Mumbai-Dandeli-Yana roadtrip: in the lap of nature...

Did a fabulous 5 day trip from Mumbai – Dandeli – Karwar – Mumbai, visiting Yana and Gokarna inbetween. In all, covered 1,600 kms. So here goes…

(Don't mind the team-bhp logos on the snaps - had originally posted the travelogue on team-bhp.com here.)

Preparation: team-bhp, google maps and a lot of route tips, special thanks to ampere and ravi bhat
Equipment: i20 Asta that has done 30,000 kms, camera and a crazy mind that thinks the idea of a relaxing holiday is to drive 300 kms everyday

The idea of the trip started with a wish to visit Yana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yana,_India). During the route planning, decided to stay at Old Magazine House, Ganeshgudi in Dandeli forest and another stop at Karwar. To make the drive more relaxed, divided it into two parts: Part 1 was to drive to OMH, spend a couple of nights and then on to Karwar, spend a night and cover Gokarna and Yana either before or after. Plan was to drive down from Karwar to Mumbai in one stretch, so that the trip would take only 4 days. A rather amusing incident changed those plans and ended up spending 5 days!

For the first part of the drive from Mumbai to OMH-Ganeshgudi, decided to take the NH4 upto Belgaum and then turn off into the Khanapur Road. The route was: Mumbai – Belgaum – Khanapur – Ramanagara – Ganeshgudi. Mumbai-Belgaum was on NH 4. Having driven on NH4 before, and experienced the traffic on Pune – Satara – Kohlapur and in order to reach OMH well in time, decided to get an early start, at 3.00 AM. It was only me and my wife, who is also an excellent navigator. I was so excited about the drive that I could not sleep at all the previous night!

So off we started at 3.20 AM and in no time hit the Mumbai – Pune Expressway. Having very little highway driving experience in the dark, I kept the speed to a reasonable 80 kph. This stretch as always was a breeze. The road got progressively bad after Pune and the stretch upto Satara surprisingly had several potholes. Thanks to the early start, we completely avoided the nasty two wheeler traffic on that stretch. By the time we reached Satara, it was already light and the speed thereafter shot up to 90 – 100 kph on an average. The only bottleneck was the small ghat road after Satara where for some unknown reason, there was a massive traffic jam. Vehicles had stopped for almost a kilometer. It cleared up after about 20 minutes or so and we lost that much time. Decided to take a breakfast stop before Kolhapur. Last time we had stopped at a Food Mall in a defunct Reliance petrol pump about 35 kms before Satara that was decent, so decided to stop at the same place. We were there by 8.45 AM. Unfortunately, the food was pathetic and we had to cancel the order. Stepped into Sai International – a self service style restaurant a couple of hundred meteres away and was surprised by the excellent food and spotlessly clean toilets (they have an attendant who hands you liquid soap and tissues, full five-star ishtyle!). Had a good fill of idli, vada, dosa etc., though I prefer to eat light on long drives and we were back on the road by 9.45. We then crossed the border into Karnataka. If the NH 4 in Maharashtra is good, in Karnataka it becomes spectacular. It is 6 laned, with tall shrubs on the divider, wide service roads along the entire length that prevents most local traffic spilling onto the GQ and what a road! Forget potholes, there are no bumps either! Such a pleasure to drive.

Before Belgaum we got off the GQ and turned into Old PB Road / College Road, onto Rani Chennamma Circle and onward to the Khanapur Road. Tanked up on fuel after RC Circle and was surprised to have clocked a mileage of 20 kmpl! The road upto Khanapur was good, but between Khanapur and Ramanagara it was quite bad – lots of potholes, pretty deep ones and big stones lying on the road. But it was not a very long stretch and after Ramanagara, the road again became excellent. After Khanapur the Dandeli forest starts and what a dense forest it is! The scenery is fantastic and in some parts, the road runs close to the Supa Dam backwaters. Didn’t stop much here, but here are some pics of the excellent road, dense forest and a snapshot of the backwaters.


We reached OMH by about 1.30 PM and had informed the resort people in advance of our late arrival and to keep lunch ready for us.

