we plan a mini outing,
an escape from this busy world,
in Lonavala we get curled.
Life is different after an year of marriage. Many folds have now opened up. Responsibilities have started building up. But a day away from all the responsibilities is the thing we cannot be denied. After the mauritius trip there was no exclusive time we got for more than a day. So we thought of a night stay holiday and that was at Lonavala.
Traveling from Mumbai to Lonavala:
Reaching Lonavala from Mumbai is no big deal. We had 4 choices: personal car, Volvo Bus, ST Bus and train. We opted for the Mumbai to Lonavala train as it would reach faster than any of the other options. Koyna Express – the train from Mumbai CST to Kolhapur was the one we choose and got our Dadar to Lonavala seats reserved 4 days prior to our journey date. Our journey started 8.55am. We wished to get short naps, but being our anniversary, calls were flooding in continuously. Friends & relatives who wanted to wish had to call multiple times as either our phones were out of reach or the calls got disconnected while we were in the moving train. We could not miss munching while traveling. The tastiest of them all was Wada pav. The authentic wada pav of those areas is worth gulping in.
Indus Valley Resort:
We reached Lonavala station at 11.15am. Our next task was reaching the Indus Valley Resort where we had booked a room for our overnight stay. Being a tourist place, the auto-rickshaws there would undoubtedly charge double of what it would actually cost and we were quite prepared for it. The Lonavala station to Indus valley resort trip which would approximately cost Rs.30 was charged Rs. 100 by the rickshaw wala. We somehow managed to decrease it by a few bucks.
The road towards the resort was not suitable for vehicles. It was a slope with many rocks and stones along the way. The rickshaw wala managed to climb it with some efforts. Many areas in Lonavala had such roads. So it was a regular task for them.
On reaching the resort, we found that it was not as described to us while booking the room. We could hardly find anyone around in the resort. But being a weekday, we couldn't even expect anyone. We got our room on contacting the office. On reaching the room we noticed that it was quite spacious but didn’t look well maintained and clean. We rested for some time and then ordered for food. They have veg restaurant. Being non-vegeterians, the number of choices of veg food was quite less for us (or may be it was actually less). The quality and quantity of food was also not that great.
We thought that going around and visiting places in Lonavala would be more enjoyable than staying in there. The resort had a swimming pool but didn't look well-maintained. So we preferred to avoid the pool. After lunch we got out of our room and called for a vehicle to roam around in Lonavala. The staff there was quite helpful. They guided us with the places to visits there and called up an auto-rickshaw for us. After some discussions, on considering the time we had to roam around, we planned to visit Bhushi dam, Tiger Point and Wax museum.
Bhushi dam:
Although Bhishi Dam is a great place during the monsoons, but we got a good view of the dam and the river besides it. The steps beside the dam was quite when we visited, although as most of us know that during the monsoon it's very crowded and a beautiful view for the tourists. Also there are shops alongside the dam who sell Golas, Bhuttas, etc. I had my all time favorite – Kala Khatta Gola. We sat besides the river for some time, clicked few pictures and got back for our next destination.
Tiger Point:
Tiger Point also known as Tiger's Leap is another popular place in Lonavala. It offers amazing view of mountains around it. During the night time, tigers wander around there, hence the place is safe for humans only during the day. Fencing is very poorly done in Tiger Point, so it is quite dangerous to go near the edge of the mountain. Also there were shops selling Pakoda, wadapav, bhajiya etc, of course at the cost not actually worth. There were monkeys playing around, which we enjoyed looking at.
Lonavala Chikkis and Fudge:
Visiting Lonavala and not getting Lonavala chikki would be BIG crime! After Tiger Point visit, on the way towards Wax museum was the market, where we went to a shop to buy chikkis. We got 4 boxes of chikkis and ya the mouth-watering fudge. The shop keeper let us taste few fudges. They were all just awesome. We couldnt decide on which fudge to take home. Finally we chose the mango flavored one.
Celebrity Wax Museum:
Wax museum is the one I have always heard about but never got the chance to visit.The Wax Museum Lonavala ticket price was Rs. 100 per head at the time of our visit. The wax statues inside were just flawless. That was great work done by the creator. The wax statues stayed there with the help of AC cooling. Visitors were not allowed to touch the statues. In the museum resided were statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Chatrapati Shivaji, Kapil Dev, Adolf Hitler, Anna Hazare, A R Rehman, Hariharan, Micheal Jackson, Angelina Jolie, Mother Teresa, Saddam Hussain, Ravishankar, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and many more celebrities. Out of them all, Anna Hazare, Kapil Dev, Vajpayee looked the most real and amazing. When standing in front of the statue, one would feel like the statue will instantly make a move. After clicking a few pictures we moved out of the museum and headed towards our lovely resort :P
For dinner we preferred to have food from some restaurant. So after few minutes of rest we headed towards the Lonavala market where there were many restaurants. We got into one of them and had some chinese cuisines.
Back from Lonavala to Mumbai:
Next day was our return to Mumbai. We didnt book any train tickets this time. Instead we opted for Neeta Volvo bus. We were told that the buses are available every 15 minutes from Neeta Hotel which was a few kms away from Indus Valley resort. But when we reached the Neeta Hotel, we were told that being a weekday, they decrease the number of buses. So the next bus would leave only after 45 minutes. We waited there for a few minutes till the bus arrived. Later the luxurious bus arrived which we got into for Lonavala to Mumbai return journey.
