1000 miles : Mumbai to Delhi

Well its not exactly 1000 miles, it's more like 1500 kilometers between the two cities, but then it sounds more fun this way!!

Driving across the country has always been a dream for me, though more of the backpacking variety where you have a month off and

travel from one place to another with no real aim in mind, just generally experiencing the country all around. Well I did get to achieve one part of that dream, of driving from Mumbai to Delhi over three days in my Maruti Ritz:). Took me a year to learn driving enough to go driving cross-country, but then did it finally:). And what an experience it was!

Anyways, it was a three day driving trip from one corner of the country to another, driving about 25-30 hours over the three days and hitting peak speeds of 155 kmph (yes, on Indian roads, with a small car and a not so experienced driver)! Maximum average speed was 120 kmph, covering 93 kms in 45 mins, but details to come later:). The drive materialised when I was shifting my luggage from Mumbai to Delhi, where I packed all my luggage somehow into my car and off we went on the long dreamt of long drive.

Needless to say, it was an awesome time, across roads on and on, with the landscape outside changing constantly. The people, the attitudes, the colours, the roads and (even) the road sense keeps changing all the way...

The first day of the drive was from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, about 550 kms. The start from Mumbai was quite bad actually, halfway upto Baroda. The roads were being constructed at many places, work going on flyovers to avoid bottlenecks and there were many trucks blocking the road due to accidents.

There were jams every 5 mins, because of accidents on the way and the only way of getting out of those jams was to cross onto the other side of the road and drive opposite the traffic till you cross the jam and then get back to the right side of the road. People who regularly drive on this route would do this shift automatically, and you just need to follow them. For the first time though, its a bit scary initially but you learn as you drive!! And it does save you a lot of time! In fact, the first three hours of the drive, we barely covered 100 kms!

But then onwards, the traffic eased out and reaching Ahmedabad wasn't tough. The best part of the drive was Baroda to Ahmedabad on the expressway; straight road till wherever you can see with no diversions and very limited traffic! Its a drivers paradise, a dream come true. I finished the 93 kms on this stretch in 45 mins flat. And I did not even drive too fast! This part of the drive actually improves the average speed, and we had covered the 550 kms in about 7-8 hours types.

Landscape was non-descript in Maharashtra, gradually changing

while you drive into Gujarat; you get a sense of prosperity as you drive in Gujarat. People on the whole seemed richer, and the infrastructure also much better. The landscape though becomes a bit more dry while in Gujarat.

One thing you always look forward to while on such cross country drives are the meals at some dhaba on the way, tasty food for unbeleivable prices. The same was true on this drive too, lunch for a person at 100 Rupees per person!! And a full tasty meal, with dal and sabzi and lassi and what-not. It feels so unreal that such rates still do exist in India, feels more weird after staying in towns and cities of the country.

The next day we drove from Ahmedabad to Nasirabad (in Rajasthan). The distance was again some 550 kms or so, but felt a lot less this day. This was in fact the best day of the drive, awesome 4-6 laned roads most of the way, disciplined traffic, you get to drive fast and straight, with not many cars on the roads. Just perfect! Bliss! A dream come true for any driver, especially someone who more often got to drive only in Mumbai. This part of the drive, average speeds of 70 kmph were so easy to achieve on this stretch...

We also stopped at Chittorgarh on the way, we had so much time during the day! And also visited the Mayur factory in the middle of nowhere selling products at factory rates! This day of the drive was a dream, I actually don't remember much of it.. Just press the accelerator and off you fly off.. Such roads are present in India is something our parents would not have been able to imagine in their times! I finally did understand on this day what the Golden Quadrilateral project was all about..

Vegetation changes on the way too. While is was green in Maharashtra, turns slightly dry in Gujarat and completely yellow in Rajasthan with stone hills on both sides of the road.

Another thing you will notice is that, there are a lot more temples visible while in Gujarat, a lot of them being Jain temples. In Rajasthan, the colours increase with the women wearing very very bright clothes and being visible from far. Also you will see gradually, the prosperity of Gujarat vanish as you enter Rajasthan, people seem a lot poorer and undeveloped in Rajasthan than the states just crossed.

The last day of the drive was to be the shortest, about 400 or so kms from Nasirabad to Delhi. Part of the drive from Nasirabad to Jaipur we covered fast. About the same average speeds of 70 kmph, the same bare and dry desert landscape with empty roads, some mountains breaking the monotony of the landscape and the colourful dresses of the Rajasthani women. Was a pleasure again to drive through this part, and to prepare for what we were to experience thereafter!