OMH is a jungle resort run by Jungle Lodges and Resorts, managed by the Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka. The place is a bit innocuous, and one has to drive atleast 200 – 300 mts on a gravelly stretch from the road to reach the resort. Nestled literally in the middle of the forest, the place is a treat! Lush forests all around, chirping birds everywhere (this is a spot frequented by serious birdwatchers), excellent service. The place has no TVs, no room service, no AC, and not much ambience in the rooms. But then again, if this is what you want, better stay at home or at a 5-star right! We fell in love with the place immediately. Here are some images of the resort.

Had a heavy meal of the freshest, tastiest and healthiest stuff. Caught a quick nap and explored the place. The place is fabulous – they only have 4 – 5 cottages and one dormitory. Being the middle of the week, there was only one other room occupied. Also, there is mobile network only in one small square in front of the kitchen which we promptly labeled ‘The Networking Square’! Of course, it was such a joy not to be disturbed by calls all the while! Incidentally, a tree fell on some electric pole nearby and there was no power supply for 24 hours! They used to run the generator for preparing and serving lunch, dinner, breakfast only! That again was great – the peace, the quiet, the sounds of the forest, the pitch dark of the forest… a fantastic experience!

We got up early the next morning to go birdwatching. Inspite of this not being the peak of the birding season, spotted about 40 different species of birds, the Great Malabar Squirrel, a viper etc., Some pics (not very good quality, to my great grief) attached.




Unfortunately the water from the Supa dam was not yet released, so we couldn’t do white water rafting. Also, due to the SC ban on tiger tourism, we couldn’t do any jungle safaris to spot the big mammals: elephant, leopard, deer etc., This was a real dampener, but we decided to enjoy the forest instead. The ban though was lifted a day after we returned and hope to do another trip for the safaris 

So instead of the safari, we did a coracle boat ride in the Kali river (I think) and spotted a large group of Great Indian Hornbill and a variety of other water birds. We also went on a trek into the forest, where we came across a bear hole, this giant spider and reached the top of a hillock to get this fabulous view of the Supa Dam backwaters. The place is so beautiful we didn’t feel like coming back.



I must say the staff at OMH are fabulous: based on our breakfast order the first day, they immediately understood our preferences (for eg., I don’t like onion in my omelette) and got exactly what we wanted the next day without even asking! Such service is expected in high end resorts, but in one managed by the Govt., wow! They also helped us to plan our route to Karwar: they made enquiries with local drivers and advised that the route via Anshi was patched up and very good, except for a 3 – 4 km stretch. We decided to follow their advice.

The next day we did more birdwatching and then it was time to head towards Karwar. Based on the advice of the OMH staff, we took the Ganeshgudi – Joida – Kumbharwada – Anshi – Kadra – Sadashivgad – Karwar route. The drive is about 100 kms and most of it is through the densest forest imaginable. This is the same Dandakaranya mentioned in our epics – forests so thick that sunlight does not touch the ground! And it was true! In several stretches, the canopy of dense trees prevented sunlight from reaching the ground! We were very hopeful of spotting a leopard or atleast an elephant, but could only spot a huge cobra leisurely crossing the road! The road itself is in very good condition except fo the the 6 km stretch between Kumbharwada and Anshi where there is literally no road, there are only rocks and stones on the road. Few pics here.

Drove into Karwar and I made a foolish mistake! We were booked at the Devbagh Beach Resort again managed by the Jungle Lodges. Due to some incorrect directions I received, I drove right onto the beach! About 200 metres on the sand and I realized I made a mistake. Stopped the car, called the resort for futher directions and by then, the wheels of the car had sunk into the sand. Put the car in reverse but to no avail! Only ended up digging up myself deeper. I was now in deep trouble. Literally! A couple of fisherfolk tried pushing the car, but it would not budge. Tried to put wooden planks but that didn’t help either! By then, lost mobile signal also! Had to run a couple of kilometers, get directions as to where exactly I was – if I don’t know where I am, how do I ask for directions on how to get where I wanted to go! Called the resort for help and asked them to send a jeep with rope. It took them almost 30 minutes to come – that’s when I realized I was way off! They had brought a Scorpio with 4 staff members. Took them to the beach where I had left the car and my wife guarding the car! When I reached there, I was shocked! My wife had managed to attract the sympathy of the village folk, who thought what a stupid husband she must have, to drive a car on the beach! Anyway, the resort is also connected by the beach and two staff members had come to assist from that route. Very thoughtfully, they brought a bottle of water since it was quite hot! What service! Again, completely unexpected from a Govt. run enterprise, but hats off! So, it turns out that by the time I came back, the village fold brought a contraption that is used to drag the boats on to the beach. A rope is tied to the car and it wound around a pillar fixed to a platform that that has a long lever. Four men turn the lever, the rope winds around the pillar and the pulley effect (horizontal) gives great torque that managed to drag the car back quite a bit. The Scorpio then came to rescue and pulled the car rest of the way out. Unfortunately, my efforts to pull the car back in reverse in the first instance dug it in so deep that the bottom of the car banged against the sand. Had to get that fixed and I lost one day.

