Mapro Garden Mahableshwar, our favourite food stop !

When ever we make a trip to Mahableshwar we never forget to take a break at Mapro Garden. 

Mapro Garden is a lovely garden restaurant just beyond Panchgani on the way to Mahableshwar. It is particularly famous for its grilled sandwiches and pizzas baked on wood fired ovens. You will also love thick shakes mocktails which this lovely joint offers. 

 You can sit here for hours enjoying the delicious food and  lovely views of the garden around. 

Now book your favourite two wheeler from Hero Motocorp on Snapdeal !

Hero Motocorp , Indias largest two wheeler manufacturer and online e commerce website Snapdeal.com come together to make  purchase of  your next two wheeler from Hero Motocorp easier.

Vicco Turmeric Shaving Cream, latest addition to my travel kit .

Recently while doing my monthly shopping at DMart Icame across  Vicco Turmeric Shaving Cream in the toileteries section. I already had a large tube of my regular Park Avenue shaving cream in the basket, but I always prefer to use natural and Ayurvedic products and Vicco being a very trustworthy brand famous for their Vicco Turmeric Face cream and Vicco Vajradanti tooth powder and paste, I decided to give this new shaving cream also a try, so I bought a small tube.

After a few days I decided to  put Vicco Turmeric Shaving cream to test. I squeezed a small amount of cream on the wet shaving brush, the cream was slightly transparent in color unlike the white color of of other shaving creams I had used. This cream was also slightly on the dry side. When I started lathering the face i was not sure what to expect, a few strokes with the brush did churn up some good lather, I went on to lather some more and then started the shave. The razor did feel to glide more easily and and after the first round the skin was much smoother. The second round was a pleasure.there was no more the itchy feeling on the skin which happens to me during winter months when my skin skin becomes extra dry due to the regular shaving creams. The shave was not just more smooth but my face also felt fresher and richer and there was no need for me to rush to apply my regular antiseptic cream Boroline which I have been applying for year after shaving.

After such a pleasant experience with such a unhyped product, I decided to do some web search about this shaving cream. I went to the Vicco Laboratories website and read about the product and was surprised to know this cream could also be used as a face wash. The reviews on the internet also talked about the the thick creamy lather, and smoother skin.

The cream being a facewash and a shaving cream makes it ideal for travel, as there will always be one lesser tube to carry and you can also share this tube with your wife or girlfriend.

Buy Biotique Bio Palmyra Expert Shave Cream from Flipkart.com

Bluee , the 50 years old Volkswagen Kombi comes to India !

Jens Jacob a 37 year old German and his Indonesian wife Cynthia have been motoring around the world in their vintage 1965 model 1500cc Type 2  Kombi Volkswagen van, they have traveled through 26 countries and recently they were in India.

It was in January 2010 when Jens after getting bored with his monotonous life, decided to make a change and travel through Europe.

Jens found the Kombi van nicknamed 'Bluee' in a place near his hometown in native Germany, and it was a case of love at first sight for Jens when he  set his eyes on it. He collected all his money and bought the fifty year old van, and since than he has traveled more than sixty thousand kilometers in it. 

 He has visited 25 countries including Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Dubai, Oman and Iran, now they are headed to Indonesia.

It was in 2013 while walking on a beach in Dubai that Jens met  Cynthia, who is a native of Spama islands in Indonesia, a  avid traveller herself, after two months they decided to get married.

This couple united in their wanderlust enjoys traveling through new counteries and cultures a lot, and take the difficult task of maintaining a fifty year old vintage van  in their stride.

You can follow their travels on the couples Facebook page - Bulliadventure

Awsome Monsoon Drive To Pavana Dam !

 

Add caption

This year, after a very hot summer, monsoons got delayed by more than a month..a totally dry spell in  June and most of July meant there was no chance of a road trip to the near by hills and dams. No rains meant no Monsoon Magic of the lovely velvety carpets of fresh green grass, no waterfalls, no mist and …...just about no of everything which happens only in the monsoon months between July and September. The dry dusty roads, barren hills and the sun burnt dry grass and vegetation did not present an inviting sight to go about and explore.

August was here and  it had finally started to rain after mid july…slowly at first in light showers and sometimes in torrents, the much needed water for the parched land did fall from the heavens above. As the of holy month of Shravan came around Bholenath did bless us with more rains and the near empty reservoirs finally started to fill up, and the country side started to turn green and misty.and finally it was time for the first roadtrip this year to experience the Monsoon Magic.

After much delebration the destination chosen was Pavna Dam…the main source of water supply to most of PCMC area.  Our visit did have a dual purpose…we wanted to enjoy the lovely drive on the country roads and also wanted to see if the huge 90kms long dam was finally full or not..as this same water body, when full, will be supplying water for daily use to us for one full year…till the Monsoon rains come to us for their next annual visit.

It was a Sunday…the day of Rakshabandhan…when just after noon we started the day trip in our Maruti Suzki Wagon – R… loveingly called Golden Beauty due to its Champagne Gold color . After getting tankful pf petrol we started towards Somatne Phata where the left turn going towards the Pune Mumbai Expressway will take us straight to Pavna Dam which was roughly 30 kms from Somatna Phata. 

