GOA

It being a long Christmas weekend,  six of us planned to go to Goa. We started from Mumbai late in the evening on 23rd December.  From Mumbai, we drove via Satara to Kolhapur. The road was more or less in good condition especially in the Mumbai-Pune expressway or the Satara-Kagal section. 

24th Dec 2015
We reached Kolhapur in the early morning. From Kolhapur, we changed our route through Amboli Ghats. This route was a scenic one with dense forests . The road was narrow but good though. We stopped at few places to catch a glimpse of the beauty and enjoyed the nice cool breeze .

After 3 hours from Kolhapur, we reached the border of Goa. As soon as you enter Goa, you get a relaxed feeling.

After taking rest and breakfast,  we were finally  ready to explore GOA. When it’s Goa, it has to start with the beaches. Our trip started from Arambol Beach where we booked our hotel for three days.  To roam around, one can hire Motorcycles for around 300 rupees a day.

Arambol Beach, Goa

Arambol beach is perfectly situated to the northernmost of Goa and is also the best beach we visited throughout our trip.  It is far from over developed too.  Its so quite, beautiful and calm. There is a saying that if life is passionate, the beach is the destination. The beach is a crowd puller and is fascinating as well.

 Then we moved to Arambol Sweet water lake. Why I should be aristocrat. Morning dip at Arambol Sweet water lake was really refreshing.

Arambol Sweet water lake, Goa

After bathing and swimming for more than one hour, we returned to Arambol Beach. Here you will find more of the foreign crowd, probably more than the local crowd.

For relaxing on the beaches, there are shacks on every possible beach you can visit in Goa where you can easily find cheap liquor and tasty sea food. They also provide beds if you are interested in taking sun bath.  Basically the space means fun. Enjoy the Beach and admire the beauty of water. This place gets more and more livelier as the sun sets. This place is perfect for partying. Here you can enjoy tables with candle-lamps, beach chairs with live music or karaoke performances in the background.

Our next plan was Church visit especially prior to the Christmas day.  Churches in Goa are famous for architectural beauty and magnificence. We traveled throughout the night visiting churches and witnessed prayers welcoming Christmas day. Churches were found to be decorated with lights.

25th Dec 2015

The first place in our chart was Chapora fort. It is an old Portuguese fort and is almost in ruins. This is the fort where famous scene from film Dil Chahta Hai was shot.

Chapora fort

Its situated on a hill and gives a great view of the Vagator Beach and the ocean. All places are picnic spots.

Then we moved to Anjuna Beach. One part of the beach was full of rock structure and in brown color. Anjuna Beach is one of the best beaches at Goa and is famous for western tourists. They were roaming around the beach without worrying about the world.

Those who are interested in watersports activity, there are many options available in the beach like banana water ride, jet ski etc.  You can also choose parasailing by paying 600 rupees.

When the sun is sinking down, the sea shivers with a colorful light. But the best part was sitting on beach shacks on a full moon night with the moon light shining through the waves. Sitting on the shacks with sea waves just an arm away is something that should be experienced and not explained.

Sunset at Anjuna Beach,Goa

26th Dec 2015

Early morning walk by the beach and a short meditation on the top of hill can really make you feel so much one with yourself and you almost feel connected to the rest  of the world, and if you close your eyes, the sound of waves hitting the shores is the best music that you can ever hear.

Then we moved to Panjim city to enjoy the city's true flavor. Before reaching Mapusa, we stopped in between to capture the beautiful sigh of a church -The Church of Mae de Deus.  Situated 13kms from Panaji amidst picturesque surroundings, in the village of Saligao, this beautiful church is the finest piece of Gothic style.

The Church of Mae de Deus, Goa

Then we headed towards the famous Aguada Fort, which is actually a 17th century Portuguese Fort and was also used as a prison. It is the same place where a part of the Movie " Singham" was shot.

One can climb the light house on Aguada fort and have a birds eye view of Goa. Since Dil Chahta Hai, this fort has become a must-visit attraction in Goa. The ruins of the fort add a perfect setting for a relaxing afternoon or picnic for couples. And the option to click some amazing pictures is just an added bonus.

Aguada Fort

Then we moved to the other side of the fort.

After exploring the fort and its surroundings, we headed back to Panjim city.  Enroute we visited  Sinquirim beach, which is a less crowded beach besides the Aguada fort.

