Mahabaleshwar

Last week I went to have my first trip to Mahabaleshwar during my eleven year stay at Pune. Due to heavy rain and cold weather the whole trip turned out to be a pleasant experience.

Route: We took the route shown here while starting from our home at 9 AM. On the route, we had planned to stop at Mapro Garden where we reached at around 12:30 PM. There were several things to do at the Mapro Garden including

• Lunch - We ordered multiple items
• Grill Sandwich
• Italian Delight Pizza
• French Fries

The Grilled Sandwich already had some fries. We could have taken an ice cream instead of fries if we had the knowledge.

• There was one jumping trampoline available for kids to enjoy which was free to use


• There is one shopping mall too where Mapro items are available at 10% below MRP. We bought some raisins and almonds coated with dark/milk chocolates:
  

We left the place at around 2 PM and reached Rajesh Hotel at 3 PM. The room was not as per our expectation but since we had already paid advance, we decided to stay. We than took an hour of sleep and then took off for site seeing.

The first place we decided to visit was Venna Lake where we reached at around 4:30 PM. There was heavy wind when we took a ride in lake in a manual row boat. The ride was for a short time of around 20 mins but it was worth it. There was heavy fog and the weather was really chilly but we had carried jackets and sweaters with us which served their purpose. You need to shell out INR 20 for parking and INR 300 for boat ride. The boat can accommodate up to 6 persons but even with three, we had to pay the same for the whole boat.


We spent around half an hour more and decided to leave for our next point which is Lingmala Waterfall and reached at around 5:30 PM. There is an entry fee of INR 15. The waterfall closes  at 6 PM so you better reach early. You have to climb down and up around 500 stairs before you finally reach the waterfall view but the whole walk has many scenic views.

My wife was carrying some food items and one monkey came near her to grab them from her purse so both my wife and daughter panicked and decided to run back towards the entry point. We couldn't spend enough time at the place due to this but still managed to stay till 6:15 PM. We reached hotel at around 7 PM and then decided to call it quits for the day as all of us were very tired from the journey.
We then went for dinner at Rajesh Hotel itself which served a buffet with following items:

• Salad
• Veg Manchow Soup
• Paneer
• Veg Kofta
• Mungdal Halwa
• Corn Pakoda
• Jeera Rice
• Dal Fry
• Papad
• Chhaas
• Puri/Roti

The next day we had our breakfast at the hotel which included following items:

• Idli - Sambhar
• Aaloo Paratha - Dahi - Pickle - Ketchup
• Bread - Butter - Jam
• Milk - Cornflakes
• Tea
• Coffee
• Watermelon

We completed our breakfast by 10:15 AM and proceeded for Pratapgarh Fort. The fort is located around 20 KM from our hotel and we reached there around 11:45 AM. The fort provided many scenic views and we really enjoyed there and spent almost an hour or more.


We left the fort at around 12:45 PM and started going back to Mahabaleshwar for lunch. There were many scenic places and many waterfalls along the way where we saw many people enjoying their time but we had to go to Tapola so didn't wait.

We reached Mahabaleshwar at around 2 PM and decided to take lunch at Shreyas Hotel. They were offering fixed thali and we ordered two such for three of us which we thought would serve the purpose. It took the guys 20 mins to bring the food so you can see the duo waiting in the images below. The thali had following items:

• Tindli Bhaji
• Chana Bhaji
• Aaloo
• Paneer BabyCorn Mushroom Mutter
• Puri
• Dal
• Rice
• Kadhi
• Gulab Jamun
• Batata Wada

We started for Tapola at around 3 PM and reached there at around 4:15 PM. It is situated 22KM south. There you have a big lake which offers boating but the prices are exorbitantly high. The only better attraction than Venna Lake is Water Scooter ride.


We completed Tapola visit at around 5:30 PM and started our way back for Mahabaleshwar. We reached our hotel at 7 PM and then decided to go for visiting market. There are many shops in the market and my wife bought some chappals and umbrella. The weather was so cold that when you exhale air, it was forming steam fog in the air. Finally we completed our shopping at around 9 PM and decided to go for dinner at The Sizzler Place. We ordered two sizzlers

• Oriental Sizzler
• Vegetable Sizzler 

The food was really great and cheaper than the same available in Pune. We liked both the meals that we took at Shreyas Hotel and even the prices were cheaper than that of Rajesh Hotel.

