[JoshMachine]

On a lazy Friday afternoon, it was raining quite heavily outside.

Wifey and I were onto our 3rd filter coffee of the day already by that time, wondering what else we could do to brighten up the coming weekend.
Had it been pre-covid days, the 3 of us (kiddo included) could have just wandered off a mall and probably would have indulged in some piping hot Cheese Fondue and Misal Pav or similar such stuff , and gazing at the rain falling over the shop window.

Alas, we are still some time away for that meandering to be realized!

So, out of nowhere, just like that, this idea of going to a nearby weekend destination popped up. Right in the middle of monsoon, with some rains to keep us for company. And it was a done deal then and there!
If you can't beat them, join them. Not sure who said it, but makes a lot of sense, though.

But then the next big question - where do we head out to?

Back in March-April, we had gone to Tikona Fort near Pune (trip post) and to Shrivardhan (trip post).
And while enroute to these places, we had crossed an interesting sight of colorful flags fluttering away to glory - that of a tony resort, tucked away near the Hadshi lakeside. Somehow, those images had remained stuck in my little grey cells and I immediately went about the business of digging more.

With some spirited search, I finally hit gold. Found what we were looking for. A grand total of approx. 45 km from my place in Warje, Pune.
The resort was called Tikona Farms (https://www.tikonapicnic.com/). Called as Tikona Picnic, for some obvious reason, I would think.

Showed to wifey and kiddo. They were sold in the first 10 seconds of seeing the photogallery!
And to make things more attractive, this is mentioned on their home page:-

Feeling fettered in the daily slog of the concrete jungle? Are you looking for a relaxation close to Pune city?

Break free for a weekend close to beautiful Hadshi Lake in Mulashi. Unshackle yourselves and rediscover the joy of being close to nature, feel the freshness of the morning mist laden air, be playful splashing in the crystal clear water, enjoy the warmth of a fire under a star sky for Camping and the taste of simplicity.

Not that the site UI/UX had a halo around it or something, but I am sure you get the drift

Made couple of calls, and voila! Got a good deal for a Sunday trip. Got my brother and his wifey + kid to also chime in.
So, all set for a nice weekend getaway.

Did I forget to say that I had been wanting to get out and have a nice drive in the Vento! Well, that was that.

Speaking of the drive, well, we kind of knew what to expect as far as the road condition would go.

For most part of the 45 km journey, roads were iffy and/or decent like this:-







And for some road sections (not many though), there were craters filled with monsoon earth water, which challenged the low ground clearance of the Vento big time. I must say, in the same breath, that with a full load of 5 passengers, the Vento's bottom scraped just once. Impressed, I was, once again, by the car's mature suspension setup. Way to go, Vento!

No other surprises on the way. We resisted the temptation to stop at roadside stalls offering tea and sweet corn, didn't want to get caught in a cloudburst in the middle of nowhere.

However, we did manage to click some nice swooshing cloud movements, nestled in the lush green arms of the Sahyadri range.

Some pics to relive those moments:-







Had my kiddo playing her fav Taylor Swift songs on the nice RCD340 headunit. And we crooned along mindlessly on some of the songs. Happy drive, happy times.

And with that, we reached the destination. Signages for reaching the place were put up at regular intervals, and we had Google Maps to navigate couple of crucial junctures, so not much sweat broken over there.

[JoshMachine]

The parking facility at Tikona Farms was okayish. And nobody to manage things on the ground. When we reached around 9.30-10ish, there were already few cars.

Found a nice, corner place for my Vento.



So, first order of business taken care of.

I looked back and this is the breathtaking perspective I tried to capture, one of my fav pics:-



The entrance to the place, Tikona Farms, looked like it was inundated with rains:-


Little did we know, that the views and the experience inside the resort were going to be totally opposite of this not-so-exhilarating welcome view.

Just inside the grand entrance, we were greeted by this scenic view:-


The flags on the right of the pic, are the same visuals that caught our attention while on our previous trips, mentioned in above post.

It was already quite some time since we had left home, and our tummies were growling. Off we went straight to the cafeteria/restaurant to get some fresh Misal pav and kanda pohe, topped off with some nicely brewed coffee.

A board explaining the universal "You are here" sign alongwith nearby tourist places:-



Right down the straight, we saw the beautiful lakeside view:-





Shot few more pics on my mobile phone, and I realized I should have brought along a DSLR to capture such moments:-



Some more lakeside pics, it was so calming and overwhelming at the same time:-





Here's a video to put things into motion:-

https://youtu.be/6Rjj91Vd5qY

The boating facility was available, but we didn't want to test our courage on the already swollen lake waters.

They had built a series of small picturesque gardens along the entire lake shore line:-



The place being very close to the hills, it was rainy and windy all the time. A video to display the effects:-

https://youtu.be/1bmI5NKNKKE

It was time to take the farm / agro-tourism tour now. The place is not that widely spread out, maybe about 3.5 - 4 acres or so. There is also mention of mango plantation on the website, but in reality, there is just a sprinkling of mango trees here and there along with some other local fruit trees like banana, guava, custard apple, chikoo etc.

