[vinitbhavi]

I have read many a travelogue and this section is definitely one of my favorites on the forum. I have put up small travelogues earlier on facebook when I drove all over Maharashtra & Karnataka in my SX4. But this forum with the likes of HVK, Laluks, anshuman and many others with their brilliant threads makes a job writing a thread here a daunting task and I hope being my first thread here the readers can overlook any mistakes.

Now since we sold our SX4 the absolutely beautiful beast with that awesome ground clearance we have shifted to the little Grand i10 because of the practicality of city driving. We have made many trips to Pune with a few of our relatives there but a break was required since we had twin boys 3 months back and we had not really driven out of Mumbai for more than a year with all the restrictions on the wife.

We really hate the crowded Lonavala more so my wife because of the mad crazy weekends (remember getting stuck for 4 hours in a jam in the city). So the first requirement was it has to be a weekday. The place was chosen because of the proximity to Mumbai and it being relatively safe. Remember we were travelling with 3 month old twin boys.

After a bit of research The Lagoona resort (http://www.thelagoonaresort.com/) was chosen. The check in was at 13:00 and check-out at 10:00 and correspondingly the departure time was chosen at 11:30 hrs. A special thanks to fellow BHPian swsumit for guidance on the Tungarli dam/lake.

With the tank topped up we left the Mumbai traffic and headed out towards the Mumbai-Pune Expressway a drive done many times and the drive itself was uneventful. Must mention that the roads at the beginning of the sion pavel highway after Vashi are awful and almost into off-road terrain

The initial reading of the ODO

To be continued...

[vinitbhavi]

Day 1:
We made slow and steady time on our way to Lonavla, this was because I had limited the speed to maximum 80 km/hr considering our tiny occupants. Stuck to the middle lane and allowed most vessels to pass (not a very easy thing to do must admit). We reached around 14:30 hours with the mandatory stop at the Expressway food mall for a quick snack.
The hotel was much to our liking with large rooms and a comfortable bed.
As a great man once said. Let the pictures do the talking.

THE LOBBY AT LAGOONA:




The property is pretty large and can house not only many guests but also has a huge lawn for marriages/parties etc.

POOLSIDE:



The evening was spent exploring the property which has lagoon too hence the name Lagoona.

A PICTURE OF THE LAGOON :



BEHIND THIS SMALL HILL OVERLOOKING THE PROPERTY IS THE TUNGARLI LAKE:



A CLICK OF THE RECREATION/ MARRIAGE GROUND :



THE SUN PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK :



ATTEMPT AT A MACRO SHOT :

[vinitbhavi]

Note: Most of the pictures were shot in the limited time period of about 2 hour intervals (the time when twins were asleep), so please bear with the quality if not up to the mark.

That was end of Day 1 with this on the ODO :



As nice as the evening was, the early morning was doubly awesome. The sun rise as per a quick internet search was at 06:21. The alarm was set which of course was not required with the twins waking us up well before 6 a.m.

WE WOKE UP TO THIS :



Now to the most exciting part of the travelogue which was the quick drive to the Tungarli Lake which is literally 5 minutes up the small hill overlooking the Resort. The roads of the ascent are quite bad and my grand took quite a beating but once up there it was all absolutely worth it. I was alone this time allowing the ladies to just laze around the room.
Again I will let more of the pictures do the talking.

You may just miss the dam because there isn't any marking or indication of the same. However you're treated to beautiful views even after crossing the dam entrance/ lake approach. A good point to know here is that this is also the approach road for the trek to the famous Rajmachi Fort.

AT THE SUMMIT OF THE SMALL HILL OVERLOOKING THE LAKE :



Finally a retired group of men guided me to the lake and the dam. (Lesson learnt: Not to completely rely on google maps)
As per Wikipedia and other sites
Tungarli Lake and Dam

This lake and Dam comes to life during the Monsoon and built during the British era featuring serene surroundings. Tungarli Dam was constructed around the 1930s. The dam helps in the irrigation of the Rajmachi region.


GRAND PARKED WHILE LOOKING FOR THE ENTRANCE TO THE DAM :



Finally as guided by the good men I reached the lake entrance overlooking the dam.

AT THE FAR END IS THE LAKE, MAYBE GOOD FOR OFF-ROADING WITH AN AWD. FOR NOW WILL WALK :



THE GRAND WAITS PATIENTLY AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE LAKE APPROACH :



FIRST GLIPSES OF THE LAKE WITH THE RISING SUN :



THE TUNGARLI DAM :



The lake was absolutely serene and quiet with not a soul in sight. A lovely experience.

