Trip members: Karthik, Sathish Raja and Dushvand
Trip date: 22, 23 and 24 Sept 2017
Road Trip Plan : Chennai - Pune - Shani Shignapur - Shirdi - Trimbakeshwar - Nashik - Igatpuri - Malshej Ghat - Shivneri - Lenyadri - Ozar - Bhimashankar - Pune - Chennai
A 3-day trip was planned to cover Shirdi, Nashik and around areas.
We took flight to Pune on Thursday night and reached Pune around 11:30. We had pre-booked our cab with Manoj - Etios car. The plan was to goto Nashik after visiting Shani Signapur and Shirdi. Then visit places around Nashik, Malshej Ghat and Bhimashankar.
Day-1
After boarding the cab, the first stop was Shani Shignapur. This temple is known for God Shani Bhagavan. This temple is located around 155 kms from Pune and takes around 3 hours. We reached the temple around 2:45 am. The temple is open all 24 hours. We were the only pilgrims in the temple. We bought some oil for the god, which is a common ritual here. In 10 minutes we came out after a very good dharshan.
We reached Shirdi by 4:30 am. Shirdi is 74 kms from Shani Shignapur. The roads are quite bad with many speed breakers and pot holes. Our driver stopped nearby Hotel Sai Palki. We straight away reached to the dharshan of Sri Sai. The temple has implemented photographic identity for all pilgrims. The counter is located just opposite to the temple near Gate-1. Looks like there are six gates as entrance. We went in through gate-1, free dharshan, and were held in queue for hardly 30 minutes. We saw the abishekam from the queue and had our dharshan. We completed the temple dharshan by 6 am.
We then decided to refresh at hotel Sai Palki. We negotiated a room for more than 20 minutes and got one for Rs.600 for couple of hours. The rooms are quite comfortable with good mattress and clean bathrooms and hot water. We spent around 1 hour to refresh and checked out.
We also visited Mahalakshmi temple just outside the Sai temple. This is a small temple.
We had breakfast at Hotel Sher Punjabi. The idlies, dosas and misal pav were just ok. Quite costly for the location and taste of food provided. We then set directions towards Nashik - Trimbakeshwar.
We reached Trimbakeshwar around 9 AM. Mobile phones and cameras are not allowed in this temple. The temple is located in the plains surrounded by beautiful mountains. The Linga is quite different here and resembles a bowl shape. In this, there are 3 small mounds in size of a bettlenut representing Brahma, Vishnu and Eswar. River Godavari water seeps through this linga all time and there is a panda who keeps removing it. There was no queue and we had a very satisfactory dharshan. We came out in 20-25 minutes.
We then had some local snacks - Pav wada, samosa and few more. We then hired an auto to goto Brammagiri - to see the source of river Godavari. This is around 10-12 kms from the temple. The hilly section is heavenly beautiful and offers great views and opportunities for photographers. The lat 1 km is very muddy and narrow - an auto can navigate but not cars. The driver was also quite exhausted for overnight driving and we took the auto. He charged Rs.100 per person - Rs.300 overall.
The trek involves around 100 steps to climb and followed by little slippery carved out stones. There are 3 caves in this locality. The first on the left side of the pathway - source of river Godavari. The next couple of them come after 10 mins of further walking. The second cave is very small and hosts a small linga. The third and final caves hosts 108 small lingas, which is said to be worshiped by Rama and Sita. The location is very serene. One of the problems we had were monkeys. The monkeys act very smart and attempt and steal anything that we carry - primarily targeting wallets, mobiles and cameras. The way it behaved was quite professional which made us believe it was trained to do it. Also, there were locals volunteering to guide us and drive monkeys away for Rs.100. Having visited so many places around India and having seen monkeys in temples and hills, this behavior was quite weird. Mid way, we had no option left rather to hire the local as the monkeys were giving us hell of a scare. This also meant we could not enjoy the location and shoot photos rather keep watching like an investigator.
We came back down and then visited Anjenri Theerth - a small temple hosting Anjenaya in mother's womb. The temple was closed and we could not have a dharshan. It was almost 1 PM then we had lunch on the highway side - Sri Krishna. The Thali was excellent - sabji, rotis, rice and dhall.