The next day we again had breakfast at Rajesh Hotel with Idli replaced by Vada Sambhar, Aaloo Paratha replaced by Upma and Watermelon replaced by Melon. The rest of the items were same.

We checked-out of hotel at 9:30 AM and started our journey back home. We first decided to complete Kates Point which is around 8 KM from our hotel. We started from hotel at 10 AM and reached at around 10:30 AM. From Kates point, you can see a big rock which looks like an Elephant Head. There is also waterfall and the complete view of river flowing. Due to greenery and fog with clouds, the view was very good.


We departed from Kates Point at around 10:45 AM and started for Arthur's Seat. The route for Arthur's Seat passes via old Mahabaleshwar and due to heavy rush, there was lot of traffic so we turned around and decided not to visit the place. We almost wasted an hour and came back to where we started from but then continued to Mapro Garden where we decided to have a short break with a Fresh Strawberry with Cream.



We left the Mapro garden at around 1 PM and departed for Parsi Point. There are vendors showing several points with telescopes such as:

• New Era School where Taare Zameen Par was shot
• Raja Hindustani shooting at Table Land
• etc...

There were people offering different games such as Balloon Shooting, Game of Luck with balls, Throwing Rings etc... for INR 30 each. My daughter did play some of them but didn't win. We then departed at 1:45 PM for Table Land where we reached at around 2 PM. This is Asia's second largest Mountain Plateau. We were offered horse ride but we decided not to take any.


We finally started from Table Land at 3 PM and reached my home at 5:30 PM. The whole trip was quite refreshing. The beauty of Mahabaleshwar can easily be compared with that of Munnar from Kerala. I really felt why I didn't visit the place earlier. Hope you do not make the same mistake!

Sinhagad Fort - Khadakwasla Dam

A month back I went to visit Sinhagad Fort for the first time since I have arrived in Pune. On the route I also stopped at Khadakwasla Dam for a while. The whole route was very scenic and also the fort was worth visiting.

Route: I took the route shown here while starting at around 8:15 AM. It took us around one and a half hour to reach Sinhagad Fort and we arrived at 9:40 AM. On most weekends there is heavy rush and you don't get parking at Sinhagad Fort and has to park very far from fort but on 16 July when I visited, there was less rush since there was landslide in previous week and people got stuck for 3-4 hours on the fort itself. There was heavy fog at the hill so the surroundings were not at all visible but we did try to cover the whole fort.


Food: The fort has many eateries and most of them offer the same items which is as below:

• Zunka - Bhakri
• Baingan Ka Bhartha
• Kanda Bhaji
• Curd
• Tea

All the items were quite good. While climbing down we stopped at some points to have view of greenery and water reservoirs and also stopped at Khadakwasla. The dam was completely filled with heavy rains in the catchment area of the river.

We came back at around 2 PM. All in all, it was worth visiting the fort once.

Dakor Vadtal Anand

Last week I visited my brother's residence in Vallabh Vidhyanagar and decided to visit nearby places of interest which included Dakor and Vadtal temples and Amul Dairy.

We stayed at Mahadev Nagar in Vallabh Vidyanagar. We planned to visit all three places in a day. At around 9 AM we started from our place to Dakor via this route. It is situated around 35 KM from Vallabh Vidyanagar. We reached Dakor at around 10:15 AM and parked our car in a paid parking for INR 30. We then went for Darshan and luckily, we were able to have Shringar Darshan. After that we went for some donation and got some prasad for our donation. Typically you get 5 packets of prasad for INR 50. Recently there is a boat ride created on Gomti lake and we went for ride at around 11 AM which cost INR 10 per person. The ride takes you to the center of the lake where there is a temple. After boat ride we again went for Rajbhog Darshan and finally departed for journey back at around 11:45 PM.


We reached Vallabh Vidyanagar at around 12:45 PM and had lunch. We then started for Amul Dairy visit which is located here. We had taken prior appointment from Amul Dairy as mentioned on the website. Timings for visit are between 2 PM to 4 PM.


