[MJ@Mariner]

“Some people feel the rain, some get wet others just drive”. This is a famous phrase which I modified a bit to fit to this travelogue.
I love the rain and its my favorite weather, Dark clouds, gloomy days, soothing sound of the flowing water, lush green and water falls everywhere. It is the kind of season where every soul on earth comes to life and no matter how many times you have seen in past and no matter how many times one will see in future, it won’t stop mesmerizing and admiring the true beauty of the season.
I live in Mumbai and we are blessed to have some exceptional places in and around Maharashtra, which comes to its own in Monsoon. In this travelogue I would like to share my experience of my drives during monsoon 2019.

Tamhini Ghat and Mulshi Lake (27 -28th July 2019)
It was fairly sunny and beautiful day the previous day of ride. So and impromptu plan was made to drive to Tamhini/Mulshi next day and AirB&B was booked immediately. Tamhini is about 3-4hours drive from Mumbai. One could either go from Pune or from Pali and I chose the later,i.e. via Pali.
The drive started from Mumbai about 6a.m and it was pouring cats and dogs that day. Iits natural if you expect to be a good weather, the sky will some how open up. Most of the people would sit home and would enjoy “Chai Pakoras”, me being me ventured out on my car thinking it would stop on the way and dragged along my parents and cousins. I usually like to drive on the old Bombay Pune road than E-way main reasons being its more scenic and have more options for food. I took “Khopoli / Khalapur” bypass to go to Pali and was greeted to first deal breaker of the day. The road bridge on river (Sorry don’t know the name of river) was about to be engulfed by the gushing water. It seemed as if someone held the serpent under the bridge and it is trying leap of the leash. Without wasting much time made a quick survey and decided to cross the road bridge before it was too late and I’m glad we did so. I was told later the road was closed as water crossed the bridge.
We had some breakfast and went ahead with the plan. Just before we could reach Pali, we met out second hurdle, i.e. long, stand still traffic. Pali is very famous for two things, one AshtaVinayak Temple and second is flash floods. During rainy season more often than not the River “Amba”, (I remember this name) creates many floods, rather flash floods. The road service comes to a complete halt and this was one of those days. The River Amba near “JambulPada” has over come the bridge and flowing with full glory and authority. Local Police and Local people who encounter these situation every year were manning the road and had stopped the traffic on either side of the bridge. As the name, flash flood subdues in a flash and within 30minutes “Goddess Amba” had calmed down, unveiling the road to pass through.
Here-on it was straight to Tamhini –Mulshi. Believe it or not we’ve not seen so many falls in our entire life which we saw in one day. One could imagine with amount of rain it was usual that day, but in Tamhini it is usual everyday during Monsoon. The winding road, the flowing water, the roaring falls, the mystic fog, you just need to wish and you will be treated for the same. Such was the experience of Tamhini, simply jaw-dropping. Over-all condition of roads from Mumabi till Mulshi was “OK” except for few stretches where the roads weren’t existing, which I believe is expected during monsoon. Now, due to so much rain I couldn’t even dare open my DSLR, some photos whatever we could manage are as below.




Malshej & Naneghat (22nd July 2019)
Malshej is another weekend destination around Mumbai which comes to life during monsoon. This is mostly a day drive or if someone wish can stay back at the MTDC Resort in Malshej. The resort is good with lovely food but prior booking is must (well in advance). The kind of planning I do, the term well in advance doesn’t exist for me. So it was a day trip.
Sunny and beautiful day was expected and for a change it actually was. Usual traffic, noise and pollution till Kalyan and once we crossed the city it was total bliss. The road is in great shape till Malshej and “OK” from Malshej till Naneghat. One can reach Naneghat by two means, one by trekking all the way up to 2600feet and second by road and obviously we took the later option. It is a hikers go to destination and can see lot of hikers over the weekend. It is moderate hike but rain makes it very interesting. NaneGhat literally means “Nane=Coin (money)”, “Ghat=Pass(way)”. The “pass” connects Konkan coast communities with Deccan high plateau of Junnar (Malshej and surround area). As per Google and Wikipedia the pass was made somewhere in 200BCE and used as trade route between two regions. Toll (money) used to be collected to pass the Ghat hence the name.