During summer or winters, the place offers quite a bit of facilities like bullock cart / tractor rides, fishing, boating and other team building/ adventure sports. '

Not to mention, they also organize campfires, if you visit in large groups. Further, overnight stays are also possible.

The pricing for various packages is decently speced.
For a day trip (we chose this) or a one day package as they call it, they charge Rs 750/person. This includes breakfast, lunch, evening snacks accompanied by tea/coffee throughout the day.
For overnight stay, they charge Rs 1500 including the tent stay, dinner and next day's breakfast.

We just meandered around the farm/resort land with umbrellas in tow, and my kiddo had a good first-hand understanding of the topic, "Botany calling".

It being peak monsoon time, it was quite slushy all around. Difficult to capture a NatGeo rated picture, but here goes:-





Since this resort is situated not very far off from the Tikona Fort, the owners of this resort have smartly named their lands after this famous fort.

And to stay true to the name, there is a commemoration of what the fort legacy holds, in the form of a information board and a fort replica model:-





After all the wandering, it was chow time. We headed back to the restaurant and had a good lunch. Didn't remember to click the pics but will be necessary to mention that the food was good but not sumptuous as such. Reminded us of the local cuisine.

Post lunch, it was time to visit some of the sheds they had created with kids' playing area around them:-



While the kids hung around, we just absorbed the surroundings and soaked in for quite some time, all that mother nature had to share with us!

After some soul-searching time passed by, 'twas time to leave.

In summary, for the facilities, location and the price they charged, we felt time spent at "Tikona Farms" was a decent breakaway from the day to day hurry-worries of work-from-home. Might plan to visit sometime again when the monsoon abates.

On that note, hope you enjoyed reading this short travelogue.

Yours truly signing off:-

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing.

[varman742]

@JoshMachine - Nice writeup about your visit and great pictures! Your thread has given me one more destination to checkout in this awesome weather

[sid_sh]

Nicely penned
Truly looks like a good place to unwind and relax during weekend.
Next place for me and family to checkout.

[NiInJa]

Nice short trip Thanks of getting me pumped!
This the area around Hadshi which I am planning to go this weekend (on my bike) if there are no rains.

Can you tell me if you encountered any cops on the way? I got to know that they are not allowing people unless you show them some sort of hotel booking or something.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Thread moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Aditya!

Originally Posted by varman742

@JoshMachine - Nice writeup about your visit and great pictures! Your thread has given me one more destination to checkout in this awesome weather

Thanks varman742!
And if I may add, the trip will be even nicer in your new Safari!
(I saw your recent Pune-Aurangabad trip pics, and must say they were awesome)

Originally Posted by sid_sh

Nicely penned
Truly looks like a good place to unwind and relax during weekend.
Next place for me and family to checkout.

Thanks sid!
This place is great for family outings. Just make sure you call them and reserve your bookings in advance since they are allowing only limited numbers.

Originally Posted by NiInJa

Nice short trip Thanks of getting me pumped!
This the area around Hadshi which I am planning to go this weekend (on my bike) if there are no rains.
Can you tell me if you encountered any cops on the way? I got to know that they are not allowing people unless you show them some sort of hotel booking or something.

Thanks NiInJa!
A bike ride sounds nice in this weather. You may want to watch out for roads as you get closer to the resort since with with every passing day, some of the craters may increase in size.
But once you reach the place, one tends to forget all that has been endured and just relax by the lakeside!

[VJ05]

Looks like a nice resort. Tempted to plan a trip. Are the Mulshi waterfalls open for public or not allowed by local police?

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by VJ05

Looks like a nice resort. Tempted to plan a trip. Are the Mulshi waterfalls open for public or not allowed by local police?

Thanks. The monsoon drive is something special

Not much idea about the Mulshi waterfalls.

We followed this route as advised by the resort owner:-
Warje > Chande Nande road > Chale village > Kolwan village > Hadshi > Tikona farms.

On the day we were planning to drive, we were informed that the Chandni Chowk/Mulshi road was closed due to police nakabandi.

[luvDriving]

Thanks for the nice write-up along with the cool snaps.

Is the place maintained ? I ask because some places that we have visited are not maintained that well in the rainy season (mostly due to the heavy rains) but even rooms are not that good for a family.

I am planning a one night stay just to relax and get away.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by luvDriving

Thanks for the nice write-up along with the cool snaps.

Is the place maintained ? I ask because some places that we have visited are not maintained that well in the rainy season (mostly due to the heavy rains) but even rooms are not that good for a family.

I am planning a one night stay just to relax and get away.

Thanks!

The place was in general well maintained when we visited last weekend - including places around reception, restaurant, lakeside area etc.
The owner himself was taking effort to ensure all the staff keep the required maintenance ongoing, with the additional COVID sanitisation checks.
However, no idea on the room maintenance since we didn’t check that out. I think they have tent arrangements.
Am assuming though, it should be in line with the generally good things that we saw.

[rd18]

Combine it with a village restaurant opposite the lake called red soil. Good maharashtrian food.