Thereafter, Jaipur to Delhi was a nightmare! We took 7.5 hours to complete the 250 kms between the two cities. There were two major jams on the way, taking an hour each, where you barely cover 2-3 kms in one hour!! The only way out was to get onto the service roads where you try to beat the traffic. And if you are a first time driver on this road, you would not know what you need to do! Was a completely chaotic and terrible day to drive!

Also by this time as you are approaching Delhi, there are more and more truck drivers from Haryana on the road, so the discipline of the drivers also goes kaput. There are just no more rules being followed:))).

The problem in this stretch is partially the construction taking place everywhere. The other problem are the trucks parked on the road leading to multiple traffic jams. Can't they be controlled a bit? Also, the trucks dont really follow rules of driving on the left side lanes and not the fastest one. That also slows down the traffic a lot.

On the whole, the road quality is mostly good in this stretch, though hajaar constructions going on on the way.

Also, there are countless tolls on the way, you encounter some 8-10 a day! Also while driving on the highway I realised, you can learn driving but it is the experience which gives you the edge. At places with no traffic on the road, I drove fast and overtook lots of vehicles. It was more at the crowded places that I wasn't able to do that. At that point having driven for many years makes the difference, of being able to overtake maximum vehicles. Anyways I had started my learning:)

One thing I regret though is not taking photos along the way, of what I saw, maybe thats for the next time:)

Tigers of Kanha

Kanha National Park : what a place it is, maybe one of the best national parks I have visited in the country! One of course for its abundant tigers(comparitively that is, with parks like Sariska having

none left) and the second for its beautiful green jungles! Its a huge park, with two main gates from where tourists can get in. One of them is the Kisli/Khatiya gate and the second one is the Mukki gate. The Mukki gate is where most of the high-end resorts are located, while the Kisli gate has the not so high-end resorts. The Khatiya village is also located at the Kisli gate.

Reaching Kanha is a big challenge though, its not one of the most easily accessible places to go to! For Mukki gate, you need to fly to Jabalpur and drive a couple of hours from there. For the Kisli gate, you need to fly to Nagpur and then drive till Kanha. We went to the Kisli gate this time. The drive took us about 5-6 hours and you drive through the Pench Sancturary on the way. The roads are quite average, with lot of patches of bad roads. The landscape is quite pretty mostly, with lots of forests and shrublands on the way. The setting is rural throughout the way, passing through villages and small towns of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

At Kanha, we stayed at the Mogli resort, which is located just next to the Kisli gate and the forest guest house also located just

next to the gate. The rooms at Mogli are basic; they will have all you need and the staff is helpful. About the food there, I wouldn't know much, as we everyday ate at a dhaba next to the gate called Kamlesh Dhaba. The food at the dhaba was so amazing, a little oily but so tasty and all for 300 bucks for 4 people! We ended up eating all our meals at this restaurant itself:). The best places to stay would be the forest guest house and the bageera tourist resorts which are located inside the gate, within the jungle. I guess you can take small walks there, and feel you are closer to the tigers too:)

Anyways, we did 3 safaris in the park over two days. Two morning ones and one evening one. The morning safari starts at sunrise. The safari gypsies queue outside the gate from 5am onwards waiting for their turn

to get in when the gate opens. Apparently the earlier you get inside the park, the greater the chances of spotting the tiger (apparently!!). The day we landed at Kanha was the first day of the park opening after the monsoons and our entry was delayed by two hours because of a dispute between the park officials and the taxi union! Anyways it was quite a show in negotiations with the forest officer finally coming out to sort the issues.

Once the issues were sorted, we all rushed in, with each group trying to outdo each other to spot the tiger the first! Each

gypsy has about 5-6 tourist with one guide provided by the forest officials. The spotting of the tiger as well as the whole park experience depends a lot on your guide. There are some guides who really dont know much while some do know the forest inside out. So they

regale you with stories of the forest to entertain you while you are looking for a tiger. We were lucky to get a very good guide in the first safari itself, and we learnt a lot about the jungles from him.

Our first morning safari was all focussed on spotting the striped

one! We saw one napping in the bushes, pried on him for a long time but anyways gave up when he refused to wake up or budge (Plus some 10-15 gypsies landed there, so it wasnt any fun either!). After roaming around in the other parts of the jungle, we finally came back to the same spot and what a sighting we had of the same tiger (once he managed to get out of his slumber that is).

