55th Birthday Drive -Hyderabad to Mahabaleshwar

[Shekar]

After celebrating 50th Birthday at Srisailam, I thought of spending my 55th one also some where out side. Many options were considered but most of them were dropped due to late monsoon this year. Only a day before we had decided to spend the day at Mahabalshwar. I had to convince my wife a lot as she was not ready to accept we two only travel and I will be lone driver (She does not drive and do not want to try also).

 

Any way I had booked a room online (Directly on hotel website as it was the cheapest) in Hotel Valley Nest after lot of research for a proper location away from crowds and with a valley view.

 

I had taken 4 days leave and had 6 days in hand including weekend. So I kept the program open for return journey.

 

We had planned to start at 4 AM on Tuesday 2nd July and started 15 minutes late at 04.15 AM took ORR at Rajendranagar and exited at Muthangi by 5.00 AM and took NH 65. with one small break of 10 minutes we took diversion towards Pandharpur from NH 65 at Mohol by 9.30 AM. It's about 360 Kms and we had covered it in 5 Hrs approximately excluding breaks. This includes diversions and bad patches between Basavakalyan and Solapur of about 100 Kms.

 

On the way I had received calls from my friends informing me that heavy rain forecast in Maharastra, but we had not faced any rain except a small drizzle till Mohol. 

 

We had tried to stop for breakfast before Solapur but some hotels we missed in fast drive and some of them are closed. I do not know the reason but many eateries are closed on the way. Once we took a turn at Mohol towards Pandharpur also we found couple of hotels were in locked condition. After a couple of Kms we found one hotel and stopped there afraid that we may not get food further. But it was wrong as we found may hotels in the route till Pandharpur. We had Poha and it was good but coffee was too sweet. (May be sugar is cheap there). Wash rooms were neat and average.

 

After relaxing about 40 Minutes we started again at 10.20 and reached Pandharpur by 11.15. Google is showing the expected time at Panchgani at 02.00 PM. So we thought of having darshan of lord Vittala at Pandharpur. It seems it rained on previous night and we could see all the roads are wet and parking areas were slushy. There are couple of paid parkings areas near the temple (100 Mtrs away from main temple). Though it is a pilgrim place of masses, we found the streets are neat (except the wetness of the rain) and of course temple area is maintained very neat. There seems to be multiple entries to the temple and we did not asked any one or did some research and went in to the temple from main entry towards the river Chandrabhaga only to know that it is a quick darshan (far away from sanctum) line once we entered the temple. But form that point also the Lord Vittala is clearly visible.

 

By 12.30 we were again on road towards Phaltan after reaching Phaltan, I set my google map to our hotel Valley Nest and the route changed from Via Wai to Via Kudal. We reached the Hotel through Mahu Dam at 4.15 PM exactly after 12 Hrs since we left home. At about 10 Hrs drive excluding stop overs. Entire hotel only three rooms were booked including ours. The room Mountain View Super Deluxe is good having a balcony with mountain view (not valley).

 

Road condition

 

Except Basavakalyan to Solapur Road till Mohol is 4 lane toll roads. From Mohol to Panchgani it is two lane except small stretch of single lane mostly good.

 

I will update further later.        

 

 

 

 

 

[sagar]

Firstly, I would like to congratulate you for your passion towards travel. Very inspirational to do continuous road trips at the age of 55. Your information has always been helping many members who plan to take this route..  Thanks a lot for sharing.. Waiting for more pictures and full travel story..  

[Gowtham]

22 hours ago, Shekar said:

I thought of spending my 55th one also some where out side.

 

Definitely an inspiration for people like me. 
A great way to celebrate.
Would love to see more from you. 

 

22 hours ago, Shekar said:

We had tried to stop for breakfast before Solapur

 

Hyderabad to Solapur hotel options are very limited. 

Finding a decent option is very difficult. 

[karthik]

Waiting for the Day2 story.  Very nice idea to celebrate birthdays via road trip. 

