Nashik, Silvassa, Dahanu, Jawhar & Malsej Ghats
The below travelogue is an itinerary of round trip to North Maharashtra. From Punewe drove North to Nashik and then travelled further to Silvassa . From Silvassa, we drove West to the coastal region of Maharashtra and explored – Dahanu and Bordi beaches. After touching the Western coast, we returned back to Pune with a halt at Jawhar & Malsej Ghats which are beautiful hill stations in the Western Ghats. The trip was done during December 2022 and we covered about 750 km in the span of 9 days.
Trip Planning
After having covered most of the popular destinations in South Maharashtra in 2022 (https://travel-memoirs.com/road-trips/kolhapur-tarkarli-guhagar), we decided to explore North Maharashtra during year end of 2022.
We identified 5 places – Nashik, Silvassa, Dahanu & Bordi beaches, Jawhar and Malsej Ghats to be explored on this visit.
Point of Interests (POIs): After reviewing several travel blogs and travel sites, we zeroed down to the below attractions to be explored this trip.
- Nashik: Muktidham, Pandavleni caves, Panchavati, Tapovan, Trambakeshwar
- Silvassa: Swaminarayan Mandir, Tribal museum
- Dahanu & Bordi: Sea Beaches
- Jawhar: Jai Vilas Palace, Hanuman Point, Sunset Point, Shirpamal
- Malshej Ghat: Pimpalgaon Joga dam
Itinerary
I consult Team-BHP for best routes and road conditions. Hotel bookings are via Goibibo, MakeMyTrip and MTDC
The Journey
Our ride was petrol variant – Maruti Swift Dezire with 1197 cc engine. My fellow passengers were 2 kids and my wife – who was to take turns to drive.
Day 1: Pune to Nashik (213 km. 5 hours)
Nashik is one of the oldest cities in the northern region of Maharashtra. River Godavari originates close to Nashik in Trimbak where the famous Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple is located. The river flows through the city and makes it one of the important Hindu pilgrimage sites where Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years. The city is also known as the “Wine Capital of India” as half of India’s vineyards and wineries are located in the city.
We had visited Nashik once before in 2015, during our road trip to Gujarat (https://travel-memoirs.com/road-trips/gujarat/). While returning from Saputara, we had taken a halt at Sula Vineyards. But since the city has more to offer than just Vineyards, the plan was to explore rest of the attractions of the city during this trip.
We left Pune at 7 am to beat the early morning traffic. Since we live in the Eastern part of the city, we took Wagholi – Shikrapur – Pabal – Pargaon route. If you are traveling from Central or Western Pune, you can follow Alandi – Chakan – Manchar – Narayangaon. Both of the routes join at Alephata, from where it follows NH-60 to Sangamner and Sinnar till Nashik.
When we had driven on this route in 2015, it was a 2 lane highway leading to traffic snarls. One could hardly go beyond 40/50 kmph. On this trip we found the highway extended to 4 lanes with excellent roads. The only bottleneck is never ending traffic jam at Shikapur crossing. Be prepared to spend 15-25 minutes at this junction irrespective of the time you are travelling. Take the Chakan – Manchar route instead if you want to avoid Shikrapur.
The two popular places– Muktidhan Mandir and Pandavleni caves are located on the outer side of Nashik and if you are driving from Pune, Munktidham should be the first place to visit.
It was 12:30 pm, when we reached Muktidham. Muktidham is a magnificent marble temple with inscriptions regarding the Mahabharata and the life of Lord Krishna. One can witness replicas of all 12 Jyotirlingas in India which is the uniqueness of this place. The temple has an ample free parking space.
It was time for lunch by the time we had done the ‘darshan’ of the temple. We had read good reviews for ‘Aamchi Maati Aamchi Mansa’ (meaning – ‘Our soil, Our people’). It’s 3.5 km from Muktidham and is a theme based park. There is an entry fee of ₹20/- per person and has various slides for kids. The restaurant is famous for Misal-Paav and Jalebi’s made of Jaggery. We had the famous Misal Pav and topped it with Jalebi.
