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Mahableshwar

How To Get Here

You can take a tourist bus (Volvo) fromMumbai,departing from Dadar East, Sion or Vashi. The ridewill take you 6 hours and will cost around Rs 350. An ordinary AC bus will cost Rs 200. The Volvo bus

from Pune is currently operated by two private companies (Neeta and Konduskar), and they chargeapprox Rs 200 each way.

Mahabaleshwar is also accessible by road from Mumbai, about 247 kms. It takes about 4 to 5 hours bycar if taking a route via Panvel through Mahad and Poladpur.

You can also reach Satara by train from Mumbai/Banglore. Mahabaleshwar is 47 KM from Satara andtakes little more than one hour from there.

Try to arrive here in the morning because most of the hotels have a check-in time of 9 AM. If youarrive later you may have to wait until another room becomes vacant.

Places to Visit:Although there are close to 25 'Points' in Mahabaleshwar, lots of these points wouldgive you the same view (of mountains/valley) from a slightly different angle. The following are a

must:

Arthur's Seat -Marjorie Point- Kate's Point- Bombay Point(Sunset Point) - Elephant's headPoint- Lingamala Falls(best viewed from behind Surya Resort)

Mapro FarmVisit the Mapro farm and try out an a wide range of strawberry shakes, fruit salads andice creams. You can buy squashes, lemonades, fresh fruit juices that are prepared at the Mapro Farm.There are sign posts everywhere along the route and it won't be difficult to spot the farm.

Adventure Activity:1. Para sailing at Table Land (Panchgani) will cost you between Rs 200 - 250.2. Para Gliding at Horizon Point (Panchgani) is good it will set you back Rs 1500 for a 10 -

15 minute ride tough you can experience the thrills of flying.3. You can experience all kinds of boating activities @ Tapola & Mahableshwar Lake.4. Rappelling5. Valley crossing

PanchganiAs the name suggest Panch means five and Gani means five hills so town of five hills

Its famous for Boarding Schools and Table land a vast flat land on top of the mountainits very huge you call play football it has goal post and field marked.

Its very popular with bollywood many films have been filmed.

Things to do1. Horse riding at table land2. Para sailing at table land3. Sherbaug a theme based garden with restaurants.4. Visiting strawberry gardens and sampling fresh ice cream

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Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani

>This is second round of my journey from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar and further ahead to Kolhapur,

Panhala and then to Coorg and Kerala. We planned to cover entire distance by road in the car.

I started from Mumbai and after lunch at Pune with my good old school buddy Dinesh Apte, I moved on

to Mahabaleshwar. By evening I was at Panchgani; which is just 18 km from Mahabaleshwar and is

home to most famous public schools in Maharashtra.

The climate was pleasant and journey was great. The road to Pune was expressway and hence was very

comfortable. The road after Pune to Wai was also very comfortable. Climate at Panchgani was

exceptionally good with bit of chill in the evening.

I stopped for tea at stall of Parameshwar Gole; he was talkative and nice person. He showed me

homestay of his cousin by name of Shubham Niwas.

I stayed there for the night. The next day I explored Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani. Like other hill

stations around Mumbai; even Mahabaleshwar was popularized by British. They also made it summer

capital of Bombay Presidency. Being at altitude of 1372 mts from mid sea level; it has very pleasant

weather in the summer.

In the area around Mahabaleshwar, five rivers flow (Savitri, Gayatri, Krishna, Koyna and Venna) thus

making it agriculturally advanced. The mountains around are covered with thick forests of Javali. This

was one the areas where Marathas fought fierce battles with Mughals by taking benefit of the terrain.

While you go Mahabaleshwar keep in mind that Panchgani weather is as good and it is not

crowded. So if you want peace, and privacy then better to stay here. Mahabaleshwar has

shopping areas and lots of budget as well as premium hotels. Panchgani mostly has homestays;

there are some with pretty nurseries around and some with strawberry farms. These can be ideal

for few days of peaceful stay.

Sight Seeing:

There are many sight seeing points in Mahabaleshwar; but few of the very good ones are given

below. In fact my advice is not to see every place; you would waste time and energy. Also as is

the case with every hill station; many points are generally created to make the list longer; and

one can do away with some.

