[Pam81]

Wow! Excellent travelogue and crisp and clear photos!!

I have done a recent one too to Dapoli and Velneshwar for 2 days from Pune. We took Tamhini for onward journey and Bhor for return journey. I agree it is too much of twists, but the mountains were beyond just being scenic. I have taken a self-drive Scorpio from Voler Cars for this trip as we had guests visiting us. It was wonderful to drive through the ghats. Tamhini is far better compared to Bhor. Barring few patches of stone roads in Tamhini, the road is in really good condition whereas Bhor not improved at all. Deeper cuts on the sides, lots & lots of potholes.

The MTDC resort at Velneshwar was confusing at its best. The signage on the road for reception is small to recognize. The rear gate is even before and that's where they were advising to park the vehicles. That gate is a confusion as well, as it had "Kokan Restaurant" instead of MTDC resort and it looked very similar to "MTDC approved" hotels

Velneshwar beach was relatively short in length and not very clean at the entrance as many hoteliers throwing wastes directly in to sea and stray dogs picking and running along with it.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

AutoIndian, excellent photos, far from the maddening crowds! The entire nation would have been like this had our population been limited to 20 to 30 crores.

Thank you sandeepmdas for your compliments. Very true, except Ganapati Pule, we did not encounter rush anywhere throughout our trip (demonetization effect, I guess)

BTW, in Kerala and in Goa, they call the vessel that ferries cars a Junkar and a Jetty is a place on shore where one can catch a boat. A junkar-boarding point is a Ferry.

Ohh, Junkar, that's new learning. You are right, refer the picture below of the SuvarnaDurga Shipping and Marine Services Pvt Ltd, which manages these boats. They are calling it as Ferry Boat Service.

Originally Posted by Pam81

Wow! Excellent travelogue and crisp and clear photos!!

Thank you Pam81 for your compliements. Good to know that you liked it.

I have done a recent one too to Dapoli and Velneshwar for 2 days from Pune. We took Tamhini for onward journey and Bhor for return journey. I agree it is too much of twists, but the mountains were beyond just being scenic. I have taken a self-drive Scorpio from Voler Cars for this trip as we had guests visiting us. It was wonderful to drive through the ghats. Tamhini is far better compared to Bhor. Barring few patches of stone roads in Tamhini, the road is in really good condition whereas Bhor not improved at all. Deeper cuts on the sides, lots & lots of potholes.

Both Tamhini and Varandha ghats are my favuorites. Last year (2016) I took the Tamhini ghat route while going to Raigad and took the Varandha ghat while going to Shivthar ghal. In monsoons these ghats are heaven on earth dotted with numerous waterfalls. I am always waiting for an opportunity to drive through these ghats, but not my family. Especially wife does not want to touch Tamhini even with a barge pole

[freedom]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

When all the passengers and vehicles disembarked from the jetty it was my turn to take the Orange Tank up there in the jetty. It was a cakewalk for the tank without any fear of the underbody scraping.

Excellent travelogues and photos. Did you visit Karhateshwar temple? Its near the Jindal plant. The backside of temple has a nice sit out area and the view from there is breathtaking.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by freedom

Excellent travelogues and photos. Did you visit Karhateshwar temple? Its near the Jindal plant. The backside of temple has a nice sit out area and the view from there is breathtaking.

Thanks freedom. I guess I have missed visiting Karhateshwar temple. Was not aware about that. Also our landlord did not inform me about that. He did make a mention about Jaigad fort, but said there was nothing much to see over there. May be next time, I will include it in my itirenary

[CrazyToDrive]

Hey AutoIndian, another nice TL with superb pics. I usually visit the other side - Dapoli. I had been to Guhaghar couple of years back travelling through the jetty from Dapoli side. Its really a nice experience. Your TL brought back those memories. I did Guhaghar- Hedavi- Chiplun - Dervan- Ganpatipule- Guhaghar. But I traveled to Ganpatipule by National highway instead of Jaigad jetty.

There are other few nice places around Chiplun to visit the famous Parshuram Temple and the Shiv-Srushti (showcasing life of Shivaji Maharaj) at Dervan.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by CrazyToDrive

Hey AutoIndian, another nice TL with superb pics. I usually visit the other side - Dapoli. I had been to Guhaghar couple of years back travelling through the jetty from Dapoli side. Its really a nice experience. Your TL brought back those memories. I did Guhaghar- Hedavi- Chiplun - Dervan- Ganpatipule- Guhaghar. But I traveled to Ganpatipule by National highway instead of Jaigad jetty.

Thank you CrazyToDrive. Dapoli side is also good. I purposefully skipped the northern part of Guhagar and focussed only on southern side, that being the farther from Pune/Mumbai. North side can be done with one overnight stay (which can be managed over any one of the week ends), but for covering south you need at least three nights.

There are other few nice places around Chiplun to visit the famous Parshuram Temple and the Shiv-Srushti (showcasing life of Shivaji Maharaj) at Dervan.

Both the places that you have mentioned were earlier on my itirenary, after doing Ganapati Pule I could have done both the above. But I wanted to cover the south side of Pule, expecially Arrey-Warrey and Pawas and while returning from Pawas sunset caught up with me, hence had to skip both the above places. Next time will definitely cover both of them.

[procrj]

Finaly finished reading your TLog Autoindian. Thanks for sharing all the details and pics. Looks like you have finally started stretching the legs of your tank Hope you have many more such fantastic drives in 2017

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by procrj

Finaly finished reading your TLog Autoindian. Thanks for sharing all the details and pics. Looks like you have finally started stretching the legs of your tank Hope you have many more such fantastic drives in 2017

Yes, you are right Ravinder, slowly but steadily my tank has started venturing out. Yeah, looking forward to 2017 as the year of touring.