.

Hotels - There are a lot of good hotels in Mahabaleshwar, but we were specifically looking for something among the greens and away from the bustling market area. A lot of hotels center on the market area though. Among the various options, we settled for the Ramsukh Resort due to its location and the vistas it offered.

How to get there - From Mumbai it is about 270 odd kms via the Mumbai Pune highway.
We started at about 7:30 AM and took the Thane-Belapur road to connect to the Mumbai-Pune highway. We then hit the expressway and halted at the food court for breakfast.
We crossed Pune and continued on our way forward and followed the directions to Mahabaleshwar. A quick stop over at Mapro farm for lunch is recommended. The sandwiches are very good as well as the fruit juices on offer there.
The roads are rather narrow and you could be taken by surprise from an oncoming vehicle. Driving with caution is recommended.




The narrow roads offer stellar views as you cross Panchgani and get into Mahabaleshwar. The valleys then give way to dense forests, the roads get narrower. You got to pay a toll to use these roads at a makeshift checknaka on the way.
Even large Volvo buses are permitted on these ultra narrow winding roads which makes driving a real challenge. Extra cuation is to be exercised here.
We finally reached the Ramsukh resort located in some remote area in the jungles.

http://www.ramsukh.com/

The resort is fantastic. They have a movie theatre in campus as well. The buffet lunch and dinner are a treat and very tasty. The available food is vegetarian though.
The valley view suites are ideal to stay, but for the more glamorous the Maharaj/Ixora suites are well worth the money spent. They also offer exclusive 'Solitaire' suites which are really not worth it.

In a nutshell - If leaving by car, try and hit the Mumbai-Pune expressway by 8:30 AM.
A 7 hour drive with 2 breaks will see you at Ramsukh by 2:30 PM or so.

Activities -
Day 1: Check in at the hotel and generally relax. Hit the pool, take a walk or watch a movie. Enjoy the evening shows at the poolside and followup with a fabulous dinner.

Day 2: Don't drive your own car. Hire a cab. Arrange the cab with your hotel. They offer 3 hours to half day tours to see the various points around. We hired a cab and did a short tour after lunch to see the various points. Beware of quacks who will pretend to be astrologers and chase you until you stop and listen to them.
An evening stroll in the market area is recommended.

Dat 3: - We took another half day tour and then generally relaxed at the hotel campus. A trip to Pratapgarh is recommended, but we were not to keen on it. The hotel offers private dinners as well in the forested area and is very recommended. Check out with the hotel office for reservations. A nice nice massage at their health spa is recommended too.

Malshej Ghats! An exhilerating experience year 2005

I wanted to walk the heaven's...I went to Malshej Ghat !

Come rain and a long weekend and you can be sure that half of Mumbai would be chilling out at lonavla or Mahabaleshwar.
However, our group - a group of 7 enterprising people decided that this time around we would celebrate our long weeekend at a different location. A place whose serenity and solitude is unmatched , where the ills of commercialization do not bother us and where the rustling of leaves, the song of the brook and the whistling of the breeze and the pitter-patter of the rainfall are the loudest and purest sounds you can hear !
We thus chose Malshej Ghat - a place pure and unspoilt from the vagaries of humankind.

We hired a tata sumo and all the seven of us began our eventful journey. On our way, at Kalyan we came across the devastation that the recent flood had caused. Uprooted trees, overflowing water-bodies and filth and garbage were a common sight. The road however was surprisingly clear and hassle-free. We reached Murbad and halted at the outskirts to treat ourselves a hot and sumptuous breakfast of vada-pav and cutting chai. Cool breeze, slight hint of rain in the air , a plate of hot vada pav and cutting chai !!! Life cannot get any better than this. J

After about an hour from Murbad and we reached the ghat. Mountain tops covered with palls of misty clouds was a sight to behold ! Soon the tata Sumo was lost among the wispy clouds and the visibility tapered down to almost zero. Driving among the clouds was an amazing experience. The fact that visibility was a zero on the ghat road with a treacherous drop on one side of the road made the drive even more adventurous and enthralling.
At one point on the road we could see clouds rising from beneath the mountain. It was as if we were up and above the clouds on the road that seemed to take us through paradise. We could see at least seven waterfalls from one point. It was truly amazing. We then saw a board by the roadside that said MTDC resort, however the resort was nowhere to be seen with dense clouds all around us. Somehow and by some sheer luck we saw a silhouette of what seemed like a building right out of a Ramsay movie.It was an eerie sight. Not a single soul around, a large and long compound wall with barred gates. It seemed that we had come across what seemed like a graveyard. However we soon saw a guard walking towards us with a large rifle stylishly slung across his frail shoulder. A rather gruff voice greeted us and informed us that this was indeed the MTDC resort and not a spooky graveyard. We suspected otherwise until we actually entered the resort gates only to find families and kids hanging around the green environs of the resort. I cannot describe or rate the resort as it was totally under a thick cloud cover. We however did hang around the place only to lose ourselves in the mist. It was a strange experience to get lost in a forest with thick clouds all around. However, after a lot of deliberation and feedback from each one of us, we finally found our way back to the resort. After having a nice cup of hot cutting chai we started off towards Shivneri fort. The road to Shivneri fort aint the best one to drive on. But we did manage to reach the base of the mountain and then trekked up the fort. It was an exhausting experience for some of the fellows not used to trekking. The mountain top holds the dilapidated ruins of the fort that is said to be the birthplace of Shivaji. An uneventful journey of 3 kms from there took us to Lenadri village that has an ashtavinayak Ganpati temple. You again need to climb the hill as the temple is situated in the caves on the mountain top. Lunch at Lenadri is highly recommended as you get to eat sumptuous village food at a good deal.

We then returned to the misty mountains of malshej and this time stopped near a waterfall to enjoy bathing in the cold and freezing water battering down through the slope and the rocky terrain.

Malshej is a fantastic experience and an ideal place to visit in the countryside. Water everywhere, greenery, rapids, brooks the birds and bees - all there with the most crucial elements - Lack of commercialization and pollution that grips Khandala and Lonavla and very few people to boot.
For the trekkers, theres this road over a HUGE reservoir that leads up to Harishchandragadh mountain.
This is still the right time as all those who have not been there yet, please do visit before it stops raining !.

How to get there - Malshej Ghat is about 160 kms from Mumbai. The best way to get there is by road.