Desert Safari @ Little Rann of Kutch

When we think of Desert, we think of endless land with no water. India's largest wildlife sanctuary known as Little Rann of Kutch is a unique seasonal land. During monsoon, it is submerged in water by an interesting reverse flow of water from the sea into the land, but after that it turns into endless mass of dry land.

The main attraction of this sanctuary is Wild Ass. Now don't laugh at why would someone be interested in Asses of all animals. These endangered species are only found in this sactuary now. It is a very unique animal in the sense that its face looks like an ass, but the body is a mix of Zebra and a Horse. It has speed and built of a horse, but at the same time elegance of a Zebra.

Other attaction are the migratory birds. During the monsoon months, the huge wetland attracts thousands of lesser flamingos and 9 other types of Migratory birds. While Greater flamingos prefer the Great Rann of Kutch, the lesser flamingos prefer its smaller version :). This is also their breeding site, so after the monsoon months, is the best period to sight the hoard of flamingos. We also sighted Common Cranes and Pelicans among other birds.

Our Safari started from the nicely created and well maintained resort of the Desert Coursers located at Jainabad, 10km off the road from Dasada. It has nicely made A.C. rooms for night stay (called koobas). A nice dining area and open space for kids to play around and for campfire.

We had opted only for the Safari, so once we reached around 3:00 PM we waited in the dining area. Some of us had tea while others enjoyed excellent chaas.

We started off on a military grade vehicle that can seat around 12-14 people comfortably. The sactuary is around 30 KM away from this base location.

As we entered the sanctury, we first sighted the Commom cranes lazing around elegantly.




Next, we headed to the large lake formed during monsoons. We were delighted by the sight of the thousands of lesser flamingos standing in the lake. We parked the vehicle at a distance and started to walk towards the lake. Just then a couple of other cars came very close to the lake and the entire group of flamingos just flew in the air. The sight was just awesome.

There was also a group of Pelicans on the other side of the lake. We could not reach close as they also flew and went to the far side of the lake. We headed to see the Wild ass next.

The driver was quite knowledgeable and knew where to take us. We spotted some asses and went as close as possible. They were quite supportive :) and gave us some good poses. They were looking quite amusedly at us :).

It was just time for Sunset and we places ourselves at a strategic location to see the gorgeous sunset in the desert. It was just the vast expanse of land meeting the sky and nothing in between.

It was time to head back to the base camp. Their jeep also dropped us to Dasada for our onward journey. The entire trip in the open jeep speeding at more than 60 km/hour was just awesome.

Click here for detailed travel information on Safari.

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Useful travel information to visit Little Rann of Kutch

Summary:

1. Thousands of lesser flamingos

2. The only place left for the Wild Ass (Mixture of Donkey, Horse and Zebra)

3. Awesome Sunset

4. Many other bird species

5. A very unique landscape with mix of Wetland, Desert, Saline plains, dry grasslands.

Base Camps:

There are many places to start the journey into the land. the most popular starting places are Dasada, Dhangadhra, Bajana and

Adesar. The below are some of the resorts that provide accomodations as well as Safari.

Desert Coursers - Jainabad

Rann Riders - Dasada

Little Rann - Dhangadhra

Royal Safari Camp - Bajana

Map:

Click here to see the map of the Sanctury and the resorts.

Click here for the detailed travelogue

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Cultural Villages in Pune - Sanskruti, Chowki Dhani, Lekha farms, Abhiruchi

There are many cultural villages around Pune. The concept is simple. In a single place of about 2-3 acres, a village type atmosphere is created and a large number of activities are made available for kids and elders. The activities range from Magic shows, folk dance, Kath putali show, Camel rides, Tatto, Mahendi to even "tel malish". There is unlimited food.

Overall, it makes a nice evening with the family and friends.

There are 4 such popular places in all the four directions of Pune. Sanskruti after Hadapsar, Chowki Dhani on Nagar Road, Abhiruchi on Sinhgadh road and Lekha Farms on Dehu Road bypass. Here is a brief review of our experiences at these places.