The photos are not allowed but I somehow sneaked some. It took almost an hour to complete a plant visit. We then bought some chocolates from inside the Amul Parlour at MRP without any discount but when we went out, we found that there is an Amul Retail Parlour outside where things are 10% cheaper then MRP so please keep this in mind when you purchase. At around 4 PM we departed for Vadtal temple and reached there via this route at around 4:30 PM. We completed Vadtal temple visit by 5 PM and then went back to Vallabh Vidyanagar.

The weather was very hot there but we still enjoyed our time.

IPL - Rising Pune Supergiant vs Gujarat Lions - MCA Stadium

For the first time in my life I decided to go for a live cricket match. Since I am from Gujarat and staying in Pune, what other match better suits then RPS vs GL which took place in MCA stadium on 1st May. I had booked tickets from bookmyshow for four of us.

Route: We left my home at 7:30 PM and took the route shown here. It took us almost an hour to reach the entrance of the stadium and we were already late by half an hour to reach at 8:30 PM. The match had already run till 7 overs in first innings and the score was around 1/61 when we sat. When you park the car, make sure you remember some landmark otherwise when you come out of stadium, you might miss where you parked. I already saw at least 5 guys searching for their cars.

Food: There were multiple breaks for drinks at 7 and 13 overs in both innings as well as in the middle of the two innings when you can have some snacks. Multiple items were there for sale including Vada Paav, Samosa, Burger, Pizza, Masala Corn, Pop Corn, etc... along with cold drinks. Free water was also provided and wash-rooms were ok to use.

There were early wickets for RPS but finally they managed to win with help of a century from Ben Stokes. 

When we came out of stadium, there was heavy rush and the car didn't come out of parking for almost half an hour. We safely reached home at around 1:10 PM. 

Please enjoy if you get a chance at MCA.

K Factory - Baner Pune

I went to K Factory - Baner Pune in the month of March with my family to have a good dinner. This is a new happening place that has come up in Baner and I really felt worth visiting.

Food: The restaurant menu is available here. The restaurant also offers hard drinks but the seating arrangement is separate for them on first floor. We went for the ground floor where only soft drinks are served.

We ordered three main dishes and soup:

• C2 Tomato Basil Soup
• F3 Tandoor Roasted
• R2 Cottage Cheese Tikka Lasagna
• R3 Pasta with Farfalle and vegetables

The three dishes were really delicious especially the R2 and R3. Soup was clear so neither of us enjoyed it. Tandoor Roasted was like pizza but with less toppings. The total bill for three of us came to around INR 900. I found it worth visiting again.

Banana Leaf - Aundh

I had visited Banana Leaf - Aundh in the month of May 2017.

The menu of the restaurant is available here. We had ordered two dosas, one idli-vada and one uttapam along with two filter coffees. The restaurant is not very expensive so total bill came to be less than INR 300 for two of us.


The restaurant has closed and now a new one named "Madras Cafe" has come up. 

Adlabs Imagica

After a long time (i.e. almost 5 years since Sayaji Raje Park), I went to enjoy my time at one of the theme parks of Adlabs Imagica along with my neighbours (although I did visit theme park outside of India in 2013). It was very hot during the last week of March and due to holidays; there was a lot of crowd but surprisingly the visit turned out to be very pleasant and enjoyable.

As part of preparation to visit the park, I had done following on the previous day:

• Booked tickets on http://book.adlabsimagica.com/. PayTM gives some cashback if you want to buy on its website. You also have an option to buy Passport which allows 4 entries in a year to either Imagica Theme Park or Water Park on any days. There is a discount on Tuesdays for theme park and Wednesdays for water park.
• Downloaded Imagica App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adlabs.themepark. The app provides information about ride timings (yes, surprisingly not all rides are open all the time), park timings, ride eligibility in terms of height, ride waiting time in real time. The Imagica map was somehow not opening in my app.
• Read several websites such as Quora, Tripadvisor to plan the trip according to the information available. Even though tickets are bought on website, the physical tickets need to be collected on one of their counters.