We caught the tiger stalking his prey: a couple of chitals in the

grass. The deer caught wind of the tiger however, after the tiger has sat patiently for half an hour (and so had we!!) and ran off, making a barking sound and warning other animals in the vicinity too about the presence of the predator.

With his prey running away, the tiger then started walkin on the path towards us for a minute and a half, posing and giving us all the photo time we wanted. It did get a bit

scary after a point though, as the tiger was one gypsy away from us and moving towards us, while the gypsies behind us were not backing off at all! Anyways the tiger was a friendly one, so no incident occured and we all went back happy from the safari.

Once the sighting is over, we just roamed around in the jungles.

The weather was awesome, pleasant and a bit chilly, with no sun in sight. The jungles green and lush after the monsoons. A nice and pleasant drive away from everything else!

Our evening safari was bereft of any tiger sighting, apparently they just sleep throughout the day and walk around only at night and

the morning. So we just drove around and enjoyed the green jungles of sal trees, the Kanha meadows and the hills and the grasslands and water bodies and the white foam covered grass.

The next morning we were again off to a 5 am safari, we spotted

the same tiger as the previous day walking towards us! There were three gypsies on the other side, with us getting the front view. The tiger kept walking towards us, leisurely, sometimes venturing into the grass but then choosing to stay on the road.

Behind us also, suddenly there were ten other gypsies all trying to get a look at the tiger, while it continuously continued to walk towards us. We backed down an incline, crossed a stream of water but I guess we were too slow for him. He just decided to go off into the shrubs.

It was again a long sighting, with the tiger continuously walking

towards us, and us again trying to back off faster than the tiger. And what a royal animal the tiger is, the leisurely ' I don't care about anything walk', the cute cat-like look, its really regal to look at and observe. And scary too, when you imagine, even a friendly slap from his paw and you are gone!

Once the tiger sighting was over, we went off for the other sights of smaller animals in the jungle. We saw wild boars and jackals and lots of very beautiful birds that day.

We also went to another part of the jungle where we saw some of the most beautiful butterflies ever. They were just everywhere.

We also saw a small brook where on three specks of grass were sitting dragonflies of three different colours, yellow, blue and red.

And the spiders! If you can manage to tolerate them, some of the webs they make are amazing!

Actually Kanha has a lot of other wildlife too, like bears, leopards

(which are very rare to spot), wild dogs, barasingha etc etc all of which would be fun to spot in the wild. The tiger however eclipses all the other wildlife as everyone is only excited to see one while all the other wildlife is forgotten. (Well I guess we were also the same category:) but still!)

We did see the usual Cheetals and Sambhars too. Two animals which we did not manage to see though were the bison and the barasingha which are quite common sightings actually.

Another thing which we missed is the tiger spotting done by elephants. Mahouts on elephants try to follow the tigers pug marks into the forest and when they spot a tiger sitting somewhere/resting, they then take the tourists in groups one by one to where the tiger is sitting, on the elephant itself. Its apparently fun, we however missed it, there were no tiger spottings when we went! Another thing we saw were trees with the tiger paw scrappings, that is how the tiger marks his territories as well as some trees with leopard paw markings, where a leopard had climbed the tree. Other than the safari, there are also nature trails to walk on, through the forest.

Also while in the forest, you would come across multiple forest checkposts where forest rangers stay. Its quite impressive and scary too, for these people to be staying all alone like this in the jungle. Apparently they don't even keep guns with them!

Another point to note is that since we went there after the monsoons, it was colder and the weather was a lot more enjoyable and tolerable, even though the sightings of animals is not as

much as in the summers when all animals come to the water bodies in search of water. Still i'd rather enjoy the woods and the weather in the winters than the summers! Would generally suggest to visit such parks in the winters only.

A lot of the tourists who come to jungle are quite a disgrace though, I must say. They use flash to take photos of the animal and behave like kids when there is a sighting, making sounds, refusing to budge, trying to get their vehicle in front of the other one when there is a sighting. Quite irresponsible behaviour I must say, leaves quite a bad taste.

Fort of Chittorgarh

It was a short flying visit we had at the fort of Chittor, 'Chittorgarh' while on our way from Mumbai to Delhi. And what a magnificient fort it was, rightly called the greatest of all forts in Rajasthan as well as of India. Wish we had more time to explore it, but guess thats for another time...

Anyways the first look that you get of the fort if from the town

below.. And what a grand majestic view it is...Seated on top of a hill in the middle of the plains, its a sight of splendour. Its a huge fort, with an entire township settled inside, and the fort walls run all around the hill..