We then checked in to Hotel Rama Heritage in Nashik. We had pre-booked the rooms and this is located in the heart of the town, next to Kalika temple. The locality was crowded as it was Navarathiri. The rooms were quite spacious, clean and well managed. The mattress were also quite good giving very good quality of sleep. We did not try their restaurant.
Post check-in, we took the very popular Panchavati trip. Again, this was an auto trip. Though the roads are navigable by cars, autos are easy to do. We took the auto at river Godavari banks - for Rs.400. The driver bargained it from Rs.650 to this rate. They had a list of 20 things to see across 11 places - ranging from temples, places of historical significance in Ramayana and important spots by the Godavari river. Few to mention are - spots were Rama, Lakmana, Sita stayed, Kapila muni meditation spot, Lakshman meditation spot, spot where Lakshman cut off Surpanaka nose, cave where Sita was hid. Temples include Kalaram, Gore Ram, Arthanareswarar and Kapaliswar temples. This trip is around 60-90 minutes. By 3:30, we started from hotel for the Panchavati tour and was over by 5:15.
Rest of the evening was for Sula vineyards. Sula is around 15 kms from city. We reached Sula by 6 PM. They have 3 options - Rs.100 for Wine tour (no tasting), Rs.375 for Tour and tasting (6 flavors) and Rs.750 for Tour and tasting (7 flavors including an expert explaining what there are by a seating across balcony with cheese and olives). We choose appropriate package for us and had a quite interesting tour and learnt how wines and champagnes are getting prepared and bottled. Quite a nice experience by the sunset.
We ended the day having food at Gokul Udupi Tadka - idlies, dosas, veg biryani for dinner. The food was very nice and yummy. The service was also very fast and not fat on the wallet.
Day-2
The plan was to visit Igatpuri, if time permits, Bandardara and then reach Malshej ghat by noon. We started by 7:30 am and had breakfast at Hotel Dwaraka in Nashik. The food was very good, however, the service was slow that snails could very well get past. However, little did we know, there are worst services we are going to experience. The food - upma, masala dosas, plain dosas, battada vada were all very good.
We started towards Igatpuri and the driver stopped by the NH to take us to Pandvaleni caves. Pandvaleni caves is present by the Mumbai - Nashik highway in the outskirts. One has to climb through 300 steps to reach the top of a hill to see these caves. There is an entrance fee of Rs.15 per adult, however, there were none in the counter when we went by 8 AM. The counter was to star ta 8:30 but there were so many morning walkers and joggers already in as the gates were open. These are 24 in number - and called Trirashmi Buddhist caves. These are also one of the oldest caves in Maharashtra - hosting 900 of the 1100 caves in India. There are 3 caves - which are big halls and might had been used for gathering and performing prayers. Cave 22 and 23 hosts big sculptures of Buddha. It takes around 1 hour to go across all these caves and see at leisure. Most of the caves are too small and not really requiring someone to get in and see.
We came down around 9:00 AM and went to couple of places located at the base of the hill. One is Dadasaheb Palke Smarak and other a Buddhist Smarak. We visited the Buddha Smarak - resembling Sanchi. This hosts a beautiful dome, in which, there is a tall Buddha statue and the hall resonates - used for meditation and prayers.
We caught up the highway and try to locate Camel view point on the NH towards Igatpuri. Camel view point is just on the highway, after crossing Igatpuri. This gives a super green view of the ghats. This spot on the NH towards Mumbai is just beautiful - before entering the Kasara Ghat roads. The Kasara ghat roads are so beautiful that you can keep driving for days.
We then located Ashoka water falls in the maps and this is located on the Mumbai - Nashik road. We need to go through the one way route of Kasara ghat roads and take a U Turn towards Nashik road. Then, we had to go below rail bridge and locate Ashoka falls in 2-3 kms. One can easily miss this diversion, but go through a small iron arch - 1 km is Ashoka falls. No direction boards. Ashoka falls is abundant in beauty and is still a virgin area, not explored by many. We need to get down steep path of rocks - 100m to reach the falls. The depth is around 3-4 feet filled with sharp and slippery stones. The beauty of the falls is such that it would make anyone climb down and mingle with it. We got down in water and enjoyed the bath in the falls for around 30 minutes. The wild breeze added to the experience was the water from falls was spraying all around and make it an amazing experience.
We came back to the top had hot maggi and cucumbers and left with super satisfaction.