We drove to the ferry point in the staff Scorpio and reached the resort. Again, the place is out of the world. Imagine a long beach, lined with a pine forest and cottages in this picturesque setting. The place is excellent and ambience much better than OMH. They have AC (need to, can get quite warm), but no TV. But who’s complaining! They have not yet started water sports, so spent a lot of time on the beach and also hired a cab to visit Gokarna temple. We had lost so much time that we thought we may have to skip Yana. This was sad, since that was to be the highlight of the entire trip. The next morning we went dolphin spotting and saw lots of dolphins, some of them jumping out of the water. Managed to get some decent shots of these amazing animals as well as my first decent shot of an eagle in flight. Some pics here.



It took some time for us to collect the car, almost afternoon, basic servicing done and we knew we had lost time and there was no way I could reach Mumbai the same day. We either could halt in Karwar one more night or start driving and stop either at Belgaum or Kolhapur. Decided to do Yana on the way and what a good decision! We got route tips from the resort staff and they suggested we go on the Yellapur road. I was also told that some part of the road is not very good, but an i20 could handle it. So off we went, first on the Panvel – Kanyakumari road, turned off 5 kms before Ankola into the Hubli via Yellapur road. After about 20 -25 kms we reached Mastikatte. After 2 kms, there is a bus stop and a road leading to the right. Turned right here, crossed a bridge and came to the Hosakambi forest check post. Turned left here and simply followed the signboards (kudos to the Govt. for putting up lots of clear, unambiguous signboards) to Yana. The last stretch of the ghat road (about 4 – 6 kms) is a nightmare. The road is narrow, a little more than single lane road, very very steep, and absolutely no road. Only loose stones, dirt, gravel all over. My brave Berry (that’s what I call my car) managed to pull through without a scratch and we reached Yana. What a sight! It is simply out of this world and straight out of Lord of the Rings! It is almost like staring at Sauron’s tower at Mordor! We explored the place well and however long we stared at the place, it was not enough! Truly spellbinding! Some pics here.



It was now time to head back home. We backtracked upto the Yellapur road, drove on Yellapur road. Stopped at a Shanbag restaurant before Yellapur for a quick snack. We were planning to take the route via Haliyal directly to Belgaum, but were advised that the road has lots of speedbreakers for 50 kms, so go via Hubli bypass onto NH4. Decided to do that. The road passed through the fringes of the forest and we saw another large cobra crossing the road! There were also signboards warning of wild elephants crossing, but unfortunately, did not spot any. The Hubli bypass is a nightmare of a road, narrow and in extremely bad condition for almost the entire 20 -25 km stretch. By the time we were on NH4 it was already very dark. Drove on the GQ in the dark, but thanks to the good road quality, could do decent speed of 100 kph. Thought I will drive all the way to Mumbai at night, but it was too stressful. So decided to stop at Belgaum. A quick internet search revealed that Hotel Ramdev on the Old PG Road just off the NH 4 is good – thanks to Tripadvisor! Stopped there, got a good room and had a good rest. Started at 6.45 the next morning, stopped at our favourite Sai International for a late breakfast and we were at home in Mumbai by 2.30 PM, for lunch! What a trip that was!

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Rajasthan Day 2: Jaisalmer - golden sands and blue skies

What a way to get introduced to the city of golden sands!  As the train chugged into the desert, a couple of dust storms greeted us - filling the interiors of the bogie with a dust haze!  In no time, there was a thin layer of sand everywhere: on the floor, the seats, on the luggage, and even on the late risers blissfully asleep!

