[siddheshb]

Here are some pictures from the trip... amazing scenery all around, so if you are timing your trip, add a lot of time for the photo op stops

First, the drive through Mulshi and Tamhini.. a deep gorge on one side, towering cliffs on the other, mark the beginning of the ghat. A good pit stop.



Although it was late morning, around 10 am, the mist was still hanging around...



...and a final cut through the rock, and you are in the land of sea and sand



The way back through Varandha is a lot more exciting. The towering Sahyadris make you wonder - am I really supposed to climb all the way up there?



And if you had any thoughts of tunneling through, those are quickly dispelled!



A wonderful valley greets you on the other side of the climb



And hills quickly give way to dark blue and green waters of the dam...



... the shimmering sun is absolutely mesmerizing in the waters.



Finally, as we entered Pune, this is what we were greeted with! Cloud burst in November?

[himavanth_m]

great pics. reminds me of my trips. During monsoons, varandha ghat looks way different with a lot more green.
From your previous post, i get that the route is pretty bad. Has it deteriorated completely?

[siddheshb]

No, it's motorable - just that on the narrow and steep road, with the road surface being poor, you can't really push your car. So, if you are willing to take it slow, it should be alright.

[comfortablynumb]

Planning to do a Pune-Dapoli-Pune drive on the Feb 19-20 weekend. Which route among the following would be the best bet w.r.t decent road quality?

1. Via Tamhini
2. Via Varandha
3. Via Poladpur
4. Via Kumbharli

Cheers,
Vikram

[siddheshb]

Most definitely Lamhini. Take it easy till Tamhini, after that it's heaven. Once you descend into Konkan, hit NH17, and then carry on till Khed before turning right to Dapoli. There are some internal roads too, where you can avoid NH17, but I would not consider them as a really great option.

Varandha is beautiful in the rains, but the road is bad on the hill stretch. I would avoid it in this season and without an SUV.

Poladpur should be ok, but you have an unnecessary ascent into Mahabaleshwar and then a very big and twisty ghat at the descent side... so unless you wanna burn your tires squealing into the tight turns, avoid it.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

1. Via Tamhini
2. Via Varandha
3. Via Poladpur
4. Via Kumbharli

Lets discuss about each ghat section.

you want to go to dapoli.
Your purpose of visit may be tourism or any other.
Question is how to reach dapoli from pune in safe condition, fast and driving stress free?

1] Tamhini ghat---

to cross this ghat, you have to negotiate bad roads from poud to end of tamhini ghat i.e. vile village at the base.
after that, you have take nh17 from mangaon to khed phata negotiating traffic on this two lane twisty highway. mean time, you have to cross another ghat i.e. kashedi between poladpur and khed. though the route is scenic, it is not stress free, many potholes, traffic etc. time taken to reach dapoli will be more.

2] varandha ghat---

on this route, you will travel @ 50 km on four laned nh4, then two lane relatively good road on the section of kapurhol-bhor.
after bhor, it is bad road upto hirdoshi. though part of varandha ghat may be good condition, the drive is tiresome. again you have to cross kashedi ghat.

3] mahabaleshwar-poladpur ghat.
once, i was recommending this route to pune people to reach dapoli but presently will not recommend.
on this stretch, you will travel @100km on 4 laned nh4, then good road upto mahabaleshwar, then bad road from mahabaleshwar to poladpur.
on thos route, you will negotiate maximum ghat section i.e. khambataki, pasrani, ambenali-poladpur, kashedi. entire route from wai to khed phata is ghat section and tiresome.

4] kumbharli ghat.

on this streth, you will travel @ 140 km on 4 lane nh4 upto umbraj via satara, umbraj to patan is good road, patan to koynanagar half the distance is good and remaing potholed, koynanagar to helwak and beyond good road, 5 km before start of kumbharli ghat bad road, kumbharli ghat to chiplun very good road, chiplun-parshuram ghat-khed phata good road.
on this stretch, you will negotiate khambatki ghat, kumbharli ghat and parshuram ghat.
i will definitely recommend this route though it is longer among other options.
its relatively stress free drive with maximum good roads.

[comfortablynumb]

Thank you very much for your replies, siddheshb & ASHISHPALLOD.

I was leaning towards Kumbharli Ghat myself. It being a longer route won't matter much as we plan to leave home by 5 AM; so hopefully will make good time till Umbraj and beyond due to sparse traffic at that hour.