1. Sanskruti:

This was our first experiece of such a village and we went with a friend's family.

This is located on the Pune-Solapur Road, ahead of Hadapsar.

As we entered the gate, a tall man greeted us. The kids enjoyed this tall guy a lot. There were refreshments like Pani Puri and Rasana juice. Soon after everyone got involved in various activities ranging from Magic Show, Pottery, Tattoo, Puppet Show, Folk Dance etc. The activities were quite fun, specially for the first timers like us. The puppet shows are pretty good at all the places. The Magic Show is a standard one everywhere. So, if you have seen one, it is as good as see all others.

As the time passed on, and most of the activities were done, we headed for lunch. The lunch was typical Gujarati fare when we went and the food was quite good. The desert was ice cream and gulab jamuns.

The charge was reasonable when we went, but as per its website now the charge is about Rs. 350 per head.

Overall it was a pleasant experience and we would definitely like to have another visit when we get a chance.

Click here for the map to Sanskruti

2. Lekha Farms

This one is similar to Sanskruti. The theme is again Rajasthan. The difference is that it usually has less crowd compared to other places, and hence we enjoyed it more than the rest.

The food and the activities are similar to the once described in Sanskruti. An additional attraction is a small swimming pool. It was in decent condition, but nobody was using it. The food was excellent, better than the rest.

The entry charge is reasonable, but its best to call first and check the latest entry charges.

Click here for the map to Lekha farms

3. Chowki Dhani

This is the most popular of all the cultural villages in Pune. And it can easily be felt once we reach there. It is full of people and we happened to visit during Diwali time, so there was a very heavy rush.

There are a large number of activities, apart from the standard ones we had seen so far. The additional activities are Camel and Bullock cart rides, Massage and even Tel Malish.

This one has more commercial feel as a lot of activities are packed in a relatively smaller area. If you happen to visit during rush time then the fun as not as much. So, to get the maximum fun, try to visit when there is likely to be less crowd.

The charge was on a higher side and is still is.

Click here for the map to Chowki Dhani

4. Abhiruchi

This place is based on Maharashtrian theme. The acitivities are lesser compared to other places and since a lot of construction has come up in surrounding areas, the feel of a village is lost here. An additional attraction is a poorly maintained mini-rail. They would start it only if there were minimum 10 people. It also has swimming pool, but was unusable due to poor maintenance.

I will not recommend to anyone to visit this one.

Click here for the map to Abhiruchi.

Based on our experience, we found Sanskruti to be the best among all.

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Katraj Zoo

I am usually wary of visiting zoos in India, due to poorly maintained zoos all over. This meant that despite of Katraj zoo being very famous, we did not visit till a long time. But, when I heard lots of good reviews from other people, we decided to visit it.

The best part about this zoo is they have a shuttle which sits about 10 people to take you around the zoo. This means that you do not get tired walking all around the zoo, which tend to be really large in area.

The other is of course the animals themselves. The white tiger here is really majestic and so is the yellow tiger. The other animals are in their big natural habitat and not in cages.

There is a wide variety of animals including fox, leopard, chinkara, bisons, Black buck and so on. The peocock was in a cage, so that was a dampener. The Katraj lake used to be used for boating, but after some crocodiles were found, boating has been closed now.

The famous snake park is also in the same complex. So, after the zoo, we went into the snake park. It wasn't so impressive though.

Overall, it is the best option to take the kids for a wild ride.

Useful Travel Information:

Though the zoo is open till 6:00 PM, the shuttle operates only till 5:00 PM. The entry charges and the shuttle charges are separate, but very nominal.

Address: Opp Katraj Dairy, Pune Satara Rd, Katraj, Pune - 411046

Phone: +(91)-(20)-24367712

Click here for the map to the zoo

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Sentosa Water Park

This is an excellent water park near the express highway exit.

It isn't very big, but it is very decent and very well maintained. The rides include Landing pool, Kiddies Pool, Rain Dance, Wave Pool and an open swimming area. The Wave pool is the best. The wave and rain dance are not on continuously but at regular intervals. Both stay on for about 15-20 minutes.

