Tourist Attractions and Places near Pune and Mumbai

I have been to Mahabaleshwar many times. On almost every occasion, i would cast a glance at the Mapro Garden restaurant, but would not stop considering the very crowded parking spots. But, the advice of a friend made us stop once and after that we have always stopped here. We have even made multiple trips just to have snacks here and drive back. That’s almost a 250 km round trip for a sandwich!

Mapro Garden restaurant is mid-way between Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar and is famous for its strawberry festival in the summer. The restaurant offers many types of milk shakes, mocktails and pizzas, but it’s most famous offering is its classic sandwich. The sandwich (along with fries) is more than a mouthful and would easily compensate for a meal.

Strawberry shakes are available throughout the year, but they are at their freshest best during the summer. Should not be missed.

Mapro also makes the famous syrups and crushes. You can get any imaginable flavour of these along with the falero sweets.

The place is a garden restaurant. There is a big nursery as well as beautiful flower gardens all over the place. There is also a chocolate factory where you can see fresh chocolate being made.

Rather than have lunch at one of those oh-so-boring restaurants in Mahabaleshwar, stop here on your way to/back for a refreshing break!

written by Rajaram S

Bhigwan is a small town around 100 kms away from Pune and is also referred to as the “Bharatpur of Maharashtra”, as it becomes a hotbed of migratory birds during the winter. Bhigwan is at one end of the huge Yashwant Sagar reservoir, forming the backwaters of the Ujain dam. One of the main attractions during the migratory season is the arrival of the pink greater flamingos. During the months of early jan – late feb, this place is thronged by bird lovers from all over Maharashtra.

To reach Bhigwan, take the Solapur road and drive for around 95 kms (from Hadapsar) or use the map below to reach Bhigwan (route from Magarapatta city).

View Larger Map

Most of the bird sightings happen around two places, Diksal and Kumbhargaon. The reservoir is dozens of kms long. Maybe, there are more (and better) locations downstream?? To reach the two places, do not follow the map as the roads can be misleading and the water levels depicted on the map could be very different than the current situation. If the monsoon was heavy, roads could disappear or for a bad monsoon, you would see uncharted roads appear out of the water! I went to Diksal last year (Jan 2012) and to Kumbhargaon this year (Feb 2013).

Diksal: Once you reach Bhigwan, you have turn left to go to Diksal. The “bird watching” place i.e. the waterfront is around 5-6 kms inwards. Ask for “Juna Phul” meaning “Old bridge” (photo below). This is the spot where many birds gather and also the place to rent a boat to go into the waterways.

Kumbhargaon: To reach this village, you have to drive ahead of Bhigwan for around 2 kms and look for sign boards saying “kumbhargaon” or “flamingo point”. There are multiple entry points to this village and we happened to choose the one with the “kuchcha-est road”, but the Xylo managed it with ease.

Plan your trip such that you are there before 7 Am. Even though it is winter, by the time it is 10 AM, it gets scorching hot and frustration starts creeping in if you have to wait in patience for the birds. We started from Pune at 5 AM and hence, when we got into the boat, it was around 6.45 AM and it was lovely. The chilly breeze with the rising sun made it a wonderful boating experience too.

If you are having a point and shoot camera or planning to take photo with a mobile, be ready for a big-time inferiority complex (if you are prone to it!). It is not uncommon to see “birders” here with lens longer and bigger than a typical walking stick. Note: My photos in this post are not so great due to various reasons including an old/unclean lens, typical touristy approach etc. When i was browsing around for photos from Bhigwan, i found a set which had amazing photos. When i looked at the EXIF data, the lens used was a 600 MM f4 and that costs 9800 USD !!! Many cars cost less! Anyway, whatever be the equipment, the photography is fun and it requires patience. When patience runs out and when birds dont come within the zoom range, guys (my friends who came along) started using me as a prop along with the birds.

The boating part from Kumbhargaon was fun. We were approaching a group of flamingos on the other side of the bridge and suddenly all of them took off. We watched them for a couple of minutes and once they settled down on the other side of the lake, we (both the boats) turned around and the chase continued. Boating costs 100 Rupees per person. Leave alone the birds, you get more than your money’s worth in just the boating experience.

The flamingos were very wary of approaching boats. But, probably they knew to differentiate between the locals and the ooh-aah noisy tourists with bazookas. They didn’t seem to mind the fisherman coming near them (he was using thermocol sheets sticked together as a floating device). As you can see from the second photo below, we had to be at quite distance to avoid disturbing them, but good enough to the naked eye to catch the details. The other boat had a guy with walking stick lens and a bazooka tripod. They tried to get closer and closer and at one point, the entire flock just flew off. It made a good sight, from our boat!

If you happen to catch a flock of flamingos landing, it is poetry in motion. See this series of photos of a group landing. The photos below don’t do justice to watching it for real

The boatman also throws dead fish in the water to attract gulls. The gulls don’t seem to mind our company and you can get to see them pretty close this way. I also tried my hand at rowing, but gave up after the boatman gave a slight hint that my car parked at the distance seemed to mysteriously keep shrinking by the minute. One advantage of going in early was that the light was just awesome if you managed to get your subjects in the right position.