Timings: We started from my home at 8:30 AM (although we had planned to leave at 8 AM sharp). Four families had taken two cars and we first reached Shree Datta Snacks at around 9:45 AM. There we took some breakfast which included:

• Vada Paav
• Poha
• Upma
• Methi Vadi
• Sabudana Khichdi
• Tea

We started for Imagica at around 10:10 AM and reached there at 10:25 AM. At the entry of the park, there are 15 window counters that gives physical tickets in lieu of online bookings. If you have bought a Passport, you need to get yourself photographed and you will get a card which you have to preserve for next trips. Only the first counter among counters issuing express tickets issues cards in lieu of passport online booking since they need to take your photograph.

The park opens at 10:30 AM but the rides start at 11 AM. We had decided to go for rides for kids first so we started with following:

• Splash Ahoy: In this ride, a family controls a set of 4 water cannons in a boat and 4 or 5 boats move around a water reservoir and people throw water at each other from these cannons.

• Happy Wheels: In this ride, the kids below 52' are allowed to ride cars and during the ride they learn about traffic rules.

When we were having the ride, Anil Kapoor sprang up from somewhere and we did have some snaps in with him as below.

• Dare 2 Drop: This was a ride for adults and it really provides a thrilling experience. The ride takes you to a height quite speedily and then throws you down with an experience of weightlessness in gravity with free fall.

• Humpty's Fall: This ride provides the same experience as Dare 2 Drop but for kids. 

• Tubby Takes Off: This is one of the best rides of the park for the kids. Two persons occupy one elephant which turns round and you can press a switch to take your cart up and down. It is situated at a bit of height so provides a complete view of the park.

While going for next ride, we passed by Gold Rush Express, which is described as a family roller coaster but it was close since almost a month.

• Loch Ness Explorers: This ride is also solely for kids and a boat passes through waters and jumps and dumps to give some thrill to the kids.

• Bump It Boats: There was a long queue in this ride since there are only 5 boats and each boat can provide ride to only one person. It almost was 1:15 PM when we completed this ride although we stood in the queue at 12:30 PM.

While going for next ride, we passed by Save the Pirate and Wagon O Wheel but the former was off while the later was only for small kids.

• Alibaba and Chalis Chor: Some of our group members had gone to stand in long queue of this ride so after completing Bump It Boats, we directly jumped the queue for this ride. In this ride, you sit in a cart and pass through a treasure of Alibaba and you are given a gun to shoot some green targets. If you succeed, it accumulates your points and report at the end of the ride. Many of our riders scored as much as 13K including me.

This was almost half way for us so we decided to take a halt and go for lunch at around 2 PM. We went to Roberto's Food Court for lunch and all of us ordered different items such as:

1. North Indian Thali - This had two veg (Paneer Butter Masala / Aloo Mutter), Dal, Biryani, Roti.
2. Oriental Thali - This had two soups, Manchurian with gravy, one of rice or noodles.
3. Gujarati Thali

We ordered one each of #1 and #2 and it more than served three of us. We also got a free ice-cream with Thali and also ordered one shake (Choco, Mango, etc...) with one meal which got some discount. For people holding Passport, there is a scheme where you get 20% discount on food items in MRP. For this, you have to purchase INR 500 coupons by paying INR 400 at select outlets and then the coupons can be used at food outlet to purchase food. We utilised three passports to pay INR 1200 to get INR 1500 coupons which we utilised to get 4 thalis which were INR 330 each. The total bill including shakes was more than 1500 so we paid rest from cash/card.

After lunch, we went passed Detective Bow Wow but it was not open so we skipped it.

• Deep Space: This ride has a roller coster in dark, i.e. they claim it to take you to moon with a shot to space and back. Small children might feel a little bit uneasy in this ride but it provides good thrill to teenagers as well as adults. This had very long queue and it took almost an hour for us to get in the ride since there were people with Express passes also that were entering in large numbers. Some of our group members waited in this ride while others went ahead and enjoyed I for India in the meantime our turn came. We were waiting here from 3:30 and completed the ride at 5:15 PM.

The ride Motion Box Theater is next to Deep Space but we skipped it.

• I for India: When some group members waited at Deep Space to get our turn, I and some others went for the other ride I for India. In this ride you sit on a platform and you see a projection on screen which is a video captured in a helicopter travelling above many prominent places in India such as Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar, Kerala, Leh, Kashmir, Rajasthan, and many other places in India. This ride is similar to Soarin in Disneyland but instead of US, it shows glimpses of great India. The ride sometimes does provide thrill as you feel sometimes as if you are travelling in a helicopter above the monuments. The video in this ride is around 15 minutes long and 99 people enters the ride at the same time so this will take around 30 minutes of yours.

