City of Lakes and Palaces, Udaipur

Last year in December, I spent about two days with some friends in the city of lakes and palaces, Udaipur. The trip was planned last minute, so it was quite simple. And it turned out to be quite enjoyable, because of the lack of complexity. We just booked flight tickets and a high-end hotel. That was all that was needed. The rest was easy to arrange given how touristy the city is in terms of things to do and how to do those.

Windows...

I've visited Udaipur before, so this trip was not as much about exploring the place, as it was about rediscovering it, and looking at it from a different viewpoint. Of just being there and seeing all that is usually unseen. And I loved it, as I got to enjoy the slower pace of life of a tier 2 Indian city, plus the varied culture, deep history and warm weather it had to offer amid the very cold 2019 North India winter!


Udaipur is quite a popular destination among foreign tourists visiting India, and you get a glimpse of it on the plane itself. I was flying from Delhi and it was full of either non-Indians, or NRIs. And a lot of them were visiting Udaipur to attend a wedding 😊. When I landed there mid-day, it was warm and already felt nice given I was coming from the Delhi winter.

The airport at Udaipur is almost am hour away from the city, so I took an Uber to my hotel. As it was a long drive, I started chatting with the Uber driver and he told me a lot about the area of Udaipur, its people and so on. And as usual, I was excited about learning more about a new place.

Udaipur is part of the Mewar region of Rajasthan and is not a desert unlike the other parts of Rajasthan. It has mountains, a few lakes and hence a lot of greenery - something you never associate with Rajasthan. And it is the Marwar region which has most of the desert parts of Rajasthan, including Jodhpur, Bikaner, Barmer and Jaisalmer. There are apparently 9 different regions within Rajasthan, and they all have their own parallel histories.

Apparently Mewar was the only major region to fight the Mughals, Rana Pratap being their greatest warrior. And they did not bow their heads to the Mughals (at least initially, though some of his descendents chose to be friends with both the Mughals and the British).

Most of the people in the region are either Rajputs, Jains, Brahmins or adivasis. And there are not a lot of Gujjar or Jats in this region. The driver also gave me a quick lowdown on who are the ones who take most benefit of the reservation quotas but that discussion is for another day 😜.

Today, there are not a lot of income sources here as there are limited industries other than tourism. There is some zinc and silver works, some marble business and of course the local Rajasthani handicrafts. But mostly Udaipur has come to be synonymous with tourism, and of course, destination weddings. Recently, the Ambanis and Priyanka Chopra had their weddings in the city, which brought a lot of activity and attention to the city for a couple of months.

My visit was at the time of the CAA protests in India, and so I asked the driver his view on what was happening. He was quite a level headed person and talked about maintaining peace. He also mentioned that even though there are Muslims in Udaipur, it has mostly been a quiet place. Though recently Section 144 had been imposed here after a man ran away with a woman of a different religion, and then he was later killed. Apparently, the army had to be called in and the internet was taken down for a few days then. So whats happening right now in India, has been happening in smaller pockets for some time, without being in the news...

He also spoke about his experience of being a cab driver in the city, of the celebrities he had driven around and seen during the weddings, and of course the new market entrants. He drives for both Ola and Uber, but was a bigger fan of Uber as it has a perception of being more honest with their drivers. Apparently they track photos of their drivers regularly to make it safer, and Ola doesn't.

He also told me a funny incident which made me laugh. I had to wait a long time for him to come into the airport to pick me up, and later mentioned that he should have asked me to walk out to avoid the queue. And we could have avoided my 20 mins waiting time. He said he had stopped doing it as he has had people cancel his ride when he asked someone to walk a few meters from where they are. And then I realised, I am in India, where we don't walk as much as we do in London 😁.

During the drive to the hotel, we drove through some older and charming parts of town. There were loads of pretty buildings all around, many of them being mandirs. We crossed some boundary walls painted with tales of Rajasthan history. And drove past a part of the old town on Swarup Sagar lake, which looked quite picturesque against the waters. I wish I had got a photo of the place. The city is very small, and everything is within a 3.5 kms radius. Apparently, there are only 2 malls in town, one of which we crossed. Though I think we can do without them 😜. There are 2 main lakes in the city, Pichola and Fatehsagar. And most of the tourist areas are around them.