@siddheshb - Could you share where you stayed when you visited Dapoli? I will most probably stay at Sagar Sawali [at Ladghar]. Any idea how this place is?

Cheers,
Vikram

[litesaber]

Ashish,

Would you recommend this (Karad - Patan -Koynanagar - Chiplun - Khed - Dabhol) if one was coming from Bangalore on NH4? Would this be better than Kolhapur - NH204 - NH17 - Khed - Dabhol?

I understand this is the wrong thread but I am making plans for this drive.

thank you!

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

Lets discuss about each ghat section.


4] kumbharli ghat.

on this streth, you will travel @ 140 km on 4 lane nh4 upto umbraj via satara, umbraj to patan is good road, patan to koynanagar half the distance is good and remaing potholed, koynanagar to helwak and beyond good road, 5 km before start of kumbharli ghat bad road, kumbharli ghat to chiplun very good road, chiplun-parshuram ghat-khed phata good road.
on this stretch, you will negotiate khambatki ghat, kumbharli ghat and parshuram ghat.
i will definitely recommend this route though it is longer among other options.
its relatively stress free drive with maximum good roads.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by litesaber

Would you recommend this (Karad - Patan -Koynanagar - Chiplun - Khed - Dabhol) if one was coming from Bangalore on NH4? Would this be better than Kolhapur - NH204 - NH17 - Khed - Dabhol?

Its nh4-karad-patan-chiplun-khed-dabhol.

If you take kolhapur-nh204-nh17, you will be on twisty two lane road immediately after kolhapur till dabhol.
Though it is scenic, it is also time consuming.

Better take karad-patan route.

[siddheshb]

Vikram, sorry man, was away from TBHP for a while - and didnt see your query until now. For the record, SS is a nice place, right on the beach. However, I stay at my cousin's farm house.

By the way, we took the Poladpur-Mahabaleshwar route on the way back, seemed the best option compared to Mulshi and Varandha in terms of road quality, although it adds unnecessary KMs to the trip.

[litesaber]

Thanks for confirming the route Ashish :-)

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

Its nh4-karad-patan-chiplun-khed-dabhol.

If you take kolhapur-nh204-nh17, you will be on twisty two lane road immediately after kolhapur till dabhol.
Though it is scenic, it is also time consuming.

Better take karad-patan route.

[naren_gs1]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

1] Tamhini ghat---
2] varandha ghat---
3] mahabaleshwar-poladpur ghat.
4] kumbharli ghat.

Here is my pick:
- Scenary: #4 (Kumbharli ghat is good due to excellent roads, Koyna!), 2,3,1
- Road Condition: #4,3,1/2
- Distance/Time: #1/2,3,4 (Pls note #4 is 310 kms, #2 is 210 kms)

I may want to take #4 while returning! Just beacuse the only major ghat Kumbharli has execllent roads. This way we also don't have to climb Kashedi ghat!

[ObsessedByFIAT]

The Varandha Ghat section is really great with not so great roads. But the Bhaji, Vada Pav and the hot milk you get there is awesome! Planning to go just till that tapri on the Varandha Ghat sometime soon with either wifey or the entire family.

Cheers!

[bigwheelz]

[quote=ASHISHPALLOD;2243842]
you want to go to dapoli.
Your purpose of visit may be tourism or any other.
Question is how to reach dapoli from pune in safe condition, fast and driving stress free?

Hi Ashish,

Planning a trip to Dapoli this weekend. I am starting from Pune in my car and my brother from Panvel in another car. Would it make sense that I take the expressway till khopoli then go to Pen and join him and then we travel togehter?

Since it's all family, we want to travel together.

Also can you suggest the route ahead. I am ok with a little bad roads but it's better that there's less traffic. I took the state highway 70 last time (8 months ago) from Dapoli to Mahad. The road conditions are not good. But I can still take it as there's hardly any traffic. I am driving in day time.

[Figopian]

I had been to Dapoli in February and took the Tamhini ghat road, then right after Veer station, Ambet, Mandangad and Dapoli. It took almost 4 hours in my Figo. Road is okay, depends on which car you drive, less traffic.

You can ask your brother to join in at Mangaon, maybe have lunch at Anandbhuvan and then proceed! We had done the same as my cousins were travelling from Mumbai.

Btw, let me know where you are planning to stay in Dapoli.