We took the village route of single roads - towards Malshej Ghat from Kasara. Kasara to Malshej Ghat is 83 kms - going through some beautiful stretches of greenery and not so great narrow roads. The zig zagged roads have almost no traffic and the silence on the roads are quite scary! We crossed many small streams of water and waterfalls and enjoyed the beauty of September of these areas.
We got in to the ghat section of Malshej ghat and it was quite amazing to see the size of big single rock mountains covered with so much flush green carpets and lots and lots and lots of water falls all around. There were couple of them on the road - water wash for vehicles. The beauty was all around and enjoyable. We go through the Malshej Ghat tunnel.
Then, comes the view point - Malshej Ghat view point and Ganesh Khind. Ganesh Khind hosts a stone structure depicting Lord Ganesha and this is on the verge of the view point. The view point offers amazing view of the Malshej Ghat. The Ghat section roads are fully visible from this view point and great opportunity to enjoy nature among the green valley and water falls all around. Ofcourse, clickers can keep clicking until the battery runs out.
We then reached MTDC resort and checked-in to our rooms. The MTDC resort offers beautiful views and is situated by the edge of the valley. The rooms are very spacious and clean. The mattress were very comfortable and bathrooms fitted with water heaters. We anticipated a great evening with mist as the location was great and definitely we were not disappointed in the night as we wandered around until 10:30 pm.
Post check-in at 4 PM, we recollected we did not have lunch and stopped at a small road side hotel - Hotel Jay Maharashtra. They took some time to take orders and prepare - however the food was excellent. The masala pappad, rotis - wheat and bhajra, paneer sabji and aloo sabji were fresh, well spiced and excellent to have. Then, we visited Shivneri fort.
Shivneri fort is around 27 kms from Malshej Ghat - but takes 1 hour as the roads are quite bad post monsoon. One has to go through the town of Junnar to reach Shivneri fort. We reached the fort base by 5:30 PM. One had to climb almost 300-400 steps - at some places - it is a steep climb. Elders have to climb with caution and patience. Shivneri fort is the birthplace of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Founder of the Maratha Empire. Post climbing the steps, we need to walk for 1 km by the sides of the hills on a flat surface - not a well laid path to reach the birth place. Here, one can watch a a small building hosting the birth place of Shivaji Maharaj. This place also has a small arch like building and a water tank; grand view for sunset as well. We reached the spot around 6:45.
We climbed down back and drove back to MTDC Malshej ghat. If you need anything to buy, Junnar is the place to buy - snacks, water bottles, anything. We preferred to have dinner back at the same restaurant - Hotel Jai Maharastra Dhabha - veg and non-veg. Again, the food did not disappoint us. Great food in a great location after a long day !
Day-3
Wow morning views of the valley nearby MTDC was awaiting for us. 5:45 and we were on the valley front - 1 km walk offering great view of the valley, tunnel and sunrise. We spent close to 90 minutes here enjoying the mesmerizing beauty.
Post freshening up and having some idlies in the MTDC resort, we started the day with trip towards Lenyadri caves. Lenyadri caves are 27 kms from Malshej Ghat and takes around 1 hour to reach. We reached here by 9:00 am. Lenyadri caves hosts one of the Ashtavinayak temples of Maharashtra. Lenyadri Vinayak temple is in one of the various caves carved in Lenyadri caves - a trek of around 300 steep uneven steps. With the sun shining bright and hot, it was exhilarating to climb up. There are only very few caves which are reachable and looks like they are around 30 in number here. Rs.15 per adult is collected as entrance ticket here. We spent 10-15 minutes at the top in the serenity of the caves and climbed back down.
We then visited Ozar, one of the Ashtavinayak temples. Ozar is around 18 kms from Lenyadri caves. The Ashtavinayak temple in Ozar is situated in the banks of Kukadi river. The temple is quite small and able to access easily at the ground level. After having climbed so many places in the last 2 days, visiting something at the ground level was a pleasant experience :). There is a big reservoir here offering boating. We had the dharshan of Lord Vinayaka in 5 minutes and came out.
