[karthik_rao]

Hi,
Had a quick Get-Away-From-It-All with office colleagues at Ananndvan Resorts, Bhandardara, on 1-3 Dec 2010. we left Mumbai in our cars around 3 PM. Had a quick break for Coffee/Snacks after Shahpur. Hit the Ghoti turn by around 6PM, just before total darkness. The turn was easy to find, it is the 2nd right after the Toll that you get immediately after you pass Manas Resorts Igatpuri. There is a huge green sign across the road that points to Shirdi. The Flyover bypassed Ghoti village, so no sweat.
The Road from Ghoti upto Pimpalgaon was a nightmare. Then we got onto the Bhandarbara road, and the road was relatively better. We drove in pitch dark, and I scraped by car's bottom once.

It is a nice, winding road with little traffic, and enough action, animals, sudden rits to keep you engaged, as I found on my way back. And a great view of a majestic mountain to the west. I think this is Kalsubai.

Got to the resort around 9 PM. Total driving time of around 4:30 for me, excluding the break. The Resort is my kind of place. Quiet, clean air, and the food was good too. Very fresh fruit, probably grown on site. And some very fresh fish from the lake.

Went out early on Day 1 for a walk down the harishchandragadh road. and then drove down even further. Will try and post some pics, will have to find out how first.

Tech Specs -
Car - Linea Emotion Pk MJD 1.3, May 2010. Got around 19 KMPL. Peak Speed 150 KPH, I wasnt trying to set a record.

Camera - Canon EOS 3d Mark 2 with a 28-80 EF lens.

I loved the drive, the resort, the views in Bhandardara. I must go there again.

[karthik_rao]

Here are some pics. I learnt how to insert them :-)

[scrooze]

Karthik lovely pictures.

Can you also provide more informion about the resort i mean cost of overnight stay, how was the food etc?

[Wanderer78]

Good pics Karthik. Looking forward to more details and pics.

[karthik_rao]

Originally Posted by scrooze

Karthik lovely pictures.

Can you also provide more informion about the resort i mean cost of overnight stay, how was the food etc?

Hi Scrooze, the place is very beautiful!

Resort - The food was very good. I am not a big fan of eating out, but this was more like what I prefer - fresh ingredients, not over-the-top on spices and colors. The papaya I had was the freshest I had in a long time, must have been grown on-site. Also had some fresh fish from the lake. Spiny, but tasty.

Costs, I am not very sure, as we got a corporate rate. I would say around 5000 per day on weekdays.

The acco is all in the form of cottages. Not luxurious, but nice, clean, with good views, perched on a path that winds uphill. Small sit-outs with each cottage.

These things are very subjective, but this was totally my kind of place.

[karthik_rao]

Originally Posted by Wanderer78

Good pics Karthik. Looking forward to more details and pics.

Hi wanderer,
This was a trip where we drove hard for 4 hours each way, and then sat in a conference room for three days. So I just have 2 stolen hours early one morning of those three. So very few pics, I have put in the best.

If you need any specific info, do let me know.

[karthik_rao]

More Pix attached. Is a slow, painful process to downsize each image. Is there a tool that will do a batch job?

[f1fan]

Originally Posted by karthik_rao

Hi Scrooze, the place is very beautiful!

Resort - The food was very good. I am not a big fan of eating out, but this was more like what I prefer - fresh ingredients, not over-the-top on spices and colors. The papaya I had was the freshest I had in a long time, must have been grown on-site. Also had some fresh fish from the lake. Spiny, but tasty.

Costs, I am not very sure, as we got a corporate rate. I would say around 5000 per day on weekdays.

The acco is all in the form of cottages. Not luxurious, but nice, clean, with good views, perched on a path that winds uphill. Small sit-outs with each cottage.

These things are very subjective, but this was totally my kind of place.

What was the name of the resort?
I had stayed at MTDC last time round and did notice a couple of neat resorts near MTDC and would like to try them next time.

[selfdrive]

I also look forward to hearing about the resort. It must be a great place to catch back your breath after our daily grind. Great pictures - in the last one, the tower kinda spoils it a bit for me :(

[SDP]

Karthik, the second pic is absolutely stunning! Thanks for sharing

[idlebrain]

@karthik_rao: nice pics. I used fotosizer Fotosizer Batch Image Resizer - Image resizing made easy for batch re-sizing. Its pretty good and simple tool and free to use.

[pjbiju]

You can also use Microsoft Office Picture Manager to resize images (batch processing also supported)

[GTO]

Bhandardara's extremely scenic; great location, great drive and a super place to unwind.

The Mumbai Mod Team had visited Bhandardara in '09. And we even took our cars onto the actual dam!!

Originally Posted by scrooze

Karthik lovely pictures.

Can you also provide more informion about the resort i mean cost of overnight stay, how was the food etc?

If you are on a budget, the MTDC's pretty good, clean and all that. We did lunch at Anandvan (upmarket by local standards). Their room rate was 5 - 6K per night, totally NOT worth it.

[f1fan]

Originally Posted by GTO

The Mumbai Mod Team had visited Bhandardara in '09. And we even took our cars onto the actual dam!!

GTO,
About taking the cars onto the dam, just wanted to know whether the same is allowed during some particular time of the year or are there any permissions that we need to take to go up there?

Kindly advise.

[GTO]

Hi F1fan, at the remote end of the dam, there was just an ol' rusty gate. We merely opened it and drove on. Am sure things haven't changed