[NPV]

Continued...

Trip Day #3 -> Bamnoli a.k.a. Kasbe Bamnoli

We were soon on our way to Bamnoli. There was absolutely no traffic (luckily almost all tourists were grounded at Kaas Plateau and Kaas Lake, good for us) and was extremely scenic to say the least. In about 15 minutes we were at Bamnoli’s Bhairavnath Boating centre. We parked the car near some roadside hotels/shacks and the Bhairavnath temple and headed towards the boating area.

Again, from the reading I’d done, I thought a boat ride to the Triveni Sangam would be nice. The weather was beautiful and the boat ride was simply irresistible. We opted to get a motor boat just for our group and it cost Rs.640/- for a 45 minute ride upto Triveni Sangam and back. This was one of my best boat rides ever in recent times, the greenish water, lots of greenery on all the hills around made it awesome.

The entire group was happy we decided to visit this place and take the boat ride (after that no-so-good crowded experience at Kaas).
Only, there were no life jackets/vests but that was forgotten soon once we were in the boat.

Bhairavnath Temple on the street near the boating point and shacks at Bamnoli


Signboard for River Koyna


And River Tern


Near the building beside the boating point


Water’s edge on the river bank, notice the trees submerged in water partially


Views of the waters from the river bank






The boats lined up and berthed at the boating point


Boat ride begins


The Man - our friendly boatman


His Footwear - placed majestically


And The Machine - a Lister Diesel engine

Seemed quite old and made a lot of noise but did it’s job well!
An internet search yielded this - RA Lister and Company - Wikipedia

Another boat chugs past beside our boat


Some amazing vistas from the boat








Approaching the Triveni Sangam


The Triveni Sangam, the submerged tree is the indicator and the boat goes right around it


The boat now heads back towards the boating point


After the boat ride, we headed back to the street nearby where we'd parked the car, that's also where our food options were.

On the way we saw these geese being fed by visitors and they were creating quite a ruckus, but was fun to watch them.

Holy Geese - these guys were very noisy and quite aggressive too, demanding their share of food!


Looks like the Geese co-existed well with the local Dogs too


We were very hungry by now and had a quick lunch at one of the local shacks, we tried Bhakri for the first time, a Roti made from Rice. With Dal, Rice and Baingan, it was a simple, tasty meal.

The Bhakri (Rice Roti), Chawal and Dal meal


It was nearing 5pm now so we headed back towards Kaas, with a couple of stops for pictures, the views were breathtaking.

En route we stopped somewhere on the Bamnoli-Kaas Road for some parting shots
This was the "bad", "narrow" road the cabbie had mentioned!


Parting shots - views of Bamnoli lake and the waters of the 3 rivers

[NPV]

Continued...

Trip Day #3 -> Bamnoli-Satara-Kolhapur bypass

When we reached near the Kaas Parking lot, we saw that a crane had been pressed into action and had filled up the ditch with red soil on top of the stones making it an easy exit for vehicles from the other side of the parking lot. We were happy that we were early adopters who inspired this development.

At the Kaas Parking lot to pick up the Safari. Notice that the ditch is filled up with soil making it easy to enter/exit the parking lot in front


By now, many vehicles had exited the parking lot and it wasn’t crazy anymore. We trekked down near the flowers but the fog was still dense so had to make do with some quick pictures before returning to the parking lot. We got into our cars and headed towards Satara, En route, we could not resist one last stop to check out the views and scenery

Stop en route on the Kaas-Satara road to enjoy the beauty of the place - the road is surrounded by hills, valleys and water bodies








Pretty, yellow flowers


A Single Yellow Fellow with budding siblings


More views of the hills and medows










There was a bit of slow moving traffic inside Satara town but we were soon on our way, taking the same route that we’d taken earlier that day for Kaas.

About 2 Km before we joined the NH4, we stopped for a fuel break at an IOC bunk. I did not tank up Dizzy® and just filled up for Rs.500, wanted to tank up at Belgaum as per our plan (fuel cheaper in Karnataka but not much as I discovered later).

Then, we stopped at a bakery nearby for some tea and to say goodbyes to our Mumbai wala dost who would then head back to his home while we drove to Belgaum. Over tea, we had an enjoyable and hilarious conversation about the 3 days spent on this trip. One of the friends also presented a mock "vote of thanks" that summarized the trip, nice way to part after the trip.

This was one great trip we’d had and the 3 days seemed to just fly away in no time.

Back on the highway, it started raining and slowed down our progress a bit. So far, I had done all the driving but in case I felt tired, the other friends could always do driver duty so that wasn’t a concern. I was thinking if it would be worth reaching Belgaum around 10pm and then leaving next day to Bangalore, didn’t seem like a great idea so checked with the guys if we can stop over somewhere near Kolhapur and they were like why not drive back to Bangalore directly ? Hmm, then I convinced them that it’s better we stay overnight and leave next day in a refreshed state.

