Mahabaleshwar

Distance from Mumbai: 305kms via Pune. Approx’ 6hrs by car.

Route:  Mahim → Sion → Panvel → Chauk → Shilphata → Khandala → Lonavala

→  Karli → Kamset → Pune → Kapurwahal → Shirwal → Surul → Wai → Panchgani →  Mahabaleshwar.

The dawn of October 26^th saw Akshay and I all geared up for a trip to the Queen of all hill stations’, commonly known as Mahabaleshwar. Although private and government run buses are available at regular intervals form Mumbai, we had decided to drive ourselves and set out from Mahim at 6.33am.

The roads are quite empty at this early hour and the journey is an altogether pleasant one, especially once you get onto the expressway. There are hardly any diversions and if at all you are uncertain about the route, keep an eye out for the location indicators on the fringe of the roads at fairly regular intervals.

At Sherwal, the road now winds itself around a hill before reaching Surul. At this point, look out for a fuel station to your left. It’s a good place to stop for a breather and for a cup of chai. The drive so far had taken us three and a half hours.

From the Surul fuel station take the first right, cut through Wai and stop next at the quaint and picturesque town of Panchgani and take a walk along its narrow main street. Athough there wasn’t much to see here, the climate made the walk quite an enjoyable one.

Driving on to Mahabaleshwar, there’s no missing the Mapro Gardens where, apart from sampling various Mapro products, people were enjoying light snacks and ice-creams. They also have a nursery and flower garden that’s open to visitors, but we skipped that and feasted on a bowl of Mapro’s famous ‘strawberry and cream’.

The name ‘Mahabaleshwar’ is derived from three Sanskrit words; maha (great), bal (power) and ishwar (God).

This beautiful hill station was discovered by Sir. John Malcolm (Governor of Mumbai) in the year 1828. Earlier called Malcolm Peth, it used to be the summer capital of the British Raj and is now a common holiday destination for honeymooners, families and those looking for a break from the rush of the city.

We discovered that finding accommodation isn’t much of a problem even in peak season. Hotels do provide meals along with accommodation but it’s nice to scout around for alternate eating options. The non-veg fare was pretty awful, but the veg is good, especially at the MTDC restaurant. We think that the parathas and huge glass of hot Bournvita here were excellent.

For a great thali we recommend Sai Yash and for dessert our two favorites were Strawberry & Cream at Grill and Chill and Milkmaid Golas available at any of the street stalls.

The main market begins at the ST bus stand and extends up to Shivaji Chowk. This entire stretch is lined with shops, hotels and restaurants. There are also two temples, a mosque and a 177yr old church, said to be the world’s smallest parish consisting of only seven families.)

The town goes to bed by 10.30pm and comes alive at 8.30am. If you’re an early riser like me, it’s not a bad idea to take an early morning walk around town. You can probably catch the sunrise at Wilson’s Peak (ht-1436m), the highest peak in Mahabaleshwar. If you start walking at the bus stand, it’ll take you approximately 25-30 minutes to get to the peak. On my way back I sat to enjoy a cup of hot coffee and watched the sleepy town slowly come alive.

The evening of our arrival, we drove to Bombay Point (ht-1294m), advertised as the best place to watch the sunset and get a glimpse of Pratapgad in the distance. We, however, felt that the view from here isn’t all that pretty and the place is often too crowded with noisy tourists and brightly lit games’ stalls.

The next morning, after a good breakfast, we headed 7kms away towards Connaught Peak (ht-1385m). This peak, formerly known as Mt.Olympia, is the second highest point in Mahabaleshwar.

Further away, Old Mahabaleshwar is an ancient and religious place filled with temples built in the 13^th century. The way to the temples is lined with stalls selling trinkets and temple-offerings. Worth visiting is the Panchaganga Temple. It is believed to be the meeting point of the five holy rivers, Krishna, Koyana, Venna, Savitri and Gayatri. From here the five rivers become one and flow out through the Gaumukh. It is very humbling to see the modest origin of the river Krishna, one of the longest rivers in India. The Hindus believe that the Krishna is Lord Vishnu himself, while its tributaries, Venna and Koyana are Shiva and Brahma.

We next paid short stops at Marjorie Point, Savitri Point and Castlerock Point before moving on to Arthur’s Seat (ht-1348m). Named after Arthur Mallet, this point offers a nice view of the Savitri Valley far, far below.

After a much needed rest, later in the evening, we drove to Lodwick’s Point (ht-1240m) which offers not only a view of the valley, but also of Elephant Head (a huge rock face shaped like the head of and elephant.) It was here that we were greeted with the most spectacular sunset we had ever seen.

Early next morning, we had our breakfast and, at 9.45am, started our drive back to Mumbai. En route, we stopped for a nice boat-ride at Venna Lake. Later, for lunch, we stopped at Vishal Garden Resort that lies to the left somewhere between Khalapur and Shivapur toll nakas. The ambience is nice, and the service and food are good. We recommend you make this stop here as, once you get on to the expressway, it’s a long drive ahead.

We reached Mumbai with hardly any major traffic problems but progress was slow once we entered Chembur and Sion. Still, we reached home at 5.30pm, which wasn’t bad.

All-in-all, the weekend at Mahabaleshwar gets a thumb’s up from us.