Bhandardhara (3rd August 2019)
Bhandardhara can be a day trip or can be one night stay destination. Couple of time before as we had done one day trip, this time we decided to go for stay option. And as per my well in advance planning( ) there were no much options look for. Finally booked an accommodation which was only “OK” for the amount we paid, that is why I can’t even recall the same of so called resort. Nonetheless we didn’t have much option either.
Bhandardhara is home for Mount Kalsubai, the highest peak in Maharashtra, 5400feet. So one can see lots and lots of scenic places literally on every nook and corner. The famous points of interest in Bhandardhara are, Wilson Dam, Arthur Lake and Randha Falls. On the Arthur Lake, Wilson Dam is built. When the gate of the dam is open it flows on the Rocks making it a visual of Umbrella and that is what called “Umbrella Falls”. We have been to Bhandardhara 3 times, never been lucky to have seen the falls live till now. During our stay we were told normally the gates are open from 11am to 12noon but unfortunately when we there they weren’t. Randha falls is must visit place and the amount water flows and the the force what it creates in one to look for. During our this visit surprisingly the falls was empty. Localities told us that the water is some project ( not sure for what) and hence the dam was not open (Not the Wilson Dam). Below few photos of falls during full flow and no flow.
En-route to Bhandardhara we have to pass Igatpuri which is also a great one day picnic spot. We had a pit stop to visit the famous Asoka Falls as well.







Tungareshwar (25th August 2019)

Tungareshwar is place which suits people like me. Means, literally no planning to required to go to this place. In just 30mins from the place where I live, we enter this beautiful place, which, if one comes blind folded from Mumbai will not believe that such place exists in so close proximity. It is actually a wildlife sanctuary and is the extended part of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (Mumbai). The place is famous for trekkers, nature lovers, Lord Shiva devotees and for mud slushers. One has to cross river streams at two places and the flow of water is quite intense during heavy rain. Lots of bikers, off-roaders come to enjoy the trail during weekend.
On 25th August, five of us fellow Pajero-ites from Mumbai gathered in Tungareshwar for small get-together and to test our basic off-road skills. The trail starts from Vasai passing through the mountain, which is around 2200ft and comes down on the other end of the mountain near Virar-Vajreshwari road. Due to ongoing heavy rain there was a land slide, which cut short our journey. We reached top of the mountain and had chai and chatting session. This was one of our first meet and it was more of a get to know session as well. After spending some quality time we decided take back the same route. Tungareshwar region is rich in bio-diversity and house for beautiful water falls, dense forest and wildlife.







Jawhar (22nd September, 2019)
One more meet was planned within a month of get-to-know meet. This time again 5 Pajero’s met and decided to go to Jawhar Palace and Dabhosa falls in Maharashtra. The falls is some 150kms and is one of the highest waterfall near Mumbai. As usual in rainy season, the route is home for lush green fields, forests and beautiful rivers. We did try our hands on some light off-roading just for fun, nothing of any serious sort.
The water falls is 300ft and requires moderate trek to go down the base of the fall. The route was almost washed away by the water and left some boulders dangerously hanging around. But when we saw elderly people (only by age not at heart) making their way down, we felt confident (or ashamed not sure ) and we made our way down to the base and believe it was totally worth. We also visited the Jawhar Palace which is actually called “Jaivilas Palace” which used to be residential palace of the Royal Family of “Princely state of Jawhar”.



Kaas Pathar and Thoseghar (28-29th September 2019)

Visit to Kass Pathar or Plateau was on my bucket list from long time. Kaas Pathar is around 250kms form Mumbai and 25kms from Satara in Maharashtra. The plateau is part of Western Ghats and is habitat for around 850 species of different flowering plants. These flowers bloom in monsoon but during particular time for about 8-12 weeks. The best time to visit is late August until early October. The site is UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site.
Unlike my previous trips, this wasn’t last moment plan for two reasons. One, we need to book the slot well in advance and get an online ticket as to control possible damage by tourists, the number of visitors to the plateau has been restricted to 3,000 per day. Second reason being all of my family members (8 of them) were coming. So hotel and the ticket booking was done on time.
During this sojourn we had all time in the world. This was a leisure trip and we stopped at everything which interested us. Again took old Bombay – Pune road and en-route stopped to see the abandoned aircraft somewhere near Khopoli. Clicked some pictures and next pit-stop was Lonavala for famous and our favorite pooran-poli. If one visits Satara then Mutton dishes are must eat, so we obliged to hunger God and a sumptuous lunch. Our Plateau visit was scheduled between 3 to 6pm, and we reached on time at the parking lot. From the parking lot mini-buses are arranged till the valley. The valley is actually is very big and where-ever the sight goes flowers can be seen. The flowers are small and looks like the land is covered by colorful carpet from far. Around 5pm the bright Sun was swallowed by dark clouds and within matter of few minutes it poured. We quickly moved to the mini-bus and then to our car. Surprisingly the weather was much cooler than expected the mercury read 15degC, very unusual for that season.