We were staying at the Trident hotel which is on the Pichola lake. It is part of the Oberoi hotel chain, and located in the same complex as the Udai Vilas palace. Both the hotels are located in a huge green area, lining the banks of the lake. Right outside, there is a row of high end art shops for tourists. And as I drove in, I was greeted with bright pink bougainvilleas lining the entrance of the hotel, welcomed by a person dressed in the traditional Rajasthani dress and entered the reception, all decorated with Rajasthani paintings and furniture.

All around the hotel, I saw the same. Lavish manicured gardens, lot of place to sit outside, a swimming pool with sunbeds, lot of local art inside and so on. All the luxuries that people associate with a holiday in Rajasthan. And as much as I was impressed with the hotel and its luxuriousness, a part of me did not like being there. Somehow, it felt so posh, so not me.

When I travel in India, I want to (for as long as I can) not feel like an outsider. I want to feel like a local, who does not need to stay at such a fancy place to enjoy her own country. Everyone was being extremely deferent, bowing when they didn't need to and answering in English even when I was speaking to them in Hindi 😳. It has nothing to do with the hotel, which was quite nice actually. It is a weird feeling which I cannot explain, but I really felt out of place there. Its the kind of feeling I have when I stay at too luxurious places, especially in India. And I had this feeling in the hotel the entire weekend. Except of course when I went to Shilpgram (more on that later).

City Palace during the day

Anyways, after checking in we decided to explore the hotel grounds. The whole complex is located on the banks of Lake Pichola, and they have a private boat house near the hotel. So we walked there and enjoyed stunning views of the City Palace and Lake Palace across the lake. There also seemed to be many mandirs and palaces all around the lake. We also noticed lot of people boating that time in the lake, enjoying the dusk views of the city. We however just sat there for an hour or so, seeing the sun set. And the whole city slowly came alive, with its lights slowly lighting up. It was quite uplifting just sitting there under the sky, with the sounds of the lake around and a light wind blowing...

City Palace at night

We then came back and had dinner at the hotel. They had a song and dance program going on at that time, with local singers and dancers. And we sat outside, enjoying the food and the performances. The singers sang a couple of local songs. And the two women danced to the ghoomar and the typical matka dance. I was amazed at the quality of the dancers, especially when they almost seemed to be gliding on the floor. And one of the dancers danced with up to 5 matkas on her head, which never ceases to be amazing. The dinner was tasty too, but very expensive!

The next day was our one Udaipur sightseeing day, and we spent it exploring the City Palace in the morning and the Shilpgram in the evening. We started with a breakfast in the hotel. It was so sunny and warm, that all I wanted to do was be outside. The whole time! So we had our breakfast sitting outside in the sun, with a view of Nahargarh fort up on a mountain nearby.

Lake Palace from City Palace

We booked a taxi for the day, and the driver took us to all the spots. We started with a visit to the City Palace. The Palace was quite crowded that day, but we still got to see the whole place over the next couple of hours. The City Palace was built in four different stages, by different rulers. With each king adding a section later, based on the prevalent architectural designs of his time. And it is quite huge and grand, with architecture ranging from the old to the British times.

King's throne

The complex has two hotels inside plus one section where the king currently lives. The part that is open to the public is divided into the Palace, the Museum, and the Crystal Gallery. And most of the things to see are in the 'Museum'. These are mainly the residential quarters, the many open courtyards and lots of art displays to walk through. With lots of paintings and sculptures everywhere. All of which is what you would expect from a Palace.

For me though, there were three highlights of the visit. One was the ode to Maharana Pratap, who is one of the most famous son of Mewar. He lived and died fighting for Mewar's independence. It always gets me thinking - what is the right approach to life? To fight for what is right, even if tough? Or to take the easier way out, if it improves your life? And I never get a quick answer to this.

Maharana Pratap led a tough life and never enjoyed the life of a king as he was always at war with Akbar. And in the end, he lost his life to the war too. Was he right? To fight for his freedom? Or were his descendants the smarter ones? Who made peace with Akbar (and later the British) and ruled their kingdoms all the way till Independence. Some people would always respect Maharana Pratap for his stance, while some may disagree with him for fighting. I am always in the first category, but I sometimes do wonder, if it is better to not take that stand?

Peacock courtyard

The second highlight of the palace for me was the artwork - all the stone mosaics, inlaid stone and mirror works, and the paintings found everywhere in the palace, covering the walls, the roofs and the floors, and especially in the peacock courtyard. The quality of the inlaid work was brilliant. Each piece of stone cut and embedded in to the walls to create the beautiful designs. I cannot even imagine the time and skill it would have taken to create all these masterpieces.