After lunch we drove to the next destination – Pandavleni Caves which are 13 km from Muktidham. In spite of the name, these caves are not linked to Mahabharatha or the Pandavas in any ways. It was initially known as ‘Trirashmi caves,’ but was eventually changed to its current name. It is a set of 24 Buddhist caves, located in the Trirashmi Mountains, carved between the 3rd and 2nd centuries AD. Ample parking space is available at foothills from where you have to take a 20 min walk to the caves. There is an entry fee of ₹15 and the road till the caves is well maintained and is an easy climb.
After exploring the caves, we climbed down and visited another attraction at the foothill of caves – Gautam Buddha Pagoda. It is also known as Buddha Vihar. One can see a huge Lord Buddha statue in the Abhaya Mudra pose inside the Vihar. The place is maintained quiet for anyone who wishes to meditate peacefully. It also has an image gallery showcasing history of Lord Buddha.
Next to the Pagoda is – Dadasaheb Phalke Museum. It is a fine-looking memorial dedicated to the legendary film maker Dada Saheb Phalke. The museum has an entry fee of ₹10 and hosts a conference hall and an exhibition center displaying the works of late Mr. Phalke. The museum has an attractive musical fountain in its garden.
By the time we finished exploring the museum, it was 5 pm. We had tea and some snacks near the car parking and headed towards our hotel – Royale Heritage. The hotel is 9 km from the caves and takes 20 minutes of drive.
Though the hotel is located in the heart of the city, we had to struggle to find the entry to it. The GPS kept on driving us in circles. It is only when we asked for directions, we realized that the road to the hotel was an unobvious narrow turn passing through a slum area.
But once you enter the main courtyard of the hotel, you get to see the span of the property. It is spread in 1.25 acres and has 60 rooms which are moderately priced. The rooms are spacious and comfortable but in need of renovation. The hotel is anyways value for money and would recommend it. It also has an in-house Veg restaurant which offers good and variety of food options.
In the evening, we walked to restaurant – Mughal Durbar which was 10 minutes’ walk from the hotel. The hotel is located in Doodh Bazaar area which has several restaurants serving non vegetarian dishes.
The restaurant has a high foot fall and has an ample seating space to accommodate guests. It serves a wide variety of dishes and the rates are reasonable. If you are craving for non-veg dishes in Nashik and are close to Doodh Bazaar area, this is where you should be headed to. After dinner we walked through the market which is mainly used by milk vendors to sell milk and other milk products.
Day 2: Explore Nashik
Day 2 in Nashik was for visiting Panchavati which is the most popular place in Nashik. It is believed that during 14 years of exile, lord Ram, Laxman and Sita stayed in Panchvati. This is the site where Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years. It is situated on the bank of the river Godavari.
If you are travelling by your own vehicle, you can park at Panchvati Car parking area which is free and has an ample parking space. From here you can cover the below attractions on foot in the following order – Naroshankar Temple >> Ram Kunda >> Sita Gufa >> Kalaram Temple
Naroshankar Temple – This is the first attraction which is visible from the parking. It is situated at the ghats of Godavari River and was built by Naroshankar Rajebahaddur in 1747. The temple is enclosed within a boundary wall which is in dilapidated state. The Temple as well is in a dire need of renovation. The entrance to the temple has a “Bell house” which is a victory memorial over Portuguese. After winning the battle, Vasai Portuguese Church bell was removed, marched on elephant till Nashik and offered to Naroshankar temple.
Ram Kunda – Straight road from the Naroshankar temple leads to Ram Kunda, which is a sacred bathing ghat of the Godavari river. It is believed that lord Rama use to take bath here.
Sita gufa – The literal meaning of Panchvati is 5 (panch) banyan trees (vat- tree). These five ancient banyan trees are still situated around the Sita gufa and are marked with numbers, so you can easily identify them. Believed to be the place where goddess Sita stayed during exile.