Between Hyderabad and Solapur, how many kilometres is bad? 

[rkamal]

23 hours ago, Shekar said:

Except Basavakalyan to Solapur Road till Mohol is 4 lane toll roads. From Mohol to Panchgani it is two lane except small stretch of single lane mostly good.

 

I will update further later.        

 

 

 

 

Wow...excellent pics & write up with precise information. Looking forward to see more!

[Shekar]

8 hours ago, karthik said:

Waiting for the Day2 story.  Very nice idea to celebrate birthdays via road trip. 

Between Hyderabad and Solapur, how many kilometres is bad? 

It is about 75 to 80 Kms. I had not recorded exactly. Same time this complete stretch is not bad, there are diversions and mostly road damages are in the villages and towns where fly over/underpass construction is on. 

[Shekar]

Day-1 continued..

 

Surprisingly we both not felt tired even after 12 Hrs and with less sleep on previous night. So thought of covering few points in Panchagani before sunset. We had consulted hotel manager and started for Parsi Point by 5 PM. 

 

When we reached the point there was very less crowd and only two cars were available in the parking opposite to the point. (Parking fee Rs.20). When we reached the view point, it was a Wow view with clouds passing through the valley and there was good light. By the time I could set my camera to capture it, I could capture the clouds on one mountain. But they were captured in our Dil. It is only to feel. We did not had lunch on the way and were little hungry. We ate Vada Pav and a baby corn at the eatery at that point. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had booked the room for the first day only thinking we will search other better options at Mahabaleshwar for day two and three if needed. 

We had noticed couple of hotels near Parsi point with valley view. We had checked both but both do not have a balcony hence we decided to search for room on next day and explore more of Panchgani. We started for Table top. On the way local tax guys took Rs. 100 for various reasons and handed over three tickets which includes parking at Table top. 

 

When we reached Table top just before sunset very few people were there. All the shops and eateries were deserted and half of them were closed. When we reached the top, all the horse carts were parked and horses were not in sight. may be we are late and in season. Winds were blowing hard and it was difficult to hold the camera steadily. After spending half an hour, we started back from table top and started roaming on roads. 

 

 

 

 

 

After walking on Table top we started feeling tired. While roaming we had seen the direction board for Sydney point. It was almost dark but went to the point. Light drizzling started and we did not spent any time there. Started back to the hotel. On the way my wife picked up a cake for me in the market. Usually my daughter will order a cake from US to be delivered. We informed here not to do so as I will not be available at home.

When we came back to hotel and freshened up, we felt sleepy. It started raining as we reached the hotel and continued most of the night. We ordered a Chicken snack with Biryani to be served in the room. Snack was good but not the Biryani. First we thought of cutting the cake at 12 Mid night as we do every time but decided to sleep early. We informed our kids not to disturb at mid night and went to bed.

 

End of Day -1

[sagar]

You really are lucky to have found the 'Table Top' so deserted a peaceful. It looks so serene and beautiful. During our visit in October to the Table top, it was almost like a market with a lot of eateries, horses and kids playing arenas. We hated to stay there and moved back to the hotel.

[Gowtham]

17 hours ago, Shekar said:

End of Day -1

 

Beautiful pictures as usual.

[Shekar]

Day-2 Birthday in Fog and Rain

 

When we wake up after 6 in the morning it was not raining and the hills from the balcony are clearer than yesterday (It is on the East side of the mountain.). Before we were ready, I asked the hotel guy, how many are there in the hotel he said if we vacate, only one guest. Then I said think if you can offer any discount, we will stay here for another two days and even after an hour when we were ready to go out, he did not responded and I do not want ask him again. I simply called reception and asked for checkout.

 

We left hotel by 9.00 AM and weather at Panchgani was clear. We had breakfast at Vithal Kamath and it was really good. We found no crowds on the road.

 

Birthday Boy

Near kate's point

We thought of visiting some points and find a good hotel during lunch. 