Art work

Inlaid stone work

Paintings on the walls

There was a small room which was painted roof to floor and I could have spent hours just admiring the paintings all around. The peacock courtyard also was exquisite and my favourite. And there was one section which had all the silver articles of the king, including a wedding mandap and a chariot. All were quite impressive to see.

Views of the city

The last highlight of the Palace for me were the many exquisitely designed windows through which one could enjoy the views of the city. I enjoyed all the views from the palace windows, of the city on one side, and the Lake Pichola and Lake Palace on the other. All of them would have made for some nice evening views for many a century. In one of such rooms, we also realised that the marbles used in the construction everywhere were quite cold. My friends put their cheeks to the stone and it provided a nice cooling feeling given how hot it was otherwise. No wonder marble is so popular in houses in Rajasthan.

After the long time spent walking in the Palace, we went looking for authentic Indian food for lunch. Our driver took us to 'Gordhan Thal', a restaurant serving the traditional Rajasthani Thali. The place was not very high end, but the food there was amazing, the highlight for me was the chaas they served! The restaurant was next to the railway line and I for the first time saw the Palace on Wheels train going past. I didn't realise it was still going strong, after so many years.

After lunch, we first went to the local market called Hathi Pol and bought some silver jewellery, local jootis, bandhini and the famous Jaipuri rajais. It was nice to walk in the bazaar looking at the creative work of the local artisans. Next we went to the Shilpgram, a handicraft festival starting that day, just outside town, behind the Fatehsagar lake. And that was the highlight of the whole trip for me.

Shilpgram had a very casual feel to it, it was full of locals rather than tourists. And it had 100s of sellers from across India, selling all handcrafted stuff. From shawls from Kashmir, to Rajasthani paintings, to sarees from the South. It was a treat to the eyes and a shoppers paradise. I wanted to buy so much as everything felt so unique and stunning, but had to restrain myself.

Grand finale

Then we walked into the cultural program of the day, which was dances from East India. There was Bihu, Manipuri, Naga and Odissi dance performances among many others. And I loved them, especially the bamboo dance from Nagaland and the folk dances from the East. The finale was a grand entrance of all the dancers on stage, to one combined song. And it felt like a grand finale. I felt quite lucky that we had walked in to watch the oerformance at the right time.

After the dance finale, we ate at the local food stalls. For barely Rs. 100 per person, we had amazing chole kulcha and lot of golgappe. It was a treat which the Trident could not match 😁. And that was the end of the day of exploring Udaipur. We had had a very long day and were ready to call it a day soon.

Grounds of the Trident

The next day, we had a few hours before leaving for the airport. So we spent time in the hotel itself, eating breakfast in the open, and then just walking around in the grounds. The grounds were huge and green, with lot of place to walk around. It was also surrounded by an old fort wall all along the lake. I sat outside for a bit, with a view of the greenery, lot of birds, and the lake. And then it was time to head back to Delhi.

I had an interesting experience with the Uber going back to the airport though. Each and every Uber I ordered cancelled on me when I told them where I was going. In fact one of them came to the hotel and left after I told him I had to go to the airport! It was quick a surprise, that this is how Uber works in India. Anyways I got a hotel taxi and had another long one hour drive to the airport. And then soon was off.

Though short, Udaipur turned out to be a nice break, and what I enjoyed the most was the small town and relaxed feel of the city. It felt so different from Delhi where everyone is in a hurry. And even though we had a short trip, and didn't do a lot, there is a lot more to do in the city, and here is a longer list (in case you need it)

1) City palace (Including the museum and crystal gallery)
2) Kumbhalgarh fort - It is a bit of a drive from Udaipur, located in a jungle. And apparently, it has a wall surrounding the fort, like the Great Wall of China. The wall is so huge that even a jeep can drive over it.
3) Temples - Ranakpur Jain Mandir, Jagat Mandir, Jagdish Mandir in old city, Sinaji Mandir to Lord Krishna, Ropeway to Karni Mata Mandir (it has views of the lake and the city, and you also have the option to walk up to the top)
4) Gardens - Saheliyon Ki Baadi, Maniklal Verma garden, Gulabag garden
5) Boating in Lake Pichola and Fatehgarh lake
6) Classic car collection
7) Shopping at Hathi Pol, Bapu Bazaar, Maldas street (walking)
8) Hotels - Other than the famous Udai Vilas, Taj Lake Palace and Leela Palace, the Chunda Palace is a stunning hotel built like a palace which could be a good option

