Ganpatipule Mahabaleshwar Trip March 2020

Ganpatipule Mahabaleshwar Trip March 2020

Prelude

Watching many travel shows over the years, there are a few memories that remain etched in your memory forever. One of them is a trip I saw someone make from Lake Tahoe in California, where you can ski in the morning, and then drive over to a warm Californian beach by the evening - all in a matter of few hours. I still remember being enchanted by this quirk of nature and wanting to do that trip. However unable to do so, being based in India, I quite accidentally found the Indian equivalent of the same in my own home state of Maharashtra.

My elder daughter’s exams had finished and we had a week’s leave before her next academic year started in March. Looking at a suitable option we settled on Tarkarli, a beach town famous for its white and golden sand beaches, local cuisine and water sports, but situated far down south on the Konkan coast, and a rather tiresome drive of 10 hours from Mumbai. Natasha was quite apprehensive of the long distance, and we had rather long fights over the same. I had prevailed, but for whatever reason the trip was just not coming together. Finally, we decided on going to Ganpatipule, a small beach town situated again on the Konkan coast, but a little closer home than Tarkarli. But with 5 days on our hand, Ganpatipule by itself would not suffice, with very limited options of fun and frolic. So, we decided to add Mahabaleshwar to it.

Mahabaleshwar is a hill station located in the Western Ghats, and is at an elevation of about 1200 meters from the sea level and naturally has its own micro climate quite different from any place in a radius of 10 kms. So, combining Mahabaleshwar with Ganpatipule gave us an Maharashtrian equivalent of the Californian mountains to beach in 3 hours journey. And quite an experience it turned out to be.

Ganpatipule - The drive

The original plan was to start off with the hills and end it with a splash in the water on the beaches. However due to the unavailability of bookings in Ganpatipule on the later days we had to reverse the process, starting with the beach first and riding up the hills.  We settled on the old Mumbai-Goa highway as the main route - a route that I had driven multiple times before. However, it had been almost 12 years since I had gone down this highway and 2 developments have happened that made deciding the route not as easy as once before.  Firstly, a lot of roads have developed in the interior part of Maharashtra and especially Konkan, so that once avoidable roads off the main Mumbai Goa highway are now easily motor-able and in fact make for a more enchanting drive than on the main highway. Secondly, has been the advent of Google maps. Once unknown roads along unknown towns are shown accurately by Google as if they are key arterial roads of a megalopolis, and the maps algorithm reroutes you accurately no matter wherever you might have taken a wrong turn.

We started very early at 5.30 am, so as to stay away from the now burning March sun later in the day, and planning to reach Ganpatipule by 2.00 pm latest. The first part of the journey was quite good with a part of the way (around 20 kms) going through the Mumbai Pune expressway, taking the Khopoli exit and then joining the main Mumbai Goa highway. While the Expressway road is quite good, the road after the Khopoli exit till the Goa highway is a little slow and narrow and in addition has a decent number of speed breakers.

The NH66 i.e. the Mumbai Goa highway has 2 major bottlenecks - the first one is the ghat near the Karnala Bird Sanctuary, and the second is the junction at Vadkhal, where the road splits towards Alibaug. However, with major expansion works (underway since 2002 at least), the Mumbai Goa highway has changed – for the better. As we breezed past the Karnala Forest – an area known to me in the past as a treacherous and slightly risky ghat area, I was surprised to see that the once dangerous and accident-prone road was nowhere to be found. Instead in the early morning half-light, I did not even realize that we had passed Karnala Forest. As we approached the dreaded Vadkhal naka, GMaps directed us on a road that went right of the main road, skipping the Vadkhal junction and dropping us back a few kilometers later on the NH66. This I realized later was the Vadkhal bypass and is in many ways similar to the Eastern Freeway of Mumbai – elevated for major parts, and containing dedicated traffic lanes, with no interference from local traffic.

We had intended to stop for breakfast near Mangaon, at a restaurant I know for its gardens, but whose name I had forgotten. However, when we approached Roha, we saw a few good cars parked at Shreekar, The Dhaba, and deciding to take a chance, we decided to break our fast there. Shreekar Dhaba  offers some things that all family road trippers crave for  - clean toilets, decently good ambiance, good service and tasty food. Natasha and the kids vouched for the ladies toilet’s cleanliness, while I had no complaints about the men’s one. For food, we had Missal, Sheera, Idly and Medu wada along with cups of tea.  No complaints there - and as a stopover would definitely not hesitate in recommending it.