As this was our first roadtrip to Pavna Dam and we were totally in the unknown territory, I had already checked the route on the Google maps and located some landmarks which will be helpful for us to be on the right track. I also wanted to use the mobile gps  so  From Somatane we turned on the gps, fed in the destination and on we went forward with the female voice from the gps guiding us.

We reached the overbridge over the E Way and instead of taking the right turn towards the Eway we went on staright. We were soon enjoying the lovely green country side with intermittent showers and sun playing hide and seek with the thick cloud cover. The scenery around was so refreshing that it felt like another world, and the vistas only got better as we moved forward and away from the small villages and towns on the way. The photographer in me wanted to stop and capture the beauty around in my camera but since I was behind the wheel I could not do much but my family members did capture the lovely scenry in their mobile cams and on our small Canon P & S. After driving for 15 kms I could not resist it anymore and stopped the car on the narrow road at a very scenic spot and soon I was clicking with my trusted Fuji Cam with its much useful 18x zoom. The cool fresh air..the misty showers…the green carpets of velvet grass…and the rolling hills around did not leave a stone unturned to enchant us and soon we did loose our senses….and were totally entranced by the Monsoon Magic. 

Photos clicked, weather enjoyed to the hilt and we were ready to move ahead towards the final destination. Once back in the car we moved on. After riding for few kms I realized that I had not heard the female voice from the gps for quite some time…I checked the gps and it showed that we were on the right track …but I did not understand why it was not prompting us anymore…so gps was started again …destion fed…and it still showed we are on the right track..I heaved a sigh of relief and moved on . After few kms we reached a point where 3 roads were going in 3 different directions and the gps prompted us to take the right turn….we took the turn and moved on the road …it was narrow and did not look much travelled on…..i came across a local and asked him about the road and if the road went to Pavna Dam…he soon confirmed my doubts and said we were on the wrong track and will have to go back 6-7 kms and take the left towards Pavna dam  from Sihvane Phata. I managed to turn  back the car on the narrow slippery muddy road with deep ditches on both sides and we were back again. I saw another car and decided to confirm the directions given by the local, the friendly car driver confirmed the same and we were soon driving fast to find the road to Pavna Dam again. This time I decided to drive fast and not let the Monsoon Magic enamor me so much that I loose the track again. Soon we reached Shivane Phata and turned left on the road to Pavna Nagar, this time I kept my eyes open and when I saw the temple gate of Mahsoba Devasthan I was happy that yes we were on the tight track indeed as this was one main landmark I saw on the google map. Gps was showing us the right track ..but instead of relying on it I was just confirming its correctness and it was all the way correct till we reached Pavna Dam.

 In many place the road moved along the river and in some places  it crossed the Pavna which was full of chocolate brown water. Soon we could see the walls of the Pavana dam looming high in front of us and we were overjoyed. The time was around 3.30 pm when we found a lovely spot along the side of the reservoir which goes towards Paud phata. We took the car forward on the slippery path to get away from the main road and near the reservoir. We did not find any way to take the car down to the water’s edge, and there was no point in taking any risk and getting stuck in the wet mud without any help around. We decided to have our home made lunch of puri bhaji and fried chillies here ….the wagon r with its trunk door open looked like  an open air food cart…and the door giving us ample protection from the light showers while  we enjoyed our delicious meal. The only thing we missed badly was a cup of hot ginger tea after that delicious food, but sadly there was no chaiwala around at that remote location.

After spending some time enjoying the scenery and clicking some more pics we decided to move on and explore the other road which went towards Lonavala. I revved the Wagon and off we went down the steep road. Soon we came to the T junction and took the left which went to Lohagad, Lonavala and Mumbai. The steep narrow road climbed up and soon we were looking at Pavana Dam from the other side, but there was no place where we could go down to the lake shore so we decided to move ahead.

A bit ahead we found a small waterfall and a small crowd of tourists enjoying themselves, we left them behind and moved forward after a km or so we decided to turn back as it was getting dark and there was nothing much to see. 

While coming back  we took the road to Kamshet which was better than the Somatne Phata road which we had taken while coming, the road condition was good and traffic was minimum so we made good speed and soon touched the old Pune Mumbai Highway and touched home in less than an hour.

This was a trip was a  good start to  our Monsoon road trips, we had plans for many more such day trips this season.

A day trip to Little Kashmir !

The month of December was here, monsoons had come and gone, and we had not yet taken any trip out of the city this year. Winter was knocking at the doors, midday  Sun had gone pleasantly warm….ideal time to be out of doors, and preferably in the hills.

So one early December morning we packed in our Wagon R and moved out of the city towards the lovely hills that surrounded Pune. It was a lovely day when we set out in the direction of Mahableshwar, our destination Tapola or Mini Kashmir - as it was popularly called - was 28 kms from Mahableshwar. The drive was nothing but very enjoyable, the 4 lane NH 4 took us to the turn towards Wai within no time and soon we were on the twisty road going to Mahableshwar and gained height rapidly as we moved  forward. The vistas of the surrounding plains as seen from the high hills were beautiful.

