Trip to Mahabaleshwar (25 - 27th June'10)

Monsoons in Pune and in the Western Ghats in general are a very rejuvenating experience. Everything seems so freshly washed and the greenery around is a treat to the eyes. The drop in temperature is a much needed respite from the blazing hot summers. And mist in the air gives a surreal touch to existence.

If you ever ask me where I would like to go, I’d have to fumble amongst so many places in my mind that I might not end up coming with a place. After initial fumbling however I am able to consider the practicality of weather, schedule, budget, convenience etc and make up my mind. Same thing happened this time. Considering the short 2 days we had and also the dependence on the public/local transport we decided on going to Mahabaleshwar. Only hitch was I didn’t fancy going to a much commercialized place thronged with people. However I took my chances and didn’t regret it.

We (me and my hubby Sayu) had decided to take it easy this time. Nothing hectic, an easy relaxed weekend. So come Friday morning, we got up leisurely, had our morning cuppa, got ready and headed for the ST bus stand. Boarded the 9:30 bus and settled for a 3.5 hours drive on the highway followed by Ghats. It was a lovely drive. Bus rides have their own charm. You seem to be above the “normal” traffic, and a window seat with cool breeze blowing in adds on to the spell.

The spell broke when it started drizzling and then pouring. Even before we had crossed Panchgani it started raining. Up till this point I had barely paid any attention to the fellow travellers, but with the windows closed I started looking around. Mostly local people and comparatively few tourists. Few troublesome kids, and blissfully ignoring them, their harassed parents. Some cute kids as well, one of them endeared Sayu into sitting beside him. A gentleman, who gave his seat to a lady to sit, yeah can spot such chivalry once in a while. With these trivial observations, people getting in and out, we rolled into our destination.

Mahabaleshwar is a well known tourist spot in western India. And it became quite evident to us from the slew of hotels around and the number of taxi drivers coming running towards the bus with their huge umbrellas to escort the tourists to their respective taxis. So we ended up taking a taxi to our pre booked resort even though it was at walking distance from the bus stand, but then it was pouring and we didn’t fancy getting wet just yet.

First impressions are the last impressions. No idea who said that. But many a times, this well known adage hasn’t held true for me. When we were shown into our room we found it claustrophobic, damp and dark. This followed by a mediocre lunch, actually dampened our spirits, and the heavy downpour wasn’t helping either. We were not sure if a couple of hours sleep would do us any good, but we still went ahead with it, hoping that the pouring will stop by the time we get up. Who travels 120 kms to sit indoors, but for now that seemed to be the only option.

Rain didn’t stop altogether but it sure did settle down to a drizzle. So equipped with our camera and umbrellas we ventured on the roads for a leisurely stroll. Earlier with no particular destination in mind we crossed the bus stop, took one turn or the other and finally found us heading towards the Vienna Lake. With absolutely no idea about the directions or distances and a nagging doubt that it might get dark early, we abandoned the thought of reaching the lake and instead started tracing our steps back to the resort. After more than 1.5 hrs stroll we were about to reach back when sky started clearing up and it actually became brighter. This encouraged us to take another shot at reaching somewhere, some “point” out of the many famous points scattered throughout the hill station. Then with reinforced vigour we started reading any road side directions we could spot and started walking towards a “sunset point”. Again after 40-45 minutes of our walk we weren’t anywhere near our destination and were keener on remembering the various turns we had taken so that we could back track. On learning the pending distance from a fellow pedestrian, we decided to head back. We could go to his point the next day. Later on we came to know that we had been walking in a completely opposite direction and that we actually were going in a circle. And just when we were about to finish our circle, we decided on heading back and walked the whole circumference again. It was hilarious when we realized this and the importance of maps in an unknown area just asserted itself.

Fig 1 : Path leading from the resort to the city

Next morning after breakfast we decided on booking a taxi for some of the famous Mahabaleshwar points. We figured we couldn’t walk to many points in a day and so left the stroll for the later part of the day. We boarded a taxi which was supposed to take us to 3 points – Kates, Needle and Echo, 2 temples – Mahabaleshwar and Panchganga and a strawberry farm, all for 350 bucks. Sounded like a good deal. [Money minting deal as an afterthought, the two points were adjacent, and I am still wondering where this Echo point, the two temples were also nearby and adjacent, and the strawberry farm, u gotto be kidding me!!]

Fig 2 : View from Kates Point

We reached Kates point and were immediately surrounded by the hordes of people who wanted to give us horse ride in that small clearing, be our guide, sell us this and that, all at once. Anyway dodging them we approached the edge of mountains to take in the view, which was totally breathtaking. We walked towards the Needle point, from where you can see the elephant head shaped mountain edge forming the eye of the needle. It is pretty artistic and I managed to get some good shots of it.

Fig 3: Eye of the needle

Tourists are a queer category and they will never cease to amaze you with their absurd behaviour. They shout, they scream for no odd reason, they litter and they talk as if they are the only ones around. Okay, I have absolutely nothing against them and in fact find them absurdly entertaining at times. Take this case of grown up guys, must be in their 20s. One of them has mounted a horse, and has instructed the owner of the horse to make it neigh and stand on its hind legs, while his buddy clicks snaps. And this went on with many retakes. Wow, I doubled up laughing. Then there were people posing with the monkeys precariously going close enough to get a good shot. It’s like they are willing to pose with anybody and everybody. And few crazy ones, who were nearing the edge to get some supposedly cool shots. It is nice to see people have fun, if only they didn’t litter.

Next we went to the two temples of Old Mahabaleshwar. First was Panchganga temple which gets its name from the confluence of 5 rivers – Koyna, Krishna, Venna, Savitri and Gayatri. Next we went to Mahabaleshwar temple which is Lord Shiva’s temple and has a lingam like none other. It is believed that this lingam has materialized on its own, divine.

Back to the resort from our little “tour”, we had lunch and dozed off for a while. Later early evening we started our stroll towards sunset point, this time with a snapshot of guide map, having learnt our lesson.

The weather was wet, misty, taking turns being foggy and drizzling. The roads were artistic – winding amidst the thick growth of trees. Trees – entwined, green with moss, standing on a thick carpet of mulch. A tinge of fog and it felt as if am dream walking into a painting by nature. It was mesmerizing. I couldn’t get enough of it.

Fig 4: En route Sunset Point

Sunset point per se, wasn’t all that an attraction. No wonder there was hardly any crowd there, besides it was too cloudy to glimpse any sunset. After spending sometime there we headed back, and guess what we spotted when our walk was coming to an end - chai ki tapri (a small tea stall). Standing on that tapri, having yum ginger tea, on such a lovely wet evening exemplified the simple pleasures of life. It was beautiful, the feeling of pure bliss :-)