The staff is well trained and they keep an eye on all the people using the facilities and help them with the rides.

The biggest drawback is that there is very less covered area. The entire pool is open and there is nowhere to go if you want to take a break under a shade.

It will be a good idea to apply sufficient sun screen lotion before venturing into the pool to avoid sun burns.

Useful Travel Information:

The entry charge was Rs. 250 per head only for the pool entry.

Click here for the map

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Torna Waterfall Rappelling

Rapelling or abseiling is the activity that involves descending down from a height using just a rope. Add to rappelling a waterfall and you get waterfall rapelling. In waterfall rapelling, we rappel alongside a waterfall. The force of cold water makes this even more thrilling. When trekdi announced their waterfall rappelling at Torna, I registered on their website and paid the amount.

We started from F.C. College in a private van and reached the base village Velhe. This is also the start point for trek to Torna fort. The trail was lush green due to the recent rains and there was a small but forceful waterfall on the way. We took a detour from here onto another trail that will lead us to the waterfall we were going to rappel at. The actual trail leads to torna fort from this waterfall, but we did not take that trail.

After steep climb on a small hill, we reached a plateau. All of us gathered here for a round of introduction. We got introduced to the rapelling equipments and the technique of rappeling. We could see the waterfall that we were going to rappel along, so from here we got a demonstration of rappelling performed by one of the member of Trekdi.

We started the activity in batches of 5. I was in the second batch. I got tied with all the safety ropes. During the instructions, it was told that we need to hold the rope on the right hand as loose as possible and not hold it tight. I was quite confident as I was being let off the cliff. However, as I was descending down, I just could not keep the right hand loose as was told. The edge was slippery as well, so I missed one step and off I went solely on the support of the ropes. The instructor asked me to leave both the hands off the ropes. I was hold tight by the ropes. Thanks to the good equipments and safety taken by the group, I was never afraid that I will fall down. I got hold of the ropes again as required. And slowly started to descend down. The feeling of descending side by side a waterfall was just amazing. I stayed for some moments in between to just feel the gushing flow of water on me. Within minutes I was down the 125 ft fall. I trekked up back to where we started the rappeling activity. I made friends with a group of 3 other guys.

We started to explore the area around the plateau. We spotted another two big waterfalls and decided to trek to the base of one of them. we trekked down a fall as high as the one we rappelled down.




As we reached below the waterfall, we stood directly below water falling 125 ft down. The force was tremendous and feeling was awesome. We spent a lot of time over there just bathing in natural water.

The guys were getting hungry by now, so we decided to make way back to the base village of Velhe. We trekked back the trail we had started from, passing by the small waterfall that I mentioned above. We had lunch at the village and passed time talking waiting for the rest of the group to come back.

We made way back to Pune once everyone was back and done with their meals.

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Kaas - Bamnoli: Maharashtra's Valley of Flowers

In tourism, Mini is very big and popular. There are places like mini-Kashmir, mini-Switzerland all over India and places like Little India, Little Italy, China town all over the world. when the real place is very far away, we look for its miniature version close by. There is a mini-Kashmir in Aarey Colony in Mumbai, Tapola in Mahabaleshwar. There is mini-Switzerland in Khajjiar and Kashmir is called India's Switzerland. Switzerland itself has a miniature Switzerland in Lugano !!

In this list, Kaas should be added as mini-Valley of Flowers. Kaas plateau is called Maharashtra's Valley of Flowers.

After our trip to Sajjangadh, the next day we started off to Kaas. As we leave Satara and reach the tunnel, instead of going straight, we need to take the right which takes us on the road to Kaas and Bamboli. A few kilometers into this route, we can get a view of the entire Satara with the Ajinkyatara fort on its back.

As we move along the road, there is great view all around us with stretches of land turning into huge mountains. The road itself turns into a straight road on the top of another montain. It is a big stretch of plateu on the top of a mountain.

We came to a place where there were lots of cars parked and people were enjoying the surroundings. We parked our car and went to enjoy this valley of flowers. There is a stretch of the plateu which is filled with tiny pink and purple flowers. The flower itself are very small but with millions of them lying on the ground, the plateu turns into a beautiful bed of flowers.