 

While entering Mahabaleshwar at Venna lake, local tax collecting people took Rs.120 in various names. At this point thick fog started and at once we missed noticing the Venna lake and had to take a U turn when we saw it while exiting. Thick fog was all over the lake and no boat was playing in the lake. Half of the eateries close to it were shut and less than 10 people were around. after spending 10 minutes at Venna lake we moved ahead towards Kate's point. On the way some broker stopped our car and asked whether we need a hotel, when asked about view points, he told us that we can not see any due to fog. But we moved further and went near kate's point. In the entire road we did not came across a single person in either direction. From parking it was too dark and we thought of skipping and came back on to main road.

 

Thought whether fog or rain we can visit the Mahabalshwar temple and we reached there. WE had visited the Mahabaleshwar, Atibaleshwar and Panchganga Temples. Later we went across the road and visited krishnamata Temple where River Krishna said to be originated.

 

Pamchganga

Atibaleshwar

Mahabalshwar

Krishna Temple

Krishna River in the valley

[Gowtham]

On 7/9/2019 at 10:43 PM, Shekar said:

Birthday in Fog and Rain

 

This is the problem with Mahableshwar during monsoon.
View points get blocked. 
But the weather and greenery on the other hand is fantastic. 

[karthik]

On 7/8/2019 at 8:42 PM, Shekar said:

It is about 75 to 80 Kms.

 

Thank you for the update. Looks like there are making good progress. 

[Gowtham]

Sharing it on the Home page. Thank you. 

 

[Naveen1]

Love your travel reports. Great skill behind camera. At this age you are inspiring many young souls. 
Wish you belated happy birthday
Like to see more travel stories, every year.

[Shekar]

From Krishna Mandir we went towards Arther seat view point, entire road was with fog and visibility is less than 50 Mtrs. We stopped at Savitry point first and as we got down from the car, heavy rain started forcing us to get back in to car. Visibility gone down further but we thought of going to Arther seat which is just 500 mtrs away. There were many cars with people inside parked there. We too parked the car and waited for some time but the rain did not stop. 

 

My birthday cake was in the car and my wife gave an idea of celebrating by cutting the cake in the rain. As we could not found a good place to stand, we came back to Savitry point where the place was isolated and the parking area is neat with stone flooring. But there were heavy winds at that place. further we went back to wards Elphinstone point and stopped the car under some tree. I had fixed my mobile on camera stand and left it in rain taking the risk of Mobile getting damaged to capture my birthday in rain. 

 

 

Further we went to Lodwick point but there were also many cars in parking with people inside and it was still raining.  We thought of searching a hotel for stay and have lunch too. Couple of hotels we saw were not to our liking and mean time brokers started chasing us. We went to MTDC resort but we found all the cottages and other buildings were wrapped with plastic sheets. Then we thought of Hotel Sun Shine or Hotel Shivasagar Farm house suggested by our group members. First we went to Hotel Sun Shine, but its balcony was filled with lot of shit not cleaned may be due to in season. But  while reaching this hotel we saw another hotel named Hirakani garden resort which looked better and indeed it was good. 

 

When we went in to balcony we heard a loud roaring sound, when asked the manager, he said it is the sound of Lingamala water falls which is just behind the hill where we stayed. Rain stopped by this time and we thought of visiting it. From car parking we have to walk about a Km which includes go in down in to valley and going up on other side for a better view. When we got down from car it was very bright (Time 5PM) and we went in side without umbrella like any Hyderabadi. When we reached the last view point it was feast for eyes particularly the valley. I repented first for not carrying the camera but on return it proved as correct decision. 

 

 

 

 

 

When we reached last view point and started taking photos with mobile, it started raining and increased in no time. We had no option to start walking back and reached the car fully drenched. If I had brought camera, I would have carried only camera without bag and there could be a chance it got damaged. 

 

 

We came back to hotel and ordered food from same hotel and slept. 

 

End of day -2

 

 

[sagar]

Getting drenched in rains while trekking is the best part of this season..  We missed to see the Lingmala falls during our visit to Mahabaleshwar. Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures.. Could you share the details of the Hirakani stay near by Lingmala Falls.. ? What was their tariff ?