Our next destination was Dona Paula . Walking around Dona Paula is a memorable experience.

View from Dona Paula

Then we traveled around Panjim city witnessing churches which talk about the history of Portugal reign and a river cruise displaying the modern day culture of Goa.

27th Dec 2015

Goa is famous for three things-the beaches, it's easy-going nature and it's food-Goan Cuisine especially sea food - for the ones who love non-veg food. Liquor is cheap and you can drink literally everywhere in the Goa -  especially its own brand - King. The nature of a Goan is to celebrate the life with the right attitude.

In the early morning,  we bid goodbye to GOA wishing to return back at any given opportunity. 

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Mumbai Filmcity Tour

Film City is an integrated film studio complex situated at Goregaon (East), Mumbai in India. It has several recording rooms, gardens, lakes, theaters and grounds that serve as the venue of many Bollywood film shootings.

It was a two hour guided tour. As soon I reached the entrance, the bus was ready to take us. After collecting my visiting pass I was allowed to enter inside the bus. They provided a bottle of water and a packet of potato chips. Our guide explained about the journey and do's and dont's till the end of the tour.

The first location was Girls hostel at the right side when you enter the film city.

Nowadays studios for television shows are more than movies. We saw a bunch of new sets for Indian cable TV shows .

 We saw this Bungalow mostly seen in Ooty location.

You might  have seen this building in many Hindi films as Waga border.

This house is famous in one of Amitabh Bachchan's film.  Can u guess?

We see this temple in most Hindi films.

This is the Varanasi Rly station created for one film.

Those who are regularly watching movies can guess this place which was the location for a song in one of Shah Rukh Khan's film.

This is the Court in all films whether High Court, District Court etc.

Newly constructed Jaipur palace.

Housing society in one of the famous Hindi serial.

New site under construction.

This is the place where one of Shah Rukh Khan's film song was shooted.

Overall I enjoyed the trip and got an opportunity to understand how the studios developed over time. 

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Night Camping at Kambre, Lonavala

Green Getaway, Kambre is located in the village of Kambre, near Vadeshwar off the Mumbai-Pune highway,  just 20 km from Lonavala. The campus is situated on the banks of Andhra Lake. 

MUMBAI-PUNE EXPRESS HIGHWAY

We started off our journey from Vashi, Navi Mumbai in  a private vehicle. Soon we entered Mumbai Pune express highway.

The road trip was thrilling by enjoying the chilly whether and the beautiful view of valleys. We passed through illuminated, ventilated tunnels built as per international standards.  This is the rarest experience where I travelled through so many tunnels at one go.

The expressway passes through the Sahyadri ranges with natural scenic beauty. But vehicles are not allowed to stop in the highway. The scenery of village become visible when we diverted from main road to Kambre - a typical Indian village away from cultural cities. We drove through the narrow road adjacent to the lake.

RESORT AND SURROUNDINGS

Soon we reached the resort. We were surprised to find rooms in its construction. Each room was covered with sheets instead of walls.

There were separate tents built for serving lunch and snacks. We settled at around 3.00 PM, all set and ready to explore the place. We started with games.

I walked around the resort to understand the village and village life. The sun was about to set. But we could see farmers busy with their job.

We reached the lake side - the place for  our night camping. It was beautiful and mesmerizing. The dramatic backdrop of hills offers an expansive view of the lake. A beautiful scenery, which we could see rarely elsewhere. As dusk settles, locals drive their cattles home.

CAMPING UNDER THE STARS

We set up our tents with the help of people from resort. We kept our luggage inside the tent. It was time for activities - Camp fire, Barbeque and cooking, songs, games, Night Walk and Star gazing under the naked sky while thousands of stars glimmered above us.  It lasted till early morning. It was time to lie down and the forest atmosphere made the climate more chilling.

At the first sight of dawn, everyone came out of the tent and moved to the lake side.

These early morning drives are best to see the colours of nature sprinkled across the sky by rising Sun.

It was time to say goodbye and pack our bags. And when we left, the camps left with us. There was no trace that we had lived there!

We returned back to the resort and they served breakfast. Finally we bid goodbye wishing to return back at any given opportunity.

It was rejuvenation camp for all of us , staying next to flowing river with games, live barbeque and cooking, night walk , sunrise view and healthy food.