After spending about an hour there, we moved ahead towards Bamnoli.

Bamnoli is a village at a corner of the Shivajisagar Lake or Koyna Backwaters. The lake is simply majestic. Its huge with hundreds of square kilometers of water. There are boating facilities here which take you to the various places within the lake. The prominent among them are the Triveni Sangam, Shiva Temple and Tapola.

These are all motorboats which seat around 10-15 people. By this time, it was time for lunch. But, there were very few options available for lunch here. The hotels take around 1 hour to prepare the lunch after we place an order. There were no options for Jain lunch as well. We took the food that we had brought along. We booked the boat with another family. We had to wait for some 20 minutes as there was quite a rush by now.

The boat ride was nice and long and reminded me of the boat ride from Phnom Penh to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. At the start of the ride, it feels good to be riding on the water and enjoying the scenery around. However, when the ride is long and into a big lake like this, after some time, we are surrounded just by the water. You can just see water everywhere. There is no sight of land. And, this is the time that the boat ride turns a bit boring looking at just water and nothing else. I wonder how people spend days and months at sea.

Luckily, the water sickness did not last long and we anchored at Shiva temple after about 1/2 hour. The location of the temple was excellent with the cool breeze and fresh water all around. The statue of Ganesh over there is very nice.

After spending about half an hour, the boat took us back to the Bamnoli village.

Enjoying the sights and some waterfalls on the way, we drove back to Pune with the memories of 2 days spent in lovely places.

Click here for Useful Travel Information

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Kaas Bamnoli - Useful Travel Information

Summary:

1. Maharashtra's Valley of Flowers. Millions of tiny flowers blossom after the monsoon.

2. Shivajisagar Lake - An enormous lake with boating.

Click here for detailed Travelogue

Routes:

When you reach the tunnel at the base of the Ajinkyatara mountain in Satara, do not cross the tunnel and take a right turn before that. You are on your way to Kaas. The road from Satara till the end is in good condition.

Place Km Time

Satara - 000 - 10:15
Kaas plateu - 022 - 11:10
Bamnoli - 037 - 15:23
NH4 Highhway - 079 - 17:15
Pune - 184 - 19:00 

View Kaas - Bamnoli in a larger map

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Sajjangadh: Useful travel information

Useful Travel Information about Sajjangadh:

1. Samadhi of Swami Samarth Ramdas

2. Spectacular view of the mountains around and Urmodi Dam.

3. The gates to the fort close after Sunset and open after Sunrise. So, it will be better to reach there accordingly.

Detailed travelogue on Sajjangadh

Routes:

When you reach the tunnel at the base of the Ajinkyatara mountain, cross the tunnel and take a right turn after that. You are on your way to Sajjangadh and Thoseghar. The road from Satara till Sajjangadh is narrow and typical village roads, but motorable.

Place Km Time

Pune    000  14:10
Sajjangadh   128 17:15
Sajjangadh   128 18:35
Satara  144 19:30

Map:

View Sajjangadh in a larger map

Links:

http://www.shrisamarthsevamandal.org

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Sajjangadh

It was a long weekend and we decided to make trip to Thoseghar/Chalkewadi/Sajjangadh and Kaas near Satara. Thoseghar is famous for its big fall and few minutes away are the huge wind mills set up by Suzlon. We started off from Pune and headed off straight to Satara via the old Katraj Tunnel.

At this time of the year, the entire stretch of this road is made beautiful by small yellow flowers on both sides of the road.

We reached Satara in few hours and asked for directions to the ST stand in Satara so that we can get good directions to the Thoseghar falls from there. On reaching the ST stand, we inquired for the direction to Thoseghar and an autowallah asked us to follow him as he claimed he is going the same way. However, at a major junction, I felt like taking the right and and it turned out to be the right way. This road is along the base of Ajinkyatara mountain that overlooks Satara. Upon inquiring a couple of times more we reached a small tunnel. Immediately after the tunnel is a T-junction. There was a board telling the direction to Thoseghar on the right. There was another board declaring that the road to Thoseghar is not good !!