Kala ram temple – It is a very big and beautifully carved temple. The temple gets its name from the fact that it features a black statue of Lord Ram, accompanied by the Goddess Sita and Lakshman. At the entrance of the temple, there is a black idol of Lord Hanuman.
After visiting the Kalaram temple, we returned to the car parking. We took 15 minutes’ drive for the next attraction – Tapovan. On the way is Swami Narayan Temple. If you have time, you can stop by and visit it as well. We had to skip it as it was noon and the temple was closed.
Please note – If you are following Google Maps for directions to Tapovan, make sure you input the spelling correctly. You should search for Tapovan rather than Tapowan. Tapowan took us 5 km further to a dead end in open fields.
Tapovan – Tapovan is the sangam place of two river Kapila and Godavari. Tapovan literally means place reserved for meditation and penance. This is where sages, centuries ago, would meditate in search of enlightenment. It is believed that Laxman used to stay here and had cut nose of Shurpanakha – sister of Ravan. This place has temples of Laxman and Hanuman. Close by is Sarv Dharm Mandir (all religion temple) which is a beautiful temple with statues of God and Goddess from all religions.
From Tapovan, we retuned back to our hotel and had lunch at our Hotel’s restaurant. In the evening we walked down to Doodh Bazar area which is always buzzing with street food vendors. This place becomes more lively during Ramzan. What Mohammad Ali road is for Mumbai, Dooth Bazar is for Nashik. Most of the food stall sell non-veg preparations but since the day was spent visiting temples, we decided to stick with veg. food and tried our hands on – pizza, drum ice-cream, sandwiches and shakes. After having a bit of everything, we did not feel having dinner. We retired to out beds by 9 pm as the target for next day was to check out as-early-as-possible for Trayambakeshwar.
Day 3: Nashik >> Trayambakeshwar >> Silvassa. (113 km. 3.5 hours)
We got early at 7 am to give us an early head start for the famous Trayambakeshwar temple. Unfortunately our plans came to a jolt, when we found that the hot water tap in our hotels bathroom was not working. Hotel staff shifted us to another room which wasted almost an hour. A quick breakfast and we were finally on the road. The temple is 30 km from Nashik city and takes about an hours drive.
Trayambakeshwar is a religiously important and beautiful place close to Nashik. It is nestled between three hills: Nilgiri, Brahmagiri, and Kalahari. Brahmagiri is from where river Godavari originates. The temple is abode to one of the 12 jyotirlingas in India. One of the unique feature of the Jyotirlinga is that the Linga in the temple is in the form of a three faced Tridev consisting of – Bramha, Vishnu and Shiva.When we reached the temple it was 9 am. Being a Monday (Lord Shiva’s auspicious day), there was more than usual rush.
We had to wait 3 hours in the queue before we got the ‘darshan’. I will recommend not to visit the temple during weekends or Mondays else be prepared to wait for long hours.
After connecting with the spiritual side, it was time for our next destination – Silvassa which is the capital of Dadra and Nagar Haveli is one of the Union Territories of India. It is a small town lodged in between Gujarat and Maharashtra.
It was 2 pm when we left for Silwassa. It is 110 km from Trayambakeshwar and takes about 3 hours of drive. The first thing we had to do was to stop was for lunch as most of the restaurants near the temple were crowded. We found a decent dhaba after driving for 30 minutes. We ordered a couple of veg. thalis and soon were back on road on our journey towards Silvassa.
We had planned to visit the Dudhani Lake and Satmalia Deer Park. While the deer park is on the way, Dudhani lake is about 20 km of a detour. Since Trayambakeshwa had already taken additional hours, we gave both the points a skip as most of the route passes through forested area and none of us were comfortable driving after sunset. If you have time, you can include both the points in your itinerary.
The road till Jawhar is excellent. After that, tree felling and road widening work was ongoing at several stretches during Dec 2022.
