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Hello Friends,
Though this trip happend in mid of September, I was somehow not getting time to post the details here on T-BHP. To be frank, blame it on my laziness.
Well, it is no secret that for most Mumbai & Pune people, Lonavala is the best (& most crowded) place in monsoons. Also due to Mumbai-Pune Expressway, people just love driving to Lonavala (to test limits of their Cars).
Coupled with the fact that my Organization operates two Guest-houses at Lonava with three rooms in each, which are most of the time booked well in advance. I somehow managed to book one of the Rooms in Company Guesthouse for four days in September 2012, which is probably best time to visit Lonavala. As I generally prefer to avoid weekend crowds, I planned my trip on weekdays (Wednesday to Saturday).
Now the best part - employees need not pay anything for accomodation in Guesthouse. We just need to pay for food (at cost) & Income Tax on perks received from Company.
Well I (we) have been to Lonavala couple of times in past & there is nothing much to explore for us there, so the big question remains - what to do at Lonavala? Finally we decide on below plan:
Day 1 - Wednesday - Leave from office in afternoon & reach Lonvala by late evening. (Approx 100 Kms)
Day 2 - Thursday - Lonavala - Lavasa - Lonavala (approx 110 kms one way)
Day 3 - Friday - Lonavala (Bhushi Dam & other points) as I prefer to avoid weekend crowds.
Day 4 - Lonava - Morachi Chincholi - Lonavala. (approx 100 kms one way)
Day 5 - Sunday - Lonavala - Mumbai (to reach home by noon).
Things happened according to plans & family 9wifey & daughter) reached office (SEEPZ, Andheri East), but could not get them inside SEEPZ due to legal formalities. We started at approx 3:00 pm from SEEPZ & enjoyed a wonderful drive from JVLR to Lonavala with one bio break in between.
Some pictures taken on the way:
Below picture is clicked by my 5.5 year old daughter:
As I started directly from office, I am in formal attire with office ID Card & pulley on my trousers.
My Daughter - Prisha:
Hi Jignesh,
Can I expect some more pics from Lavasa and Lonavala?
This brings back some nice memories. I had to go to Pune to pick-up my pre-owned car from the seller, and drove back to Bangalore. On the way, we went to Lonavala as my brother was staying there those days.
Yes, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway is surely used to test the limits of the car, even we did that!
Looks like you had a very good weather during your trip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vasanthn21
(Post 2981545)
Can I expect some more pics from Lavasa and Lonavala?
Yes, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway is surely used to test the limits of the car, even we did that!
Looks like you had a very good weather during your trip. |
Hello Vasanth,
Yes. You can definitelty explect many pictures of Lavasa. Infact I have mainly posted this travelogue for Lavasa pictures, becuase I did not find latest pictures of Lavasa on T-BHP.
Regarding overspeeding on Mumbai-Pune Expressway, hope people understand that it is really dangerous. I always maintained a speed less than 100 KMPH on any highway.
Also yes we were lucky to have great climate on all 4 days.
Hello Friends,
My Guesthouse in Lonavala was located at Tungarli Village, Kumar Hills, which very close to Lonavala exit of Mumbai Pune Expressway.
It was almost getting dark & I took a chance to capture some beautiful surroundings in Kumar Hills bunglows & Tungarli Village:
Most of us dream of a holiday home in place like this:
The interior of the room that we are allocated:
The exterior of the banglow. Once again, most of us do dream of a holiday home like this:
The landmark to our Guest house was Narayani Dham Temple & boy, it was indeed a huge structure. The temple is very well maintained & it boasts of very good accomodation & food facilities. We checked one of the rooms & indeed it was better than most of budget hotels. The aarti in Temple is done couple of times in a days, incidently on day one when we went there aarti was going on & somehow I found it magical & we happen to go there for three days at scheduled aarti time.
Below are some pictures from Narayani Dham, not in order of days & times we visited there:
In the next post I will present pictures of Lavasa.