We continued in the direction of Thoseghar anyways. The road from here is narrow and typical village road in Maharashtra. There were a few more signs indicating that we were headed in the right direction. when we reached another diversion, we thought it better to ask the people for the right way. They told us that the road is not good ahead and advised us against going to Thoseghar. We decided to try Sajjangadh instead which is close by. We asked for the directions and headed to Sajjangadh.

View from the base of Hill

In a few minutes we reached the base of the Sajjangadh hill. The road is good and motorable upto the top of the hill. We reached the parking place by 5:15 in the evening. After climbing up a few hundred steps, we reached the Samarth Ramdas temple over there.

Sajjangadh is the place where Swami Samarth Ramdas, the spiritual guru of Raja Shivaji spent a lot of time and went to Samadhi. The temple has display of articles used by Swami Ramdas. There is a small cave beneath the main mandap of the temple where Swami Ramdas used to meditate. The temple is home to lots of pupils who live and study there. This temple also has a place to stay overnight. If you intend to stay it will be better to call them in advance.

View from top of the Sajjangadh

After offering the prayers we were headed back, when I though of checking the backside of the temple. And it turned out that the view from there was just awesome. It was time for SUnset, so I went back to the temple and asked Deepal and Kalpak to come on to the backside to enjoy the view. The windmills can also be viewed from here, but from a far distance !!

We waited for the Sunset and enjoyed the fantastic atmosphere over there. There is a spectacular view of the Urmodi dam from here. After the sunset we headed back to the car. The main entrance to the fort is closed from Sunset till Sunrise. So, it is best to reach there only during the daytime.

Click here for Useful Travel Information

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Mahabaleshwar: Hotel Valley View Review

During our recent trip to Mahabaleshwar, we stayed at the Valley View hotel. It was recommended by Ritesh, one of my tennis partners. He had stayed their in his previous trips to Mahabaleshwar. He made the booking on phone.

Once we reached Mahabaleshwar, everyone hit the pool. The best thing about the pool here is that it is indoor and temperature controlled. So, there was no worry of cold water and anybody catching cold. All the kids enjoyed a lot swimming in the warm water. The elders played a small game of water polo. At the end, we just spent time sitting in the warm water of the pool, chatting and having fun.

The next best thing about the hotel is its food. We had the unch first after swimming. The food is typical Gujarati and Marwari fare. There was lots of variety in terms of sweets, vegetables, etc. We had special Jain vegetables made for us. All the items were delicious. The waiters were courteous and overall service was prompt. The chinese dinner too was lip-smacking. The best was left at the end. The pineapple souffle was too good. Deepal asked for the recipe and made it for me in two days at home :).

There are some indoor games like carrom, table tennis, board games at the top floor of the hotel. There is also a pool table and a few video games at the ground floor. The condition of all these was great unlike at some other places where such facilities are not maintained well. The valley view from the top floor is nice. And when the clouds surrond the hotel, it is a great feeling.

We stayed in a non-AC room as the weather was pleasantly cold outside. The rooms were clean and well maintained. The room was big enough for a family of four to accomodate easily. Apart from the big anouhg bed, there is also a sofa-cum-bed which is very convinient. During the day it serves as sofa and at night as bed for the kids. So, there is no need to ask for an extra bed. The room service too was good and prompt. There is another section of the hotel which houses AC rooms. This section has been created exceptionally well. All the rooms are valley facing and this is the picture of the hotel you see on their website. The interior of this side of the hotel is done very well.

The not so good part of the hotel is its location. It is located near what looks like slums. I have no idea about how this came about to be, whether the slums first or the hotel. But, this could be turn off for some people. Once you enter the hotel, though, there is no indication of the slums around. As mentioned earlier, the interiors are exceptional and the feeling once inside it that of some 3 or 4 star hotel. The hotel is also some 10-15 mins walk from the main market and the bus stand.

Overall it is a great place to stay with its great food, great service, great interiors and the cool indoor swimming pool.

Click here for the map of the hotel.