[Shekar]

1 hour ago, sagar said:

Getting drenched in rains while trekking is the best part of this season..  We missed to see the Lingmala falls during our visit to Mahabaleshwar. Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures.. Could you share the details of the Hirakani stay near by Lingmala Falls.. ? What was their tariff ?

Hotel was good. They have an old building before the two storied bulding you can see in first pic which is a just Garden View and new bulding is partly mountain/valley view. 

 

 

 

Inside view of the room

 

Balcony

 

Clicks from balcony

 

 

Cost we bargained for Rs. 1800 inclusive of breakfast @200 each. Effective cost is about 1400 all inclusive.  The room got AC but not required in July. The hotel manager Srinivas (Whose parents are in Karimnagar) told me he sells the same room for 4000+ in season. 

break fast is limited this is what we had.. and good. 

 

 

[Shekar]

 

Lingamala Falls

Edited July 12, 2019 by Shekar

[sagar]

31 minutes ago, Shekar said:

. Effective cost is about 1400 all inclusive.  The room got AC but not required in July.

That is a super good deal  

[Shekar]

Day-3 Everything went wrong

 

I suggested to stay one more day at Mahabaleshwar but my wife said no as the rains are not giving any break. We planned to visit Kolhapur Mahalaxmi on day 3 with night halt and start for Hyderabad on Day-4 morning and reach by evening. But some thing different was in fate. 

 

We got up by 7 AM and ready by 9.00 Hrs. We thought of having breakfast at restaurant which is on main road and checked out the room. Some of our member suggested to drive through Kas valley. Erlier I had gone through ID drive to Mahabaleshwar and liked the place and decided to travel via Kas-Satara to Kollhapur. Google was showing 180 Kms and about 4 Hrs drive. We have ample time and started after breakfast at 10.30 Hrs. 

 

1. By the time Google map picked up I went in wrong direction for a Km and had to turn back. It started raining again and we entered Mahabaleshwar - Satara Road passing through Lingamala Falls entry point. 

 

2. After some 9 Kms we were supposed to take right turn on to Kas road from SH-58. Here also I missed the turn and luckily I had to turn back after 500 Mtrs. This 9 Kms road was two lane Ghat road with damages at places. Once we took the turn, it is all single road and 95% good. At Bagdadh Point the road takes a sharp hair pin bend and for a couple of Kms we found shooting stones and small land slides. We encountered thick fog and slight drizzling. We had found none on the road and my wife became little scary and asked me to turn back. I asked her to enjoy the vistas and if we have to come under shooting stones let it be. 

 

3. After traveling on this road for about 10 Kms or so, we entered a badly damaged road with lot of stones. First I thought for some reasons part of the road might have damaged and went ahead carefully for a Km. and then I got doubt as the stones on the road are bigger and may likely damage engine chamber. I stopped the car and went ahead by walk to see the road condition. After 100 Mtrs the road was much more damaged my car can't pass through by any means. There is no place to make U turn also. One side deep valley and other side hill and loose boulders are close to the road. Only option left for me is to drive reverse. I asked my wife to guide me and I came back to the safety of good road and made a U turn. In this tension, I even forgot to take a snap of the road.

 

When we turned back,  the fog was cleared and we could see beautiful valleys on both side of the road. I took out my Cam and captured them. came back to the Mahabaleshwar - Satara road (SH-58). The time was 12.30 Noon and for two Hrs we are just roaming in circle.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shekar]

We reached Satara at about 2 PM. Till Satara roads were not so good in Ghat and good in plains. We encountered a traffic Jam at Satara due to failure of a tourist bus at a Junction. When we came on to NH 48 for Kolhapur, we stopped at the first Dhaba. I was not hungry and had a coffee and my wife had a wada. We decided to skip lunch. 