WALKING ALONG THE DAM :



THE VALVES THAT PROBABLY CONTROL THE FLOW (SAYS 1913 ON THE VALVE BODY-ASSUMING IT IS THE YEAR OF MANUFACTURE) :



AT THE FAR SIDE OF THE DAM WALL : NOTE THE FUNKY VALVE ON THE RIGHT.



TIME TO HEAD BACK, THE GRAND IS WAITING PATIENTLY FOR ME AND SO IS FAMILY AT THE RESORT :



AS I HEAD BACK A PARTING PANAROMA SHOT OF THE HILL OVERLOOKING LONAVALA. OUR RESORT IS THE LAST BUILDING COMPLEX SEEN ON THE LEFT :



We had a scrumptious breakfast and headed to Cooper's (near Lonavala station) for their fudge after which we left for home around 11.30 reaching Bombay at 14:30 with a lunch stop.

This was what had to be packed for less than 24 hours trip. (We were 3 adults- my mom, wife, me and our twin boys)

HOW DID ALL THAT FIT IN THE GRAND :



We also had a twin pram but had to take the single one along because of space constraints. I miss you SX4

AT THE END OF THE TRIP THE ODO:



It was a very short, tiring trip but was needed after 3 months of the daily routine with the twins and more so for the ladies of the house. All the adults enjoyed the trip. The twins just woke up once at night so they must have enjoyed as well . If ever in doubt about heading out for a few hours and even if looking difficult just do it, its all worth it in the end.
Thank you for patiently reading through the travelogue and sharing my journey and experience. As they say 'keep revving'.
Looking forward to many more travelogues.

Cheers !

[Eddy]

Travelogue moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing.

[swsumit]

Hii ,
Good to see the greenery all around , great pics

regards

sumit

[vinitbhavi]

Thanks sumit!Yup it really was green all around and can see why the place is always packed on the weekends in the monsoons.

[swiftnfurious]

A quick getaway from Mumbai. With just ~100 kms one side, guess this is quite ok for a weekend trip if you just wanna rest peacefully.

Could you put up the tariff & booking numbers of the resort too please?

[vinitbhavi]

Hey swiftnfurious the short trip is good for weekdays but the weekends are crowded however a bit less in this part of lonavala best planned with lots of time on hand and good arrival / departure timings. Being a weekday the pricing was reasonable at 8500/- including dinner and breakfast next day.

The contact information is.
02114-273817 / 273819, 9096002452, 9860796961, 9665017402

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing! Lonavla is so close, yet so beautiful. A different world altogether.

The Tungarli area is a great spot to offroad.

[rakesh_r]

Thanks for penning down a good travelogue supported by some good pics.I was not aware of Tungarli though i have done Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai umpteen number of times. Lonavala has lost it's sheen with people flocking there every weekend. Neverthless I enjoy riding on the old highway especially at the Khandala ghats.
PS-Could you please share the route details to the dam as you said Gmaps shows the wrong route.
A pic from one of my rides on Barney,my trusty CL500.

[vinitbhavi]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thanks for sharing! Lonavla is so close, yet so beautiful. A different world altogether.

The Tungarli area is a great spot to offroad.

Attachment 1411448

Attachment 1411449

Hii GTO those pictures of the off road drives are fantastic .Hope to do a bit of offroading sometime in the future in my very own 4x4 / awd. It looks like it's next to the lake how was the experience . Some parts of lonavala are indeed beautiful.

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

Thanks for penning down a good travelogue supported by some good pics.I was not aware of Tungarli though i have done Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai umpteen number of times. Lonavala has lost it's sheen with people flocking there every weekend. Neverthless I enjoy riding on the old highway especially at the Khandala ghats.
PS-Could you please share the route details to the dam as you said Gmaps shows the wrong route.
A pic from one of my rides on Barney,my trusty CL500.

Thanks for the appreciation rakesh. It's kind of on the non crowded side of lonavala,Away from the main city,amby Valley and other areas more frequently visited by weekend visitors. Agree with you about lonavala having lost its sheen. It's however practical and quite a good experience on weekdays for an overnight stay.That's indeed a sweet ride you have there. Will put up a detailed map to get there since it's somewhere on the laptop ASAP. Stay tuned.