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Mapro garden at Panchgani

This is a very famous company based in Panchgani/Mahabaleshwar. Their products include Syrups, Squashes, Candies, Jams and Crushes. More information is on their website here http://www.maprofoods.com/.

The best part about going to mapro garden is that they have a separate counter for tasting their products. You can try out all their products here. They make a small glass of everything for you to taste. We tried out a few and found the new custard apple syrup delicious. We also liked their "kacchi keri" Falero candies.

Click here for the map of Mapro Garden.


© Paras Doshi, 2009.

A perfect family weekend in Mahabaleshwar

We had decided on family outing with two of my friends. Two of my tennis partners also joined and a plan was made to have a family outing in Mahabaleshwar. The best part about developed hill stations like Mahabaleshwar is that they have excellent hotels, food and loads of activities for all age groups. All the kids were very excited about the trip. They were eagerly waiting for Saturday to arrive and start the trip.

We started off in 5 cars at 7 in the morning. We took the old Katraj tunnel route and the drive was smooth. After a small break for food after the tunnel, all the cars drove off to Mahabaleshar. Being off season, there was less traffic as we approached Panchgani. This made the drive even more pleasant on the ghats.

Once we reached the Valley View resort, everyone hit the swimming pool. It was a temperature controlled indoor swimming pool. So, there was no worry of either rains or the cold weather outside. The kids enjoyed the company of each other and elders enjoyed a game of water polo.

Now it was time to have lunch. The lunch was excellent and had lots of variety. It was difficult to choose what to eat at any point of time.

The hotel had a superb view of the valley from its top floor. We started with a round of 'Judgment' card game and after a few rounds the weather outside started changing. The clouds were coming towards us and in no time the entire hotel was engulfed in the clouds. So, we decided to take a walk in tha hotel's garden outside. We next decided to go to the Venna lake.

When we reached there, the entire place was covered in fog and visibility was hardly few meters. We hired 3 boats and went for boating. It was just magical to boat when there was hardly anything else visible around. Myself and Dharam, tried out hands at boating. It was quite a task to get the row move the way it should in the water. Deepal and Kalpak also tried their hands and it was lots of fun.

All the kids took a round of horse riding. after having corn butta at the lake, we headed off back to the town. It was dark by now and the market was bustling with people. It was difficult to believe that there are so many people in Mahabaleshwar in this off-season. The ladies did lots of shopping and the kids spent their time playing various games in a games shop.

The dinner again was wonderful and the everyone enjoyed chinese food and excellent deserts.

We played a round of Tambola. One of the kids, Krina, managed to win away the first three prizes, while I managed to win the first full house.

The next day, I woke up early morning to catch Sunrise at Wilson point. I was not disappointed at all. The view and the rising sun looked magnificient from that area. The area itself is very huge and you can catch a glimpse of the Sunrise from almost 180 degrees of area and not just a narrow patch. To add to the beauty, immediately after Sunrise a really huge patch of dark clouds surrounded the Sun and the sky looked just fabulous. After taking some more snaps, I moved further and snapped a beutiful bird a liitle further away. I called up Jayesh and he was ready to join me in further ventures. So, I picked him up near the hotel and we moved towards Bombay Point which is famous for its Sunset.

So, we made to to the Sunset point early in the morning !!! And we were again rewarded by some great pics of the Sun rays coming through the dense forest. We also got a great view of the Pratapgadh from there. We moved back and went to the Elephant Head Point. We can't take the car straight to the Elephant head point. We need to park at a place and walk about 15 minutes to reach the point. On the way is the Loardwick point, but we gave it a miss. The Elephant Head point again was really beautiful and it gave us the view of the Konkan side of Mahabaleshwar. we got clear skies and beautiful view of the entire valley from this point. Over here, I saw a really peculiar mountain formation. From the picture below, it looks like that the camera was shaken while taking the picture of some post-processing was done on the picture, but there are actually three identical mountains one behind the other that can be seen from here.

