Dhom Dam in Dhom village near Wai

Monday, March 23, 2015

Dhom Dam is built on the River Krishna.  it is located in Dhom village,  which is around 10 KM from Wai.  Dhom village is located in Wai taluka in Satara district,  Maharashtra state. 

Dhom Dam

After visiting Goshala we decided to visit Dhom Dam. Again don't rely on GPS and Google Maps for directions.  We asked a couple of locals and they guided us to take the correct road to Dhom Dam. 

The road to Dhom Dam is deserted,  there are no signboards on the road,  so you have to ask the locals if you are on the right road. Finally we reached the entrance of Dhom Dam. 

Banks of Krishna River

Entry is not allowed in the Dhom Dam premises.  Not that today is a off day.  But locals and tourists are not allowed here.  As it is a Govt. of Maharashtra undertaking.  So you can't get a very close look of it. 

The guard at the entrance instructed to drive a little bit further to get a better view of the Dam,  we took his advise seriously and drove along.  In a matter of minutes we were able to see Dhom Dam in a distance and the River Krishna flowing. 

Krishna River

Manohar stopped the car,  all of us hoped out of the car to get a better view of the Dam.  We took our selfie stick along to take some great selfies too. 

The skies were gloomy so we were sure that it would rain,  not sure when. 

The dam and its surroundings are indeed beautiful.  The hills in a distance was wonderful to see.  Not a soul of the banks of the river.  Though in a distance we saw a couple of women filling water.  Maybe water is a issue in these villages.  I felt sorry for them,  as they have to travel wrong distances to fetch water. 

Road to Dhom Dam

Seeing us a couple of men too walked to the banks of the river.  

This place is great for camping purposes.  Maybe we should comeback to camp here in the furture. 

Now it had started drizzling,  the drizzle turned to heavy rains.  we were all soaked up,  but that didn't dampen our spirits we enjoyed the rains in the Winters.  In a matter of minutes,  it grew cold.  

The time was already 1:30 PM on my watch,  we decided to headover to Wai to have our lunch and thereafter depart to Mumbai. 

Rainy Day

We had lunch at Bandhu Gore,  a family serving home cooked lunch at a cost of Rs. 120 per meal. This eating place is located very close to Dholya Ganpati Mandir and to Hotel Ganesha,  where we stayed for the night.  Unlimited servings,  the cost of the sweet dish is extra.   

Lunch at Bandhu Gore

We then headed off to the Mapro farm to buy squashes and chocolates and then to Mumbai. 

Overall this journey was fun,  had the rains not played up, we would have extended our stay by a day and would have been able to see more places around.  But we will be back to cover all that we couldn't in this trip.  So stay glued to more on Wai on my blog.  

Wai in Maharashtra

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

After exploring Sydney Point in Panchgani we headed over to Wai. We travelled by the Wai-Panchgani-Mahableshwar Road. Wai is located at a distance of around 14 KM from Panchgani so roughly around 30 minutes away. 

By the time we landed in Wai,  it had already started drizzling and in a matter of few minutes it had started raining too.  Chilled breeze complimented the rains. 

Now we had to search for a place to stay for the night.  

Manohar had asked me, if he should book the rooms online, to which I had declined, stating that we might get rooms and now we are searching for one. How stupid of me. Grrrr

We spent the next one hour searching for accomodation.  There are plenty of hotels in Wai, but they didn't meet our needs. Finally we found Hotel Ganesha,  located very near to the Dholya Ganpati Mandir.  It provided us hot water (hot rod), good rooms at a price of Rs. 800 for a day.  Checkout time being 10 AM. 

The time was around 5 PM on my watch,  but it was already dark outside so we couldn't visit the Dholya Ganpati Mandir,  which was next door. 

We called it a night.  Now due to heavy rains the power had conked off. Thanks to generators in the room, we still had light and fan in the rooms but the charging ports were non functional.  Now I realise the importance of powerbanks on trips.  Though I never felt the need to carry one in the past. 

Dom,  his bag was like a magician's hat,  such a lot of stuff filled in it,  ranging from food,  to 3 litres of cola,  to mosquito repellent.  Anything that you can think of is in his bag. 

We also found Ganpati statues on each and every internal road in Wai.  The same way we have Crosses on the side of the roads in Goa. Never seen anything like this before.  Wai is famous for its Ganpati Temples and hence has devotees throughout the year.   

Dinning was a task for us,  as there was no electricity,  we had a tough time searching for a place to eat.  Most to the eateries were shut down.  So we travelled along the tiny roads of Wai hoping to get some dinner.  As it was raining and to compliment it there was no electricity,  most eating joints had shut shop.  Finally we reached a small food court comprising of roadside chinese food.  

We had some awesome Indian chinese food,  Triple Shezwan Rice,  Chicken Manchurian in Gravy and Chicken Hakka Noodles. After having out stomach full, we called it a day and headed off to the room for rest. 

We were to visit the Dholya Ganpati Mandir,  Krishna Ghat the next day