15th August 2010, 20:48
| #1 |
| BHPian | Monsoon Break : Hills, waterfalls and temples! Among news of heavy flooding in the konkan-kolhapur belt, we decided to hit the road for a sojourn to Jog Falls. The plan was to take the NH4 through to Kohlapur - K'taka and drive back through Goa - Konkan using the NH17 Day 1 : Panhala... Started out from Vasai at 5.00am and got onto the highway for Ghodbunder and starightaway encountered heavy truck traffic and bad roads, took ghodbunder road and reached the expressway by 7.00am through Seawoods, Kalamboli. It was painful progress, took a muffin breakfast break at Mcdonalds and started out on the expressway and it statred pouring. Sailed through till Lonvala but were stuck in a jam for almost for 2 hrs in the Ghat section near Lonavala exit due to truck traffic. Once we got out of the rut it was smooth flow to Satara. We had planned to visit Thoseghar falls neat Sajjangad. The route is simple...enter satara city on right and drive right through till the tunnel (Bhogda in local parlance) then take a right from the tunnel. Pass the Sajjjangadh entry point and drive on for 12 kms. we finally reached around 12.00pm. The car needs to parked and we need to climb down down 50 steps to the viewing area.The falls are awesome. Basically there are 2 falls (the main fall is 3 tiered and the other one is a plunge waterfall and the sprawling valley makes a awesome view.  On the way to Thoseghar after Sajjangadh   Thoseghar Main falls   Thoseghar 2nd falls  After spending around an hour here, we moved back to the highway (need to drive back all the way to the "Bhogda" ) and take left to join NH4 (sparing us of the ordeal of driving through Satara town again). Turned off at Kini Naka (the last toll booth before Kolhapur) and drove through Warana Nagar to reach Panhala around 3.00pm. Checked in at Valley View Grand (V Shantaram's hotel) but they had closed down the lunch service and just had some snacks. We had lunch at a "Annapurna khanaval" near the Park entrance...awesome mutton and rassa try it. Then hired a guide and drove around taking some history lessons. Panhala Town entrance  Road leading to Valley View Grand  View from the room at VVG  Sajja Kothi  Ambarkhana - Grain storehouse  AmbarKhana Interior  Panhala Fort main entrance  Panhala at 4pm!  Andhar Bav (Dark well) - A structure meant to ensure safe passage for our soldiers while trapping the enemy  The well with the water can be seen here  Baji Prabhu  View from the fort  Sambhaji Temple  Valley View Grand Facade  View from VVG backyard  Last edited by nix1976in : 15th August 2010 at 20:52. Reason: added pic |
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15th August 2010, 20:53
| #2 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,891
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15th August 2010, 21:22
| #3 |
| BHPian | Day 2 : Gokak and Amboli... Day 2 : Gokak and Amboli... Moved out from Panhala at 6.30 am and discovered that the main road to Kolhapur was waterlogged and closed for traffic. The alternate roadway passed through Jotiba (considered the holiest shrine of Shiva...a darshan here is worth the darshan of the 12 jyotirlings combined...or so I am told). The drive to the temple in the early morning fog is reason enough to visit the place. Its an ancient temple with a lot of history. Enroute to Jotiba  View from Jotiba Top  Entrance to the temple  On the way to Kolhapur from Jotiba  Flooded villages!!!    The road goes through Kolhapur town and meets NH4, we had had planned for Gokak Falls so moved on till Sankeshwar and took a left towards Ghataprabha which joins into Gokak town. Gokak falls are around 6 kms from the town and is on the site on a working textile mill which is around 200 yrs old with victorian architecture. Gokak Mills  There is a narrow suspended overbridge to cross over to the other side. Walking on the rickety bridge over a gapped wooden pathway is scary to say the least and when the bridge sways, scary becomes heart stopping.Anyway we reached the other end which afforded some good views of the falls. Suspension Bridge over Gokak Falls     View of the plunge from the suspension bridge   Moved back to Sankeshwar and crossed over NH4 from the underbridge and joined the Gadhinlaj-Ajra-Amboli road.The road condition is not so great however the vistas are amazing all through. Foggy