Around 10.00 am we hit the Kashedi ghat, one of the more challenging ghats on our planned route. As we climbed it and reached near the top, we saw a desolate and quiet place called “Pratapgad Darshan”  i.e. view of the Fort Pratapgad. Needing a break to stretch out legs and probably see something different, we stopped for about 10 mins. While the fort was shrouded in a mix of pollution and smoke from winter morning bonfires, it felt good to break and smell the pure mountain forest air. In fact, even at 10.00 am, with the sun well-nigh, the temperature was colder than the AC cooled car interior.

A break – and a (sort of) breakdown!

The journey this far had been pretty good. The car was running fine, and kids were behaving themselves. I should have sensed that trouble was not far away. It hit immediately as soon as we started descending down the ghat. We had rolled down the windows to enjoy the clean mountain air, and as I started rolling up the windows, I heard a noise of something breaking on the driver side window and it seemed the automatic window rolling mechanism had broken down. I could not now roll up the window; worse the window was sinking and slipping with every jerk we encountered. An internet search for authorized service stations for Tata was futile, but luckily we were near the taluka headquarter town of Khed, and we were able to find Tanveer Garage where he gave me option of fixing the window so that it would not move at all, or searching for parts in local stores and fixing the whole window. Opting for the first option would cost us lesser time and more importantly, did not want to take a risk of putting possibly counterfeit parts in my car. The whole thing cost us about 90 minutes delay. But the silver lining to the whole episode was that we had landed bang opposite the Kalkai devi temple, which is considered as a very pious place and people take great pains and overcome great distances to take darshan of this goddess, who is reputed to fulfill wishes of her devotees. A fatalist view of the incident was that this had to happen and the Godess Kalkai wanted us to bow before her feet.

Resuming our journey, we reached the outskirts of Chiplun where as per Google, we were supposed to leave the main highway and enter the state highway, where we would eventually join the State highway that connects Ganpatipule to main highway. We missed the junction by a few feet, and Gmaps immediately redirected us on main highway, without as much as a warning. Sometimes I feel this is a bad feature, where ideally it should warn us before any rerouting. Regardless, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it was near lunch time and we decided to take a lunch break at Chiplun.

Hotel Abhiruchi is one of the more well-advertised restaurants and sits bang on the NH66 and therefore quite convenient. The toilets are super clean too. We decided not to over stuff ourselves, and had barely a roti each with a dish called Chicken Tawa, a dish of chicken mince mixed with boneless chicken pieces and was quite tasty. Again, a place I would unhesitatingly recommend for Lunch break on the NH66 - for both, a toilet break as well as food quality. Post lunch the journey was quite smooth as the Konkan folk it seemed had decided to do better things than cram the highway, and the traffic was quite sparse and we made good progress till way past Sangameshwar. The planned road was quite clear – take a right on Nivali junction and continue on till you reached Ganpatipule. But GMaps was not done with its tricks yet.

Detour to nowhere

A few miles shy of Nivali junction, GMaps redirected us through  a road hitherto unknown to me. Assuming it to be a State highway, I took the detour, and within a few minutes I was regretting it. The road was quite good, but no more than a car wide, and plunged us deeper into the Konkan forest. No way this was a state highway, and rechecking the maps, it turned out that it was Ukshi Road. I had neither heard of Ukshi road before, nor was the road looking any encouraging. Continuing, the road plunged deeper into the forest and began rising up and up. But for 15 minutes there was no sign of any civilization. No car coming from the opposite direction, no person visible anywhere, no sign of any habitation. Just dark green jungle – at places thick enough that sunlight would not touch the forest floor.

I had visions of a horror movie where the protagonist takes an ill-advised turn into nowhere and bad things start happening. This seemed just like it ….!!  And to make it worse, I had dragged my family into it!!! For a few kilometers civilization was just the car with me and the tar road beneath me, and the faithful, almost mechanical voice of the Gmaps lady, urging me to continue along the Ukshi road for another few kilometers.  At last after about 10 kms or so, we finally began to see signs of farms and human activity. Slowly, hamlets with thatched huts built in the middle of paddy fields, and dried hay stacks began appearing. And suddenly out of nowhere, I saw a human being for the first time in 30 minutes. The whole experience of driving on a lonely road was quite unnerving, but quite beautiful. The dense forest was as if it existed nowhere else, with clear blue skies above and dark green walls of trees on both sides of the road. This will be one of the experiences of the trip that will remain etched for a long time, and anytime we encounter a lonely road, we will be sure to draw comparison with this road.