Another interesting thing happened here. While looking at the konkan side, I saw a man climbing up the hill. The same man met us while we were on our way back to the car. The man walks up the mountain for 10 km everyday to come to work at Mahabaleshwar. It was really humbling to see how people still have to walk such long distances early in morning for work. We gave him lift in our car till the market. We reached the hotel in time for the breakfast.

After the breakfast we checked out of the hotel and made way towards Arthur Seat Point. On the way, we paid homage at the Shree Mahavir Swami Jain temple near Hotel Uday. Just before we reached the Marjorie point, the entire area was surrounded in dense fog. We took a small break at Marjorie point and headed towards the Arthur Seat Point. There too, the entire place was foggy. We parked the cars and walked about 10-15 minutes to reach the point. After spending some time in the fog, we returned back. The next destination was for lunch at Mapro Garden.

The Mapro Garden was full of people which were hard to find at other places !! We ordered Pizza and Sandwitches. While, it was being prepared, we checked out the latest offerings from Mapro. They have a very nice system wherein they allow us to taste their products before we buy. We found the Custard Apple really good and their new Falero excellent as well. We bought lot of stuff from them. Had lunch and headed to the OnWheelz Amusement park at Panchgani.

On the way, we took a small break at the Parsi Point. This is a point not to be missed as well, as the view is simply superb.

OnWheelz is a new amusement park which has opened at a beautiful location in Panchgani. It has lots of rides like Rainbow, Dashing car, Mini train etc. We took a unlimited rides pass for the kids, and they enjoyed it to the max. We had to drag them out of the park as it was getting dark and we had to move back to Pune.

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Mahabaleshwar: Useful Travel Information

Mahabaleshwar is very popular hill station which is visited by over a million people every year. So, most people know about this place. There are numerous packages that are offered to visit it. There are hotels of all ranges, from simple to the most luxurious variety available.

Best Time to visit:

This is a frequently visited place, so if you want to have the best of weather and lesser of crowd, then go sometime in August / September. Only disadvantage at this time is that you won't be able to see or taste strawberries. For that, the best time is after December.

Here are some useful must do activities:

1. Points: Don't miss these points. Wilson Point, Bombay Point, Elephant Head Point, Arthur Seat Point, Parsi Point and Kate's Point.
2. Indoor Swimming Pool: The hotel Valley View has an indoor swimming pool which is best for the Mahabaleshwar weather. They also have a package through which you can only use the swimming pool which can be helpful for people staying in other hotels.
3. Mapro: Shop at Mapro. Their products are really good and they bring new innovations. However, if possible avoid having lunch or dinner over there, as they only offer Pizza and Sandwitches and that to too expensive.
4. OnWheelz Amusement Park: This is really a must do if you have kids with you. The rides are meant for kids and are not of full size. So, adults will not enjoy them as they would in a full amusement park.


See below the map of important points in Mahabaleshwar.


View Mahabaleshwar in a larger map

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

View from various points in Mahabaleshwar

This is the view from are some of the prominent points in Mahabaleshwar.

1. Wilson Point

2. Bombay Point

3. Elephant Head Point

4. Parsi Point

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

OnWheelz Amusement Park at Panchgani

This is a new amusement park opened at Panchgani. It has about 15 rides for all ages. However, we found that the size and speed of the rides, the elders would find it very simple. But, for the kids upto teen age group will enjoy all the rides a lot.

There are two packages:

1. Unlimited - For Rs. 350 for adults (above height 4.4 ft.), the passholder can use any ride as many time as required. The price for kids is Rs. 200.

2. Entry - For Rs. 100 for adults and Rs. 50 for kids, this pass gives the entry and two rides free for one time. For additional rides there is a charge of Rs. 50 per ride for adults and Rs. 30 per ride for Kids.

Some of the rides are:

Ferries Wheel, Free fall, Rainbow, Octopus, Striking car (Dashing car), Break Dance, Sun-n-Moon, Tsunami, Monotrain.

This is a must do if you are travelling with kids.

Click here for its video.

Address & Contact Nos:

Survey No. 7, Taighat, Panchagani-Kundal Road, Behind Sanjeevan School, Panchagani.

Ph. No. (02168) 242012/13/14.

