France Miniature - Good family fun time

Not too far from the famous Palace of Versailles in Paris is a wonderful outdoor park named "France Miniature" offering good family time.  The visit to this park can be combined with the visit to the Palace or its beautiful gardens.

The park contains 1/30 scale models of more than 150 landmarks of France in an open setting. The realistic setup of the park brings to life the beautiful architecture and culture of France.

All the monuments are arranged as per their locations in various regions of France. There is a variety in the monuments which includes villages, forts, towns, chateaux, amphitheaters, railway stations, stadiums, and so on. All the monuments have been re-created in great details.

A well paved paths takes you through the entire park and the path contains many interactive activities to keep everyone entertained while watching the landmarks.

The fountains of the miniature Palace of Versailles are controllable making it a real fun for the kids.

The park has its own Railway station and a miniature train system running through the park over models of real bridges.

There is more to this park than just monuments. It has good adventure rides for the kids and adults.

The park also has indoor attractions which kids will enjoy.

Visit this park to get a unique insight into beauty of whole of France.

Useful travel information about France Miniature:

It is easy to spend 4-5 hours in this park. Be prepared for a really long walk though as the park can be covered only by a walk.

It is located just 20 minutes drive from the Palace of Versailles. 

The map below shows the location of France Miniature. 

It is closed in Winters.
Please check their website for opening times as well as ticket rates - http://www.franceminiature.fr


© Paras Doshi, 2018.

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.

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.

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.

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.