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Old 11th July 2010, 10:29   #1
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Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu

Driving in the rains has always been a passion....and now that I have a Xylo in my hands, I can really drive down long distances without a worry. Have planned a run down to Jog later this month but since we got the Xylo only in October, I havent really have got a feel of it on the highway durintg the rains, hence decided to go for a small highway drive over to Jawhar and check out Dabhosa falls.

Had made the same run in 2008 in my Indica, covered Jawhar, Trimbak, Nasik, Shirdi, Bhandardara and Malshej in 5 days. It poured so much that by the time we came back, I was wishing that it wouldnt rain for a couple of days....

So here goes a double travelogue, 2008 and 2010....Monsoon Magic!!
2008

Day 1...Jawahar 2008 and Deja-Vu...Jawahar 2010.


This is gonna be a fast forward (opposite to a flashback in our films)....covered the same route with a gap of 2 yrs but amazingly could capture some exactly similar scenes.

Cut back to 2008...started out at around 6am....drive on the NH4 out of Mumbai was very peaceful in some mild rains...just before Manor, need to take a right for Vikramgadh (landmark would be Manor Telephone exchange with Simla Inn on the opposite side both bang on the highway). Once off the higway, its an amazing rural road right up to Jawhar..foogy, misty and surreal. Dabhosa is around 18 kms from here...i will let the pics do the taking....

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-jawhar-route-11am.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-jawhar-route-11-am-2.jpg

this one was taken in 2008 with my sony handycam
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-enroute-jawhar-2008.jpg

and Deja Vu 2010...with my sony H50.
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-deja-vu-2010.jpg

Dabhosa in full glory...
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-dabhosa-falls.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-dabhosa-falls-2008.jpg

Sunset point with no sun...
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-sunset-point-jawhar-but-sun-missing.jpg

wanna get creative
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-sunset-point-through-rain-lashed-windscreen.jpg

Jai Vilas Palace. The tribal kings palace...not exactly in ruins but not maintained well either
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-jaivilas-palace-entrance.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-jaivilas-palace-jawhar-2008.jpg



Forward to 2010...Deja Vu...Started out at 6am...by the time, the sun came out all traces of rain vanished and it was clear blue sky with the sun bearing down upon us...no fog, no mist and not surrreal at all :(...
Back in '08, had clicked pics with my Sony handycam and in '10 , its a sony H50. let the pics do the talking here..

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-enroute-jawhar-2010.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-enroute-jawhar-2010-2.jpg

The flow wasnt as good as in 2008
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-dabhosa-2010.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-dabhosa-2010-2.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-jawhar-palace-2010.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-jawhar-palace-2010-2.jpg

This was awesome....fresh catch and cooked as per choice
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-jumbo-prawn-2010.jpg

Cut back to 2008...after taking in all the views and soaked to the T, we made our way to the forest range guesthouse (booked for us by a benovalent uncle)...now this place was like the houses used in Ramsay movies...creaking doors, spider webs and huge lizards...one look at wifey's face and we were out of there. Made our way to Nasik, visted Trimbaeskwar enroute and camped out at a decent hotel on the highway.

Timbakeshwar
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-trimbak.jpg

Day 2...off to Bhandardara...
Attached Thumbnails
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-jawhar-palace-view-lawns-2010.jpg  

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-route-towards-jawhar-palace-2010.jpg  

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Old 11th July 2010, 10:37   #2
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Wow! Great thread and great start! Loved your idea of juxtaposing two trips in one thread.

I too am a big lover of the rainy season.

Let them flow!
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Old 11th July 2010, 12:41   #3
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nice to see the alternating stuff. Sadly, the water has receded and is pretty evident. Future is gloomy.
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Old 11th July 2010, 12:56   #4
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Driving in monsoon is really great, but for bad unmarked potholed roads. Also cleaning becomes another mess. Just on a heavy down pour, its fantastic to see the entire land being water washed, clean, less traffic.

Especially after the rains, its good to watch the places as you've posted on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7. They're simply superb.
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Old 11th July 2010, 17:12   #5
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Differences in water levels are very obvious as MX mentioned. Did you trek to Ratangad from Bhandardara? Or are there places to visit other the trek?
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Old 11th July 2010, 21:13   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aargee View Post
Driving in monsoon is really great, but for bad unmarked potholed roads. Also cleaning becomes another mess. Just on a heavy down pour, its fantastic to see the entire land being water washed, clean, less traffic.

Especially after the rains, its good to watch the places as you've posted on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7. They're simply superb.
Thanks Aargee....the washed out roads after a downpour look awesome and its a joy drivng into the rains.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ampere View Post
Differences in water levels are very obvious as MX mentioned. Did you trek to Ratangad from Bhandardara? Or are there places to visit other the trek?

Quote:
Originally Posted by MX6 View Post
nice to see the alternating stuff. Sadly, the water has receded and is pretty evident. Future is gloomy.
Yeah, Ampere and MX6, the water flow has reduced considerably even though it has rained quite consistently.