By the time, we checked to our booked – Hotel Utkarsh, it was 6 pm. The hotel is located on the Silvassa Bhilad highway and is spread across a huge area. It has an in-house restaurant and rooms are decent with good amenities. After checking-in, we have a quick tea and freshened up.
Silvassa is a quiet town with a limited options to explore. We had identified 2 attractions to visit – Tribal Museum & Swami Narayan Temple. The Museum opens from 9 AM-6 PM (Tue-Sun) and since it was already 6 pm, we decided to visit it the next day before leaving Silvassa. This left Swami Narayan temple for the day. The temple was near the hotel and ten minutes of drive brought us to this beautiful temple which is made of pink marble stone. The architectural beauty is situated on the banks of river Daman Ganga. The exquisite architectures on the temple walls display beautiful art works and idols of famous Indian saints.
After visiting the temple, we drove to the heart of the City and took a stroll along the Silvassa Road. Since Christmas was around the corner, The Lady of Piety Church was beautifully decorated.
Nativity scene, which shows events related to Jesus Christ’s birth was displayed at the entrance of the Church. Close to the Church, at the crossing is Kaveri Sweet Corner and several joints offering variety of street food options. We had dinner at one of the nearby restaurants and returned to our hotel. Day 3 had started very early and had been a bit hectic. We soon retired into our beds
Day 4: Silvassa >> Bordi >> Dahanu (67 km. 1 hr 45 min)
Plan for Day 4 was a bit relaxed. From Silvassa, we were to drive towards the Western Cost to visit two offbeat beaches – Bordi and Dahanu. Both the beaches are close to each other. But, before leaving, we were still left with one attraction remaining – Tribal Museum. The museum is located in the heart of Silvassa town opposite to Kaveri Sweet Corner. Online reviews tell that this museum illustrates the history of Silvassa’s tribal movement. It also features Warli Art and 3D tribal houses. After enjoying the complimentary breakfast offered by the hotel, we drove to visit the museum.
Unfortunately, upon arriving, we came to know that the museum was closed during Covid and then was never reopened. Please check on the status in case Tribal museum is in your itinerary.
The next destination on our GPS was set to drive to the sea beaches on the Western Cost – Bordi & Dahanu. Both the beaches are at the northern end of Maharashtra. While driving towards this beach, you briefly enter Gujarat via SH185 and then cross NH48 (Delhi-Mumbai Highway) at Bhilad. Be careful not to miss the right turn from the very busy highway which takes you to Umarga. From there we took a left turn to the Costal Highway and entered Maharashtra.
Entry to Maharashtra treats you with orchards of Chiku (Sapota / Sapodilla) on both sides of the road. The villages in North Konkan coast are the epicenter of chikoo cultivation. Coastal climate of this region is favorable for cultivation of the fruit. We stopped on the way by a Chicoo parlor – Aura Green Cafe – which had variety of options ranging from milkshakes, ice-cream, sweets, pickles and chips made from Chikoo. It was a good experience for the kids to see the Chikoo orchard and processing (solar drying) of the fruit to make various delicacies
The next stop was Bordi beach. First thing first – It is not a typical beach where you can expect waves hitting the white sand shore like Goa. It is more of a ‘high tide beach’ which means that the sea water hits the shore only during certain hours of the day, depending on position of the moon. Mostly what you see is black and sticky sand all along the beach spread across several miles. This probably makes it a bit off-beat destination for travelers but at the same time, leaves the beach with uncrowded, calm and serene environment. The sweet aroma of Sapodilla orchards which line the shore make the beach look more beautiful and natural. Sea wind passing through the trees make a sweet hustling sound which is like music to ears.
After taking a trawl along the beach and clicking a few pictures, we continued our journey to our hotel – Hotel Beach Classic, which was our pit stop for the day and close to the Dahanu beach. The hotel is close to the coastal highway. It has an in-house restaurant which offers decent food options. We had lunch and took some rest.