Hidden beaches of Madh and Aksa

Mumbai weekend getaways - 1

Mumbai weekend getaways - 2

I was pleasantly surprised to see that such nice places exist in Bombay itself which I had never explored before... (Well you can debate whether Madh and Aksa are really within Bombay or not but at least they are quite close!!)
I went to Aksa beach more on a driving test on a nice monsoon day, rather than for the place, but it turned out to be quite a pleasant and enjoyable day-out in itself:).


The weather surely helped: intermittent not so heavy rains and breezy cool interludes in between. What more can you ask for, for a day spent in town?

We first went to Aksa beach (the drive from the western express to the beach being a bit of a downer though!). The beach was surprisingly clean (compared to bombay standards that is!), not too many people around, cool, wet, windy, with rocks to sit on just next to the sea, some small waves coming in once in a while,

the palm trees on the shore swaying to and fro in the wind, clean and fresh air, no buildings (save one) in sight, the open sea, roaring waves.. Just visualising it all makes me smile and feel happy and relaxed.. Imagine what being there after just an hour's ride from your home would make one feel.. ?!! Just beautiful, calming, relaxing, elevating...

There on we drove on the road that goes towards Madh Island.. Narrow winding road, with vibrant green trees covering the road, and again the fresh and cool air and the pleasant breeze..
And the road goes on and on, with some bungalows once in a while on the sides, fishing villages on the way, fishing boats moored next to it.. Is it really in Bombay? Felt more like Kerala backwaters or the goan roads. Was it for real? I felt I was in another isolated world, in a small town in the rains, in the ghats.
Was just fun to drive there, up and down and left and right on the winding road, just taking in the sights of rural (?) life.. We stopped at a beach on the way too.. Just difficult to describe the experience in words or even pictures.. Relaxing, far away..
Perfect for some good quality time within the city borders...

Mumbai Weekend Getaways : 2

Mumbai weekend getaways - 1

Hidden beaches of Madh and Aksa

RAIGAD FORT : SHIVAJI'S BIRTHPLACE

In summer desperation of not being able to go out anywhere during the Great Indian Summer (and a very very long one this year!!), we did a short one day trip to Raigad, a fort near Mumbai.

Surprisingly though, the short relaxed trip turned out to be a packed one. It was HOT and sunny the whole day, but surprisingly we enjoyed:). And as with any weekend trip outside Bombay: it was short and sweet and cheap too!

The usual start, leaving early to get out of Mumbai fast, eating at dhabas on the way, driving through the Marathi countryside, yellow and dry at that time of the year..

Our first stop was river-rafting in Kolar. It was tough to find the place where river rafting happens in season as we were there in the wrong season anyways. So we just somehow landed up at the lake where the rafting ends. It was peaceful, calm and an oasis of coolness in the hot summer.

We found a deserted pump house next to the lake where we could just rest for sometime.. and then into the water!! Took a short nap also on a tree bark, it was soo quiet and cool. you could even hear people talking 100 mtrs away! Imagine anything close to that in Mumbai:))))

After that we landed up at the Raigad fort and were pleasantly surprised to see that there was a ropeway going up to the fort!!

Why are such places not marketed by the tourism department? Imagine we were living just 3 hours away from the place, and we had not even heard about it all! The ropeway up was scary though, with views of the ghats below.

The fort was interesting too with a lot of history. Spread out in a huge area, good architecture, and though mostly in ruins, there were still some structures still standing strong!

Raigad is also the birthplace of Shivaji and there is a monument within the fort erected in his honour.

On the whole, the fort was a good place to spend sometime looking at the views around. (And wonder, how did they manage to build such places ages ago!! ) There is also an MTDC resort at the top of the hill near the fort, a must-stay I would say. Anyways we spent some time at the fort, roaming around the ruins and then were back to the city life, quick enough:)

KHANDALA

Khandala and Lonavala, however much people may crib about theseplaces being ordinary, sometimes they end up being the only choices for escaping Mumbai. And frankly, quite beautiful escapes too (at least during the rains)! The drive on the expressway being a pleasure, driving through the clouds at high speeds, rain all around, the hills lush green all the way, what more would you want (or need) when looking for a break?