Ganpatipule – MTDC , Darshan and much more fun !

Soon enough we hit Ganpatipule, arriving a little earlier than 4.00 pm, and well after the planned time of around 2.00 pm.  Ganpatipule is famous for one thing only  - the svyambhu  (self-existing) Ganpatipule temple, nestled on the edge of a fabulous light-colored sand beach on the Arabian Sea.  While it has been famous for many years, me and my family have been visiting the place at various times since the 90s, not for any specific religious reason, but just for the sheer peace and beauty of the place. We have seen the place evolve from  a sleepy place with nothing but the MTDC resort, to a (relatively)  major tourist destination. I remember my first visit to Ganpatipule, where we stayed the same MTDC where we had booked this time around. We had breakfast then in houses of locals who would offer gharguti (home cooked) meals for the numerous Ganesh bhakts arriving in the town.

It has now evolved to a place, where entry points are taxed, there are at least a few more major hotels, the beaches have water sports and people have started coming for a lot more than just Lord Ganesha’s blessings. The roads have been widened and made one-way, and there is even a functioning parking bay for commercial vehicles. The MTDC resort, was established decades ago, with an amazing bit of foresight and remains the largest property for tourists in this town with acres under its management. It is bang opposite the temple.

MTDC, being the pioneer of tourism promotion in Maharashtra has always had the pick of best location. If the mantra of real estate is “Location, Location, Location”, there is no better example of that than MTDC. Most of its properties are located on prime real estate in key tourist hot spots. Unfortunately, hospitality is not realty and discerning tourists are willing to move to better managed properties, even if they are a little farther away.  In a day and age, where everything is changing, MTDC has stuck back in time, reflecting the grandeur of a bygone day and age. And I don’t mean this in a good way.  It has the same tiles, same beds, and furniture that were around in the 90s when I had first stayed at MTDC Ganpatipule, and were considered out of date even back then. The white (supposedly) blankets, bed sheets, and towels had gone way past yellow and were approaching a shade of light brown and were probably the same ones I had used in my first visit which was over 20 years ago!!

However if you can overlook these things for about 1.5 days, MTDC is the place to stay in Ganpatipule. The resort sits on the beach, and a flight of stairs from within the resort will put you on the beach. Most of the rooms have a sea view, with a rather large balcony.  At night the sound of the waves crashing on the shore puts you to gentle sleep. 

View from MTDC balcony

Sea View from the Parking Lane

MTDC  - Full of Coconut trees

Sunrise over the treetops

MTDC View of property

Looking Straight down from our balcony - The sea is a few feet away

On our arrival, we immediately visited the beach after a short nap after a plate of bhajiyas and tea in the in house restaurant. That short meal was enough for us to avoid taking any further food in this restaurant. Taking the route from inside the MTDC property, we arrived on the beach within a couple of minutes. Interestingly, the weather in weeks prior to our trip had grown unusually warm, especially for February end. However, a couple of days before our trip, a western disturbance cooled down the flaming temperatures and even with the setting sun shining brightly on our faces, the temperatures were reasonable cool. The kids were understandably excited, as both of them love the beach to a fault. We went a bit into the sea, with water lapping our feet. We walked along the seashore till the main entry point, where there are the ubiquitous shops and hotels. However, the contagion is not as bad as say Juhu beach, but the entire shopping area is restricted to a few shops and hotels.

We repeated our walk early the next morning, with even the kids waking up early at 7.00 am, and walking with us on the beach. The air was cool, but the water was quite warm on our feet. Even at 7.00 am, the beach was bustling with activity. Many devotees drive all night to be at Ganpatipule for a morning darshan, and most of the early morning arrivals were on the beach, each in different stages between sleep and wakefulness. We had breakfast in the main shopping area right outside the temple and walked to our room to take our baths and the darshan.

Early morning Beach visit 

Pristine Beach of Ganpatipule

Sunrise on the beach

The temple is across the road from the MTDC resort, which like most temples in Maharashtra and especially Konkan, is built rather simply. Many temples need adornment of carved pillars and magnificent domes. For Ganpatipule, the adornment is nature. On one side lies the Azure blue beach with pale sands and right behind the temple lies the hill from which the deity – Mangalmurty emanates from. In fact, one way of imagining the temple is the hill being the Lord Ganesha himself and the temple its recognizable face.