In the evening we visited the Dahanu beach which is just opposite to the hotel. This beach is comparatively happening as it has a couple of food vendors selling tea and snacks. It is also a ‘high tide’ beach and being a low tide, we again got to see nothing but black sand with no sight of waves. We enjoyed some hot ‘kanda bhajiya’ with tea and spent most the evening watching the sun set.
For dinner we walked to crazy-crab restaurant which was close to our hotel. The restaurant serves an amazing menu of sea food items. It offers variety of fish, crab and lobster dishes which you can pick from their live aquarium. The cost of the dishes is on a bit higher side but is value for money, keeping in view the taste, ambience and service.
Note – Below are a few attractions close to Dahnau which can be included in the itinerary if you have time. Since we had reserved only a day for Dahanu, we gave them a miss.
Dahanu Fort: It is about 2 kms from the main beach and in a dilapidated state. You can visit if you have some spare time and like histological places. The fort was under the British and was converted to a jail after independence.
Bahrot Caves: It is another popular place to visit. These caves are located 18 km away from Bordi. It is situated amid the Bahrot Hills. This place has great significance for Parsis. It is believed that, in these caves, Parsi elders took refuge for 13 years to protect themselves from the invaders. In the memory, the Iranian Fire Temple was built on the hills and later it became Bahrot Caves. It requires a bit of trekking to explore the caves.
Dapchari Dam : This lake is one of the biggest dams in Bordi village which is situated in 37.3 km away Bordi. This place is mostly famous for its solitary and peaceful surroundings.
Dahanu also has a single screen movie hall – Purnima Theater which is walking distance from the beach. So if you want to catchup a late-night movie, this is where you can head out to.
Day 5: Dahanu to Jawhar (70 km. 2 hours)
I started my Day 5 with an early morning morning walk to the Dahanu beach. Luckily it was high tide so I got to see the waves hitting the shore for the first time on this trip. The horizon had started getting brighter from the early morning sun and was dotted with several fishing boats.
Everyone was ready for breakfast when I reached back to the hotel. They had already Googled for ‘best nearby restaurants’ and zeroed down on – Hotel Manjunath. The hotel was 2 km away, very near to Dahanu Road railway station. It offers budget friendly meals. The menu is limited ranging from – egg bhurji, omelette, poha & vada pav.
I would recommended this restaurant as everything was prepared hot and fresh. The only challenge is parking space. Being early in morning, we got to park our car along the median in the center of the road. Finding space in noon or evening could be a challenge.
After a hearty breakfast, we were headed to out next destination – Jawhar
Jawhar is a hill station placed at an elevation of 518 meters. It is known for its pleasant setting in the Western Ghats and has vibrant cultural legacy. It was one of the tribal kingdoms in Maharashtra and is famous for its vibrant Warli paintings.
Jawhar is 70 km from Dahanu beach and takes about 1.5 hours by road. The road conditions are good and passes though a scenic landscape of mountains and plateaus. Being an offbeat destination, it does not offer many stay options. Most of the online search for hotels takes you to – Prakriti Agro Farms which has very good online reviews. We had booked 2 days of stay here. When we reached the resort, it was lunch time so the owners asked us to have lunch. Post lunch, we checked in to our room and took some rest. In the evening, we decided to explore the sunset point. We spent some time at this place to see the sunset across the Western Ghats. Later in the evening, we were back to our resort and called it a day.
Day 6: Explore Jawhar
We woke with a beautiful sight of sunrise from our room. After freshening up, we had a hearty breakfast buffet and then set out to explore Jawhar.
The Jawhar state was founded by Raja Jayaba Mukne in 1343, with Jawhar as its capital. The state went through many transitions and lasted for over six hundred years until its accession into India in 1947. Jawhar being a small town offers limited points of attractions. Since we had already visited Sunset Point, the sequence of visiting the remaining attractions was – Jai Vilas Palace >> Hanuman Point >> Jai Sagar Dam >> Shirpamal.
