Mahabaleshwar is a sleepy hill station around 6 hours from Mumbai by bus. We decided to take an early morning Neeta Volvo, which has pick up points from Andheri East, Bandra East and Dadar and costs around Rs. 400 per ticket. The bus dropped us in the centre of Mahabaleshwar. Hence, when travelling without your own vehicle, its best to stay somewhere near the centre as getting around is very difficult otherwise. We had booked two rooms in Vimal Gardens, a very decently priced hotel and which actually lived up to its name and had quite a beautiful garden. We had taken one cottage (can squeeze in 5 people) costing around Rs.1650 and one room (for 2 people) costing around Rs. 1200 The hotel was around half a km from the city centre, and so we all had to struggle with our bags, the girls giving gaalis to the guys for not being chivalrous and holding our bags. The hotel did not have a restaurant, which was perfect for us, as then we could move out and experiment with the local cuisine.After ridding ourselves of the dirt from the journey, we set off on the quest for a meal. Mahabaleshwar has decently priced restaurants of all types of cuisines. We narrowed down upon a muslim place called Nukkad..it was a cheaply priced, ‘don’t look at the surroundings, just eat the good food’ kinda place. Apparently, it was a delight for non-vegetarians (and our gang was dominated by them). So while the non-veggies were guzzling on chicken tangdees and biryani and giving ‘we pity you’ looks at the vegetarians, us veggies weren’t feeling so sorry for ourselves either! The veg food was also awesome, spicy and full of flavor. So, we left with happy stomachs, promising ourselves that we would come back.
The next day, we decided to go for an early morning walk to enjoy the picturesque surroundings. We decided to walk to Lodwick point, named thus because it was discovered by a British general named Lodwick. None of us knew where it was, so we went about asking the locals. TIP: never trust the distance told to you by the locals…we were told by about 5 people that the point is only about 2 km away, and it was almost an hour and a half’s walk! (I assure you, we weren’t that slow, the distance was much longer). But, as I mentioned earlier, we are all feisty 19 year olds, so the walk didn’t kill us. The path was beautiful, secluded and we were all enjoying our rendez-vous with nature and fresh air.
The point was also deserted, and all of us sat on the wall, completely silent..watching the hills around, birds flying about, the drinking dancing parts of us completely forgotten. None of us realized how much time had passed, when someone remembered that the hot water in our hotel stopped at 10 am! So we all literally jogged back, as taking bath with cold water in winter was really not something any of us were willing to do.
Then, in the evening, we walked to Venna Lake, which is around 4 km from the city centre. There, we went boating and caught the sunset, the beauty of which, honestly, is indescribable. There is something about a sunset that brings out the serenity in all of us.
Mahabaleshwar is traditionally famous for makai pattice, and there a lot of stalls which serve this at the lakeside. After trying it out though, we found it wasn’t as it used to be before and was too oily. So, we tried out the new fangled makai Frankie, which is just the makai pattice inside a roti with cheese and veggies. But it was really good! We were in quite a hurry though to get back, so we decided to come back later for more as we had taken only one frankrie among 6 of us. We decided to go back on horses which costs around Rs 100 on the first quote but is open to haggling..TIP : never sit 2 on a horse unless you are a couple…my ride was filled with my poor friend screaming in my ears about how she had the constant sensation of slipping off. Grateful to be back on our own two feet, we then decided to explore the market. The market is a tiny street selling local souvenirs like chappals, jewellery, strawberries, etc. What we enjoyed most though were the stalls which have games where you can gamble money. Ok, it isn’t Las Vegas, but it still was a lot of fun!
The next day, we decided to visit a nearby fort called Pratapgadh which is one of the more important forts historically. At the city centre, there are a lot of taxis which take you on a tour of some of the most famous landmarks in and around. We decided we didn’t want to see all of the places, just Pratapgadh and the Mahabaleshwar temple. TIP: haggle with the taxi drivers, better if in Marathi. They charge around Rs. 500 (per vehicle) for an entire tour in a maruti van.
At Pratapgadh, we ate lunch at a local dhaba on top of the fort, with a Marathi aaji serving us with a lot of love. We had thalis, with yummy Maharashtrian food like thali peeth, kolhapuri thecha, bhakri, usal, kokam sharbat, etc…this was a very authentic local experience, because you are sitting on the ground, eating local food, in the midst of history. Then, we went to the Mahabaleshwar temple, which is the birth place of a river. Despite not being at all religious, I really enjoyed this place. The temple is quite ancient, built with dark stone. In the centre of the temple, there is a pond where the river is born with water trickling out. A small area above the pond didn’t have a roof, because of which a small ray of sunlight was falling onto the water breaking the darkness inside. This was a pretty photo worthy scene, but since it is a temple, we weren’t allowed to click pictures.
The next day, at my insistence, we decided to go back to the lake hoping to have Frankie for breakfast. But since it was really early, the Frankie stalls hadn’t opened up. It was a cold, winter morning, and my Maharashtrian friends were yearning for their early morning chaha. So we found an old kaka who had opened up his stall, and along with tea decided to have a breakfast of missal pav and vada pav. Both these things are available in Mumbai too, but honestly, there it was simply awesome, the spicy, oily fare cutting through the cold morning.
We also visited Panchgani plateau, though really it wasn’t anything great. Just that it was ‘mini bollywood’, with the guide telling us about all the films that have been shot in that area. To complete the effect, a kulfiwala then came up to us and his marketing strategy was “Aamir Khan ki shaadi mein mere hazaar kulfi order kiye gaye the”!! Honestly. I am not kidding.
Mahabaleshwar is an often visited, tourist filled place, but if you go around sniffing, you are sure to find some amazing and different experiences!
At Pratapgadh, we ate lunch at a local dhaba on top of the fort, with a Marathi aaji serving us with a lot of love. We had thalis, with yummy Maharashtrian food like thali peeth, kolhapuri thecha, bhakri, usal, kokam sharbat, etc…this was a very authentic local experience, because you are sitting on the ground, eating local food, in the midst of history. Then, we went to the Mahabaleshwar temple, which is the birth place of a river. Despite not being at all religious, I really enjoyed this place. The temple is quite ancient, built with dark stone. In the centre of the temple, there is a pond where the river is born with water trickling out. A small area above the pond didn’t have a roof, because of which a small ray of sunlight was falling onto the water breaking the darkness inside. This was a pretty photo worthy scene, but since it is a temple, we weren’t allowed to click pictures.
The next day, at my insistence, we decided to go back to the lake hoping to have Frankie for breakfast. But since it was really early, the Frankie stalls hadn’t opened up. It was a cold, winter morning, and my Maharashtrian friends were yearning for their early morning chaha. So we found an old kaka who had opened up his stall, and along with tea decided to have a breakfast of missal pav and vada pav. Both these things are available in Mumbai too, but honestly, there it was simply awesome, the spicy, oily fare cutting through the cold morning.
We also visited Panchgani plateau, though really it wasn’t anything great. Just that it was ‘mini bollywood’, with the guide telling us about all the films that have been shot in that area. To complete the effect, a kulfiwala then came up to us and his marketing strategy was “Aamir Khan ki shaadi mein mere hazaar kulfi order kiye gaye the”!! Honestly. I am not kidding.
Mahabaleshwar is an often visited, tourist filled place, but if you go around sniffing, you are sure to find some amazing and different experiences!
Aparna Bhat