The Jaisalmer station itself is tiny and quaint, with a few chaiwallas and other sundry snack vendors.  A couple of cups of steaming hot masala chai kept us warm while we waited for our ride.  The plan was to spend a couple of nights in the desert and then head into town for the heritage experience.  We were, yet again, struck by the amazing hospitality of these wonderful people.  Every place in our journey was made special by one or the other person, that made the vacation special.  If it was Gaurav Singh Rathore, our guide at Jantar Mantar, it was the very affable and shy Ambu Singh, who literally assumed the role of our butler for the duration of our stay in the desert.

M chose Rajasthan Desert Safari (RDS) for our stay in the desert.  The place is about an hour's drive out of the city and we were immediately greeted with vistas of arrow shot straight roads, with sparse vegetation as far as the eye could see.  We were immediately taken in by the clear air, and the quietitude all around.  Surely an escape from the everyday cacophony that is Mumbai!  Since it was already lunch time by the time we arrived, Ambu Singh (who I addressed as Ram Singh throughout our stay and being the nice guy he is, he refused to correct me; and henceforth, he will be referred to as Ram Singh!) laid out a spread of the finest Rajasthani food.  There was the standard dal-baati-choorma, gatte ki sabji, string beans (I forget the local name) and several others that were a blur of paneer, ghee and butter.  Who can argue with local logic: 'we have scarcity of water, therefore we cook food in ghee and butter...!!!'  Ram Singh was sorely disappointed that we did not have more than two helpings of each dish!

Galloping over the dunes... bone rattling but certainly, fun!

Once the afternoon heat subsided, it was time for the mandatory camel ride.  Our camel was bizzarely named Michael Jackson (!) and was a four year old male.  Our desert guide led us to a less frequented part of the dunes where unlike the famous SAM (pronounced 'sum') dunes, where there are more people than sand!  M and I had a blast  rolling down the dunes and had loads of fun.  My guide took the camel for a short gallop, unfortunately with me on it: by the end of it, my bones were rattled!  On the way back, we got a glimpse of the famous Sam dunes - they were swarming with people and were we glad we didn't go there!

Quick tip: it's generally a bad idea to carry expensive photography equipment, the desert sand is so fine, you are sure to need a trip to the service centre thereafter!  Even if you have to carry your DSLR, make sure you  don't change lenses in the desert and have a ziplock bag handy to stash the camera in, when not in use.

Rajasthani fold musicians hold us in thrall

Back at camp, they had organised a cultural evening, with traditional dancers swirling to the tune of desert instruments: kar-taal, being the highlight of the day.  It was sad to see the tourists milling about, more interested in their drink, than savouring the beautiful notes that these desert musicians churned from their instruments.  To add insult to injury, some of tourists gave a generous tip of Rs 10 to these artists, some of whom have represented India in international fora!

We relished the folk music, with M and I occasionally deciding to try our hand with the dholak!  After a while, most of the tourists had departed and the musicians actually asked us to sit closer, so that we could hear them better, and they could sing songs of our choice!  What more is there to say!  Lal mori, hichki, kesariya balam and many more.  After several hours, it was time for them to leave, but they promised to come back the next day, and sing some of the more famous and rare marwari songs!

Meenal tries her hand at the Nagara

A jugalbandi with the kar-taal!

 All the while, our dear Ram Singh was in the background, waiting to unleash a many course meal, which of course, we happily partook.  Soon after, the drone of vehicles disappeared, the voices died down and all that once could hear was the whistling of the wind, under a pitch black sky dotted with thousands of stars, many many more than one can see in the cities...

The sun sets on yet another wonderful day in the desert...

Rajasthan - beginning of a memorable vaction

It all started with figuring out vacation ideas; considering that we would be travelling in December, colder climes were naturally ruled out.  M had been wanting to do Rajasthan for a while, so we decided that the land of golden sands it would be, since anytime after March and the place would be scorching.

Since the tourist season starts mid-December, we decided to plan our trip in the first week, before the hordes start pouring in.  The days would be pleasant, the nights chill but not freezing and the crowds, few.  We only had about a week on our hands, so the planning had to be meticulous - not crowd the itinerary with too many places to visit, yet not miss out on the must do spots.  The credit again goes to M for a perfectly planned holiday - right from what to see, where to stay, what to eat, which taxiwalla to call etc.,!