Jai Vilas Palace is the most popular attraction of Jawhar. The palace is located on the edge of a hill. With GPS, it was challenging to find the entrance of the fort. After checking with a couple of locals, we were shown the ‘main entrance’ which looked like dirt road leading to nowhere. A small barrier was installed to block vehicle entry. We left our car there and walked through the road surrounded by thick forest and cashew plantations.
About a kilometers walk led us to Jai Vilas palace which used to be residential palace of king of Mukne family. It is built of pink stone with blend of Western and Indian styles of architecture. The Palace is privately owned and the owners (decedents of the rulers) now live in Pune (as told by the watchman). You need to pay some money to the watchman to show you the inside of the palace. The palace has over 50 bedrooms and has been a shooting location for a couple of movies. The property is in a dire need of renovation. May be it’s better to lease it to a hotel chain who can manage it professionally.
We next drove to – Hanuman Point which lies close to Jai Vilas Palace. As per the legends, the spot got its name because Hanuman rested here while traveling over to meet Lord Ram’s sibling, Bharath. The spot has a Maruti (hanuman) temple and gives a surrounding perspective of the adjacent valley.
Next place to explore was Jai Sagar Dam – It’s a small dam built over an average sized reservoir. Built by the Royals, it’s used to conserve rain water during monsoons. The road leading to the dam passes through a hilly terrain which is narrow and fits only one car. The dam seems to be is less visited by travelers, thus remaining peaceful and quiet.
The last point to check on the days itinerary was – Shirpamal which a memorial built on top of a hill. It is said to have been built three centuries ago when Shivaji Maharaj chose to camp here en-route to Surat. The King of Jawhar kingdom had welcomed Shivaji and put a feather in his crown at this place.
Shirpamal wrapped up the final day in Jawar and we returned back to our resort. We stopped to have lunch at Shivneri Dhaba which is on the way. Nothing fancy but it serves decent food at reasonable prices.
It was noon when we reached back to our resort. Kids decided to take a dip in swimming pool. While the kids were busy enjoying at the pool, we took a walk to explore our resort – Prakriti Agro Farms. The resort is located on the main road and all the attractions are nearby. The young owners – Ujjwal, Aishwarya & Rupesh manage the hotel along with their staff and go out of their way to provide guests with the best of the services. The restaurant serves excellent food which tastes home cooked. The owners check for food preferences with guests before finalizing the menu. The resort hosts a games room, kids play area and well maintained swimming pool. It also has Mango and Cashew plantations, so if you get to visit during Mar-May, you can savour the fresh harvest. We would highly recommend this place which can be booked via most of online booking portals. You can also book them directly through their website – https://www.prakritiagrofarmjawhar.com/
Day 7: Jawhar to Malsej Ghats. 146 km. 4 hours
We had a hearty breakfast before setting out for our day seven drive to next destination. We bid adieu to our lovely hosts and set off towards Malsej Ghats.
Malsej Ghats are 160 km from Jawhar and is 4.5 hours drive. The route passes via Igatpuri which is another lovely city in the Western Ghats. We had planned to stop by and visit two of the main attractions in Igateputi – Tiger Valley & Myanmar Gate.
Two hours of drive brought us to the Myanmar Gate which is a beautiful structure inspired by Thailand style of architecture. The gate is adorned with statues of elephants, lions, and other animals that symbolize strength and wisdom.
The Gate was built in 1999 by the Government of Myanmar as a gift to the Meditation Centre and is meant to express gratitude and friendship between the two countries and to promote the teachings of Vipassana.
Walking past the gate you see Buddha garden and a gallery which depicts Buddha’s life journey through paintings. It also houses a projector room which guides you through Dhammagiri history. The Gate is actually the entry to Vipassana Meditation Centre which is the largest meditation center in the world and is open only for those who joins the 10-day meditation classes.
After watching the documentary and spending some time at the garden, we drove back towards the highway and stopped at Camel Valley Point, which is another major attraction of Igatpuri. My guess is that the name comes due to the resemblance the valley has to camel humps. It is located on Mumbai Nashik Expessway next to Sai Malhar Dhaba. From here, the valley looks beautiful when waterfalls come live during the monsoon, which is the best time to visit the valley. Alas! the valley looked all brown and dried up when we visited it during December.