• Rajasaurus River Adventure: After completing the Deep Space, we went in this ride at around 5:15 PM. Some of our group members were waiting in queue for this ride so we didn't have to wait long in this otherwise there is long queue and even the starting time of this ride is around 3:30 PM. This takes you in a boat through a jungle of dinosaurs and finally dumps you from a big height as if you jump from a waterfall. The ride involves some thrill so children be prepared.

• Mr India: This is a 4D ride and provides a lot of thrill. You sit on a car seat and then a video is played in front of you along with movement in your car seat in such a manner that it feels you are part of the video and your heart does pound a bit.

During the time we were doing Mr India, the Parade happened between the time of 5:30 PM and 6 PM but we missed it.

• Wrath of God: We went in this ride just since it was next to Mr India and it took almost 15 mins of our time which was wasted. The ride provides some details about three Gods, God of wind, God of Water and God of Fire but apart from this, there is nothing more to see.
• Mambo Chai Chama: This is a typical tora-tora ride and has nothing new but still we went for it just to complete our count.

• Screaming Machine: As it was already 6:15 PM, my wife and I decided to give a final boost to our adrenaline. We went for the ride that is considered to be among the biggest novelties of Imagica theme park in India. The ride is really a heart-pounding. It is like you are riding a 150 ft swing and that too rotating on its axis. The ride is longest among all thrilling rides and lasts for around 4 minutes. I have not been to Universal Studios but whatever rides I have experienced so far, this one was among the most thrilling rides. For the first two minutes of the ride I was enjoying but then after it became like a panic for me as the thrill literally turned into fear. If you are facing the land and the ride throws you down from 150 feet to ground and then takes you to the other side, it becomes difficult to keep yourself cool. The guy sitting next to me was experiencing the same for sixth time with third visit to park in last one month on his Passport ticket and it was his third time for that day itself while for me even the first one was difficult.
• Nitro: When we entered this ride, it was around 7 PM and only the last round was pending so we were lucky to sit in this one. This is the most thrilling roller coaster of the park and it does leave up to its promise. 
• The Magic Carousel: I finally took my daughter for the Magic Carousel as the lights turns on after 7 PM and finally grabbed a shot of my life as below.

We did finally came out and took the last shot at the entrance where Imagica letters have been created.

From the list, you can see that there are around 25 rides and we were able to cover around 19 of them in a day. Even with very hot day, we enjoyed a lot and the park did provide good facilities such as cold drinking water, food, wash-rooms and even special room for nursing mothers at every few distance. Finally we left the park at around 7:30 PM. During the whole day I just forgot about rest of my life including my work or other tensions. The only thing in my mind was to enjoy the day with all the rides. I would recommend you all to do the same with your family and visit the park.

Although the fees are quite high in the park compared to other alternatives, some of the rides such as Screaming Machine and Nitro does give the park status of a world-class amusement park. Many parks outside of India charges USD 100 per day and if you take purchasing power parity, multiplying it by 20-30 gives you INR 2000-3000 but for Imagica, the fees are lower at INR 1500 and even cheaper for school/college students at INR 1000 so the family of three can enjoy for a day with INR 4000 in tickets and INR 1000 for food, travel and other expenses. So I would consider it a fairly priced park. Please go ahead and enjoy at least once.

Update: As part of finishing my four yearly visits as part of Imagica Passport, I went to Imagica Theme Park again on 18 March. This time I had decided to visit the rides that we missed out last time such as:

• Save The Pirate: In this ride, you sit in a boat and the boat moves up and down. This is similar to Dare 2 Drop but a mild version for kids and family entertainment.
• Detective Bow Wow: This is an interactive show where a detective tries to find thief of one of the museum items from the audience itself.
• Motion Box Theatre: This ride is similar to some extent, Mr India, where you sit and experience a 2D movie played in front of you and then your seat moves around giving you a 4D experience.

We repeated Nitro, Screaming Machine, I for India, Dare 2 Drop, Tubby Takes Off and Alibaba and Chalis Chor.

All in all, it was a great experience visiting the park again.