Our first halt was for breakfast just after Panchgani  at Mapro’s where we took a break and feasted on Grilled Sandwiches, Pizzas baked in wood fired ovens and topped up these tasty goodies with thick Strawberry Shakes.

 It was strawbery season and vendors lined up the road outside with fresh juicy strawberries coming straight from the numerous farms in the surrounding hills. What do u do when u are getting farm fresh strawberries at half the city prices? ..well I don’t know about u but we obviously gorged on them, also bought the sweet berries to take on our trip ahead and back home, and soon our car was heavier by few kilograms of fresh strawberries.

Once we had our tummies full it was time  for some photo shoot in the picturesque Mapro compound. After the photoshoot there was only one task left…buying sweets, candies  and juices Mapro is famous for and we did spend quite some time on choosing and buying various flavours and types of sweets. Mapro is one place where young and old enjoy alike.

After spending one and half hour at  Mapro it was time to move forward to Tapola via Mahableshwar town. A fifteen minute drive brought us to Mahableshwar and after paying the Rs.175 Ecotax we entered the town and were soon on the narrow road going towards Tapola.

The way to Tapola is really very lovely, the narrow road moves through dense vegetation and down the mountain, the scenery along the way is very beautiful, specially towards the end of the ride when you drive down tip the mountain towards the huge water body which surrounds the mountain on 3 sides. The lovely golden grass along the black tarmack and the evening light made the whole scenery extra beautiful.

 Tapola is a small quite place with a huge lake and if u get fedup with the highly commercializd and crowded Venna lake  you will love to spend a day here. Tapola village also acts as the base camp for famous Vasota trek, which is a must do treks in Maharashtra  for trekking enthusiasts. The beautiful Kas Plateau which comes to life with wild flowers during the months of August and September is also nearby. Monsoon rains also bring to life many waterfalls in the nearby hills.

Finally the ride ends near the Shivsagar  Lake, this lake is 90 kilometers long and is in fact the reservoir of Koyna Dam - one of the largest dams in western Maharashtra.  We parked the car and moved towards the lake shore. 

Shivsagar  Boat Club is quite well known for water sports and we also saw few tourists trying them, but the place was not very well kept and hardly had any crowd around, probably it gets more visitors during the week end. There were water scooters, small boats and bigger launches but none of them looked well maintained or new, so we decided to give the rides a miss. With the huge  expanse of water available for water sports activities, a better infrastructure and equipment could easily make this place one of the better tourist destinations, but the rapid commercialization will also be the end of the lovely idyllic surroundings where one could sit for hours looking at changing colors of the Shivsagar lake in peace and quite...no honking of traffic, wild crowds, ponywalls or vendors occupying every nook and cranny.

 We  sat near the jetty and enjoyed the scenery, while the setting sun played well with the shimmering waters of the huge lake, the whole experience made the long drive well worth the trouble and time spent.

 We did not explore the place as we had to return back to Pune and don’t know much about the staying options there but we did see sign boards of some resorts along the lake which may be able to offer some interesting staying options.

After spending an hour and half at the lake and enjoying a hot cup of tea with some home made puri bhaji we decided to return back. The sun was already sliding fast behind the mountains and as we climbed  the road back the vistas had taken a more magical golden hue which generally happens at sunrise and sunset and we could not stop ourselves from stopping at the sunset point to capture the sun and its ethereal magic light in that twilight hour.

After capturing few sunset shots, and when sun was finally hidden by the peaks we decided to move on. It was a fast dash to Mahableshwar market. The weather had turned quite cold and we spent a couple hours shopping and eating in the quaint little Mahaby market. The small market is amix of old and new buildings, some buildings are of British era and gives u a good idea of the times gone by, and it’s a good place to walk around and shop or just window shop.

My target…. as always... was  to enjoy famous Strawberry Cream  and thats what we did as soon as we were free of the enticing shops. The tall glass of Strawberries smothered in fresh cream is my favourite and I never miss having it whenever I am in Mahableshwar. I still remember having Strawberry Cream everyday when we visited Mahaby for few days in 2011, but since then the prices have doubled and the affordable 75 rupee glass is now quite expensive Rs.150…not only heavy on your stomach but also heavy on your wallet, but then thats the price we all have to pay for inflation.

 The weather was getting colder as the night grew older, and as we finished gorging on the good food it was time to say good bye to Mahableshwar and start the long ride back to Pune city.

The night drive along the empty ghat roads was a real pleasure, the well marked black tarmac shined in the beam of my cars headlights, and the twinkling lights down below looked like a reflection of stars from above. While someone turned on the deck and put on some music.... I just looked at the road …the  dark sky and the twinkling lights below and smiled at my self …I felt so one with the car running in solitude... on those dark twisty roads. Our journey was about to end as we entered Pune...but the memories of this lovely road trip will live on in our mind for a long time to come.