So deep is the reverence of the hill, that the whole hill is worshiped as a manifestation of the Lord. Just like we circle the deity at other temples, at Ganpatipule, you have to circle the whole hill to complete the pradakshina. The entire pradakshina path is tiled and made into a separate pathway that is adorned by trees on both sides. The walk of almost 1.2 kms is a unique feature of Ganpatipule and is one of the prime reasons why Ganpatipule remains one of my favorites!! Natasha and the kids were not so keen on the long walk and I completed the walk taking in the sights and sounds of the morning, at a leisurely pace, clicking photos and taking 20 mins to complete the pradakshina. One thing that stuck me during my first pradakshina 20 years ago, and which I was reminded again was the cleanliness of the whole pradakshina path. It was clean, with local ladies cleaning it daily from fallen leaves, dead branches and any other litter that might have accumulated. Neither did I see any bhakts littering the path. If cleanliness is next to godliness, then Ganpatipule is a prime example of the same.

Ganpatipule Mandir - The abode of Lord Mangalmurty

Pradakshina Marg  - Clean and well maintained

Trees adorning the Pradakshina marg

Pradakshina Marg - As we climb the hill

Pradakshina Marg  - Descending down

Pradakshina Marg  -  The sea is not too far away

Pradakshina Marg  - Descending down on the sea shore

After the darshan, we decided to visit 2 other newly added attractions in Ganpatipule. An interactive guided tour of reconstructed old Konkan titled Prachin Konkan– as it existed around 500 years ago, when foreign influences and modernization was yet to make its mark. We paid around Rs. 200 for the tickets, and went along. The entire premise of this open-air museum is to demonstrate how villages used to live in the pre-industrial era. It is based on the “bara balutedar” (12 occupations) system of occupations within a village, each serving a different village need. The reconstruction of this era was quite enchanting and realistic, with authentic materials, and original items being used for demonstration. The entire museum is built on a hillside (just as lot of Konkan villages are) and it climbs as it takes you towards the top of the hill, where you find a small canteen, and memorabilia shop selling authentic handmade toys and crafts. The place also has a machaan that is built on a tree and one can see the seaside from the top of the machaan.

Prachin Konkan

Prachin Konkan  - Indigenous Bear, now all but extinct 

Prachin Konkan  - The village barber, eliciting all of village's secrets

The other place we visited was Magic Garden. The place could be good, or bad depending on whether you have visited other entertainment parks in Singapore, HK, Dubai, US or Europe. There is a mirror maze, where you have to figure out the exit. With 2 screaming and excited kids, it is quite a challenge. There is an infinity hall, which is basically mirrors arranged in a particular way to give a feeling as if you are standing in an infinite universe with no top, bottom or ends. There is a 3-D animation interactive show, which is quite frankly a bore. The horror house is interesting for the first time. There is a magic show, but then again with the advent of internet and YouTube, you figure out most of the tricks anyway. The best and the most unique ride I felt was the Vortex, which is a small walkway that is surrounded by a rotating drum of psychedelic colors. It might seem funny, but it actually throws your sense of balance into a tailspin and despite standing on a perfectly horizontal metal path, you need the railings to support you from start to end. This was the only ride we all, adults and the kids included, enjoyed thoroughly. This place is a good visit if you have kids and a decent add-on to the Prachin Konkan visit since they are just across the road from each other, although they are billed separately.

For the evening, we had decide to spend time on the beach, enjoying the waves, taking part in water sports and building sand castles. Ganpatipule beach is one of the cleanest beaches you will find on the Arabian sea, especially so close to Mumbai. The water is of an extremely good quality, and is much less muddy as compared to the northern beaches (Alibaug, Janjira, Mumbai etc.). We had fun building Sand Castles with people taking photos of our creation (see below). We also enjoyed the jet Ski - which was quite costly at around Rs. 700 for 2 rides of around 5 minutes each. The thing to note is that one must bargain hard to get your rates. Going by the sticker prices, will get you robbed blind.  All in all, it was a very good evening at the beach, with kids having the time of their lives in the sea. This was the conclusion of our trip to Ganpatipule as we left early the next morning for Mahabaleshwar.