Chittorgarh is an epitome of the valour which the Rajputs are so famous for. The fort has been seiged and won over thrice, and each time the women of the fort committed jauhar, while the men went out to their deaths.

The road to the fort is winding and goes through multiple gates, or 'pol' as they were called. Apparently it was quite an impregnable fort, very difficult to conquer.

Once inside the fort, you can get a view of the town below, and the view extends till far away...

There are a couple of good places to visit inside the fort.

The Vijay stambh and the Kirti Stambh built to the valour of Rajputs. The Jain temples and the Meera temple (where Meera was supposed to have vanished and become one with Krishna)

and the Padmavati Mahal.

We just had a fleeting view of all these places, and read up on the fort later on. The fort has quite a long and interesting history. Wish I had more time to spend at the fort and hear of all these stories...Anyways till next time!

Non Bohemian Goa : Leela

This would be the first post about a luxury resort, but the Leela in Goa does deserve one:).. Twas my first stay at the non-bohemian Goa, away from the Bagas and the Calangutes.. The world of private beaches and saunas and casinos:) and quite a pampering experience it was...It was a little too short, just two days, as it always is in Goa but we made full use of the time we had!

The Leela in Goa is spread over a huge area.. The rooms all have

a lagoon view, with the lagoons built artificially within the resort. The landscaping at the resort is quite elaborate, with stones and waterfalls etc. The facilities for different activities within the resort are ample: you can cycle within the resort, dip in the pool with its own waterfall and caves:),

lose money at the casino, pamper yourself at the spa, try your skill at golf, party at aqua, take part in activities conducted by the resort (especially for kids), browse through their CD collection if you in the mood for indoor recreation, play tennis! And so on..

The biggest plus of course is the huge stretch of private beach

just next to the resort. With very few people and very turbulent waters, just the perfect way to relax in the sea, isn't it?

Also the casino is something which you don't really get in other towns of india. One negative though, the tables are all machine operated which isn't the same as being in a people operated casino, but what the hell! You lose money anyways!!

The resort has a couple of good eating options. The Italian

restaurant at riverside has a beautiful location with the ferries and the village on the opposite side of the river. At night with the twinkling lights, it was a sight to behold. Food was nothing much to write home about there though.

There is an Indian restaurant too, jamavar, a coffee shop, a seaside seafood grill next to the sea (its closed during monsoons though) and the poolside bar. The poolside bar has happy hours at really cheap prices and a beautiful view of the golf course and the sea beyond. A great place to just sip and relax!

All in all, a good resort, allowing you to pamper yourself, relax and have a good fun filled time...

The lost cause of Calcutta..

Or Kolkata to be correct. But frankly, no one cares. Either about the name (thankfully!! unlike Mumbai!!) or about the city either (sadly!), or actually I think Calcuttans do care about the city.. Its the authorities which lack that feeling! A renowned city of old, and look at what it has become now? Surely no one cares about what its called since there are much more and bigger problems in the city to worry about.

Anyways, I had a short stay in Calcutta and am just writing about what i saw and felt about the city during this stay. Of what all the city could have had to offer, if.. Calcutta was a grand city built by the British long ago and in the typical British style. You can see the remnants of the grandeur still, wide roads, huge stone buildings, built to beauty, parks and open spaces left for leisure... Yes, that is how the British had built the Calcutta of old.

Of the places to visit in the city, the main attraction is the Victoria

Memorial of the same British times, a grand building celebrating the British empire. It sure is beautiful, with attractive gardens all around. In the evenings, lot of people gather around eating the roadside stuff and generally strolling in the gardens nearby.

In stark contrast is the Calcutta of today, a city of chaos (yes, its an exaggeration, but it is so ironic, given how the city was originally built !!). The traffic is terrible, there is a general lack of driving sense, cars are parked on roads blocking the traffic, people drive wherever they want to with no respect for rules, what else can you call it but chaos? The time it takes to reach from one place to another is always at least 1.5 hours, irrespective of the distance and the time of the day!! Crazy!!

The hand pulled rickshaws still abound in the city and that sight will hit you whenever you see them. How can something like this still exist? Well in Calcutta it can.

Another sight native to Calcutta (I have never seen it before, or

thought it possible) is of the traffic police holding people with a rope to prevent them from crossing the road! I was shocked to see but apparently this is usual!! If the police does not hold the crowd, they will continue to cross the road and the cars will not be able to pass!!! This was very funny actually:). The traffic police is present everywhere in the city though, they are essential to the working of the city. Wonder what would happen without them managing the traffic!!