 

4. We picked up the speed on NH and covered 30 Kms in no time, at that time I had to stop for taking a call which forced me to change my plan. I had set Google map to Hyderabad. Distance shown was about 580 Kms via Phalton-Pandharpur. Time of arrival at Hyderabad 2.15 AM (May be without breaks). I thought I will stay somewhere close to Solapur if I feel tired. Took the next U turn and stared back. 

 

We crossed again Satara and entered road towards Phalton. When we are about to reach Phalton, we found many police blocking the road with barricades and not allowing vehicles in to town. We were directed to another road stating that will connect Mumbai-Pandharpur  Highway. It was not a long diversion and we entered Highway in 10 Minutes.

 

5. Immediately on entering Mumbai-Padharpur road we had to change our lane to right as the Left line is full of devotees. After driving slowly for some time, 4 lane road became two lane and we had to move inch by inch and when were in the middle of town, we were stopped by police as the devotees increased. When enquired with police, they said it is Rath Yatra similar to Jaganath Rath Yatra. There were few lakh devotees walking with bajans on the road. Temporary water and food arrangements were made for them. When I requested the police officer on duty telling him that I have to reach Hyderabad, we were allowed after 5 minutes.

 

Mean time google map said further road also blocked and asked us to take diversion. We followed it and exited the town without any traffic jams. It took us about 50 Minutes to cross the town of about 5 Kms. Distance to travel increased again and showing 525 from Phalton and the road is through Baramati entering NH 65 at Bhigwan. Till Baramati Roads were good with mix of 4 Lane and two lane and after that till Bhigwan also good two lane road. We entered NH 65 at about 18.30 Hrs and the distance to home is about 475 Kms. Expected time did not change with all the delays and extra kms. It is showing 2.30 AM.

 

Just after 15 Kms on NH from Bhigwan, it started raining and it became complete dark. Though road was good, mist coming out of truck tyres brought down the speed. By the time we reached outskirts of Solapur weather became clear. I saw a OYO hotel before Solapur but my wife not shown interest. I felt I can drive further. For a moment, I thought of bad roads and diversions after Solapur but decided to face it.

 

We continued our journey without dinner. After Satara we did not stop for a tea also. Reached home sharp by 2.00 AM of Day-4 (Friday) and slept off. Finishing touch of the journey is the front right tyre was completely flat when I woke up at 10 AM. Thank god nothing happened in the middle of night. Two punctures were found in the Tyre.   

 

Clicks some where between Mahabaleshwar and Satara Ghat road. 

 

 

 

  

This is in Mahabalshwar

 

End of the Log

 

Thank you one and all for liking the log. 

  

[travel.rtc]

What a Wonderful , inspiring and Lovely travelogue -  One of the best one I have read this Year .

Each  Pic of Nature ,  Landscapes and Mountains are simply  Unique and eye catching . 

Keep travelling and posting Sir . 

[sagar]

Excellent write-up.. I could read that you had undergone a frustrating adventure of a night with a lot of diversions. But, your patience in dealing it needs a special mention. Kudos to you. Would like to know about your next drive  Where has it been planned to?

[Shekar]

Thank you @travel.rtc and @sagar and all others for liking. 

 

I would like add few places I had visited during my 50th Birthday in previous Mahabubnagar Dist for information as they are less known places close to Hyderabad. 

 

I had celebrated my 50th Birthday at Srisailam and stayed at Forest Guest House of TS at Domalapenta which was at a beautiful location. 

 

 

After Darshan we stayed at this place and started early morning as soon as the road was open and reached Kollapur Mahabubnagar dist at Breakfast time 

 

We had visited Madhava Swamy Temple which was relocated from Srisailam back waters and Surabhi Palace or Kollapur Palace. 

 

 

 

 

 

From here we went to Somasila which is close by and visited Someswara Temple complex. These temples were are also relocated from Dam area. 

 

 

From Somasila We went to Jetprole and visited another beautiful temple of Venugopala Swamy which was also relocated. Nearby are another set of 20 small temples relocated from Srisailam. Present haritha is near by these temples.