Food in Ganpatipule

Being a religious town, the food for the major part is simple vegetarian Maharashtrian food. Having had bland bhajiyas at the MTDC’s in house restaurant, we were determined not to eat there again. On the first day of our stay, we decided to explore Hotel Sameer. Being a small town, no place is more than 15 mins by walk in Ganpatipule, and this place showed up barely 10 mins away, so we walked. As we approached the place, it grew rather quiet and desolate and the family was giving me cross looks. Moreover the exteriors of the hotel were not quite appealing to the eye. It was a simple space, with a few modest tables, largely open to the air. No air conditioners, and certainly no decor to speak off. However, what caught our eye was a large wax display of the various dishes available, made in a manner similar to restaurants in Tokyo, though not with the same aesthetic.  

We decided to share 2 thalis between the 4 of us – Chicken thali for Natasha and my son, and prawn thali for me and my daughter, with a extra serving of Surmai (kingfish) on the side. The premise of the thali was simple  - one main dish (fish, prawns or chicken), a  small bowl of the same gravy the meat was prepared in , some sol -kadhi (a concoction of coconut milk and kokum ), rice and chapatis, with some onions on the side. With the first bite we knew we had hit a culinary jackpot. The food was extremely tasty – neither being too spicy nor too bland. The meats and chicken were very well cooked, with the prawns being tender. The gravies were typical gharguti i.e. made in home made style, leaving aside the way food is cooked in industrial style in restaurants. The food was exactly as you would get to eat at any good Malvani housewife’s house.

The food came with a small katori of sol-kadhi, a delicious appetizer made of a mix of kokum and coconut milk. The sol-kadhi here deserves a special mention. Most of the sol-kadhi we have in the cities is served in Mangalorean restaurants. The sol-kadhi at these restaurants, while consisting of the same 2 base ingredients, also has many embellishments like green chili, coriander, as well coriander or jeera seeds occasionally.  The sol-kadhi is smooth – made of coconut milk and kokum extract, of a pinkish hue, and overall, the entire concoction is extremely refined. The sol-kadhi at Hotel Sameer was much more down to earth – with heavy emphasis on these 2 ingredients only, and the taste is therefore much more original – reminding me of how my mother used to make it, and how it is made in households of Konkan. The color is also more lavender rather than pink. One sip from the katori and both Natasha and I ordered extra glasses of the same. We came to the same place the next night as well, only making a change in the Thalis we ordered, opting for Pomfret Thali with Prawns on the side, and Natasha choosing the Vegetarian thali with Chicken curry on the side. Needless to say, we enjoyed it equal bit as the previous night.

Hotel Sameer -  The wax recreation of dishes

Hotel Sameer  -  The Chicken Thali

Hotel Sameer  - Having Surmai on the side.

Our lunch on second day, was a simple vegetarian affair, at a place suggested by Hotel Sameer’s owner. He had recommended a place when we had asked for good places to eat the Ukdiche Modak, the traditional offering of Lord Ganesha. On inquiring with her, we also found she serves lunch, and moreover her house was across the road from Prachin Konkan. So we ordered for Lunch in advance. The tables were set in the typical courtyard made of hardened cow-dung. The roof was thatched and despite being almost 1.30 pm in the afternoon, the whole place was quite cool. The food was simple – Chapatis, with a cauliflower curry, some beetroot koshimbir (or raita), a tur (Arhad) amti , served with pickle on the side. The food’s simplicity belied its awesome taste. Whether it was the freshness of the vegetables, or the fact that the food was just prepared, the food was just filling and made one content. The piece-de-resistance was the ukidche modak made fresh. The covering was soft, light and broke apart easily, but strong enough to hold the filling without breaking. The filling was sweet coconut and had hit the perfect level of sweetness, where the combination was mind blowing. These were some of the best modaks I have had in my lifetime.

Overall, in Ganpatipule, the food is simple and good. There are no pretentious places, to claim world famous or even pan India cuisine. The fare is simple, Maharashtrian and mostly vegetarian cuisine, reflecting the simplicity of its deity. Food that the simple, pious devotee who has come to worship the Lord from faraway places, will enjoy without over-indulgence, but will provide just right amount of taste and satiety.  The traveler here should enjoy the simple pleasures of typical Maharashtrian food, made with great pleasure and love.

Driving to Mahabaleshwar

In my mind the road to Ganpatipule was quite simple – hit the state highway, come to Nivali phata, hit the Mumbai Goa highway and go towards Mumbai, going up the Ambenali ghat at Poladpur, and reach Mahabaleshwar. However, google was up to its tricks again and showed us the same inside road, which we had missed 2 days earlier when coming to Ganpatipule. Feeling adventurous, especially after the Ukshi road adventure, we decided to go ahead. The road took us off the Ganpatipule – Nivali road and took us along an inner road, going over a bridge on the Jaigad river hitting the main highway between Chiplun and Guhaghar.

