Jawahar - Dabhosa Waterfall

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

After visiting Sunset Point we headed to Shivneri Garden Dhaba on the outskirts of Jawahar City to have our lunch.

There are very few hotels here. We had Egg Bhurji, Veg Kolhapuri and Roti for lunch. The taste differs but when you are hungry, the taste doesn't matter.

We inquired with the hotel manager in regards to directions to Dabhosa Waterfall and Bhupatgad Fort. He informed us that both places are far from each other and than we could do only one of them, as it was rainy season we decided t do the waterfall.

The way to the waterfall is from the village. We need to travel by the Silvassa Road to reach the Waterfall.  Ask the locals and they will guide you with directions to the Silvassa Road. The are sign boards putup on trees leading to the waterfall. If you follow them, you can't get lost.


Again the roads are a mixture of of good stretches and potholes. So it is advisable to take a 4*4 along else you will damage the shocs of the car. 

The view around was scenic. The sun had made a special guest appearance amongst the dark clouds and brightened up the place. Don't have words to describe the beauty around. So have taken snaps.

As I said greenery all around us. I could smell the leaves of the trees around. Have to say that nature can give you a High.


Though the hotel manager told me 18 km , it was around 40 km one way to reach the waterfall. We have to travel slowly due to bad stretch on the road most of the times. 

Finally we reached the waterfall. The view was just amazing. Now we can go till the bottom of the waterfall or view the waterfall from the top.

Neha and I decided to reach the bottom of the waterfall. A trail down the valley leads to the base of the waterfall. The trail is made of small rocks and mud. So in the rains it is very slippery. 


We started our trek down the waterfall as it was sunny and the rocks were dry. Clicked some amazing snaps and selfies with the waterfall in the backdrop. The water is muddy and so is the waterfall. 

Half way down the stretch we decided not to trek down as the water was dirty and so decided to make our way atop when the rains started making the climb uphill difficult, but we still managed to get to the top. 

Though we managed to do most of the places on our itinerary except for Bhupatgad Fort. 

As we traveled by car we were able to cover most of the places, had it been public transport I guess we would have covered only Hanuman Point, Sunset Point and Jai Vilas Palace. 

This journey was fun I should say, really loved the weather and the nature around, truly refreshing and to top it, it didn't tire us up either. Hope to have more trips like these in the future. 

Other waterfalls around Mumbai are Zenith in Khopoli, Chinchoti and Kalote. 

Jawahar - Journey to Hanuman Point at Jawahar

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

I have been planning Jawahar for quite some days now. But the plans used to never finalize into a successful trip.

Finally I decided that I will go come what may, I asked  Manohar and he agreed to join me. Two's company as for now.

Jawahar doesn't have a very good connectivity when it comes to public transport so we decided to travel by Manohar's car.

I asked a couple of my friends and Neha agreed to join in. Three's co.


Jawahar is located around 168 km away from Mumbai by road. Now there were two ways of reaching it. The Bhiwandi Wada Road or the Dahanu Jawahar Road. We decided to take the Dahanu Jawahar Road as it was a better road compared to the other.

Looked up the place on google maps and it showed a estimated time of three hours. We had planned to do Jai Vilas Palace, Hanuman Point, Sunset Point, Dhabosa Waterfall and Bhupatgad Fort. 


Manohar started at 6:45 am, picked up Neha followed by me on the Western Express Highway at around 8:15 PM. 

It took time as the car tire was punctured.


Now it was a gloomy rainy day. It has already started pouring heavily when I was picked up and I was hoping it stays this way till the end of our trip.

Not much rush on the road and in no time we were out of city limits on the Mumbai Ahmedabad Highway (NH8)


Apologies, as it was raining outside the car windows were rolled up and so you will see the window reflection in some of my photos. 

Our car raced the trucks on the big fat and wet tar road cutting through the hills. The sky dull and dark, the grass and trees swaying in the winds was a wonderful sight to see. So many shades of green. BTW the color green is very soothing for our eyes. The hills tops covered with clouds. Gave me a fantastic feeling. 


Now there are no proper sign boards on the road, indicating which turn to take to go to Jawahar. As I mentioned as per google maps there are two ways to reach, one is via the the Dahanu Jawahar Road and the other is via the Bhiwandi Wada Road.

We decided to break for breakfast at 9:30 AM at Kamat's. Self service, I like that. We had breakfast in the form of Masala Dosa, Upma and Idli Sambar. Not sure when and where lunch would be served. Have to say the quality of the food is good, a little expensive price wise but its okay, after all it is located in the middle of nowhere. 


I had my stomach full, not sure about Manohar and Neha and we headed off on the highway. We decided to ask around, hoping that we don't miss the road. One of the guy's at a beer shop informed us to take a right at Charoti Naka. But where is Charoti Naka as we were not able to locate it on our maps.  

Finally we reached a junction, it was Charoti Naka. We took a right turn here, asked a couple of locals and they informed that this road led to Jawahar. The Dahanu Jawahar Road intersects the NH8 at Charoti Naka. Now we were on State Highway 78. It didn't look like one as it was a narrow road which could let only two cars overtake each other.  


The road was in good condition, but was deserted, I don't recollect any one overtaking us, but met just four vehicles on the opposite way. 

It has stopped raining now, but the weather was pleasant. The skies were still dark. Lush greenery on  either side of the road. The road took a left turn then a right, then went uphill and then downhill.  As I said so many shades of green.


We saw many small waterbodies and waterfalls on the way. Strong winds blowing made the green grass slay making beautiful patterns all around.

Clusters of square shaped houses made off mud with manglorean tiles on the roof were covered on all sides with farms and trees. 

I wouldn't mind staying here nor do I mind staying in the hills all alone by myself. 


A couple of farmers were ploughing their fields. Farming is not an easy activity. I guess it was a family affair as I saw family in the muddy waters, putting the rice sapling. Now this is painful task. It is due to their efforts that we get rice to eat. 

From State Highway 78 we moved to State Highway 35. Ther eis no signboard in regards to the State Highway. Google Maps provides with this info.  

Finally at 11:30 AM we reached Jawahar. We reached the heart of the city. As the roads were deserted it was fun travelling on them. So it is necessary to travel by private transport here. 


Now there are proper signboards here. We decided to head to Hanuman Point. In a couple of minutes we were at Hanuman Point.

No rains, but it was a windy day. The Hanuman Temple (Maruti Temple) was painted Orange and White. The color contrast was too bright. The temple was renovated recently, atleast by the look of it. The Maruti Temple is also called as Katya Maruti Mandir. The present location is surrounded by valley on all three sides. 

Hanuman Point aka Devkobacha Kada aka Sunrise Point.


Behind it was the valley. AMG. What a view of the hill ranges around. Due to heavy rainfall, it could see green all around.Again hill tops capped with clouds. Water flowing downstream, tiny ziz zag roads cutting through the greenery. The color was so soothing to my eyes.  

In a distance on our right hand side I could locate the Jai Vilas Palace. We then headed there.  Jawahar - Jai Vilas Palace.