We had another a recent weekend out at the Duke's retreat at Khandala. The resort is nice, at least the rooms. They have a breathtaking view of the cliffs of Khandala and the table-top. The cottages are not that great though!

Duke's offers one of the best views of Khandala and that is reason itself for staying at this resort! The pool, the events during the day to keep kids busy, the puppet show, the games at night, the pretty views from the cafe and restaurant.. surely a great place for relaxation.
Rest of course, is the same at Khandala as Lonavla.

A trip to Bushy dam, stop at the lakes, eat butta and enjoy the greenery around. Totally relaxing and heavenly!




HAJI MALANG

Haji Malang is a short trek near Mumbai that you can go to [when the weather is good, that is:)]. Its located quite close to Mumbai, nearer to Kalyan and takes about 2-3 hours to reach. The road till there is quite bad in patches though.

Midway during the trek is the Haji Malang majaar. The way till there has stone steps. So its good as well as bad. Good since its easier to walk and you can't lose your way! Bad because there are lots of crowds on this trek as the majaar is well revered. Also, there are lot of vendors selling all kinds of things all the way, so that does get tiresome and irritating.

After the majaar though, the trek is good and the view from the top pretty. There is also one part of the trek where you cross across the stones on ropes. We did not do that part of the trek, but apparently that's quite fun and dangerous too!

BHANDARDARA

Bhandardara is a huge huge lake located near Igatpuri, off about 40 kms or so from the Mumbai Nasik highway. Somehow it is not a well know tourist spot near Mumbai, but it surely is one of the most stunning and serene places around: perfect for a weekend getaway from Mumbai.

The drive from Mumbai till Bhandardara is impressive. First on the Mumbai Nasik highway, amazing (for India) three-laned roads, through hills and ghats and green fields and forests. Even though we started on a hot afternoon from Mumbai, the weather just got so much cooler on the highway. It was a very pretty drive, with green hills on both sides, , chilly cool air and of course the awesome highway.

Once you get off the highway, there is a 40 km drive across the countryside, single laned road through villages and hills, forests and plains. Its just so relaxing to drive here, it feels so fresh and pristine!!

Once at the lake, you can stay at either the MTDC resort or

Anandvan. The location for both the resorts is pretty, just next to the lake with a fascinating view of the whole lake and the hills beyond. MTDC resort is reasonable but poorly maintained. Anandvan is much more expensive though.

But this place definitely needs two days to be able to enjoy yourself. Enjoy a morning walk next to the lake, trek on the Kalsubhai peak nearby (the highest peak in Maharashtra) and generally enjoy time out for youself!

The perfect place to spend a nice weekend out of Mumbai.

SULA WINEYARDS

Its funny how I forgot to write about the Sula wineyards in the blog! And only realised it 3.5 years later!!! So here it is..

To start with, it was funny how we landed up in Sula in the first place. We left one morning from Bombay to trek somewhere on the way to Nasik, but then changed our plans to go watch the movie 'Kaminey' in Nasik. After the movie, we felt guilty of having wasted the day, so spent a couple of hours at Sula just to make up for the movie with some touristy stuff!

Sula is one of the first wineyards in India, and they've tried to capture the essense of wineyards there. The grape wines extend till wherever you can see, on undulating land. There is a small restaurant where you can taste the wines, as well as eat very tasty cheese snacks with the wine. We did not do much that day, but as I understand, there is a wine tour as well as a yearly wine festivals which is celebrated there. You can even stay at the wineyards overnight, and since the weather is pleasant all year through, its quite a good weekend getaway for wine-lovers.

CHOKI DHANI

An advantage of going on treks north of Mumbai towards Kalyan is that you can get to have dinner at Choki Dhani!!

This is a Rajasthani theme based eating place where you can spend a nice evening out. It opens from 7pm itself, and has enough of things to do to spend a couple of hours with friends here. You can see the Rajasthani dances, puppet dances, get mehendi done, sit on the camel, take photos in Rajasthani costumes, play the local games etc etc (the usual toursity experience of Rajasthani life!!) and of course have a nice tasty Rajasthani meal, all for Rs. 500!

Again a must go for Bombayites...!