The road was mostly good, and we could see road works in progress where it was bad. Starting in early morning, we could feel the mist clinging close to the earth, hiding the sun. The road took us past quite open land, interspersed with occasional forest land and suddenly plunged down to the newly built bridge on Jaigad river.  The scene on both sides of the bridge was too tempting not to stop and click pictures. At 8.00 am in the morning, the cold hit us with a refreshing jolt as soon as we got down. The river, full of water even so close to the summer season, stretched as far as the eye could see, winding along its twisted path bounded by mountains. The beautiful scenery reinforces the smaller joys of travelling by road, and along not so well-known roads. Although visiting the well-worn tourist places, we were travelling along unknown roads, and this was road tripping at its best.

The road, SH -105, too us through the heartland of Konkan, traversing small but important (to the people living there) towns of Kajurli and Abloli. Everywhere there were signs of a town waking up to a day, with early morning bonfires and old-style wood burning water heaters (called Bambh in Marathi) in full action. The early morning mist clung to the ground and delayed the arrival of the morning, creating an atmosphere of a monsoon morning. Between the villages and town, there were stretches of nothing but open forest on each side of the road. Konkan was always known to be a land of hills, dense forests and seas. Having experienced the seas on numerous previous occasions, this was a chance to see Konkan through its small towns and villages far away from the highways. This was one of the finest ways to experience the hills and the forests, going through winding and climbing roads that cut through Konkan’s red soil hills, and bounded always on all sides by trees.  The best part was that for about 30 mins, there was no sign of people, either walking or coming in vehicles. However, as we neared Chiplun, a major town in Konkan, the entire scenery began to change. Forests and hills made way for fields, small houses, large bungalows and finally we hit the highway that leads from Guhaghar to Chiplun.

Bridge over River Jaigad

Early morning sun peeping behind the clouds

River Jaigad - Bounded by Hills and forests

We stopped for breakfast at a place called Hotel Shiv Sagar around 10.00 am, which is located bang at the start of the Parshuram Ghat. The best part of this restaurant was that the toilets were clean, and the view was magnificent. The owner has built a restaurant on the narrow piece of land between the Mumbai Goa highway and the edge of a hill, and quite smartly added huge windows that allow a view of the Savitri river and its valley for miles beyond. The food was quite good too. We had the missal pav, Poha and idlis followed by hot chocolate for the kids and coffees for me and Natasha.  Onward journey resumed and we arrived in Mahabaleshwar a little around 12.30 pm.

View from Hotel Shivsagar at Parshuram -  Savitri River in the distance

Mahabaleshwar   - Stay and visits

Coming from the sea-level of Ganpatipule, the change of temperature as we hit almost 5000 feet of altitude is refreshing and hits you like a splash of cold water. Even at 12.30 in the afternoon, the temperature barely touched 25 centigrade. It felt nice basking in the sun, but if you were in the shade, and a gust of wind came along it became quite cold. We had booked at Hotel Shreyas, one of the oldest hotels in the hill station, and bang opposite the main ST Station, and at the start of the main market road, along which the shopping is done. The hotel sits on a rather large property, especially given its proximity to the main market and has nice buildings made of red stone. We had chosen a duplex room, with a king size bed on the main floor and another on the mezzanine floor. The fittings and furniture were all modern and quite well equipped. After the antiquity of MTDC in Ganpatipule, this felt like a transition from to a first world country.

We decided to rest on the first afternoon, since we had just come off a long drive, and after a couple of hours of rest we drove down to Mapro farms, one of the most happening spots in Mahabaleshwar for all big town tourists. Natasha mainly wanted to eat the pizza there. On reaching there, we found the place to be quite cold, and ordered the soups, as well as fries in addition to the pizza. Funnily enough the pizza turned out to be the least of all the food we had ordered, as it was over done and had lost a lot of taste. After many visits to the Mapro farms, I found the place quite underwhelming and all to familiar, with nothing new to offer and I have decided to avoid going there in the future.

View from Hotel Shreyas

The rest of the evening was spent browsing the market shops and having dinner, and playing some games like TT, Carom and Foosball in the hotel’s gym.  The next day, we had planned to visit Pratapgad, one of the earliest forts built by Shivaji, and the center point of the battle of Pratapgad, that elevated him from a local chieftain in the mold of his father to that of a regional powerhouse. We left early – around 9.30 am and reached the footsteps of the Fort an hour later. The fort sits atop the dense Javali jungle, and the drive to the fort was an indication of the jungle’s reach. Despite the almost-summer sun being on us, there were places on the forest floor where the sunlight did not reach. Those deeper parts of the forest started barely 10 feet away from the road, and were in permanent state of semi-darkness. 