We then set directions to the final spot on the list - Bhimashankar. We took the route of Ozar - Narayangaon - Gunjalwadi - Ghodegaon - Shinoli - Bhimashankar - a distance of 87 kms. The stretch was very average roads from Ozar to Ghodegaon. From any parts, one has to reach Ghodegaon to go to Bhimashankar. Ghodegaon is the base location at the ghat section and offers lot of restaurants and small shops. It is advised one has food here; missing which no shops until you reach Bhimashankar. Bhimashankar has no better options for food. We had early lunch by 12 noon at Hotel Amit at Ghodegaon. Hotel Amit prepared fresh food and it was very good in quality and by quantity for the cost paid. Mostly we had to order 3 sides for 3 of us plus driver, whereas here 2 were surplus and ample to eat on.
We started to Bhimashankar from Ghodegaon by 12:40 and the roads were very good for 10 kms. Post that, the roads were mostly hit bad by monsoon rains and full of potholes. It took almost 2 hours for us to cover the 44 kms stretch from Ghodegaon to Bhimashankar. The driver said, he normally covers this by 1 hour when roads are good. The views all around this 44 kms are very mesmerizing - glowing fluorescent green with lots and lots of small yellow and lavender flowers all around. Enroute, we can also see the majestic Dimbhe dam. We get excellent views of this dam from the ghat section.
We reached the parking lot by 2:30. One has to get down around 150 steps the reach the temple, and climb up back to parking area. Bhimashankar Temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines by river Bhima. There are lots of shops selling garlands and puja articles all the way down the sheltered walk way. There was a queue - may be around 300-400 people waiting for the dharshan and we joined them. The queue was halted for around 20-30 minutes as there was a puja underway. Apart from that there are anonymous people getting into the dharshan directly bypassing the queue and almost none to stop them. This was annoying. We then had excellent dharshan of Lord Bhimashankar and few other deities around the temple. Everyone carries mobile phones with them and no restrictions to carry them. But, not allowed to click photos inside the temple. We neither took camera or mobiles with us and ended up having no clicks of the pathway and temple!
Drive back to Pune airport was quite hectic on Sunday evening as it took almost 4 hours. The driver took us to a snack shop enroute - on the highway - serving excellent pav bhajis and bhel puris. We munched on them and packed them for dinners as well. Flight back to home ! Very satisfied to cover more than planned :)
Trip date: 22, 23 and 24 Sept 2017
Road Trip Plan : Chennai - Pune - Shani Shignapur - Shirdi - Trimbakeshwar - Nashik - Igatpuri - Malshej Ghat - Shivneri - Lenyadri - Ozar - Bhimashankar - Pune - Chennai
A 3-day trip was planned to cover Shirdi, Nashik and around areas.
We took flight to Pune on Thursday night and reached Pune around 11:30. We had pre-booked our cab with Manoj - Etios car. The plan was to goto Nashik after visiting Shani Signapur and Shirdi. Then visit places around Nashik, Malshej Ghat and Bhimashankar.
Day-1
After boarding the cab, the first stop was Shani Shignapur. This temple is known for God Shani Bhagavan. This temple is located around 155 kms from Pune and takes around 3 hours. We reached the temple around 2:45 am. The temple is open all 24 hours. We were the only pilgrims in the temple. We bought some oil for the god, which is a common ritual here. In 10 minutes we came out after a very good dharshan.
We reached Shirdi by 4:30 am. Shirdi is 74 kms from Shani Shignapur. The roads are quite bad with many speed breakers and pot holes. Our driver stopped nearby Hotel Sai Palki. We straight away reached to the dharshan of Sri Sai. The temple has implemented photographic identity for all pilgrims. The counter is located just opposite to the temple near Gate-1. Looks like there are six gates as entrance. We went in through gate-1, free dharshan, and were held in queue for hardly 30 minutes. We saw the abishekam from the queue and had our dharshan. We completed the temple dharshan by 6 am.
We then decided to refresh at hotel Sai Palki. We negotiated a room for more than 20 minutes and got one for Rs.600 for couple of hours. The rooms are quite comfortable with good mattress and clean bathrooms and hot water. We spent around 1 hour to refresh and checked out.
We also visited Mahalakshmi temple just outside the Sai temple. This is a small temple.
We had breakfast at Hotel Sher Punjabi. The idlies, dosas and misal pav were just ok. Quite costly for the location and taste of food provided. We then set directions towards Nashik - Trimbakeshwar.
