Lonavala
Maharashtra is the state in India known for its scenic mountains, valleys, waterfalls, hill stations and lined by Western Ghats on the west side. One such destination is Lonavala for 2days getaway. The weather was humid during my travel in the month of June having a temperature of 28 to 30º C during day.
I booked an outstation rental cab for 2 days trip to Lonavala from Mumbai. It is a beautiful journey on the Western Ghats for 1hour 30minutes from Mumbai city. While going up the hills, you enter through numerous tunnels and can see the misty mountains and can stop for photos in the picturesque location amidst the mountains, mist, clouds and the hill top before entering into Lonavala. Enjoy the breeze on your face in the journey. The best location to stay here is in the locality ‘Gavliwada’ just on the Old Mumbai Pune Highway where you can get very good hotels and the market place. You can check-in by late morning at leisure and visit tourist spots post lunch.
These two points are close by each other. It’s the view of mountains and greenery which can be admired at a distance behind the fence. The wind blows in a great force to push a person near fence so be cautious not to slip down the danger point. I would request everyone not to throw garbage in this point as the beauty of view gets spoiled by garbage thrown in huge.
It wasn’t rainy season when I visited this dam and so water was scarce. People can enter inside the dam and sit on the backs. If it’s rainy season, you’ll find the dam overflowing at times.
As mentioned above, due to summer, the lake was dried completely. It’ll be a mesmerizing view of a small bridge across the lake during rainy season.
The museum is located in the shopping mall which helps buying home-mode chocolates there. The wax statues in the museum includes, Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj, freedom fighters of India, Bollywood and Kollywood celebrities like Superstar Rajnikanth and other Sports and political figures. All the statues are made close to the perfection of the personality. It’s really worth spending money and time here to click photos as you don’t find this perfection in art even in popular wax museums outside India. Post dinner rested in the hotel room and that’s the end of first day.
The next morning started to reach Bhaja Caves which is rock-cut caves of 2nd century B.C. with a large shrine used by Buddhist monks. It takes 15-20 minutes to climb on the stone stair case to reach the cave. You can see many tombs of the monks who lived here.
No trip in Maharashtra would end without a visit to Fort. Yes, this fort is really a good one for trekking. Be careful with monkeys down the fort. Pack your backpack with snacks and water bottles and wear sports or walking shoes for the trek. It takes an hour to reach the top of the fort. The view from the top is really worth it. You can see a lake and the surrounding mountains view in mist. If you wish to trek ahead, be ready to climb up and down the plateau and valleys and steep points having safety fence at the edge of mountain. Take rest if you get tired but don’t give up till you reach top of the peak ‘Vinchu Kada’. It is a beautiful trek path and you’ll feel the happiness seeing the flag post. It takes 4hours 30minutes for the entire trekking.
Lonavala is famous for chikkis (peanut with jaggery), fruit jams, chocolate pudding and home-made chocolates. You can buy all these products in the mark near hotel location (mentioned earlier) and return back home with beautiful photos and memories.