Thanks,
Note from Moderator : Thread moved from Assembly Line to Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing !!!
Just one question came to mind after looking at the initial snaps. Which company do you work in?lol: That is a well maintained guest house.
Would be waiting for snaps from Lavasa.
One suggestion: Please avoid stopping on the expressway. I am sure you have heard of accidents involving parked vehicles on the expressway.
Nice pictures Jignesh, had been to Lavasa once but that was long ago in 2010, when i was working in Mumbai. I am sure things would have changed manifold by now. The environment looks great to relax and unwind :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiv_1984
(Post 2981944)
Nice pictures Jignesh. I am sure things would have changed manifold by now. The environment looks great to relax and unwind :) |
Thank you Shiv,
Yes the place is changed a lot since 2010.
Surely, it is a wonderful place to relax & unwind. Also there are couple of stay & food options available. The best time to visit will be monsoons & winters as the climate will be excellent & greenery will be at its best.
But the ultimate feeling is to see something (India's first planned hill city) that we have never seen in this country. I wonder how much planning efforts would have gone into this before actual development started.
Thanks,
Hello Friends,
We came back to Lonavala with beautiful memories of Lavasa & had our dinner, went to Narayani Dham Temple for day-end aarti & retired for the day.
Now we were left with Friday & Saturday to spend at Lonavala. Once again as most of Mumbai & Pune folks know, Lonavala is heavyly crowded on weekends with traffic jams a common sight, so we decided to explore Lonavala on Friday. We planned to visit few (general) places in Lonavala like Lonavala Lake, Bhushi Dam, Echo point, Lion point, Khandala point, etc. Nothing special to mention about these places & I will just present few random point from each of these locations. One thing for Lion point is the wind & fog here are amazing & climate changes unexpectedly. Suddenly you are surronded by thick fog & visibility is reduced to couple of meters.
Random pictures from Lonavala:
At Lion's point:
Winds at Lions point:
Am I in Kaas Valley???
Prisha feeding biscuits to Fish at Bhushy Dam (& also eating some herself):
Usual crowds at Bhushy Dam
One customary picture at Bhushy Dam:
Thick fog at Lions Point:
I ask is this scene somewhat like Switzerland? Shut-up you are in Lovanala:)
The Man & the Machine:) (clicked by my daughter)
At Khandala:
Thanks,
Hello Friends,
Two days in Lonavala went fast & good. Now were left with Saturday & as per schedule we were supposed to go to Morachi Chincholi which is approx 110 kms from Lonavala. But as the climate in Lonavala was really great, we decided against driving 220 for visiting Morachi Chincholi. Instead we spent the day visiting couple of places like Lions Point & Khandala point again.
Come Sunday morning & we were all set to return back home. Stated from Guesthouse approx at 10 am & we reached home in Mumbai (Malad) by 1 pm. The drive was good with only one bio & refreshment break at Expressway food plaza.
The distance covered in the trip was 535 kms & I managed to achieve mileage of 18.5 KMPL.
Just a couple of pictures taken once we reached our apartment:
Thanks,
Awesome travelogue with lots of pics and good details. I am not sure if the monsoon is the best season to travel. The place looks all wet and Prisha (lovely name BTW) with raincoat on! :)
But yes, I never new that Lonavala looks so good, have just heard till now about the place. Wish will visit soon.
Nice travelogue Jignesh studded with lots of pictures. Revived a lot of memories for me - especially the Lavasa leg. Making a mental note to plan a trip there soon.
That place is coming up in a big way...and fast too!
Jignesh, very good travelogue! Thanks for sharing loads of pictures.
Lavasa looks beautiful. Never been there. Let me try to squeeze in a one day-trip to Lavasa sometime in Dec. :D
By "Subway", did you mean the subway 'Sandwitch and Subs' chain from us? What are some of the other food options there?
Did you explore the watersports?
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