For starters, Rajasthan is a state that has endless possibilities: forts, deserts, wildlife parks, luxurious palaces, spread across many must visit places such as Jaipur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Ranthambore... Considering my shutter happy nature and the need for a relaxed holiday, we decided on Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur.  No more.

For details on the planning bit, do's and don'ts, refer to M's blog.  My blog is not meant to be a travel-diary, but a collection of the impressions gathered during that fabulous one week.

As we landed at Jaipur Airport at 7.30 AM, the captain's welcome message shattered some typical 'tourist myths' about Rajasthan, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Jaipur; the temperature outside is a pleasant 17 degrees..."  Wow!  So Rajasthan, is not really the 'perpetual 50 degrees oven!'

Jaipur is a beautiful city, with broad straight streets, swept clean, shrouded in the morning chill - very welcoming.  It's a fairly green city too - disappointing tourists who assume that all of Rajasthan is only sand!  This is also the city of beautiful palaces - Jal Mahal and City Palace for instance, forts - Amer and Jaigarh, astronomical observatory - Jantar Mantar, lakes, markets.  The people are friendly and affable, willing to guide the lost tourist.

Hawa Mahal, in the soft golden light of the morning sun

Our first stop was the Hawa Mahal - most readily recognised icon of the Pink City - so called because the erstwhile Maharani Gayatri Devi ordered the denizens of the inner city to paint their building in pink, so as to lend the place an exclusivity!  We reached just in time to catch the golden rays of the early morning sun bathe this exquisite structure in an ethereal glow.  Shopkeepers across the street were very willing to let us take shots from their terraces for an access charge of '10 rupee per head only'.  "We charge phoren tourists 100 rupee saab..." the chowkidaar of one of these vantage viewpoints confided.  He was also more than happy to click our pictures.

One of the many exquisite jharokas...

Quick tip for photographers: reach the place before 9.00 AM and use a wide-angle for excellent shots of Hawa Mahal - the early morning rays provide excellent frontal lighting.  Get on the terrace of any of the shops for eye-level shots.  Telephoto zooms are pretty much useless unless you want to take shots of parts of the structure.

Is this the kind of view the veiled queens and princesses
would have had, of the street below?

We were blessed with a bright sun, no clouds and a clear day: really, excellent conditions for photography.  It was interesting to see busloads of foreign tourists - mostly European and Orient, go gaga over the place - surely, a structure so grand constructed just to let the purdah-bound queens and princesses watch royal processions in relative seclusion must be a rarity.

After spending more than an hour gawking at the place, we finally proceeded to breakfast, at the interestingly named Balaji Restaurant, for a snack of hot parathas, dahi and pickle.

 The entire city seemed attuned to tourists - the grandfatherly shopkeeper who starts twirling his generous moustache as soon as two Koreans with cameras slung around their necks approach; the otherwise bored snake charmer who plays his 'been' and wakes up an equally bored cobra to life the moment an excited European couple approach, cameras on the ready; traditionally decked up women who are willing to pose for photographs with you for a payment of '50 rupee only'... The welcome change ofcourse is that none of these tourist friendly people pester you with their wares...

Intricately designed Peacock Gate

The diwan-i-khas, straight out of a
period movie

The next stop was the nearby City Palace, the current residence of the erstwhile rulers, descendants of the Sun and heirs of the Kachawaha dynasty.  Part of the palace has been converted into a museum, with standard exhibits of royal furniture, apparel, weapons and utensils.  Of particular interest was the Peacock Gate, the northeast entrance to the inner courtyard.   Delicately adorned with peacock motifs, the entrance arch is a sight to behold.  The other three gates to the courtyard are stunning too, decorated with motifs of waves, lotus and roses.  The Palace also has on exhibit huge silver urns, 5.2 ft tall, 340 kgs heavy and with a capacity of 4000 litres, meant to carry Gangajal for the king, on his journeys!

