About an hour’s journey beyond the popular hill station, Mahabaleshwar, lies a piece of paradise – Tapola. The tranquil backwaters of the Koyna dam, the majestic mountains around, the small quaint villages, and the incessant chirping of birds welcomed us to Tapola.
We pitched our tent at Sakha Niwas Tapola, an agrotourism center, in the little hamlet of Harchandi. Well, to be honest, we chose the room over the tent option :).
Maharashtra is blessed with a beautiful coastline dotted with many sandy beaches.
This winter, we spent a few days at Karde beach (near Dapoli) in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. Our daily routine included morning swims in the blue sea, long walks on the beach to greet sandpipers and plovers, building complex structures in the sand, and watching the sun set over the Arabian sea.
The Journey:
It took us approximately five hours to reach Karde from Pune by road.
Back in Pune after more than a decade, I have started re-exploring my “home” town.
Often, the sight of familiar neighborhoods kindles trips down memory lane in the city that I called home for more than twenty years.
At other times, I view Pune from the perspective of a visitor. New sights and experiences in the city. Familiar sights and experiences viewed with a new lens.
And so, one weekend, I decided to join the Pune Heritage Walkto discover Pune with a guided walking tour of the city.
The Pimpri-Chinchwad area, home to several major automobile companies, now has a Science Centre. Explore the world of automobiles, enjoy learning science in the “Fun Science” section, and walk among dinosaurs in the open Dinosaur Park. We spent a Sunday afternoon at the centre and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.
The Pimpri-Chinchwad Science Centre(or Pimpri-Chinchwad Science Park) is located near the Auto Cluster in Chinchwad. At the entrance, one can purchase general entry tickets to the science centre, as well as additional separate tickets for the 3D Science show and the Taramandal, an inflatable portable planetarium.
After a lovely day in the midst of Ganesh Chaturthi festivities in Pune, we awoke to a bright morning in the city.
With all the mandals in the snooze mode until evening time, we opted to spend the morning walking along Main Street (MG Road).
A large part of this area remains unchanged from the last time I was here (was it 7 or 8 years ago?). And again, a flood of memories came by: unbeatable potato chips from Budhani Waferwala, brand new school uniforms from Indo-Foreign Stores, endless shopping in “Wonderland”, and MARZORIN!
Wish comes true!
Destiny has a way with making wishes come true unexpectedly. For the past several years, I’ve been trying to plan a trip to Pune during Ganesh Chaturthi. I earnestly wanted my husband to experience the vibrant festivities first-hand. Somehow, the plans never worked. I almost forgot about this wish.
And then, out of the blue, with less than a week’s notice, we had to visit Mumbai(and hence, an opportunity to visit Pune) right in the middle of the 10-day long festival.
And after that trip down memory lane, here’s what Maximum City Mumbai actually had in store for us during a very short visit this year:
A breezy taxi ride over the “much talked-about” Bandra-Worli Sea Link (pretty impressive!).
Picturesque glimpses of Haji Ali.
A pleasant evening stroll along Napean Sea Road.
A magnificent surprise: Glorious views of the Arabian Sea from the Priyadarshini Park (We happened to spot this park during our evening walk, and after much debate, decided to spend about 15 minutes there.
A sudden and unexpected short trip to Mumbai (Bombay) was the perfect stimulus for another vacation. As we hurriedly planned our travel, I traveled back in time…
Bombay, Mumbai, Bambai – brings back a host of memories. For my family, long-time residents of the “slow-paced” Pune, life in Mumbai always seemed to have a “very fast pace”. However, the lively spirit and energy of the financial and entertainment capital of India ensured that we visited Mumbai several times.
Day 3:
We couldn’t leave the city without visiting the lake. Off to Kankaria Lake in the morning!
Where, in India, would the gentleman driving an auto spontaneously offer suggestions on restaurants to visit and the best items on the menu, and point out all the tourist attractions on the way to your destination (when all you asked for was a ride to your hotel)? AHMEDABAD!
After our unforgettable trip to the capital of Gujarat last year, we jumped on the opportunity to pay another visit to this friendly city last month.