[Jignesh]

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:

[vasanthn21]

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.

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

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,

[mobike008]

Note from Moderator : Thread moved from Assembly Line to Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing !!!

[amitwlele]

Just one question came to mind after looking at the initial snaps. Which company do you work in? 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.

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by amitwlele

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.

Hello Amit,

Yes, the Guesthouse is very well maintained.

Regarding stopping on Expressway, that is very valid suggestion. Just that I could not resist clicking photographs there. Even our friend MX6 is strickly against this & I will surely take care in future.

Hello Friends,

Day 2 - I head to Lavasa. Now Lavasa is approx 110 Kms from Lonava as shown below:



One needs to drive through Mumbai - Pune Express & exit towards Hinjewadi. The last 35 kms of the route to Lavasa pass through Themgar Lavasa Road & it is one of the most scenis roads I have travelled so far. One drive uphill form approx 25 KMS on this road & you see Lavasa enterance gate.

The security will ask basic questions like name, from location & reason for visit & you are into Lavasa. Now for next 10 KMS you go downhill towards the Dam that we have always seen in Lavasa advertisements.

Leaving aside the Ecological & Political controversities, the only question that comes to your mind in Lavasa is - what will be the price of apartment / banglow / row house here. The scene you see is absolutely spectacular & mind bloggling.

Enroute Themgar Lavasa you get to see couple of Dams & you will feel stopping at every corner to capture the greenery there.

I will let the pictures talk here:

Once again on Mumbai Pune Expressway:










Going uphill on Themgar Lavasa Road:


A small Dam enroute:










Like Mother Like Daugher. Copying at its best.


A sight to behold. Lavasa...




























The Car that took us to this wonderful place:




Opps, I guess I have reached the 30 pictures limit in a post. I will post further pictures of Lavasa in next post.

Thanks,

[Jignesh]

Hello Friends,

Below are more pictures from Lavasa. Some pictures are little dull, that was due to sudden change in climate from clear to light rains.

Also some pictures might seem repeating, but I just want to present the place from all angles.





Below is captured with full zoom (4X). Row Houses being built in middle of hill or in middle of nowhere. But as I said earlier, at every sight, you feel like having a house here:




Even in light rains, my daughter was in good spirits. Thank you Prisha for being good all through the tour:




Rain water from hills flowing into Dam right in middle of Lavasa city:


























Where are we? in India or in some streets of Europe?














Lavasa International Convention Center...


In below picture you see marking in water for Water Sports. There are many options for water sports in Lavasa & is managed by The Waterfront Shaw. Information available online.






Thanks,

[Jignesh]

Time was flying by & we had lunch at Subway restaurant. There are many options for food & snacks, though the prices are on higher side, but given the environment, they are justified. One can also have his / her food at water front & enjoy the beautiful sight.

Below are final set of pictures from Lavasa:





Children's play area & conostruction going on above:


The Dam wall that you saw in first Lavasa picture above is this. This is a connection between two sides of the dam:


From Dam wall & water sports boats in middle:


Constructions in full swing & Row Houses being built on hills:








(Lavasa) Dam water finally flowing into River:












It was almost 4:30 pm & we decided to head back to Lonavala. Remember distance to Lonavala from here is 110 KMS & I did not wanted to drive through the Mumbai Pune Expressway at night. We start our journey back, with a dream to own a house here in Lavasa in near future.
Enroute we saw this helipad, obviously for the VIP's that already have a investment here:








Finaly picture of Lavasa captured at it's best by my humble digicam:






We begin our drive downhill on Themgar Lavasa Road:






Dam wall enroute:






In the next post I will present few pictures from Lonavala & Khandala.

Thanks,

[Shiv_1984]

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

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by Shiv_1984

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,

[Jignesh]

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,

[Jignesh]

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,

[TaureanBull]

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.

[Omtoatom]

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!

[SDP]

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.

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?