 

 

 

Our last place of visit on the day was Sri Ranganayaka Swamy Temple at Srirangapur. 

 

 

From Here we entered Bangalore - Hyderabad NH at Pebbair. 

 

We had spent a day at Srisailam after late start from Hyderabad

 

Second day we had visited all the above places and reached home late in the evening. 

 

Roads from Munnanur to Kollapur was 2 lane good (Very old data). To Somasila it was single road with little damages. To Jetprole also single road good. To Srirangapur two lane good. To Pebbair two lane good.  

 

Food options were almost Nil

[KSK]

@Shekar What a wonderful road trip, and what a beautiful birthday gift one can give to self.  That cake cutting in rain (though a bit risky) was icing on cake.  Appreciate for the idea and also to your travel enthusiasm.  Thanks for sharing.

[travel.rtc]

Sir This one needs a separate thread in my opinion - such wonderful captures and information - having separate thread for this travelogue might be helpful for many.

Seriously those old temples and their architecture is marvelous....Somehow i feel MBNR district has that raw look and places always bring on some Nostalgic memories or take us to the era of those times...Once again Thanks for sharing those snaps sir , 

[Manish Sharma]

On 7/11/2019 at 10:51 PM, Shekar said:

From Krishna Mandir we went towards Arther seat view point, entire road was with fog and visibility is less than 50 Mtrs. We stopped at Savitry point first and as we got down from the car, heavy rain started forcing us to get back in to car. Visibility gone down further but we thought of going to Arther seat which is just 500 mtrs away. There were many cars with people inside parked there. We too parked the car and waited for some time but the rain did not stop. 

 

My birthday cake was in the car and my wife gave an idea of celebrating by cutting the cake in the rain. As we could not found a good place to stand, we came back to Savitry point where the place was isolated and the parking area is neat with stone flooring. But there were heavy winds at that place. further we went back to wards Elphinstone point and stopped the car under some tree. I had fixed my mobile on camera stand and left it in rain taking the risk of Mobile getting damaged to capture my birthday in rain. 

 

 

Further we went to Lodwick point but there were also many cars in parking with people inside and it was still raining.  We thought of searching a hotel for stay and have lunch too. Couple of hotels we saw were not to our liking and mean time brokers started chasing us. We went to MTDC resort but we found all the cottages and other buildings were wrapped with plastic sheets. Then we thought of Hotel Sun Shine or Hotel Shivasagar Farm house suggested by our group members. First we went to Hotel Sun Shine, but its balcony was filled with lot of shit not cleaned may be due to in season. But  while reaching this hotel we saw another hotel named Hirakani garden resort which looked better and indeed it was good. 

 

When we went in to balcony we heard a loud roaring sound, when asked the manager, he said it is the sound of Lingamala water falls which is just behind the hill where we stayed. Rain stopped by this time and we thought of visiting it. From car parking we have to walk about a Km which includes go in down in to valley and going up on other side for a better view. When we got down from car it was very bright (Time 5PM) and we went in side without umbrella like any Hyderabadi. When we reached the last view point it was feast for eyes particularly the valley. I repented first for not carrying the camera but on return it proved as correct decision. 

 

 

 

 

 

When we reached last view point and started taking photos with mobile, it started raining and increased in no time. We had no option to start walking back and reached the car fully drenched. If I had brought camera, I would have carried only camera without bag and there could be a chance it got damaged. 

 

 

We came back to hotel and ordered food from same hotel and slept. 

 

End of day -2

 

 

Wish you a belated B'day !!! 

you proved - 'Age is just a number' !!!   

Awesome clicks, short n crisp writing ...

thoroughly enjoyed reading the details with wonderful pics... 

Stay Blessed !  , Keep Driving ! (Y) 

 

[Shekar]

On ‎7‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 12:34 PM, travel.rtc said:

Sir This one needs a separate thread in my opinion - such wonderful captures and information - having separate thread for this travelogue might be helpful for many.