The location of the park is superb with excellent view of the valley. For the exact location, refer to the map here.

View OnWheelz in a larger map

Travel Tip: Win win with Kids

When you travel with kids, there are situations when kids demand something or the other, chocolates, ice cream, toys and so on.

Since they are seeing something new, or in some new place, or some one else doing something, they wish to do the same. But, this may not be good for kids and hence you want to avoid it. How to do that?

On our recent trip to Mahabaleshwar, we were 10 elders and 10 kids. We were having lunch at Mapro Garden. It was an open space and after having lunch, the kids were just playing about while the elders were waiting for their pizzas. Some kid saw people eating ice cream and got an idea of having an ice cream. The idea spread virally in the group and most of the kids (about 8-10 yrs olds) started demanding ice cream. Due to the weather, most parents wanted to avoid ice cream.

I asked the leader of the group of the kids that you have two options. Either to goto amusement park (which was planned for later that day) or have ice cream. Get the count of how many people want to goto amusement park and how many want an ice cream. Some of the parents chipped in with votes for ice cream and as expected all the kids voted for amusement park. The issue was resolved. The kids promptly forgot ice cream.

The main thing about this idea was not the example of showing carrots, but the fact that the kids got a challenge which they won. They managed to get more people to vote for Amusement park. Hence they were happy with the outcome.

Not only give them options, but also a task to get their favourite option win.

Travel Quiz: Sunrise or Sunset

The Sunrise and Sunset points are the most famous point at all the hill stations. There is something magical about this daily event that we can never get enough of it. The sky always looks great at this time and it is one of the best time to capture some really beautiful photographs.

So, here is a simple quiz. Guess whether this is a Sunrise or Sunset moment?

Put your answers in the comment below.

Thomas and Friends in Pune

The small kids have a clear preference for toys based on gender. While, the girls prefer the dolls, the boys tend to like Cars or any mode of transportation. The Joshi's Museum of Miniature Railways will definitely appeal to boys, and surely give loads of fun to girls and elders alike.

Located in the heart of Kothrud, the Joshi's museum houses India's biggest miniature City, with a Railway Station, Roads, Flyovers, Mountain, Lake, Restaurants, Swimming Pool, Circus, TV Tower, Revolving restaurant, Hot Air Balloon, a Drive-In theatre and a night sky as it appeared when railways was first introduced in India. This is a remarkable effort which has been recognized by the Limca Book of records.

The museum is located in a one storey building which houses a toy store, its workshop where all the models are created and the area which houses the miniature city. The live train show is held every half an hour livening up the whole model city in the backdrop of the story of Bunty and Bubbly who get lost in the city and explore various parts of the city.

As the story progresses, the various types of trains in the city from age old, engine trains to the latest ICE trains come alive and wander through the city. The miniature cars and the bikes travel through the city. A building catches fire and an ambulance arrives to help. Many such situations are created and we are taken through the wonders of the creativity that made this miniature city possible.

The ground floor houses a real life minitaure airport with its main building, control tower, planes and helicopters, cars parked on the buildings and many more models related to an airport. Various train models from ICE train to Jungfrau train. If you happened to buy a Jungfrau miniature model on your trip to Switzerland, it was probably manufactured right here in Pune.

We got a chance to look at their workshop, also located at the ground floor and get a preview to their latest inventions in miniaturization.

The ground floor also houses the toy shop, which sells apart from model trains, cars and planes, an excellent collection of toys for the young people which you will not find in shopping malls.

If you want to take your kid to the real world of "Thomas and Friends", its right here.

Click below to view a small clip of the show.



Useful Travel Information for visiting Joshi's Miniature Railways Museum

Location:

Click here to see the map of the Museum

Ask for Karishma Society if you can't locate the place when you are near this area.

Charges:

For anyone above 3 years of age, the entry fee is Rs. 25. Its free for kids below 3 years.

Timings:

The musuem is open at different times throughout the week. On weekends, it is open from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. It is best to call and check the timings before visiting.

You easily spend about 1½ hour at the museum including the miniature city show.

Link:

http://www.minirailways.com