Mumbai Weekend Getaways - 1

Mumbai weekend getaways -2 
Hidden beaches of Madh and Aksa

I love going out of Mumbai, anything to get away from the crowd and the city-life! It just feels a different world all together, and the outskirts of Mumbai offer just that, a completely different world. You can go either towards the east, on the Pune highway, or the north on the Nasik highway, or the south side next to the coast. You can get whatever you want, beaches or mountains (Sahyadris and the Ghats) depending on your mood and the time of the year!! Its quite a good variety actually!

Also as it turns out, weekends outside Mumbai are sooo much cheaper than within Mumbai. You drive around a lot, eat some vada-pau and poha and butta everywhere, exercise a bit and you are done for the weekend! A couple of small trips have done in the last year are detailed below.

ALIBAUG-NAGAON

A hop away literally from Mumbai: take a ferry from the Gateway of India, which drops you on the Indian mainland (in an hour or so) and thereafter take a (rickety) bus to take you to the Alibag town. The drive is almost as if driving through a jungle (a real one, not the concrete ones like Mumbai!) and you actually ask yourself, how can such a place exist just an hour away from a city like Mumbai!! In fact, a lot of the rich crowd from Mumbai actually have a country house in Alibag on the beach, to go and relax in, on the weekends.

Anyways, once in Alibag town, you can walk till the beach. Its not a great beach actually, as in the sand is dark, and the crowd very touristy, with the typical tonga driving you along the beach:). Its not even very clean. There is a fort like monument a distance from the beach, inside the sea. You can actually walk till there, the sea is so shallow!

We also went to the Nagaon beach nearby, took an auto from Alibaug. Nagaon beach was actually better, and less crowded! Again quite shallow, and the water clean enough to go for a swim. Also, the auto drive from Alibaug to Nagaon goes through villages and cottages and palm trees and small roads. Quite an enchanting ride, and quite similar to the drives in Goa too.

HAMLA BEACH

Its a small beach within Mumbai, near where the Essel World ferries leave. Is actually a private Navy beach, and so is completely empty, as good as having your own private beach. The Navy has shacks on the beach itself, great place to stay (that is if you can get reservations!) as its always fully booked!

KASHID-MURUD

This beach stretch south of Mumbai along the coast is quite a nice drive actually. Takes about 3 hours or so to reach the first beach, but then onwards the road is along the sea, and you get breath-taking views along the way.

The first beach we stopped at was the Kashid beach, a nice stretch with white sand. The water was clean too. Its important to go to these places during cooler season though, otherwise the heat irritates you so much, that you end up not spending enough time there.

Driving on from Kashid, is the Murud beach, and also the Jazeera fort. The Jazeera fort is in the middle of the sea, built again by Shivaji! You can take a boat also till the fort (which we did not).







The views there are marvelous too, here is one photo of the landscape and village below:




On the way to Murud, you can also see this old haveli kind of place, built on a cliff. The beach in the photo is the Murud beach, and there are a couple of resorts there also to stay.


Again good drive, good beaches, but you need the weather in your favour to enjoy it!

LONAVLA

I think this is the most popular Mumbai weekend getaway and lot of Mumbaites have a second house there to go to on weekends to enjoy fresh air! Also, don't know why, but Mumbaikars love to crib about this place too (landing up there quite often too, but still cribbing!)! There are too many people there I agree, but then not everywhere. And there are lots of different things to do there!

I actually have been there thrice and done different things everytime. The first time was after the Mumbai attacks when we just wanted to get away from the tv and news! Was an impromptu trip, just left on the weekend for Lonavla. The drive as always is refreshing, and with the Pune-Mumbai expressway, a pleasure to drive on. Lonavla was actually too hot that time of the year.

In the morning, went to Kamshed for Parasailing. They actually have foreigners staying there for long stretches, to get parasailing training and practice. And there is a huge lake there too for tp (again!).

The drive takes you through rural India, and there are lot of good shots to take:) Here is one with me trying my hand at rural landscape photography!

The next trip was the first day of the monsoons this year. And Lonavla looked completely different then, green and fresh! Sometimes, its tough to believe that both the places are the same!!

We actually welcomed the monsoon before it came to Mumbai! It was raining all the way, and the drive was fully green. We stopped at Bhusi dam where again it was raining, we had bhutta, and then drove off to Amby valley where we were not allowed in:(. Dinner at a resort (there are countless resorts there!!) with a valley view and then back to Mumbai.

The last trip was actually more touristy! Went to this MTDC resort, next to a stream. With the monsoons there, the place feels heavenly, with clouds, rains, green and water everywhere. Next we went to the Bhaja caves, again 2000 years old! Old Buddhist caves with tasty poha and bhutta around.