conditions on the ghats and small but boisterous crowds on the main falls. There is one more fall ahead on the same ghat which is as tall but less crowded. Amboli Main Waterfalls  Amboli 2nd falls down the ghats  Then we checked in to Whistling Woods Amboli near MTDC.its a quaint little place right next to MTDC with a charming forest all over the place. They dont have their own resturant and order foor from the neighbouring MTDC..Okayish stuff but we were famished and it was chicken wings for the hungry soul. Whisltling Woods Amboli  Then hired a local guide and checked out kavlesaad point.The road had become all slushy and it was an off roading adventure for the Xylo.Kavlesaad poing was completely foggy and all we saw are the pictures below.   These wild plants stretched all over Amboli...pretty sight  Next was Nangartas waterfall.There are 3 great viewing points built over the falls. The falls land in a extremely narrow gorge and hence the name..(nangar = plough and tas = the line which the plough drags out in the soil to let the farmer sow the seeds...the area where plough lands first is deep and the "tas" that it creates is narrow).    The narrow gorge through which the water flows away from the falls  Overflowing river near a small bridge near Kavlesaad  Then we went down to the origin of the river Hiranyakeshi..its a small temple next to a cave from where the river is supposed to have originated). Route to the origin of the river Hiranyakeshi    Later we went for dinner at Satpurush in the main market...awesome fish fry with solkadhi and rice...a must have for fish lovers....watched some highlights of tendulkars 200 and retired for the night. Last edited by nix1976in : 15th August 2010 at 21:28. |
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15th August 2010, 21:36
| #4 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: TN07
Posts: 472
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15th August 2010, 21:42
| #5 |
| BHPian | Day 3 : Jog... Started out at our usual time...6.30am and moved out towards Belgaum. Joined NH4 and just before Hubli (after the last toll naka before Hubli, there is a Golden garden hotel, get off NH4 here and take a U turn from under NH4 to move towards Yellapur-Sirsi-Siddapur-Jog. Had lunch at Sirsi at KK's on a banana leaf. Okayish stuff as half the time was spend managing the food and stopping it from flowing off the leaf! Whistling woods Amboli - Morning    Small landslide near Nangartas Fall enroute to Belgaum  NH4 - Excellent all the way to Hubli  Dharwad Bench of the K'taka High Court  On NH206, we saw a diversion to Jog parikrama mandir, so up we went and discovered that this was the "Top View" of the falls. Climbed down onto the rocks from the viewing point and looked down the gorge for some heart stopping views.No photo can do justice to the view that the eye can see...there were 3-4 such overhangs where one can risk life and limb for a once in a life time view. River in spate near Sirsi  Raja from the Top    Roarer!!  Then we checked in at Matthuga Homestay which 8 kms from Jog on NH206 towards Sagar but locating this was a pain since we had a massive language problem. Firstly, we couldnt find a soul on the highway in the rain so I literally barged into a couple of homes to ask but all I got was a smattering of Kannada and no clue. In the end, we found a billboard with the direction and found the place. Board that saved us a lot of trouble!!  Beautiful bungalow in the middle of nowhere..clean rooms and smiling hosts...  we were drenched already from our adventure on top of the falls and decided to just drop the bags and go back for a "Bottom View"...all set to climb down 1400 steps and back up but guess the energy gods didnt want me to lose any more calories and ordered repair work on the steps.The steps were closed for maintainance and laying of tiles. The clouds had descended and we could just hear the roarer then the mist cleared and it was a sight to behold...all 960 feet of splendor...spent 2 hrs playing hide and seek with Jog and caught it everytime it appeared.  Now you see it....  and now U dont!!  This is where I was...can you spot the people?  Came back to Matthuga at around 6.30pm and had a nice hot shower and aloo bondas. The dinner was a veg affair with avial, rasam and some other nice stuff and crashed for the night. Last edited by nix1976in : 15th August 2010 at 21:44. |
