A pleasant navigation to Mahabaleshwar

I had been to Mahabaleshwar a few years back. Every time I think about this place it always brings a smile to my face. It was such a pleasant experience. The place as well as the journey navigating from Pune to Mahabaleshwar was a pleasure.

It is approximately five hours from Pune and most of the time is through various ghat sections. The winters are beautiful here.

I started my journey on a pleasant Saturday morning. I took a Cab and our family where on our way to Mahabaleshwar. We started very early so that we could spend more time in Mahabaleshwar and also to avoid the traffic. Once we crossed the Katraj tunnel the ghat section started. We stopped for half an hour for our breakfast. A typical Maharashtrian breakfast. We had some Poha, Vada Pav and Chaai.

We were then all set for Mahabaleshwar. We directly reached the top most point. As expected it was very heavily crowded. But the beauty of the place overshadowed everything. We walked across the viewpoints. We saw the telescopic view of Pratapgarh from one of the viewpoints. It was amazing to see the statue of Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj on his horse along with the saffron flag. Then we had a walk to the wind point. The shape of the cliff makes anything you drop to be thrown up in the air before it disappears into the valley.

Then we moved for our lunch. After a heavy lunch we moved to Mapro Garden. This is one place I could not forget. After a visit into the factory we were surprised to see the sample of juices being offered. There were so many flavors which we tasted there. After tasting those we could resist buying the rose and strawberry squash. I have becomes such a great fan of these juices that I even purchase it today from the departmental stores in Chennai. It is such refreshing to have this drink once you reach home after roaming in the hot sun. Then we had some strawberry ice cream in the Mapro garden.

Then we moved to Topala Lake around evening. The climate was wonderful. One moment the whole place was covered with mist. And in the other moment the mist would clear. When the mist covers it is so thick that I could not even spot the lake in front of me. Even horse rides are available at this place which takes you along the side of the lake. Then we had a hot chaai along the lakeside. We purchased some fresh strawberry and then we were on our way to the famous Mahabaleshwar temple. This is a famous temple of Lord Shiva. A really beautiful place.

Mahabaleshwar also offers great forest trails but I did not opt for those as was with my family. May be some other time. But the memories of Mahabaleshwar will stay with me for a long time.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.