The government for one does not really seem interested in the development of the city (or the state for that matter!). This is evident from the time you enter the city: at the airport itself. I would rate Calcutta airport as one of the worst in India. The toilets actually stink!! I did not know that this can happen at airports also! Its actually a shock, that this is what the state of Bengal is coming to. With Bengalis being one of the most educated people in India and since a long time, its a shame how little development happens in their own state!

Enough of the cribs now though:), time for some positives for the city! Shopping being the major one and puchke being the other one:). The puchke of Kolkata are sooo tasty, their huge size which is difficult to eat in one go, the yummy spicy water, its just heavenly!! A must-have for anyone in Calcutta even if for a short time!

Also the shopping for embroidered stuff in Calcutta is one of the best in the country. The designs, the quality of embroidery and the variety is something you may not get in other cities of the country. We did most of our shopping at Burra Bazaar which is the Chandni Chowk of Calcutta. Its tough to get there with the traffic, but once there you will be pleasantly surprised with the amount of stuff available in the market.

Shop after shop with tons of stuff, your mind will reel with what all is available there. Sarees, lehengas, suits, all kinds of work and countless designs. If you are fond of value-for-money shopping, this is the place for you.

Jewellery in Calcutta is also good, with countless designs available. And lastly, if ever in Calcutta, definitely visit Sree Leather, you can get whatever you want in leather, shoes, bags, purses, belts, jackets and so on, all at throwaway prices. For someone buying such stuff for much more in branded shops, the shop will make you go crazy. Its a must visit again.

P.S. I know a lot of people who love the city and am sure Calcutta has a lot to offer. This article is just based on my short stay in the city, and just on my experiences. I am sure its not the full picture, but its at least my picture of the city, just my view that there is so much more that the city can become, which right now it isn't. Hope I dont offend anyone:)

Hidden beaches of Madh and Aksa

I was pleasantly surprised to see that such nice places exist in Bombay itself which I had never explored before... (Well you can debate whether Madh and Aksa are really within Bombay or not but at least they are quite close!!)

I went to Aksa beach more on a driving test on a nice monsoon day, rather than for the place, but it turned out to be quite a pleasant and enjoyable day-out in itself:).

The weather surely helped: intermittent not so heavy rains and breezy cool interludes in between. What more can you ask for, for a day spent in town?

We first went to Aksa beach (the drive from the western express to the beach being a bit of a downer though!). The beach was surprisingly clean (compared to bombay standards that is!), not too many people around, cool, wet, windy, with rocks to sit on just next to the sea, some small waves coming in once in a while,

the palm trees on the shore swaying to and fro in the wind, clean and fresh air, no buildings (save one) in sight, the open sea, roaring waves.. Just visualising it all makes me smile and feel happy and relaxed.. Imagine what being there after just an hour's ride from your home would make one feel.. ?!! Just beautiful, calming, relaxing, elevating...

There on we drove on the road that goes towards Madh Island.. Narrow winding road, with vibrant green trees covering the road, and again the fresh and cool air and the pleasant breeze..

And the road goes on and on, with some bungalows once in a while on the sides, fishing villages on the way, fishing boats moored next to it.. Is it really in Bombay? Felt more like Kerala backwaters or the goan roads. Was it for real? I felt I was in another isolated world, in a small town in the rains, in the ghats.

Was just beautiful to drive there, up and down and left and right on the winding road, just taking in the sights of rural (?) life.. We stopped at a beach on the way too.. Just difficult to describe the experience in words or even pictures.. Relaxing, far away..

Perfect for some good quality time within the city borders...

Mumbai Weekend Getaways : 2

RAIGAD FORT : SHIVAJI'S BIRTHPLACE

In summer desperation of not being able to go out anywhere during the Great Indian Summer (and a very very long one this year!!), we did a short one day trip to Raigad, a fort near Mumbai.

Surprisingly though, the short relaxed trip turned out to be a packed one. It was HOT and sunny the whole day, but surprisingly we enjoyed:). And as with any weekend trip outside Bombay: it was short and sweet and cheap too!

The usual start, leaving early to get out of Mumbai fast, eating at dhabas on the way, driving through the Marathi countryside, yellow and dry at that time of the year..

Our first stop was river-rafting in Kolar. It was tough to find the place where river rafting happens in season as we were there in the wrong season anyways. So we just somehow landed up at the lake where the rafting ends. It was peaceful, calm and an oasis of coolness in the hot summer.