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15th August 2010, 21:53
| #6 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: TN07
Posts: 472
Thanked: 23 Times
| 9-jog-raja-top is excellent. 11-jog-raja-top is dangerous!!! But 9 would not have been possible but for 11. Still take care, buddy! 14 is real cool. Does anyone know when the falls would turn from chocolate milk shake to just milk shake? October? As you know my Mumbai trip  |
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15th August 2010, 21:58
| #7 |
| BHPian | Day 4 : Marvanthe-Murudeshwar and GOA!! Leaving at 6.30am, we got directions from the host at Matthuga for Bhatkal. Its a right at Chorikatte (12 kms from Sagar) towards Kargal and then onto BHatkal around 100kms. The road is very narrow and deserted with trees towering 50 feet over us, waterfalls and also huge logs of fallen trees strewn all across the way. Thankfully, nothing blocked the path. The road though not as smooth is really nice with waterfalls and streams running through. Matthuga Homestay   Arcenaut Farms  Road to Bhatkal  Falls on the way to Bhatkal   Finally we made it Bhatkal to join the NH17 and the nighmare began...bad roads with heavy traffic is a recipe for sure disaster! We took a left for Marvanthe and drove right through to Turtle bay. The sea was rough and one step in the water told me that it would sucidal to venture further. we sat in the rain taking in the huge waves and watching the highway traffic pass by.     Then we drove back through the nightmare to Bhatkal and continued to Murudeshwar with the roads gettintg better.        From Murudeshwar, we started out for Goa through Karwar sticking to NH17. There were patches which had a few craters (in my parlance, craters are smaller versions of potholes) but generally the 2 lane highway is drivable. Reached Calangute around 5pm and checked into Goa Tourism's Calangute Residency which is bang on Calangute beach and was convenient for us since the only plan was to shop around Baga and have dinner at Souza Lobo's. Goa in the rains is a different creature, subdued and quiet. Devbaugh Island from Kali bridge  Jim Beam at Souza Lobo's.  Watched TV and crashed for the night. Homeward bound tomorrow. Last edited by nix1976in : 15th August 2010 at 22:00. |
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15th August 2010, 22:02
| #8 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mumbai
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15th August 2010, 22:07
| #9 |
| BHPian | Day 5 : Back to the grind! Starting from Goa at 6.30, we made quick progress through Sawantwadi-Kankavli (spent an hour in a jam caused due to a accident, a truck skid and blocked the highway) but managed to drive off road and make it to the front of the jam after which it was absolutely smooth sailing right up to Chiplun where we had scrumptious lunch of prawans and Komdi vade at Deepak Deluxe. Reached Mumbai through Ghodbunder after surviving the nighmarish Mumbra by-pass at around 7pm. View of Calangute beach from the cottage  NH17 - River in spate  Nivli Waterfall as seen from NH17  NH17....  The end of a great driving holiday! |
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15th August 2010, 22:21
| #10 | ||
| BHPian | Quote:
Quote:
Thanks HV...Matthuga is a quaint little place with good rooms and food. Sankeshwar to Gokak was a 2 lane highway with good roads all the way for around 60kms. Last edited by Rehaan : 27th August 2010 at 15:13. Reason: Posts merged. Please use the MULTIQUOTE button instead of making multiple consecutive posts in the same thread. Thanks. | ||
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15th August 2010, 22:28
| #11 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: City of seven islands.
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16th August 2010, 08:07
| #12 |
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16th August 2010, 08:21
| #13 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: TSTN
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16th August 2010, 09:59
| #14 |
| BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Chennai
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16th August 2010, 10:18
| #15 |
| Distinguished - BHPian   | |
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