Few of the best ones are as follows:

Arthur Seat:This is probably the best of all points. It is approx 10 km away from new town, butit is worth visiting. Named after Mr Arthur Mallet, this point gives splendid view of the Savitri

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Valley right below you. You can also see Pratapgadh; from here on a clear sunny day. On the

way you may also enjoy view from Marjorie Point and Tiger Springs (apparently tigers used to

come here to drink water!!!).

Needle Point/Elephant Head Point:It is called as needle point, as a rock is standing

maintaining some gap from cliff making to look like Needle hole. The shape of the rock is suchthat it also looks like elephant head and trunk, thus called elephant head point. One can get

breathtaking view of the mountains around and Krishna River in the valley. While visiting this

point you can also see Lodwick point on the way.

Kates Point and Echo point:Both these points are towards Panchgani; overlooking Krishna

valley. As the name suggests you get clear echo from the valley here. If you are interested inecho then only visit this point.

Venna Lake:Just, as you enter Mahabaleshwar from Panchgani, you are welcomed by buzzaround Venna Lake. You can enjoy boating, riding etc., along with eating as there are many

stalls of all kinds of food stuff here. This is probably the most crowded point after Malcom Peth

(i.e. main market of Mahabaleshwar)

Temples:Mahabaleshwar Temple:Temple of Shiva referred to as Mahabali (all powerful) is

the presiding deity of the town. This Shivalinga is considered to be swayambhu (lord hasappeared himself) and fulfilling wishes of the pilgrims.

Panchaganga Temple:Dedicated to the sacred five rivers in the area around, which bless this

area is Panchaganga temple. Springs coming out of Gomukh(cows mouth) is considered to berepresenting five rivers.

Pratapgadh:At 24 km from Mahabaleshwar stands this invincible fort built in 1656 by the

Founder of Maratha Empire, Chhatrapati Shivaji. This is one of the toughest forts to conquer; as

the approach consists of small winding roads with steep gradient. This made it virtuallyimpossible to carry heavy artillery or even big battalions. This also made it the chosen spot by

Shivaji, to meet his one of the biggest adversary Afzal Khan of Bijapur, who met his fateful end

here. Make it a point to see the graves of Afzal Khan and his bodyguard Sayyad Banda

(legendary fighter of that time) built and maintained with grants given by Shivaji. There is atunnel on the fort which supposedly opens few kms away and was used as escape route in times

of trouble.

Tapola lake:At approximately 30 km from Mahabaleshwar is Tapola situated on banks of

Shivsagar lake (backwaters of Koyna damthe biggest in Maharashtra). The journey is

especially breathtaking with scenic beauty of valleys, river and mountains. As you suddenly dropaltitude from Mahabaleshwar, the flora and fauna changesalong with weather; this can be of

special interest to nature lovers. Tapola, has boating club where you can enjoy boat rides - right

from small rides in a paddle boat to a long journey around Shivsagar lake in speed boats (total

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expanse of lake is 80 km). Adventure seekers can also plan, overnight tour to Vasota fort.

However, it would need permission from Forest Department as it is a part of Koyna Nature

Reserve. Please reach Tapola, early in the morning, carry enough consumables and learntopography well before you start; as there are no support systems around and the terrain around

Vasota is confusing. There are tents where you can plan overnight stay as well.

Mahabaleshwar and Panchagani have lot of options for stay. Budget hotels are mostly in the

town and near main market, they are easy to reach but do not give really a great experience. You

can opt to stay in bunglows or in strawberry gardens; there are options of bed &

breakfasts/homestays in both kind of stays and they are especially good if have few days to

spare. Good quality hotels and resorts are also there but they are really expensive. Hence I advise

to stay at homestays and also help common men earn their living; find them on

www.mygreatstay.com

Mahabaleshwar now is a good place to visit even for people from Mumbai. Due to better

connectivity of roads one can reach in 4 hrs and driving is pretty easy with 6 lane roads. In fact

its is easier to visit Mahabaleshwar than Alibaug which 2.5 hrs by road but where driving can be

real pain.

I decided to leave Mahabaleshwar, by the next day afternoon and reach Kolhapur by night.

However I got late, also on the way I changed my plan decided to stay at Panhala Fort. Kolhapur

is at higher altitude and Panhala fort is visited by most as the climate here is really nice.

Coming up next Panhala the mighty fort.