We found a deserted pump house next to the lake where we could just rest for sometime.. and then into the water!! Took a short nap also on a tree bark, it was soo quiet and cool. you could even hear people talking 100 mtrs away! Imagine anything close to that in Mumbai:))))

After that we landed up at the Raigad fort and were pleasantly surprised to see that there was a ropeway going up to the fort!!

Why are such places not marketed by the tourism department? Imagine we were living just 3 hours away from the place, and we had not even heard about it all! The ropeway up was scary though, with views of the ghats below.

The fort was interesting too with a lot of history. Spread out in a huge area, good architecture, and though mostly in ruins, there were still some structures still standing strong!

Raigad is also the birthplace of Shivaji and there is a monument within the fort erected in his honour.

On the whole, the fort was a good place to spend sometime looking at the views around. (And wonder, how did they manage to build such places ages ago!! ) There is also an MTDC resort at the top of the hill near the fort, a must-stay I would say. Anyways we spent some time at the fort, roaming around the ruins and then were back to the city life, quick enough:)

KHANDALA

Khandala and Lonavala, however much people may crib about these

places being ordinary, sometimes they end up being the only choices for escaping Mumbai. And frankly, quite beautiful escapes too (at least during the rains)! The drive on the expressway being a pleasure, driving through the clouds at high speeds, rain all around, the hills lush green all the way, what more would you want (or need) when looking for a break?

We had another a recent weekend out at the Duke's retreat

at Khandala. The resort is nice, at least the rooms. They have a beautiful view of the cliffs of Khandala and the table-top. The cottages are not that great though!

Duke's offers one of the best views of Khandala and that

is reason itself for staying at this resort! The pool, the events during the day to keep kids busy, the puppet show, the games at night, the beautiful views from the cafe and restaurant.. surely a great place for relaxation.

Rest of course, is the same at Khandala as Lonavla.

A trip to Bushy dam, stop at the lakes, eat butta and enjoy the greenery around. Totally relaxing and heavenly!

HAJI MALANG

Haji Malang is a short trek near Mumbai that you can go to [when the weather is good, that is:)]. Its located quite close to Mumbai, nearer to Kalyan and takes about 2-3 hours to reach. The road till there is quite bad in patches though.

Midway during the trek is the Haji Malang majaar. The way till there has stone steps. So its good as well as bad. Good since its easier to walk and you can't lose your way! Bad because there are lots of crowds on this trek as the majaar is well revered. Also, there are lot of vendors selling all kinds of things all the way, so that does get tiresome and irritating.

After the majaar though, the trek is good and the view from the top beautiful. There is also one part of the trek where you cross across the stones on ropes. We did not do that part of the trek, but apparently thats quite fun and dangerous too!

BHANDARDARA

Bhandardara is a huge huge lake located near Igatpuri, off about 40 kms or so from the Mumbai Nasik highway. Somehow it is not a well know tourist spot near Mumbai, but it surely is one of the most beautiful and serene places around: perfect for a weekend getaway from Mumbai.

The drive from Mumbai till Bhandardara is beautiful. First on the

Mumbai Nasik highway, beautiful three-laned roads, through hills and ghats and green fields and forests. Even though we started on a hot afternoon from Mumbai, the weather just got so much cooler on the highway. It was a very pretty drive, with green hills on both sides, , chilly cool air and of course the awesome highway.

Once you get off the highway, there is a 40 km drive across the countryside, single laned road through villages and hills, forests and plains. Its just so relaxing to drive here, it feels so fresh and pristine!!

Once at the lake, you can stay at either the MTDC resort or

Anandvan. The location for both the resorts is pretty, just next to the lake with a beautiful view. MTDC resort is reasonable but poorly maintained. Anandvan is much more expensive though.

But this place definitely needs two days to be able to enjoy yourself. Enjoy a morning walk next to the lake, trek on the Kalsubhai peak nearby (the highest peak in Maharashtra) and generally enjoy time out for youself!

The perfect place to spend a nice weekend out of Mumbai.

CHOKI DHANI

An advantage of going on treks north of Mumbai towards Kalyan is that you can get to have dinner at Choki Dhani!!

This is a Rajasthani theme based eating place where you can spend a

nice evening out. It opens from 7pm itself, and has enough of things to do to spend a couple of hours with friends here. You can see the Rajasthani dances, puppet dances, get mehendi done, sit on the camel, take photos in Rajasthani costumes, play the local games etc etc (the usual toursity experience of Rajasthani life!!) and of course have a nice tasty Rajasthani meal, all for Rs. 500!

Again a must go for Bombayites...!