Samrat Yantra - largest sundial in existence

Next came the Jantar Mantar, the place that we had been most looking forward to!  Constructed by Maharaja Jai Singh II, this is one of the five observatories that he built, and the best preserved.  We were lucky to get an excellent guide, and spent over an hour understanding the working and purpose of the various instruments here.  The precision with which these instruments have been calibrated is amazing.  The Samrat Yantra, the largest sun dial in the world, gives the local time to a precision of 2 seconds!  The experience of being able to actually see the shadow move across the marked marble counter is exhilarating!

Close up of the dial - the shadow on the white marble
is calibrated to a precision of 2 seconds!

 Our guide explained in great detail how each of these yantra's (instruments) worked.  He was equally thrilled to find tourists that are inquisitive and interested in finding out more about the place.  To his utter surprise, we refused to click any snaps while he was explaining, reserving that for later.  What was surprising though was that as we neared an hour and half of 'guide time', he was keen to leave us and look for fresh catch.  Apparently, most guides in Rajasthan limit time with each tourist batch to not more than 1.5 hours, something we would encounter at the Amer Fort as well!

Our next stop was the Amer Fort, the location from which Jodha Akbar was shot.  En-route, we made a quick stop at the Jal Mahal, now restored to its past glory but sadly, out of bound for tourists.  Managed to get a few shots of birds gliding over the surface of the lake, fishing for... what else.... fish!

Majestic Amer Fort, reflected in the moat below...

The Amer Fort is a magnificent structure, but before that, we made a stop at the Jaigarh Fort, the Amer Fort's twin and constructed to accomodate the growing needs of the main fort.  The primary attraction at Jaigarh was the Jaivan, the largest cannon ever made.  With a barrel 20 ft long and a bore 11 inches large, the cannon has a range of over 40 kms (the Bofors howitzer, by comparison has a 6 inch bore and 35 km range).  The cannon however, has not seen any action, having been fired only once, a test shot at that.  In that sense, I prefer the Mendha tope of Daulatabad Fort, the second largest cannon and the Kalal Bangdi of Murud Janjira.  These cannons are battle scarred, intimidating and have character.  They look you in the eye with a 'dare mess with me?' attitude.  The cannon of Jaigarh was a disappointment.

Lunch was at yet another franchise of the ubiquitous Balaji!  It appears that instead of water, Rajasthani's use ghee and butter to cook their food in.  Our waiter was severely disappointed that we did not consume more than 2 servings of the mildly sweet choorma, that goes with dal-baati-choorma, or multiple servings of the heavy gatte ki sabji.  "Saab, aapne to kuch bhi nahi khaya..." he complained after we had consumed what we thought were elephantine quantities of the 10 course (or was it 14?) meal.  This is a Rajasthan standard - these nice people are disappointed if you don't eat the equivalent of 4 people!

Restoration work in progress at the Sheesh Mahal

 The last stop was the majestic Amer Fort, standing sentinel, aloft on the vast desert plains.  Several popular Bollywood movies, the recent one being Jodha Akbar, were shot here.  Contrasted to our experience at the Jantar Mantar, the guide at Amer was a disappointment, pitching more about gems, astrology and the like that would no doubt draw the attention of the foreign tourist, but not fort-o-holics like us.  The Amer Fort has mostly seen peaceful times, as the rulers, the Kachwahas, were on friendly terms with the Mughals and then with the British.  The striking part of the fort though, is the Sheesh Mahal, the palace of mirrors, embellished with mirrors imported from Belgium, that still retain their sheen.

Tiny mirrors of all shapes and sizes, set in artistic patterns adorn the walls and ceiling, throwing off slivers of light in all directions.  One can only imagine the magic the place would have created, reflecting in thousands, the flame of a single lighted lamp...  This surely must have been the inspiration for the pyaar kiya to darna kya song in the epic Mughal-e-azam.  The ceiling and walls are covered in delicate marble carvings that are translucent to the touch, with elaborate paintings of creepers and flowers, and with tiny mirrors set in delicate patterns.  The courtyard has a beautiful garden, set in octagonal patterns interspersed with fountains.  Cool water was circulated through the walls and lattices, giving a respite from the desert heat.  One can only imagine the splendour of this place at the peak of its glory!

View of Ganesh Pol from the fourth courtyard...