Seriously those old temples and their architecture is marvelous....Somehow i feel MBNR district has that raw look and places always bring on some Nostalgic memories or take us to the era of those times...Once again Thanks for sharing those snaps sir , 

Sure I will try to do it soon

[Rajagopal]

Planning to visit Mahabaleshwar Oct 1st week, request to provide more details like present road condition from Hyderabad, local site seeing possibility etc.,
due to present weather condition.

[Gowtham]

22 hours ago, Rajagopal said:

Planning to visit Mahabaleshwar Oct 1st week, request to provide more details like present road condition from Hyderabad, local site seeing possibility etc.,
due to present weather condition.

 

Road will be in bad shape without any doubt. 
Only saving grace?

Hyderabad to Solapur is now good, except for lat 40 kilometers. 
Solapur to Mahableshwar is always average. 

If distance is not a problem, via Baramati is a better option. 
Regular route is single lane once you cross Solapur.  Via Baramati you will have 4-lane till certain extent. 

Section from Mahableshwar to Kas is sceanic, back roads with less commercial tourists, must visit.
See if this helps

https://www.india-drive.com/index.php?/topic/462-hyderabad-to-mahabaleshwar-road-trip-in-april-2018/

 

 

Did you book accommodation? 

[Rajagopal]

Thank you for the valuable reply, as you said via Baramati will be better (same thought).

To

Nallagandla-Lingampally-Zaheerabad-Solapur-Indapur-baramati-Phaltan-wai-panchgani-Mahableshwar 

From

Via Kas-Thoseghar-satara-Pandharpur with Darshan-solapur-nallagandla.

 

So far no accommodation reservation/booked.

 

Per plan 3rd Oct start from Lingampally, but due to bad weather condition not able to decide, need to decide on or before 2nd oct then I will book for accommodation.

https://www.accuweather.com/en/in/mahabaleshwar/189475/october-weather/189475?year=2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gowtham]

1 hour ago, Rajagopal said:

So far no accommodation reservation/booked

 

One of my colleges has booked this accommodation. 
Heard good reviews. 

https://www.zostel.com/zostel/panchgani/

Most of the view points will be blocked during a cloudy day,
But the greenery will be amazing! 

[Shekar]

I do recommend route from Baramathi. Return via KAS pl check with locals/ It was not good in July it self.  

[Rajagopal]

Got a feedback from a local guy (one of my friend friend, he is from Satara) about the road condition.

He told no need to worry about the road condition, sight seeing places etc., it is safe to travel Mahabaleshwar (no need to worry) and also he is looking for accommodation for us.

Based on his feedback below is my travel plan details:-

 

Hyderabad - Mahabaleshwar - panchgani - Kaas - thoseghar - Kolhapur - Pandharpur - Hyderabad

 

Start Date:- 03rd Oct 5:00 am (Nallagandla, Lingampally)

Reach Mahabaleshwar 5:00 pm (Approx.), check-in Hotel,

04th Oct - Full day Sight seeing

05th Oct - check out Hotel, Half day Sight seeing, post lunch depart from Mahabaleshwar,

Kaas (valley of flowers) - thoseghar (waterfall) - sight seeing on the way,

Reach Kolhapur - check in hotel for night stay,

06th Oct - Shree Mahalaxmi Temple darshan, check out hotel and depart from kolhapur,

Reach Pandharpur - Shri Vitthal-Rukmini temple darshan and depart from pandharpur

06th Oct - Reach Home, may be late night.

(If time not permit whatsoever reason, we will avoid to go kolhapur).

 

Any suggestion, please....

 

[veeran]

On 7/7/2019 at 1:09 PM, Shekar said:

After celebrating 50th Birthday at Srisailam, I thought of spending my 55th one also some where out side. Many options were considered but most of them were dropped due to late monsoon this year. Only a day before we had decided to spend the day at Mahabalshwar. I had to convince my wife a lot as she was not ready to accept we two only travel and I will be lone driver (She does not drive and do not want to try also).