Trekking is the last thing I will ever try....Lotsa places to visit....Bhandardara coming up.
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Old 11th July 2010, 21:30   #7
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Day 2 : Bhandardara...

ay 2...Bhandardara
Checked out from Nasik after breakfast at around 9am and started for Bhandardara, it was raining cats, dogs, donkeys and whatever else might have wanted to fall out of the sky!! the ride up after turning off at Ghoti near Igatpuri is very beautiful. Picture time....

On the way after Ghoti....
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-enroute-bhandardara.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-waterfall-way-bhandardara.jpg

Can you count the number of waterfalls in this picture?
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-can-you-count-waterfalls.jpg

Grouchy guy...didnt dance!!
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-peacock..sadly-he-wasnt-mood-dance.jpg

We had booked ourselves at the MTDC, neat and clean and beautifully located bang on the lake. The reception suggested that I take a guide along with in the car...thought it was a nice idea. So off we went, there is steep fee to be paid at the entrance to the forest sanctuary but the roads through 10-hut villages and green feilds is entirely worth every penny. Picture time again ...

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-crazy-clouds.jpg

Interesting mangroves half submerged...looked pretty.
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-dunno-if-these-mangroves.jpg

My steed....
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-indica-mist.jpg

Panjara Falls...around 15 feet high but the flow of water was very strong
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-panjara-falls-2.jpg

Randha falls...didnt impress me after Dabhosa..
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-randha-falls.jpg

This one was better, just before Randha
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-near-randha-falls-2.jpg


Had a nice dinner at the in-house restaurant at MTDC and crashed for the night.

Staying back at Bhandardara tommorrow!!

Last edited by nix1976in : 11th July 2010 at 21:35.
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Old 11th July 2010, 22:17   #8
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Excellent. I'm tempted to make my Malsejh trip next weekend. There's a pune mumbai megameet. Hence will have to work around it.
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Old 11th July 2010, 23:18   #9
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A True Misty Mountain hop! A La -- Led Zeppelin!
The weather should just be dry enough to walk and wet enough to have chai and pakodas!
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Old 12th July 2010, 20:09   #10
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Day 3...Shirdi

Had planned to visit some other falls near Igatpuri on day 3, but once we drove down to Ghoti, we saw a sign pointing to shirdi via the Nasik bypass and who could resist God's call....so off we went to Shirdi, the bypass is like an expressway and throws you right off near Sinnar, it was a nice quick darshan with cats and dogs still falling out of the sky. Came back around 4is and walked around the lake. Its a very beautiful view. Picture time again...

On the way to Ghoti from Bhandardara
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-route-ghoti.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-route-ghoti-1.jpg

Windmills on Nasik Bypass
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-foggy-wondmill-bypass.jpg

Shirdi
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-shirdi-1.jpg

Cottage at MTDC
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-cottage-mtdc.jpg

Room with a view - MTDC Bhandardara
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-view-room-mtdc.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-view-room-2.jpg

Last edited by nix1976in : 12th July 2010 at 20:11.
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Old 12th July 2010, 20:21   #11
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Day 4...Malshej
Moved out from MTDC, Bhandardara and drove out towards Malshej, now I dont remember the exact route we took but passed through sugarcane fields, lush greenery and suddenly there was this barren stretch of land...it felt as if we were out in the summer,we asked some locals and they said it was natural and that the monsoons never reached this part since they were on the other side of the hills...implausible but we saw it...a barren stretch, burnt out grass, bright sunshine et all and 50-60 kms down the line, the greenery and the rains came back...it was really something else!! maybe it was Sangamner, not sure though...
Had booked up again at the MTDC at Malshej, have been travelling here every monsoon and they havent dissapointed me ever. The new block of rooms is much better than the old ones and we were put up there. Malshej as always, foggy, windy, rainy...generally crazy and amazing!! Picture time again!

Route to Malshej Ghat
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-route-malshej.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-malshej-ghat.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-malshej-ghat-1.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-route-malshej-1.jpg

Malshej ghat
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-malshej-ghat-2.jpg

Dunno if you can notice but the waterall here reverses back up due to the air pressure
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-reverse-waterfall-malshej.jpg

Malshej Ghat from MTDC
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-ledge-malshej.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-sunlight-coming-thru-malshej-cliff.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-malshej-ghat-4.jpg
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Old 12th July 2010, 20:24   #12
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Water water every where, not a road to drive.

Amazing water bodies!
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Old 12th July 2010, 20:25   #13
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Day 5- Back to the grind

Day 5....Mumbai...having seen so much rain everywhwere, we were hoping for a respite. Some pics from MTDC Malshej...

Foogy Noon at MTDC
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-foggy-noon-malshej.jpg

View from the room at MTDC
Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-room-view-malshej.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-view-room-malshej.jpg

Monsoon Magic...with a touch of Deja Vu-view-room-day-2.jpg
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Old 12th July 2010, 20:28   #14
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Some great pics. A different approach to travel. Did you get as much wet as xylo? or just caught views from inside?
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Old 12th July 2010, 22:27   #15
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Forget people from the north and the east. These photos are making people from Pune very jealous. Not a drop of that in pune though we are hardly 100 kms away!
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