The way i classify birds are as follows: Big bird, small bird, colourful bird and very colourful bird. Of course, this is apart from the crow and the pigeon. We saw lot of birds during our two trips and i put a collage of them below with letters against them. If you are one of the elite knowledgeable birder kind, please do name them in the comments section. The ones that i know. The first photo (also ‘d’): painted stork, j & n – Brahmini Duck, K – Pond Heron? , t – bee eater?

You don’t have to get lost at Kumbhargaon finding help. Contact Sandeep Nagare (9960610615), a kumbhargaon resident. Any non-localite entering Kumbhargaon seems to ask for Sandeep Call him up a day before and ask him to arrange boats for you. We found him (and his brother) to be extremely helpful and cooperative. He is knowledgeable too to help you go beyond “small bird” and “big bird”. After you finish the boating, you can have breakfast/lunch at his place.

written by Rajaram S

While 2010 new year weekend had a disastrous start with a miscalculated and unsuccessful trip to Raigad fort and the Pune zoo the following day, 2011 new year weekend was exactly the opposite. We went to Daman and Silvassa for a 3-day weekend and it was a great mix of lot of stuff – beaches, forts, water sports and even a lion safari!

Then, we went to Pataleshwar Cave Temple and Ayappan hill temple near Dehu Road. These two were on the radar for quite some time as we had passed these two temples en-route to many other places.

The first big trip of 2011 was a weekend trip to Murud. This set a nice precedent for 2 more trips to the Konkan region over the year. The murud trip had many beach visits including Murud beach, Kashid beach, Aakshi beach and the imposing Janjira sea fort (post pending!).

The next Konkan trip happened soon after, with a 3 day trip to Diveagar and Harihareshwar. The Diveagar beach is one of the best on the coast (among the one closer to Mumbai/Pune) and the coastal drive from Diveagar to Shrivardhan is too beautiful to be described!

In March, i went on a trek to Tikona fort along with colleagues. We started pretty early in the morning and it was a good decision as it got very hot by around 10. The trek to tikona fort is moderate, but offers wonderful views of the surrounding areas including Lohagad fort and Pavana Dam. Also, the final ascent on the stairs is wonderful.

Then, we had a get-together of friends at Splendour Country club. This was my second visit to the place (post pending!) and it is quite a mixed bag. The condition/cleanliness of the infinity pool depends on your luck, but the location is awesome.

There was a weekend when Vidhya and Akshara were out of town. So, i went on a local sightseeing trip to places which Vidhya might not come along. I went to Shinde Chhatri – architecturally good , bur was undergoing renovation, a butterfly park about which the lesser said the better and then to Chaturshringi Hill Temple, a gem of a place within the crowd of the city(posts due!).

Saturday was gone and i went for something more adventurous on the Sunday – a trek to Kalavantin Durg (post due!). This turned out to be most exhausting day of my life. But, not because of the nature of the trek. It is an awesome trek and the final climb on the rock-cut steps (some more than a metre high) is mind-blowing, particularly for the slightly-acrophobic ones like me!

The monsoon had arrived and it was time to go-green! Our first monsoon trip was to the ever-enchanting Neelkanteshwar temple. If you have never been there, make sure you do (not in the summer though). A place straight out of Amar Chitra Katha, you can not only admire the natural beauty of its location, but also learn a lot about indian mythology.

Though very scenic, i try to avoid lonavala and its surroundings during the monsoon as it gets very crowded and insane. A trip to Korigad fort where i had pass through Lonavala reaffirmed my faith in avoiding the place. Korigad fort though was a revelation. Relatively easy to climb and in midst of nature, it was a wonderful trip with friends.

No monsoon is complete without a visit to Tamhini Ghat and thoseghar waterfalls. I have been so many times to these places and yet, i am not tired of them. The visit to tamhini was, as always, combined with a visit to the broken roads of Chalkewadi windmill farms.

Then came a visit a beautiful temple in a beautiful place – hadshi temple. One photo of this temple on some forum convinced me to pay a visit and i wasn’t disappointed and neither have been all the people to whom i have recommended this temple. I have been there twice, once during the monsoon and another time just after – on a clear and sunny day.

We tried yet again on 15th August to go to Raigad fort, but our calculations proved wrong once again with a 3.5 hr wait for the cable car. So, we had to return (for the second time) with just a view of the cable car and the mighty fort beyond the horizon.

But, all was not bad with the trip. We came back through Varandha ghat and we got to see the best of what Varanda is famous for. Outstanding greenery as far as the eye can see and more waterfalls than we could keep count of!

Then finally, in October with some meticulous planning, we were able to see the king of all forts, Raigad fort (post due!). It was worth the wait, as this fort is an exemplary example of the might of the Marathas. The amount of history within the walls of his fort is amazing. We had combined a trip to Raigad with another new destination on the konkan, Karde beach.

End of 2011, beginning of 2012, lots to look forward too. Starting with a trip to Rajasthan, courtesy my company. So, what’s in plan – Malshej Ghat, Bhadandardara, Ganapatipule or Goa, some lesser known temples around Pune, Shivneri fort and more…

written by Rajaram S