Lake Venna at Mahableshwar in Maharashtra

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Now you will be curious to know why we were headed to the Mahableshwar ST Bus Stand in the Bazaar area.  As it was cold, we decided to have bath at the restrooms behind the ST bus stand instead of renting a room, as we were to travel to Panchgani and from there to Wai. 

 The last time we had visited Mahableshwar,  Manohar had bath here and was urging me to do the same,  but I was too lazy and decided to stick with my jumper.  The bath was a blessing in disguise due to which he had stopped feeling cold. 

This trip the three of us decided to have bath here. This place ain't all luxury.  Basic bathrooms for both men and women travelers, which serve a bucket of cold water at a price of Rs.5 and hot water at a price of Rs. 20. What should I say,  I was feeling difficult to part with my jumper before my bath with hot water. Once done again I started feeling the cold, but this time the cold was short lived and I felt really good.  I should have taken the bath the last time I visited this place. 

Kick starting our journey with Wilson Point, in the cold, warm water bath at the ST bus stand we headed off for some South Indian breakfast at one of the local eateries in the bazaar area located just outside the ST Bus Stand.  

After having our full we decided to head to Panchgani.  As Lake Venna was on the way, we decided to do it.

Like always we relied on GPS and Google Maps for directions and again we took the wrong road and kept going in circles in the market area.  Finally we started asking locals around and relying to signboards to head to Lake Venna. 

A couple of wrong roads and finally we reached Lake Venna,  but we reached the otherside of the Lake,  not a soul was there.  But the view was just amazing.  

We were greeted with broken beer bottles, so I understood that this place is used for a beer party.

The view of the lake from here is amazing,  The light blue skies with white clouds forming wonderful patterns in it was just amazing.  The water was quiet and silent.  A couple of dry wooden branches stood in it. Among-st all the greenery around we located a beautiful temple here. 

This European styled House is beautifully perched on the hilltop with greenery all around

After taking a couple of selfies with my new travel companion we then headed off to see Parsi Point in Panchgani.   

Jaora, Sujapur

Thursday, July 24, 2014

The first place we went to this village called Sujapur.

Mohsin had made arrangements for us to travel by a Rickshaw to Sujapur. It is a few km away from Hussein Tekri. Why Sujapur, there is a small Dargah atop a hill. The Dulha Dawal Shah Dargah.

We exited the highway on the small village road leading to Sujapur. We were greeted with lush green fields, mango trees, windmills and to top it cool winds in the afternoon. Windmills, not one, not two but beyond count. A small road leads to the base village of the Dargah in Sujapur. Though the road is made of tar it is still uneven.

The village is very scenic. A cluster of houses make up the village. Farming is the main profession here. The village has both Muslim and Hindu communities staying together. National Integration, I am loving it. You will be eager t know, how I know this, there is a temple and Dargah in its premises.

A series of steps leads to the hilltop which offers mind blowing view of the place. Climbing the steps will test your knees to the core. But if you have knee issues, you need not worry as uneven tar road will take you to the top.

The hilltop offers a beautiful 360 degree view of the place. The cluster of houses in the villages, the windmills and the lake make a beautiful scene. This bought a smile across my face. This is one of the reasons why I came on this trip.

Mohsin and his family offered prayers in the Dargah, while my friend accompanied me on my photo session. My friend the Panasonic TZ11.

I walked to one of the windmills and got amazing photos of the sun light breaking through the clouds. Not sure what the energy is used for.

I sat under the shade of the tree, thinking how people lead a life here. I don’t mind staying in a village. It will for sure heal me from the mobile phone illness cut me off social media sites.  Though the life they lead is difficult as compared to us urbanites. But that doesn’t stop them. They have been living it and will continue to live it.  

There is a school in the village, so the children are going to school to study which is a good sign. Literacy rate is going up; again that brings a smile across my face.

Sometimes we should keep mother earth the way it is. It serves a refreshing break to us urbanites.  Even in the city of Mumbai we have hillocks which are either demolished or soon to be demolished to make way for skyscrapers.  But most of them go unoccupied as the people have no buying capacity. Then what’s the use of erasing the hillock. Man’s Greed knows no boundaries.

Soon Mohsin’s prayer meeting was over and we then decided to head back. Again Mohsin’s brothers and I came down the stairs while the others came down the road.

On the way we did a detour to refresh ourselves in the waters. We shared the waters with a herd of buffaloes and also bikers who were washing their bikes here.

In a distance on the hill where the windmills are located I could see something in white, when I zoomed in with my camera, I saw that it was a herd of cattle grazing on the green pastures there.

Wasim, Satish and Nadeem, had a good time in the water, by the time they were out they were totally wet. So we made them sit together isolating them from us, else we would all be wet.

Soon we were on the Highway again.