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Rajgad Fort - King of all forts

Rajgad (meaning Royal Fort or King of all Forts) is situated in Pune district, Maharashtra, India. Legend says that it was the capital of the Maratha Empire ruled by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj for almost 26 years, after which he moved to Raigad fort and made that his capital.

We started off our journey from Mumbai on 28th November at around 11.00 pm towards Gunjavne (Base Village of Rajgad).  At around 5 am we reached the base village. We had breakfast  in the early morning and started our trek at around 6.30 am. 

There are 3 ways to trek to Rajgad. One is from Gunjavane village which leads to  Padmavati machee. This trek route is mainly known as Chor Darwaza (Secret Doorway).  Second route is also from Gunjavane village but it leads to Suvela Machee.  Third route is via Pali base village which leads to Pali Darwaza. Our route was through Chor Darwaza. 

The sun was rising slowly and steadily. The sky blazes above hills with a mix of orange and red colour and staining the horizon.  All of us were busy capturing this beautiful scenary.

After a few hours of trek , we entered the lush green part and now the fort was right there in front of us, full covered in green.  The fort can be divided into four different parts. There are  three sub-plateaus (Machee) namely Padmavati Machee, Suvela Machee and Sanjevani Machee, and at the center- Ballekilla (meaning "small fort").

Moving ahead , the trail starts getting steeper and steeper and then it is a vertical climb. There are railings on the steep slopes to help the trekkers reach the chor darwaza.

On reaching the summit, we get a  beautiful view of the surroundings covered with greenery.

After crossing the main entrance to the fort, we reached Padmavati machi. Near  the entrance of the fort, we get to see a beautifully constructed lake right in front- Padmavati Lake.

The walls of the lake are intact even today. An arch has been constructed from the continuation of the same wall to mark an entry to the lake.

After a few steps, we were near to Padmavati temple and had a wonderful breakfast of poha and tea in front of a small house near Padmavati Temple. Padmavati temple is in a fairly good state today due to renovation done recently.

The next check point was at the top of Balekilla – the top most point of the fort.  Balekilla is straight up in front of  Padmavati machi. The track splits into three parts, the straight one going up to Balekilla, the left one going towards Suvela machi and the right going to  Sanjeevani machi.

 

Due to time constraints, we skipped Suvela Machi. Facing east, Suvela Machi has lots of secret routes, doorways , nedha (Mountain hole). We continued our walk towards Balekilla.

The route to Balekilla was again very steep and for each of us having big bags at our backs, it seemed a bit tiring. The route to the top is somewhat slippery too but with the support of railings put along, the task was comparatively easier.

After climbing the difficult section, we reached the Maha Darwaja of Balekilla . It has a unique triangular structure and a single point access.

The fort in Rajgad stands as a silent reminder of Maharashtra's glorious past though the sound of trumpets or the clang of clashing swords and shields are heard no more at this historic monument.

This highest part of the fort  has remains of palaces, water lakes and water towers. One can view the whole fort and the vast surrounding expanse.

Below is the excellent look of Fort Torna from Balekilla of Rajgad. The snap also shows the route to Torna from Rajgad.

It offers an enchanting view of Padmavati, Sanjeevani and Suvela machi.

Below is the view of Padmavati machi from Balekilla.

There are a couple of temples, and a small crescent shaped lake called Chandratale on the Balekilla. The shape of this lake is similar to that of the moon decrescent. That is why this is called 'Chandratale' (The moon lake).

These are the ruins of the palace of Shivaji Maharaj on Balekilla.

Below is the view of Sanjeevani machi from the  top of Balekilla. The fort continues to charm and mesmerize  generations.

After entering Balekilla from the Mahadarvaja, you need to climb a few steps to go to Bramheshar Temple.

As we move from Padmavati machi keeping the Balekilla to our left, we approach Sanjivani machi.  This machi is enjoined with Budhala machi on Torna by a range of hills between the two huge forts.

Sanjivani machi is a huge, beautiful and royally constructed  machi, faces west and has 3 layered fortifications making it extremely difficult to conquer. Each layer has a depth of 20 feet and just 2 feet wide which looks like a scary narrow well. This type of construction was to aide guerilla warfare.

The Sanjeevani Machi of the fort has dual fortification. The dual fortification has made the fort more robust.

After exploring  the fort and  having  lunch, we started our descend by about 2 pm.

Soon we reached the base village. After having evening refreshment at the base village, we started  our return journey and reached Mumbai at around 10 pm .

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