The terrace of the fort has a huge courtyard, to one end of which the Ganesh Pol, leads to the Sheesh Mahal.  The entrance arch here is dedicated to Lord Ganesha, and is therefore adorned with motifs attributed to the Lord.  The courtyard itself is immense and we were lucky to be there at the close of tourist hours, when the place was near deserted and the place afforded terrific photographic opportunities.  Minarets and domes, arches and pillars, set against the backdrop of a clear blue sky, and a photographer had to get shutter happy!

Glimpses of Amer Fort...

Majesty of the Amer Fort by night...

It was now time to head to the sound and light show at the ramparts - an hour and half filled with retelling of fort lore.  Very well put together and excellently presented, the show is a must see for those interested.

Photographic tip: Make sure to visit the Amer Fort towards the end of the day, so that you get time at the Sheesh Mahal and Ganesh Pol courtyard devoid of tourists.  Also carry a tripod - the approach road to the fort with the moat and lake below have excellent photographic opportunities to capture the fort reflected in the water below.

Dining at the very exclusive 1135 AD

Apparently, the standard time to tour the fort is 45 minutes, with some curious tourists stretching it to over an hour.  When we met our driver after spending over 4 hours at the fort (not counting the sound and light show), he exclaimed that this has been his most boring outing to the fort!  Imagine his surprise then, when we declared that we wanted to go back into the fort!  Not for sightseeing, but to the restaurant 1135 AD.  The restaurant is inside the fort, at the second courtyard level, passing right in front of the Sila Devi temple.  Strongly recommended for the ambience, excellent food and exceptional service; it was an experience, sitting atop the fort at dusk, with only the sound of the wind blowing over the ramparts for company, enjoying a leisurely dinner.  We certainly felt like royals!  The credit for finding this gem of a place and arranging for us to have a private dinner goes to M!

After an eventful day, it was finally time to pack the cameras and bid goodbye to Jaipur, as we headed to the Golden City of Jaisalmer!  That's for another blog!  Watch this space...

Malshej: driving through clouds and rain

On a whim, decided to head out to Malshej, the popular monsoon destination 140 kms from Mumbai.  Knowing that the only place worth staying over is the Flamingoes Resort, run by MTDC that gets booked four months in advance, it had to be a day trip.  Holidays are not for waking up early and here we were, starting from home at 10.45 AM, for a 300 km single day round trip (yeah, we are like that only).

The route is pretty simple: head out of Mumbai via Thane toll naka, take NH-3 (Mumbai-Nasik highway), turn right towards Kalyan at Chokhi Dhani, cross Kalyan, Ulhasnagar, Shahad on NH 222 and head all the way to Malshej.  That's what Google maps said and we religiously followed the route.  NH-3 was a breeze, though the   traffic snarl-up on the other side gave us an idea of what we would encounter on the way back.  Crossed Chokhi Dhani in a flash and then the traffic nightmare started.  A broken down dumpster on the other side reduced the already narrow NH222 to a single-lane road.  'This is only for a short stretch, the road will open up in no time' we convinced ourselves.  Surely, it did, only to lead to an even more congested stretch across the bi-lane Kalyan rail overbridge.  We compounded the delay by taking a wrong turn that landed us smack in the heart of congested Kalyan town, along Agra Road.  Realising the mistake quickly, we asked around for Malshej and were directed to a narrow lane and told to 'strictly' take a turn at Vallabh Tower.  The six storey Vallabh 'Tower' led to the highway NH 222 towards Malshej.  We had spent over an hour and half and barely covered 45 kms - another 100 to go.  The flyover before Shahad was more of a cross country track, making me want to drive a 4x4.  Such thoughts were immediately dismissed as we hit yet another jam in front of Century Colony at Shahad.  We decided to turn back if we hit another bad traffic spot.  Thankfully, the road opened up thereafter and we were finally on the way to Malshej.  Only worrying footnote: 2 hours down and only 51 kms crossed.

The road after Shahad is pretty good, save for the occasional pothole.  Rolled down the windows to the thin drizzle and the cool breeze - we could only imagine how Malshej would be.