We reached Trimbakeshwar around 9 AM. Mobile phones and cameras are not allowed in this temple. The temple is located in the plains surrounded by beautiful mountains. The Linga is quite different here and resembles a bowl shape. In this, there are 3 small mounds in size of a bettlenut representing Brahma, Vishnu and Eswar. River Godavari water seeps through this linga all time and there is a panda who keeps removing it. There was no queue and we had a very satisfactory dharshan. We came out in 20-25 minutes.
We then had some local snacks - Pav wada, samosa and few more. We then hired an auto to goto Brammagiri - to see the source of river Godavari. This is around 10-12 kms from the temple. The hilly section is heavenly beautiful and offers great views and opportunities for photographers. The lat 1 km is very muddy and narrow - an auto can navigate but not cars. The driver was also quite exhausted for overnight driving and we took the auto. He charged Rs.100 per person - Rs.300 overall.
The trek involves around 100 steps to climb and followed by little slippery carved out stones. There are 3 caves in this locality. The first on the left side of the pathway - source of river Godavari. The next couple of them come after 10 mins of further walking. The second cave is very small and hosts a small linga. The third and final caves hosts 108 small lingas, which is said to be worshiped by Rama and Sita. The location is very serene. One of the problems we had were monkeys. The monkeys act very smart and attempt and steal anything that we carry - primarily targeting wallets, mobiles and cameras. The way it behaved was quite professional which made us believe it was trained to do it. Also, there were locals volunteering to guide us and drive monkeys away for Rs.100. Having visited so many places around India and having seen monkeys in temples and hills, this behavior was quite weird. Mid way, we had no option left rather to hire the local as the monkeys were giving us hell of a scare. This also meant we could not enjoy the location and shoot photos rather keep watching like an investigator.
We came back down and then visited Anjenri Theerth - a small temple hosting Anjenaya in mother's womb. The temple was closed and we could not have a dharshan. It was almost 1 PM then we had lunch on the highway side - Sri Krishna. The Thali was excellent - sabji, rotis, rice and dhall.
We then checked in to Hotel Rama Heritage in Nashik. We had pre-booked the rooms and this is located in the heart of the town, next to Kalika temple. The locality was crowded as it was Navarathiri. The rooms were quite spacious, clean and well managed. The mattress were also quite good giving very good quality of sleep. We did not try their restaurant.
Post check-in, we took the very popular Panchavati trip. Again, this was an auto trip. Though the roads are navigable by cars, autos are easy to do. We took the auto at river Godavari banks - for Rs.400. The driver bargained it from Rs.650 to this rate. They had a list of 20 things to see across 11 places - ranging from temples, places of historical significance in Ramayana and important spots by the Godavari river. Few to mention are - spots were Rama, Lakmana, Sita stayed, Kapila muni meditation spot, Lakshman meditation spot, spot where Lakshman cut off Surpanaka nose, cave where Sita was hid. Temples include Kalaram, Gore Ram, Arthanareswarar and Kapaliswar temples. This trip is around 60-90 minutes. By 3:30, we started from hotel for the Panchavati tour and was over by 5:15.
Rest of the evening was for Sula vineyards. Sula is around 15 kms from city. We reached Sula by 6 PM. They have 3 options - Rs.100 for Wine tour (no tasting), Rs.375 for Tour and tasting (6 flavors) and Rs.750 for Tour and tasting (7 flavors including an expert explaining what there are by a seating across balcony with cheese and olives). We choose appropriate package for us and had a quite interesting tour and learnt how wines and champagnes are getting prepared and bottled. Quite a nice experience by the sunset.
We ended the day having food at Gokul Udupi Tadka - idlies, dosas, veg biryani for dinner. The food was very nice and yummy. The service was also very fast and not fat on the wallet.
Day-2
The plan was to visit Igatpuri, if time permits, Bandardara and then reach Malshej ghat by noon. We started by 7:30 am and had breakfast at Hotel Dwaraka in Nashik. The food was very good, however, the service was slow that snails could very well get past. However, little did we know, there are worst services we are going to experience. The food - upma, masala dosas, plain dosas, battada vada were all very good.