On reaching the fort, we hired a guide for Rs. 300. I have in the past refused to hire guides, but with 2 young kids who appear to show some interest in history, I decided it would be money well spent to hire one to actually explain the various parts of the rather large fort and with a very deep history. As it turned out, it was one of the wisest decisions on the trip. The guide was a rather old chap, who I felt had been foisted on use considering our rather larger sizes and people thought that it would be good idea to pair the old guide with a (presumably) slow family.

The guide was quite a smart chap. He explained the history to us quite nicely. But more importantly he gauged that we were really interested in history and were not as heavy footed as it was made out to be. In the first part of the tour, he took us through the main gate, and the first fortification overlooking a cliff (called Buruj), and the Bhavani mandir, and fielding our numerous queries, he judged that we were really interested in knowing the fort and with our permission he took us off the beaten path and into the rarely visited part of the fort, along paths that were nothing more than dirt tracks, and quite slippery at points. However, he showed us the ramparts which were quite wide, showed us the escape routes from the fort which would allow the defenders to escape in case they were overrun by the invaders. Taking us through a 20-minute trek, he brought us right under the magnificent state of Shivaji Maharaj which was installed in 1955 by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.  This trek, through the less trekked parts of the fort, and which offered us a sight of vistas unseen through the normal parts of the fort, was definitely something different and was the highlight of our visit to the fort.

View of Fort from near the main gate

Double Walled protection

Small cannons

Lesser seen parts of the fort

Fort that overlooks the Dense Jawali jungle

Kids trekking along the wall fortifications

Trekking along the lesser known parts of the fort

The Grand Statue of Shivaji

Shivaji Maharaj  - A closeup

View from the Punishment Point

Another View of the valley

Pratapgad as seen  from the topmost point

After the fort tour was done, we came down back near the Bhawani temple where there are a few local restaurants. Famished after our trek and our walk, we plunked down to eat the simple Maharashtrian fare  -  Zunka (or Pithala) Bhakari served with pickle and Thecha, Kothimbir Vadi (Coriander dumplings), Thalipeeth and multiple offerings of masala chaas (spiced buttermilk) that was churning fresh butter at the counter. The food was simple and delicious, coupled with the fact that it was piping hot, the food was a perfect antidote to the hard labor of walking all of us had done. The ambiance was perfect as well. Situated on one of the flat pieces of ground on the fort and facing the valley, the cool breeze flowing across this alfresco seating created a wonderfully simplistic atmosphere that 5-star hotels would pay a million bucks to match.

Having piping hot Pithala Bhakri

Kothimbir Vadi

Along the way we visited Shivkalin Khedegaon (Village during Shivaji’s time),  a theme which was much similar to the Prachin Konkan we had visited in Ganpatipule, but a lot more interactive. This was more of selfie points than tableau set for exhibition. Unlike Prachin Konkan, here you could go onto each aspect, including drawing water from a mock well, visiting a village chieftain’s house etc.  Not a must visit, but if you have the time to spare and have fun, this is a place you can visit. Takes a little over 1 hour to see the whole place, and another hour (or more, depending on your wife’s shopping fancies) to visit the handicraft center.

Recreation of a village during Shivaji's time

Strawberry picking @ Venna lake

We decided to visit the Venna lake around sunset purely on my son’s insistence who wanted to go on the Giant wheel, and for no other reason. While the kids were enjoying, Natasha visited one of the local shops inquiring after Corn patties, and when she stumbled on Ahmed Chacha, who owns one of the stalls near Venna lake. He offered us to take on the tour of his own strawberry garden which was across the road, and boy what an experience it was!!!  The early evening sun had lit the field in a shade of deep green and here and there, shining like bright red jewels were some of the deepest red strawberries I have seen in my life. On picking the ripe ones, the aroma was one that can never be had in the markets of Mumbai or Pune. Sinking my teeth, brought out the juice of strawberries bursting forth, which was the perfect mix of sweet and sour that a strawberry should taste like!! 

