Tourist Attractions and Places near Pune and Mumbai

Harihareshwar, also known as Devghar (House of God) or Dakshin Kashi (Kasi of South India), is a small temple town on the Konkan coast. It is not only a popular pilgrimage destination, but also popular for its beaches and the famous pradakshina marg around the temple. Themost popular place to stay at Harihareshwar is the MTDC Hotel, but the beach next to the hotel is rocky and not good for having fun. In fact, the harihareshwar beach is itself not recommended for swimmers as there are strong currents close to the coast and the general public are advised against swimming. We stayed at Diveagar and drove over, a short wonderful drive on the coastal road for around 30 mins.

How to go to Harihareshwar from Pune: Harihareshwar is around 190 kms from Pune. Irrespective of whether you are staying at Diveagar or Shrivardhan or harihareshwar itself, the easiest route to take would be through Tamhini Ghats, then Mangaon on the goa highway, then the road to Mhasala (it is called as Masla and not as masala as we were referring to, when asking for directions!) and then onwards to Diveagar (turn right at a fork) or Harihareshwar (turn left). The stretch from the goa highway down to the coast is also a ghat section and pretty remote. So avoid a late night trip on that.

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I had heard a lot about the pradakshina marg and was more interested in that rather than the temple. So, the religious/tired among us decided to stay back at the temple and the rest went on this tour around the temple. The steps start right behind the temple. Check with anyone around the temple about the conditions of the tide as it is quite dangerous to go on this train during high tide. The trail starts off with around 60 steps – 60 long steps and then you have to climb down around 140 narrow steps (a beautiful cut in the cliffs) down to the sea.

We were there at the wrong time of the day, just after noon and hence it was not good both in terms of energy as well as good photography. Otherwise, the 60 steps are not much of a hassle and they offer great views of the harihareshwar beach. The coastal rock formation just at the bottom of the stairs are amazing. We had to pull ourselves out of the place ( as we had a long drive back to Pune) , otherwise we would have spent the entire evening monkeying around on the rocks. Also, my research about the pradakshina marg was incomplete. I thought that it would be from within the temple and photography would not be permitted. So, i left my SLR back in the car and took along a compact camera, which doesnt work that well in such conditions.

As you go around the cliffs, you see lot of interesting sea caves. The waves were quite strong and the splashing of the waves against the rocks was wonderful to look at. I definitely want to go back in the monsoons and see how bad/beautiful the conditions are here. The whole Pradakshina should take around 30 mins with minimal stops and comes back in front of the temple on the beach. If you do visit the temple, don’t forget to go on this trail

written by Rajaram S

We had been to the adventure plus resort last monsoon as part of our team event. We went on a 2-day package with an overnight stay. Along with a colleague, i went on a weekend to see the place for ourselves before taking the decision to go there. We were impressed by the place and decided to take our team there for the weekend. This is a detailed review of the place/activities based on our visit.

For those not interested in a long review, here is a shorter version of it. You get your money’s worth of activities at this place. I have not seen many places with such a wide range of activities at this nominal price. Compared to the other adventure resorts like the ones in Lonavala, the price adventure plus charges is peanuts. Imagine being able to do wall climbing, rappelling, Burma Bridge, Obstacle race, Rifle Shooting, Archery, Kayaking (Many charge a lot of money for just kayaking) and more PLUS lunch for around 700-800 rupees. This is as best a deal as you can get.

Now, the detailed review.

The place: Adventure Plus is located around 55 kms from Pune (Magarpatta City) near Bhor (on the road which goes through Bhor and Varandha Ghat). It would take around 1-1.5 hrs to reach the place if you avoid Pune city traffic. On the NH4 towards bangalore, you would see a left turn for Narayanpur Balaji Temple. Around a 100 ms beyond that, a small road goes to the right. This is the one which takes you to Bhor and Varandha Ghat. Adventure plus is located around 12 kms down this road. Watch out for this view on the left as you drive down this road. It is great during the monsoons.

The various Activities along with my rating. Please bear in mind that this rating is purely my individual opinion. What i rate as 1/5 may be the most thrilling thing for you and what i rate as 5/5 may be as boring as watching Shah Rukh on Zor Ka Jatkha!

Archery (4/5). It was easy and fun. The equipment was in good condition and each of us had 5 shots at the target. Rifle Shooting (3/5). The gun used was much better than the ones you see in the amusement fairs. The bullets were small ball bearings, so you really cant make out where they hit on the target, just that they hit the target based on the sound you hear.

Burma Bridge (Adventure plus called this Rope Bridge) (4/5). This is great fun if you are doing it for the first time. If you are scared of heights, it adds to the fun. You have to cross a section tied together by ropes. You are safe as you are held on by a safety rope, but it is fun to walk on a swaying bridge of rope. One guy started swaying so much that the bridge overturned. Of course, nothing happened to him. He was just hanging upside down from the bridge!

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written by Rajaram S \\ tags: adventure

This is probably the easiest way to experience the lakes of switzerland, right in Maharashtra! Bamnoli village on the banks of the Shivsagar lake formed due to the Koyna dam is a small community of people, who mainly cater to the tourists wanting to visit Vasota fort, Nageshwar Shiv Temple and also Tapola.

Click here to see a bigger version of the above panorama

How to go to Bamnoli: Bamnoli lies at the end of the Kaas plateau. You have to go to Satara, cross the city and then take the right at the fork at the end of the city. The road at the left (through a tunner) would go to Thoseghar. Once on this road you have to drive for around 30 kms (crossing kaas lake and the beautiful flower beds) and then climb down to the shore of the Shivsagar lake. Though google maps doesnt show this road, this exists and is a good condition road, not the offroading type. As you descend the ghats onto Bamnoli, you are rewarded with views as comparable to european lake destination (provided you visit this place around the monsoons/winter).

Once in Bamnoli, you can choose from lot of boating options. You can just go for a ride around the shivsagar lake. Or, go for a boat trip to Tapola, also known as mini kashmir. The rates are reasonable, provided you have a group of 5-6 people. Otherwise, you anyway have to pay the group price. If you have time, you can also go on a guided tour to Vasota fort or the famous nageshwar Shiv temple. The waters are right up to the roads inside the village. In fact, there are few buildings which are half-submerged. I guess the end of the village is defined by the amount of water in the backwaters. There is even a Bank of Baroda branch here. So, if you want to, you can even open an account here!

I was just looking around for stuff to photograph, when i noticed something big flying overhead. Thinking it to be a big bird, i followed it and then when it came into view, i realised that it was a big bat. Then i saw the hundreds of bats on the few trees next to the shore. They were there only on these few trees. I was lucky to see this as i would have just returned to my car if not for this low flying bat.

You can go to Bamnoli as a separate trip and then spend the day with a boating trip to Tapola or combine Bamnoli with a visit/drive to the Kaas plateau, as we did.

written by Rajaram S