We started towards Igatpuri and the driver stopped by the NH to take us to Pandvaleni caves. Pandvaleni caves is present by the Mumbai - Nashik highway in the outskirts. One has to climb through 300 steps to reach the top of a hill to see these caves. There is an entrance fee of Rs.15 per adult, however, there were none in the counter when we went by 8 AM. The counter was to star ta 8:30 but there were so many morning walkers and joggers already in as the gates were open. These are 24 in number - and called Trirashmi Buddhist caves. These are also one of the oldest caves in Maharashtra - hosting 900 of the 1100 caves in India. There are 3 caves - which are big halls and might had been used for gathering and performing prayers. Cave 22 and 23 hosts big sculptures of Buddha. It takes around 1 hour to go across all these caves and see at leisure. Most of the caves are too small and not really requiring someone to get in and see.
We came down around 9:00 AM and went to couple of places located at the base of the hill. One is Dadasaheb Palke Smarak and other a Buddhist Smarak. We visited the Buddha Smarak - resembling Sanchi. This hosts a beautiful dome, in which, there is a tall Buddha statue and the hall resonates - used for meditation and prayers.
We caught up the highway and try to locate Camel view point on the NH towards Igatpuri. Camel view point is just on the highway, after crossing Igatpuri. This gives a super green view of the ghats. This spot on the NH towards Mumbai is just beautiful - before entering the Kasara Ghat roads. The Kasara ghat roads are so beautiful that you can keep driving for days.
We then located Ashoka water falls in the maps and this is located on the Mumbai - Nashik road. We need to go through the one way route of Kasara ghat roads and take a U Turn towards Nashik road. Then, we had to go below rail bridge and locate Ashoka falls in 2-3 kms. One can easily miss this diversion, but go through a small iron arch - 1 km is Ashoka falls. No direction boards. Ashoka falls is abundant in beauty and is still a virgin area, not explored by many. We need to get down steep path of rocks - 100m to reach the falls. The depth is around 3-4 feet filled with sharp and slippery stones. The beauty of the falls is such that it would make anyone climb down and mingle with it. We got down in water and enjoyed the bath in the falls for around 30 minutes. The wild breeze added to the experience was the water from falls was spraying all around and make it an amazing experience.
We came back to the top had hot maggi and cucumbers and left with super satisfaction.
We took the village route of single roads - towards Malshej Ghat from Kasara. Kasara to Malshej Ghat is 83 kms - going through some beautiful stretches of greenery and not so great narrow roads. The zig zagged roads have almost no traffic and the silence on the roads are quite scary! We crossed many small streams of water and waterfalls and enjoyed the beauty of September of these areas.
We got in to the ghat section of Malshej ghat and it was quite amazing to see the size of big single rock mountains covered with so much flush green carpets and lots and lots and lots of water falls all around. There were couple of them on the road - water wash for vehicles. The beauty was all around and enjoyable. We go through the Malshej Ghat tunnel.
Then, comes the view point - Malshej Ghat view point and Ganesh Khind. Ganesh Khind hosts a stone structure depicting Lord Ganesha and this is on the verge of the view point. The view point offers amazing view of the Malshej Ghat. The Ghat section roads are fully visible from this view point and great opportunity to enjoy nature among the green valley and water falls all around. Ofcourse, clickers can keep clicking until the battery runs out.
We then reached MTDC resort and checked-in to our rooms. The MTDC resort offers beautiful views and is situated by the edge of the valley. The rooms are very spacious and clean. The mattress were very comfortable and bathrooms fitted with water heaters. We anticipated a great evening with mist as the location was great and definitely we were not disappointed in the night as we wandered around until 10:30 pm.
Post check-in at 4 PM, we recollected we did not have lunch and stopped at a small road side hotel - Hotel Jay Maharashtra. They took some time to take orders and prepare - however the food was excellent. The masala pappad, rotis - wheat and bhajra, paneer sabji and aloo sabji were fresh, well spiced and excellent to have. Then, we visited Shivneri fort.
Shivneri fort is around 27 kms from Malshej Ghat - but takes 1 hour as the roads are quite bad post monsoon. One has to go through the town of Junnar to reach Shivneri fort. We reached the fort base by 5:30 PM. One had to climb almost 300-400 steps - at some places - it is a steep climb. Elders have to climb with caution and patience. Shivneri fort is the birthplace of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Founder of the Maratha Empire. Post climbing the steps, we need to walk for 1 km by the sides of the hills on a flat surface - not a well laid path to reach the birth place. Here, one can watch a a small building hosting the birth place of Shivaji Maharaj. This place also has a small arch like building and a water tank; grand view for sunset as well. We reached the spot around 6:45.