Next day we after breakfast we visited the Thoseghar water fall. The water fall is divided into two sections “moti (big)” and “nani (small)” falls. Out of the two I liked the smaller one, reason being I could go to the base of the fall. As Satara is surrounded by Ghats, there are lots and lots of wind mills to be seen. My 10 year old niece is fascinated by wind mills and to delight her, took a detour and went right to the “Pawan-Chakki” farm (as she would say).







Though for some reasons, this year monsoon season never seems to be stopping in Mumbai and around, but this was my last trip of the season.
Looking forward for next year monsoon, where again I just won’t make any plans but just…..….vroooom.

Thanks for reading.

[ruzbehxyz]

Excellent!!!

The Sahyadris indeed turn green and lively in the monsoons. Your photographs are lovely.

How was the water crossing at the start of the Tungareshwar trail from Vasai side?

[MJ@Mariner]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Excellent!!!

The Sahyadris indeed turn green and lively in the monsoons. Your photographs are lovely.

How was the water crossing at the start of the Tungareshwar trail from Vasai side?

This monsoon season I had gone to Tungareshwar two times. First time the water level was really high and forcefully. It was in end of July. The water at places was about hip level for 6ft guy like me. Funny part was when I was about to enter the water crossing local taxi wale who are driving Tavera stopped us and told my car won't go and come in his car and he would drop us. I said to him, at least look what I'm driving and then talk, you insult me ok but don't insult my car. And without a sweat I crossed river.

Second time was not so much of water though....

[Aditya]

Great thread and lovely pictures. Maharashtra offers some amazing sights during and after the monsoons. The greenery, even after years of deforestation, is simply astonishing.

I have been to most of these places, but somehow never managed to visit Kaas Pathar. Visiting it during the bloom is definitely on my to do list. On the other hand Tungareshwar and Malshej Ghat are fairly close to Mumbai and visited more frequently.

You also took the right vehicle for your excursion. The Pajero Sport remains one of my favourite cars and it's a treat to see so many together.

[Iyencar]

Lovely thread. Will be my reference for future short excursions I'm not sure if I missed it but do you have a 4x4 version and was it necessary to use it? I have driven to a few of these places in my Grand i10. While MH has some of the most beautiful scenery, it also has the most pathetic roads anywhere in the country so a high GC vehicle like yours makes life so much easier. P.S. No mention of Pravara lake in Bhandardara and the temple in the middle of the lake? It was one of the first water bodies I had ever seen with absolutely blue water.

[MJ@Mariner]

Originally Posted by Iyencar

Lovely thread. Will be my reference for future short excursions I'm not sure if I missed it but do you have a 4x4 version and was it necessary to use it? I have driven to a few of these places in my Grand i10. While MH has some of the most beautiful scenery, it also has the most pathetic roads anywhere in the country so a high GC vehicle like yours makes life so much easier. P.S. No mention of Pravara lake in Bhandardara and the temple in the middle of the lake? It was one of the first water bodies I had ever seen with absolutely blue water.

Yes, I've a 4x4 version Pajero Sport. Honestly it wasn't necessary and never used 4x4. Most of the places we went can be covered by any car. But as u mentioned high GC vehicle makes life easier. I'm not sure of Pravara lake? Is this lake which is forming the Randha falls. There is temple as well. I must have missed it. Reason to go to Bhandadhara in 2020 already.

[Iyencar]

Originally Posted by MJ@Mariner

Honestly it wasn't necessary and never used 4x4. Most of the places we went can be covered by any car. But as u mentioned high GC vehicle makes life easier.

Good to know. Please put up an ownership review of your Pajero. There is very little info about this car from an Indian owner's perspective.

Originally Posted by MJ@Mariner

I'm not sure of Pravara lake? Is this lake which is forming the Randha falls. There is temple as well. I must have missed it. Reason to go to Bhandadhara in 2020 already.

My bad, I meant river, not lake.

From Wikipedia:

Close to its origin the river flows into the town of Bhandardara. Here, the Bhandardara Dam is constructed across the river forming the Arthur Lake. The gates of the dam are periodically opened, to allow downstream flow of the Pravara, giving rise to the Umbrella Falls.

So I guess you've been on it