We stopped by to have lunch at Orizon Restaurant which is 15 minutes of drive from Camel Valley point. The restaurant had a good ambience and food. Prices were reasonable.
After lunch we carried on with the drive and by the time we reached Malsej Ghats, it was 5 PM. We had booked the MTDC resort for the next 2 days. After some tea and refreshments we headed back to our rooms to get some much-needed rest as next day was to explore some beautiful views of the Malsej Ghats.
Day 8: Explore Malsej
Early morning we woke up early to explore on the MTDC resort. The biggest USP of the property is its location (like every MTDC resort in Maharashtra). It has been built at the edge of a hill from where you can look down towards the mesmerizing views of the Malsej valley. The rooms are spacious with high airy ceilings with cooperative and helpful staff. Unfortunately like any other government property, it is poorly maintained with issues like dampness, cracks on wall plaster and broken bathroom fixtures. The property has a big play area for kids and ample parking space. Close to play area is a huge chess board carved on stone with matching size chess pieces. Overall, the property has potential but needs significant improvement in maintenance.
After refreshing ourselves, we walked to the in-house Flamingo restaurant for breakfast. Buffet had limited options of poha, idli and poori bhaji. There is no other hotel or restaurant in the vicinity, so if you want to try other food options, you have to drive a few kilometers down from MTDC. The food quality of the in-house restaurant is average with limited options. The service is slow.
Post breakfast we had a walk around the resort which presents some beautiful sights of the Sahyadri range.
After enjoying some amazing views of the ghats, we drove 5 km from MTDC resort towards Pimpalgaon Joga dam which runs across the river Pushpavati. The dam is a popular spot for the bird watchers. During winters, this place is a destination for migrating flamingos. There are a few boat clubs offering rides across the backwater of the dam. We hired one of the boats for a speed ride.
We came across several campsite located adjacent to the backwaters of the Pimpalgaon Joga dam. They are equipped with tents and basic amenities like – washrooms, shared kitchen, Water etc. If you have a penchant for camp stay in tents, this is where you can head for.
Not having much expectations from our inhouse restaurant of the resort, we decided to have lunch in a nearby restaurant. We identified Hotel Maharaja which seemed to have a good foot fall. We ordered Veg Thalis which did not disappoint. Food was prepared fresh and tasted good. Post lunch we drove back to our resort and had some rest.
In the evening, we took a short drive to the various photography points of the ghats. The mountains give an entirely different view during evenings when sun starts to set. Nothing beats the fun of having a hot cup of tea, maggie or roasted corn sitting at the edge of mountain and enjoying the view.
Day 8 of our trip happened to fall on the last day of the year 2022. MTDC staff had organized a bonfire and Housie (tambola) for all the guests in the night. It was followed by DJ and cake when the clock struck 12. There couldn’t have been better way to welcome 2023.
Day 9: Malsej to Pune. 127 km. 3.5 hours
Last day of the trip was a comfortable 3.5 hours’ drive back to Pune. The route passes via Otur, Ozar and then joins the Pune-Nashik highway at Narayangaon. The rest of the route is the usual – Narayangaon >> Manchar >> Rajgurunagar >> Chakan >> Pune.
A word of caution – a few communities gather in Bhima Koregaon on 1 January every year to pay tribute to their heroes who died in the war between the British and the Peshwas in early 19th century. Koregaon Bhima lies between Shikrapur and Lonikand, so if you are taking the Ranjangaon – Shikrapur route to reach Pune, avoid it. The roads are generally blocked starting 31st Dec till 1-Jan.
That wraps up 9 days of road trip to North Maharashtra. Honestly, I don’t believe there is a better way to spend your last week of the year than following this itinerary. On this trip alone, we got to sample a little bit of everything ranging from temples, caves, orchards, beaches, forts and mountain valleys.