We climbed down back and drove back to MTDC Malshej ghat. If you need anything to buy, Junnar is the place to buy - snacks, water bottles, anything. We preferred to have dinner back at the same restaurant - Hotel Jai Maharastra Dhabha - veg and non-veg. Again, the food did not disappoint us. Great food in a great location after a long day !
Day-3
Wow morning views of the valley nearby MTDC was awaiting for us. 5:45 and we were on the valley front - 1 km walk offering great view of the valley, tunnel and sunrise. We spent close to 90 minutes here enjoying the mesmerizing beauty.
Post freshening up and having some idlies in the MTDC resort, we started the day with trip towards Lenyadri caves. Lenyadri caves are 27 kms from Malshej Ghat and takes around 1 hour to reach. We reached here by 9:00 am. Lenyadri caves hosts one of the Ashtavinayak temples of Maharashtra. Lenyadri Vinayak temple is in one of the various caves carved in Lenyadri caves - a trek of around 300 steep uneven steps. With the sun shining bright and hot, it was exhilarating to climb up. There are only very few caves which are reachable and looks like they are around 30 in number here. Rs.15 per adult is collected as entrance ticket here. We spent 10-15 minutes at the top in the serenity of the caves and climbed back down.
We then visited Ozar, one of the Ashtavinayak temples. Ozar is around 18 kms from Lenyadri caves. The Ashtavinayak temple in Ozar is situated in the banks of Kukadi river. The temple is quite small and able to access easily at the ground level. After having climbed so many places in the last 2 days, visiting something at the ground level was a pleasant experience :). There is a big reservoir here offering boating. We had the dharshan of Lord Vinayaka in 5 minutes and came out.
We then set directions to the final spot on the list - Bhimashankar. We took the route of Ozar - Narayangaon - Gunjalwadi - Ghodegaon - Shinoli - Bhimashankar - a distance of 87 kms. The stretch was very average roads from Ozar to Ghodegaon. From any parts, one has to reach Ghodegaon to go to Bhimashankar. Ghodegaon is the base location at the ghat section and offers lot of restaurants and small shops. It is advised one has food here; missing which no shops until you reach Bhimashankar. Bhimashankar has no better options for food. We had early lunch by 12 noon at Hotel Amit at Ghodegaon. Hotel Amit prepared fresh food and it was very good in quality and by quantity for the cost paid. Mostly we had to order 3 sides for 3 of us plus driver, whereas here 2 were surplus and ample to eat on.
We started to Bhimashankar from Ghodegaon by 12:40 and the roads were very good for 10 kms. Post that, the roads were mostly hit bad by monsoon rains and full of potholes. It took almost 2 hours for us to cover the 44 kms stretch from Ghodegaon to Bhimashankar. The driver said, he normally covers this by 1 hour when roads are good. The views all around this 44 kms are very mesmerizing - glowing fluorescent green with lots and lots of small yellow and lavender flowers all around. Enroute, we can also see the majestic Dimbhe dam. We get excellent views of this dam from the ghat section.
We reached the parking lot by 2:30. One has to get down around 150 steps the reach the temple, and climb up back to parking area. Bhimashankar Temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines by river Bhima. There are lots of shops selling garlands and puja articles all the way down the sheltered walk way. There was a queue - may be around 300-400 people waiting for the dharshan and we joined them. The queue was halted for around 20-30 minutes as there was a puja underway. Apart from that there are anonymous people getting into the dharshan directly bypassing the queue and almost none to stop them. This was annoying. We then had excellent dharshan of Lord Bhimashankar and few other deities around the temple. Everyone carries mobile phones with them and no restrictions to carry them. But, not allowed to click photos inside the temple. We neither took camera or mobiles with us and ended up having no clicks of the pathway and temple!
Drive back to Pune airport was quite hectic on Sunday evening as it took almost 4 hours. The driver took us to a snack shop enroute - on the highway - serving excellent pav bhajis and bhel puris. We munched on them and packed them for dinners as well. Flight back to home ! Very satisfied to cover more than planned :)