Road below: silver ribbon through green tapestry

The ghat road

As they say, the path to heaven is not easy.  So was it with Malshej.  About 27 kms before Malshej Ghat, the road turns really nasty - this is only for those with a stout heart and a stouter suspension.  The alert driver usually manages to navigate the sea of potholes without accident; we saw atleast three broken down cars being towed.  Signboards with phone nos of tow services are pasted in many places, to help the stranded drivers.  At places the potholes are so bad, one has to search for even a square inch of tarmac.  This bad stretch is about 17 kms long and has to be tackled at crawl speeds.  Alas, this only meant more delay.

Can you count the number of waterfalls?

After what seemed an eternity, we finally hit the ghat road (and with that the bad road stretch ended too).  This has to count among the most scenic drives - lush greenery all around, innumerable waterfalls dotting the mountainside...

Mesmerising falls...

In fact there are waterfalls gushing by the roadside - so close that we could reach out and touch them!  The ghat road was full of waterfalls which were in turn full of picknickers frolicking in the water!

One of the many falls by the roadside...

Picknicers at a waterfall

There are even spots where you actually drive through water falls - there was this spot where the water descended in torrents onto the road from an overhanging ledge above, creating a curtain of water to drive through!  Ofcourse, we drove through it windows rolled down!

Driving through the waterfall: it's
actually water on the windscreen!

Waterfall on the road!

Valley bathed in golden glow

The entire drive through the ghats is scenic: there were moments when the clouds parted to bathe the valley below in golden sunshine.  The effect was breathtaking.

After a drive that melted away the stress of driving potholed roads, we reached the Flamingoes Resort, run by MTDC.  As we drove, we had decided to look for a place to stay, so that we could enjoy the place more, but one look at the crowds milling at the Resort and we knew we'd have to return the same day.  Nevertheless, we decided to try.  The grumpy gentleman at the booking desk informed us curtly, 'kamra nai'.  It was past 2.30 and we were starving - headed to the restaurant at the resort for lunch.


For a moment, we thought we were underneath a water fall again - make no mistake, the restaurant is a covered one!  Buckets of water seeping through the concrete roof were the culprit!  The restaurant was crowded with noisy tourists and the lone waiter was struggling to keep pace.  We managed to catch his eye and ordered a simple fare of dal, rice and aloo: food that we consider 'safe' in most places.  When our order arrived, we realised this was going to be an exception: the aloo was stale, dal not properly done and rice doused in cooking soda.  Inspite of being ravenous, we only managed to finish half a portion.  This has to count as the worst restaurant of all our travels.

Driving through the clouds: approach to the MTDC resort!

Glad we didn't have to stay back at a place like this, we decided to explore the place: figured we had about an hour.  The resort sits atop a small plateau, at the edge of a cliff looking into the valley.  The place is mesmerising.  Tall cliffs rise to touch the clouds all around and as we watched a thick cloud engulfed the whole place, including us, reducing visibility to barely a few metres!  We were literally 'walking in the clouds!'  Not to waste the opportunity M and I let loose our cameras - there were several photo-worthy landscapes begging to be shot!

If there is heaven, this will qualify!

The hour that we had slotted to spend here quickly merged into the next and before long, it was time to turn back.  Promising to return soon, we headed back.

Views of the valley

Bypass from Murbad

After negotiating the bad 17 km stretch, we decided to try a different route: cross over to Shahpur on NH 3, instead of driving through what would certainly be a Shahad-Ulhasnagar-Kalyan teeming with the faithful breaking fast on the last day of Ramadan and the mandals bringing home the Ganapati's.  There are two options for this: one is to turn right at Saralgaon junction and the second is to turn right at Murbad.  Helpful locals advised us to take the latter, a route preferable to even the NH 222.  We did that and were welcomed by a relatively smooth stretch of tarmac.  Though the last few kilometers of this road is pretty bad, it was still better than having to weave through Kalyan traffic.

Views of the setting sun

We were even rewarded for our efforts with fantatic views of a small river that we drove over: the sight of the setting sun glistening off the ripples was a fitting finale to the trip.  Driving 300 kms for 10 hours just to spend a couple of magical moments in the Malshej clouds - was it worth it?  You bet!

Here are some photos of this captivating place...

Clouds take over

Breathtaking views

Breathtaking views

Breathtaking views

Shrouded in clouds

Pondering moment...

Walking into the clouds...

Photo credits: Meenal Dutia, Ram Sharaph