We knocked ourselves out plucking the strawberries for about 30 minutes, when we discovered that strawberry plants are replanted every year, and each year is a fresh crop. These imported strawberry seeds are planted as soon as the monsoon water subsides and takes about 3-4 months from end of monsoon to late winter before they start producing the fruits. The mulberries themselves take another month or so more, producing their fruits by April, and the ones we ate in Mahabaleshwar were imported from other parts. Most of the produce from Ahmed Chacha’s farm was exported, such was the quality of his strawberries!! Later on, we went to his shop to eat very tasty corn strawberries and definitely the best Strawberry cream I have had in Mahabaleshwar. Ahmed Chacha was kind enough to bring cut strawberries which we could add to our glasses and making it one large glass of strawberry cream!!

Picking Strawberries in the fields

Enjoying the picking

Round and round we go around the Mulberry bush

Ahmed Chacha's fields

Ahmed Chacha

Ahmed Chacha's Shop

Yummy Strawberries and Cream

The rest of the trip was basically winding up from here. Reached the hotel by early evening, shopped for roasted chickpeas in the Mahabaleshwar market and went to the hotel room from there. We decided on the Panchgani – Wai – Pune route rather than go via the Mumbai Goa highway, as it is much faster and has better roads. Next day, again we started early. Partly because we wanted to avoid the afternoon sun, as much as possible, and partly because we wanted to avoid the crowded ghats as we went down towards Wai, as Sunday was likely to be crowded one in Mahabaleshwar on account of Holi which was due on Tuesday. We made it quite easily as the ghat was deserted in the early morning, and we hit the Mumbai Pune expressway around 12.00 pm, stopping to eat at the newly opening German Bakery branch on the second rest stop. Managed to reach home by 2.00 pm, concluding a hectic, but immensely satisfying trip.

Food at Mahabaleshwar

Since we had arrived around Lunch time in Mahabaleshwar, we deposited our bags in our room and immediately headed out to The Grapevine restaurant close by. I had read the reviews in CondeNast traveler and wanted to try it out.  We were disappointed on a few counts. Firstly, the food was what you would call refined continental cooking, which on any other day would be good, but not the right food for a hill station, where you want to eat robust, hearty meals. Secondly the quantity could be best described as adequate, not enough for a full meal. Thirdly, the prices were 5-star prices, and quite frankly the dishes were not. Fourthly for a 5-star price place, a shop not accepting a credit card is a strict no-no for me. Visit the place, if you want to say that visited it, but prepare to be left unhappy and slightly unsatisfied.

The strawberry cream at Bagicha corner, branch of the main outlet on the Mahabaleshwar, was quite good we felt. Priced at Rs. 160 per glass, it ticks the right boxes – good strawberries, light cream and sweet ice cream. That is until we had it at Ahmed Chacha’s shop. There the strawberries felt fresher, more wholesome and sweeter. The bagicha corner feels a little off, perhaps giving off a slightly artificial flavor taste. Our dinner on Day 1 in Mahabaleshwar was at the in-house Indian restaurant. While the service was a bit on the slower side, the food quality was quite good. Good Chinese soups, with decent Manchurian rice, and quite reasonable on the wallet as well.

Our breakfast on both the mornings was from a local stall that served hot idlis and freshly made maggi. Early morning Maggi, was something that I have not tried for a long long time. But with the 12-degree weather outside, eating hot Maggi felt magical.  The tea at Chandu chaiwala, bang opposite the ST stand was also very good, with yummy cream rolls and crisp biscuits dunked liberally in cups of tea.  While returning back, we purchased kandi pedas (condensed milk pedhas) from Khamkar’s in Wai, along with some strawberry barfi. Both were extremely yummy and a must have if you are passing out of Wai on your way back.

Logistical Details

Total Passengers	2 adults + 2 kids
Places Visited	Ganpatipule, Mahabaleshwar
Days for the Trip	5 days  -  04 March -  08 March 2020
Kilometers travelled (total)	900 approx
Road Taken ( Thane – Ganpatipule)	Thane – Khopoli (Pune Expressway Exit) – Karnala – Vadkhal Bypass – Chiplun – Sangameshwar – Ukshi Road - Ganpatipule
Road Taken (Ganpatipule - Mahabaleshwar)	Ganpatipule – SH 105 – Jaigad River bridge – Abloli – Chiplun Bypass – Parshuram – Poladpur – Ambenali Ghat - Mahabaleshwar
Road Taken ( Mahabaleshwar - Thane)	Mahabaleshwar – Panchgani – Wai – Pune - Thane
Total Cost	INR 45K approx. (including shopping, petrol, dining and stay)