By 8:15pm we were near Sai International on the Kolhapur bypass (where we’d stopped on lunch on Day 1), so decided to check out their lodging. A tad expensive, no 12 hour checkout like some of the highway hotels offer but we didn’t have too much of a choice as well. We checked in to an AC room to get some much needed sleep after a tiring day. We had our dinner (ordered room service), food was a tad spicy keeping up to the Kolhapuri standards. We took a casual stroll around the parking lot making sure the car was safe and then pretty soon we were all dozing away.

[NPV]

Trip Day #4 -> Kolhapur bypass-Belgaum-Bangalore

By 7:30am, all of us were ready to check out. We decided not to have breakfast at Sai and instead stop at Sankam, Belgaum for a late breakfast. En route tanked up Dizzy® at an IOC outlet on Belgaum bypass.

Reached Sankam around 10am and had a heavy breakfast buffet, value for money at Rs.150 plus taxes

Sankam Residency, Belgaum


By 11:15am we were out of Sankam heading towards Bangalore. The breakfast was like brunch so we did not stop for food anywhere else. After a quick Chai break near Chitradurga we were near Yeshwanthpur by 6pm.

En route, Stopped on the service road of the highway to get couple more pictures of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha.

The Suvarna Vidhana Soudha


The Suvarna Vidhana Soudha and lawns in front


My friend captured this one, painted on the back of a bus - for the ardent fan at home


After dropping off both the friends at their homes, I reached my home around 8pm after a successful & wonderful 1700Km trip over 4 days.

Goodies from Mapro, loved the Chocolate Paan!


Trip meter at the end of a very enjoyable trip

[NPV]

Day-Wise Route Information

Day 1
Bangalore-Wai

Map Link


Wai-Dhom-Mahabaleshwar

Map Link


Day 2
Hotel-Bombay Point-Wilson Point-Venna Lake-Echo Point-Lingmala Falls-Mapro Garden-Hotel

Map Link


Day 3

Mahabaleshwar-Parsi Point-Sydney Point-Harrisons Folly

Map Link


Harrisons Folly-Kaas-Bamnoli

Map Link


# Day 4 was a straight forward Kolhapur-Bangalore drive on NH4, retracing route taken on Day 1, albeit with a detour for breakfast at Sankam Residency, Belgaum

*All Map Credits - Google, Google Maps

[NPV]

Trip Statistics - Dizzy®

Total Distance - ~1700Km
FE (Petrol) - ~16Kmpl

Dizzy® was trouble free throughout the trip

**** Happy Diwali, thanks for reading ****

[Rehaan]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[HighwayHopper]

Thanks for sharing. Refreshed memories of my trip to Mahabaleshwar in September 2012. Indeed this is the best time to visit when there is rain, fog and greenery everywhere.

[invidious]

Thanks for this thread. I remember spending a lot of time as a kid in Mahableshwar - very close to Wilson Point - infact, Wilson Point was just a 10 minute walk. I see you shot some pictures of the "ruins" next to the Wilson Point tower - I faintly remember that there still were actual structures in the late 80s - but these were abandoned barracks from the British era. Never been to Kaas, but looks like it is worth a trip. Nice pictures.

[for_cars1]

Thanks for the very detailed travelogue.

Originally Posted by NPV

....Dizzy® parked under the only tree in front of the CCD. Loved the shadow of the tree that was swaying due to the crosswinds....

Parking under a coconut tree should be avoided at all costs. High risk of ending up with a coconut smashed through the windshield as I learn't the hard way. A swaying coconut tree sounds even more menancing .

[PointZero]

Mahabaleshwar looks very good with the greenery. On February I was in pune for 20 days due to some office work and went to the places. If you allow me I can post some of the snaps from my weekend drive to Mahabaleshwa.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by PointZero

If you allow me I can post some of the snaps from my weekend drive to Mahabaleshwa.

Thanks!
This is a public forum where members post their experiences, please do share the pictures

[PointZero]

Few snaps from my weekend drive to Mahabaleswar.

[freedom]

Originally Posted by PointZero

Few snaps from my weekend drive to Mahabaleswar.

Fresh strawberries in November !! Waaw ! I thought the best season is in late Jan/Feb.
Did you try those out or buy ?

[PointZero]

You are right freedom, it was in feb 3rd week... yes I took a basket of fresh strawberry from a garden.

Originally Posted by freedom

Fresh strawberries in November !! Waaw ! I thought the best season is in late Jan/Feb.
Did you try those out or buy ?

[freedom]

Originally Posted by PointZero

You are right freedom, it was in feb 3rd week... yes I took a basket of fresh strawberry from a garden.

My bad. I just saw the date of the post and thought you had visited Mahabaleshwar over Diwali weekend.

Fantastic photos! I will love to take that Santro to office for a day