Weekend Trip to Mahabaleshwar

Last weekend, we all went to Mahabaleshwar from Pune. This is all about the trip. We stayed there Saturday night and were back in Pune by Sunday 8 pm. Thanks to google, as there are lot of websites about mahabaleshwar, we handpicked a few of them so that we are aware of all the points/distances.

Since 1st week of December, we all 3 couples, myself, Siddharth and Sachin (with their babies) were thinking of going somewhere around. As mahabaleshwar was near and a good one.. we thought of going there.

As we had two cars, we thought one more family can easily be accomodated with us. One of my friend's Sachin's friend was willing and so we decided to go to Mahabaleshwar on 8th Dec (Saturday) morning.

Leaving Pune
We had planned earlier to leave Pune by 7:30 am but (in actual) we left at 8:30 am :) We met together at Sinhagad Flyover and then we started our journey to Mahabaleshwar. We had tea earlier so we all were fresh.

Directly from Sinhagad Flyover we get the new Katraj tunnel, so we both I and Sachin drove at a good speed. Paying first a toll of Rs. 45/- before Narayanpur, we stopped at Reliance Petrol Pump to fill up the car's tank. We continued from there.. ghosh.. what a highway.. I was driving at 100 kmph but never felt that I was driving at a very high speed. After continuing, again we get a "ghat" and pay a toll of Rs. 13/- and after crossing ghat, we continued on the highway to Satara. At a point, where a flyover (newly constructed) exist, we took a right turn to Mahabaleshwar.

Reaching Panchgani
After few kms, we reached Wai and then Panchgani. Between Wai and Panchgani, there are ghats, so the speedometer could not touch 50 :( By the time we reached Panchgani, everybody was hungry, we stopped at one of the restaurants and ordered various snack items like Sandwiches/Dosa etc. Of course, tea and coffee were default for everybody :)

Parsi Point
After exiting Panchgani (we had paid an entry tax to Panchgani), on the outskirts of Panchgani, we saw the first "point", Parsi Point. It is a good point to have a break.. Lots of games/jhullas are there for kids, so the kids would really enjoy it. (especially if you child is around or above 2 years old. We were there for about 1 hour and really enjoyed there.

Kates Point
Then we again started our journey and drove towards Mahabaleshwar. Before entering Mahableshwar itself, there is a right turn to "Kates Point". It is around 10 kms from Main Panchgani highway to Mahabaleshwar.

Kates point does include Needle (Needal) point, Elephant's head etc. At Kates Point, you would get good carrot (gaajar), shalgam, and cucumber (kheera/kaakri). don't miss them :)

Entering Mahabeshwar (Venna Lake)
Again we proceeded towards Mahabaleshwar City. At the entry itself, we paid a "huge tax". 30/- per car and 15/ per passenger.. After paying the "entry tax" to Mahabaleshwar, we stopped at Venna lake, hardly few meters from "entry tax collection center". Venna lake is a good one. and as we were aware that boating does exist and we had make up the mind of boating, we opted for boating. The boating has two rates and are of two types

Before 4:30 pm
Rowing 120/- per boat (6 passengers can sit) - for half an hour
Pedalling 100/- per boat(6 passengers can sit)- for half an hour

After 4:30 pm, the rates are higher.

As we all were 8, we opted two boats Rowing and Pedalling, I wanted to probably shed my calories, I went for pedalling myself :) With all the passengers pedalling, it was great to venture in the lake. The water was good and my daughter enjoyed a lot.

Yes now the boating was over and we were feeling hungry for lunch, as the hour hand of the clock crossed 2 now..

Inside Mahabaleshwar
We went inside the city and parked our vehicle in the Taxi Stand. We saw a nearby restaurant-cum-hotel and we all rushed inside the hotel and had a good lunch :) After finishing our lunch, we first of all searched for the 4 rooms.. Oh that was the tough task ahead.

We first enquired ourself but were not able to get 4 rooms together. Even for the rooms, the charges were higher 500+. As it was not the peak season, we were knowing that we may get a cheaper option. Finally, we saw an agent standing near the "Taxi Stand". He took us to a number of hotels but we were not getting 4 rooms at a cheaper rate. At one hotel, we got 4 Rooms at 350/- each.. that's really cool... The room had TV, Hot Water and yes 3 beds in total. Two beds were 2*6 each and 1 bed was 4*6. So in case, you are a small family with two kids, one room might be enough :)

Bombay Point/Sunset Point
We all were tired and were looking for some relaxing in the room. But then we moved out to "Bombay Point", also known as Sunset Point. We reached the sunset point at around 5 pm. As it was fog, so it was not so clear, but we all really enjoyed it. There was horse-riding too. Yes, Me and my daughter sat on the horse. At 6:15 pm, the sun was setting, we capture the pics on the mobile and handycam we had taken along. There was a big "jam" after the sunset point. We went back to hotel took rest for sometime.

Back in Hotel
At 7:45 pm, we left the hotel and as the market was very near, we entered the market and did some purchasing. We had a good dinner at one of the hotels. and were back to the room by 9:30 pm and went to good dreams by 10 pm.

9th Dec 2007 (Sunday)

Next morning, we checked out the hotel at 7:30 am. We took the cars near the market and found a shopkeeper making hot vadapaos. We all ate vadapaos and drank tea/coffee. Beware that the rates written on the menu/display might be different from what they actually charge.

Visit to Temples
As it was morning, we thought of asking God to reduce our sins, we went to 3 temples (1) Mahabaleshwar temple (2) Panchganga temple - The water there comes from 5 rivers and is very good for drinking and (3) Ati Mahabaleshwar temple. All are in same campus.

Arthur's Seat/Monkey Point
Next we left for Arthur's Seat (and other nearby points). After enquiring from various people, the way (location) and taking good breaks, we finally reached Arthur's Seat. After car parking, you need to step down to a good number of steps to see Arthurs seat and other points. It is a good point and there were a lot number of people there. I would say that if you go to Mahabaleshwar, then don't miss Arthur's seat as it is the best point in Mahableshwar. After getting clicked a lot of pics, we decided to move to PratapGarh Fort.

Pratapgad Fort
Pratapgad Fort is one of the forts of Maharaj Shivaji. To go to Pratapgarh Fort, we first need to drove back to the city (from Arthur's Seat) and then got to PratapGarh Fort. It took us around 1.5 hours to reach Pratapgarh Fort. There is a saying that there are 450 steps on Pratapgarh Fort. It had the famous "Bhavani Mata mandir", which Maharaj Shivaji used to visit before the war. We visited the temple and nearby "hastkala center" was existing, which contained very good handicraft materials. We bought a few articles.

Leave Mahabaleshwar/Mapro
Then we drove back to Mahabaleshwar and then proceeded to say bye bye to Mahabaleshwar. After we crossed the entry point to Mahabaleshwar, we had our lunch @ 3 pm. Then our cars started moving to Panchgani. In the way we saw Mapro and Mala sales counters, which were really good and was offering Juice/Toffees etc at 10% discount. We bought a few of them. :)

Balaji Temple/Back to Pune
Now Non-stop we went to catch Highway at the junction point of Satara-Pune. Before Pune (40 kms), there is a good Balaji temple. We went to Balaji temple (around 6 pm) and thanked God for making it a good trip. We all were back by 8 pm @ Pune.


It was really a good trip we all enjoyed..

Enjoy !!
Adhir