Recharging the batteries ...

Well, ever since the contest got over, I have been having this race against time ... trying to catch up with life ... or more so the college assignments ... the 10 - 12 days that I missed out on completing assignments and stuff ...

Then immediately after the contest, I had basketball matches ...
During these matches ... on a Saturday, Sunday weekend ... when my dad had a holiday on Ganesh Chaturthi, he decided to take us all on a trip ...

Earlier, we decided to go to Raigad ... with the ropeway and all ... but the place got full ... and we were left stranded a day before we were to leave ...

So, anyways ... we just took the car ... packed in a pair of clothes, some food ... basic necessities ... and headed off towards Nashik side ... to Bhandardara ...

Bhandardara is supposed to be a hill station ... thats what my dad told me ...
I had never heard of it ... and so, wasn't looking forward to this trip that much ...

The only proof that such a place existed, was on the map ... with a symbol of a huge lake ...
I didn't know what to expect ...

It took us 5 hours of driving from Pune to reach this place ... I was in for a very pleasant surprise ...

The place was just beautiful ... greenery everywhere ... and not just green ... glowing light green ...
Everywhere you could see ... green :)
This small village - town is situated on the banks of the Bhandardara Lake ... which is one of the biggest lakes I have seen ...

I am sorry that I was not able to save the info pamplet ... but I'll recall and reproduce it to the best of my ability ...

Bhandardara
The place is at a height of about 800 mts or so ...
The peak season is from July to October end ... after which the greenery turns to yellow and then later brown ...
There is another peak period ... but I don't remember it right now ...
So, your best bet will be to get there during the rains ... its just heavenly there ...

Getting there
We travelled by car ( Indica ) from Pune.
Its around 190 - 200 odd kms. from here ... but it takes around 5 hours to reach there ...
This is due to some bad stretch of roads ... lots of ghats ... and also driving through a couple of towns having only 2 lane roads ...
But overall, the roads are good ... and the drive is pleasant ...
Also, the ghats are pretty easy ... only there are lots of them ...

Putting up tent
We were planning to stay at the MTDC place ... they have hogged the best location by far ...
But, because we hadn't pre-booked the rooms and also because it was a Saturday, and Ganesh Chaturthi, the place was full ...
MTDC has around 33 rooms ... with a 20 beds - room and a 12 beds - room incase you are coming with college or friends ...
We also found the MTDC rates a bit on the high side ...
A normal ( non AC ) room ... away from the good view goes for around 600 - 800 bucks ... for 3 people in a room
The AC ones go for around 1200 ... and if you want to stay at the lake side cottages, they go for about 2000 for 4 people ...

The MTDC manager told us that it was all full ... and directed us to an agent who showed us a couple of places around ...
They had rates comparable to MTDC ... but the rooms were very shitty ... damp and mold covered ...
This was due to the high rainfall this place receives ...
You could actually feel the damp room with a very heavy - airy feel to it ...

The MTDC person told us that if we didn't like the other places .. he would try to manage something ...
From this, we deduced ... that the manager gets some commission from the agent for refusing us ... So, if you want to stay at the MTDC place, you will HAVE to pre book the rooms ... preferably from an MTDC office in your town ... as we tried calling this place the previous day ... and never got connected ...

Anyways, so we finally crashed at this place ... which was walking distance from MTDC ... had decent rooms ... better than the earlier ones ... dry ... beds were decent ... and they also had TVs ...
The rates were half of what MTDC and the other places were offering ... and he got down more 100 bucks or so ... per room ... after bargaining ...

So, we got 2 rooms - 2 beds each for a total of 650 something ...
I don't remember the name of the lodge .. will ask my dad later and put up all the info later in the blog or the comment ...

Things to do
We stayed there for a night ...
So, we had an evening ... and the next morning ....

So, we basically drove a lot ... and I clicked many, many pictures ...

There is a large dam worth checking out ...

There is also a fort - Ratangad ... which you'll need 2 hours to go up ... and the same for coming down ....
Another nice place is Kalsubai ... its the highest peak in the Sahyadri range and is a hot trek-spot ... but again you'll require half a day for this ...

We skipped all the walking things :)
There is also a waterfall ... "Rung-dhab-dhaba" which was pretty amazing ( see picture ) ...
We caught it the other day ...

You can also go boating ... on a row boat ...
We did that too ... in the twilight .. the previous evening ...
It was a very nice experience ...

In the non-season period ... when the fish are not biting, the fishermen take you boating ...
We made good friends with the fishermen ... and also got invited to tea ...

The Weather
Well, I certainly feel ... that nature ... gave us the perfect weather ...
I can't stress more ... the weather, light, clouds, wind and everything else were so perfect ...
All through the drives, we were listening to a jugalbandi of flutes and tablas on the car stereo ... and it was heavenly ... just perfect ...
If you have seen "Lord of the Rings", picture the shire without the hobbits ... and you'll be very close ...
Just take a look at the pictures : http://sj-bhandardara.fotopic.net


Greenery everywhere .... cloud kissed peaks ... babbling brooks ... simple villagers ... away from town ... what else do you need ?