And last we went up to Singhad fort. The trek is about 2 hours or so, so we couldn't do it. The fort merges so well with the mountains, that its difficult to separate the two!


And the view of the valley from the Singhad fort was pleasant to the eyes again, lakes and green and heavenly!




MALSHEJ

Malshej Ghats is located about 2 hours from Mumbai, and the road goes via Kalyan. The drive once you get out of city limits is green, fully (in the monsoon seasons especially!). Though in the monsoons, half of Mumbai is there too! We stopped at a stream flowing there, and generally trekked up next to it! Was interesting, going up next to the stream itself, and trying to avoid getting wet. And avoiding water snakes too!

Once you reach Malshej though, there are hajaar waterfalls there, with multiple hajaar people! Its actually crazy, how everyone is there in the waterfall, with not enough water to even cover those many people! Its actually putting off also!

The Malshej Ghats is a small stretch of the roads where you get a view of the hills around and there are numerous waterfalls around, and all Mumbaikars are there, dancing in the rainfall with music and drums. There actually was a road jam also in the small stretch on the hills. The view from there is good though, and you can actually see waterfalls spraying into the air and vanishing as clouds!

The whole area is covered with clouds everywhere, on the road, on the pathways, everywhere during monsoons. There is a MTDC resort also located at the top on a meadow type flat area. The resort had horrible food though! But when we were there we had to wait an hour for the lunch, wherein we walked around and it rained from above and below and there were clouds and rains, and so we loved the food too! The walk through the rains and clouds was good, but too cold. There are a couple of treks to do nearby, Shivneri fort and Harishchandragad, but since we did not have enough time, we couldn't do that. Last we went to this lake, serene, calm and with green views around. All in all again a nice weekend out of Bombay:)


RATANGAD

This trek is on the Nasik highway, near Igatpuri. Its about 2-3 hours away from Bombay if you leave on time. There is an old south Indian temple at the start of the trek (surprising to find a South Indian temple in Maharashtra). You can also get someone to cook tasty poha and vada pau for you there:). There is also a step well there, something similar to what have seen in Ahmedabad.















The trek is about two hours or so and at the top of the trek is an old fort. I actually did not complete the trek, was too hot and sunny:( (that too in winters!!). But is a nice trek with good views around and with the small fort on the top.

While driving around, you can see the the lake of Bhandardara. The lake is huuuuge, you can spend hours just driving around it (we did that too!). There are a couple of good resorts also located around the lake. The views around of the mountains are breathtaking, though am sure it would be even better and greener in the monsoons.

VIKATGAD (trek near Matheran)

We did this trek near Matheran, one of the best I have done near Mumbai. Vikatgad is another Shivaji fort, supposed to be difficult to get to ('vikat'). The trek starts from below the point where you drive up to Matheran and during the monsoons, this place is completely green.

We thought we could trek up ourselves, and so started across the meadows, getting lost within no time. Thankfully we met some kids who were willing to take us up there. We asked them to take up through the short cut, which turned out not the best thing to do! Well they did take us up the short cut, which was short just for them, not us! We actually just climbed up next to a waterfall, over rocks, and with the rain it was all slippery and with no concerns for our clothes, or shoes we just kept climbing! Was actually fun, finding our way through nothing. The climb was steep and we had to sit and crawl and climb anyway we could. Wah re Shivaji, you did know how to make it tough to reach there:))

Well we did it all thinking, that from the fort, there was a shorter way to come back via Matheran itself, from where we could have come back in an easier manner. Little did we know. While on the way up, we met a group of kids (collegiates actually) also lost. So we took them also along with us, up.

The trek was awesome, along steep hills, on a narrow path with gorges on both side, rocky waterfall sides, everything. Unfortunately when we reached the top, there was this huge rock which could not have been climbed without rock climbing instruments! The kids went up easily but we couldn't, and that's when we realized that we would have to come back the same route we went back and without reaching vikatgad! It had actually got cloudy and dark at the top and we had actually thought of getting helicopters to rescue us! While coming back, it was quite a risky trek though. One guy was actually slipping such that he had to be caught off by another, else he would have gone down the hill. Anyways the view from the top was amazing, so, actually making the risk worth it!

On the whole though, a very very tiring but fun trek. Would love to do more of these, don't think everyone shares this enthusiasm though!