 

Any way I had booked a room online (Directly on hotel website as it was the cheapest) in Hotel Valley Nest after lot of research for a proper location away from crowds and with a valley view.

 

I had taken 4 days leave and had 6 days in hand including weekend. So I kept the program open for return journey.

 

We had planned to start at 4 AM on Tuesday 2nd July and started 15 minutes late at 04.15 AM took ORR at Rajendranagar and exited at Muthangi by 5.00 AM and took NH 65. with one small break of 10 minutes we took diversion towards Pandharpur from NH 65 at Mohol by 9.30 AM. It's about 360 Kms and we had covered it in 5 Hrs approximately excluding breaks. This includes diversions and bad patches between Basavakalyan and Solapur of about 100 Kms.

 

On the way I had received calls from my friends informing me that heavy rain forecast in Maharastra, but we had not faced any rain except a small drizzle till Mohol. 

 

We had tried to stop for breakfast before Solapur but some hotels we missed in fast drive and some of them are closed. I do not know the reason but many eateries are closed on the way. Once we took a turn at Mohol towards Pandharpur also we found couple of hotels were in locked condition. After a couple of Kms we found one hotel and stopped there afraid that we may not get food further. But it was wrong as we found may hotels in the route till Pandharpur. We had Poha and it was good but coffee was too sweet. (May be sugar is cheap there). Wash rooms were neat and average.

 

After relaxing about 40 Minutes we started again at 10.20 and reached Pandharpur by 11.15. Google is showing the expected time at Panchgani at 02.00 PM. So we thought of having darshan of lord Vittala at Pandharpur. It seems it rained on previous night and we could see all the roads are wet and parking areas were slushy. There are couple of paid parkings areas near the temple (100 Mtrs away from main temple). Though it is a pilgrim place of masses, we found the streets are neat (except the wetness of the rain) and of course temple area is maintained very neat. There seems to be multiple entries to the temple and we did not asked any one or did some research and went in to the temple from main entry towards the river Chandrabhaga only to know that it is a quick darshan (far away from sanctum) line once we entered the temple. But form that point also the Lord Vittala is clearly visible.

 

By 12.30 we were again on road towards Phaltan after reaching Phaltan, I set my google map to our hotel Valley Nest and the route changed from Via Wai to Via Kudal. We reached the Hotel through Mahu Dam at 4.15 PM exactly after 12 Hrs since we left home. At about 10 Hrs drive excluding stop overs. Entire hotel only three rooms were booked including ours. The room Mountain View Super Deluxe is good having a balcony with mountain view (not valley).

 

Road condition

 

Except Basavakalyan to Solapur Road till Mohol is 4 lane toll roads. From Mohol to Panchgani it is two lane except small stretch of single lane mostly good.

 

I will update further later.        

 

nice way to celebrate ...and a great inspiration too...greetings

 

 

 

 

[Rajagopal]

Mahabaleshwar Amazing/Thrilling/Awesome Tour:-

Started 5:30am, 3rd Oct from Nallagandla, lingampally, reached Mahabaleshwar @ 6:00pm, check-in hotel and took rest.

Road from Indapur to Phalton is not good, may be due to rain.

4th Oct, full day sight seeing, Mapro Garden, Pratapgad, Elephant head point, Lodwick view points.

Unable to cover other view points due to bad weather condition, rain/clouds covered roads/no visibility etc.

5th Oct, visited Table Land panchgani and depart to Kaas plateau via Satara, then we reached Kolhapur @ 7:00pm for Maha Laxmi amma darshan and had night stay.

06th Oct, post breakfast @11:30am  we left kolhapur and reached Pandharpur @3:30pm, had lunch and Vithal Rukmini darshan and left there @6:00 pm.

Road from Kolhapur to Pandharpur is not good due to under construction.

07th Oct, reached home @2:00 am safely with dinner break Zaheerabad. 

 

 

[Rajagopal]

[Shekar]

Lovely log, we could not visit Kas valley as we took a different road and stuck half way.