It was Sept/2003 we decided to go out for a weekend to be by ourselves. And our loyal Zen (Need to review Zen sometime) flew us thru the Expressway -what an experience it is ...
Karla is just a few kms from Lonavala - we had our bookings at MTDC Karla Resort. This resort is spread over quite a large area and apart from the usual restaurant, garden etc has close to 50 cottages, a small water park, lots of greenery & trees and the Indrayani river flows touching the boundaries of the resort.
The cottage we had was quite inside the compound and very peaceful. The cottage was very neat and had 2 rooms, a Bedroom and a small drawing room which had a sofa, TV and a divan in it apart from a small table and couple of chairs. All the cottages have a small porch/balcony in front - where u can sit and relax over a cup of tea, sipping in the fresh natural breeze which caresses every now and then. All this for appx 900 bucks - need you ask more !!!
The food at this resort is decent or let me put it this way - u better like it or stay hungry as the resort is quite secluded. Suggest you also carry some fruits and snacks before you check in.
Woke upto birds chirping after the most pleasant sleep.... We decided to go to where else but Karla caves which are close by. More details of caves available at https://indiatravelite.com/feature/goamonsoonmagice.htm
The climb/drive is steep for going to the caves and the caves itself are a surprise considering the location. I feel all historical sites in India can be definitely better managed. The main cave stinks but is worth a look, though the entrance to the grand cave has been spoilt by a new temple. The arched wooden roof at the entrance has survived despite it being close to 2000 years old !!!
Also the huge pillar is amazing - You can still see/touch the pali writing on the several pillars. One can feel the carved pillars & actually imagine the monks who must have created them some 2000 years back - their residences are close by a few meters away, their rooms, windows .... the view from this place is excellent. There are some small pools in inner caves..which kind of give a mysterious look to these caves.
Back to present times we decided to drive to Valvan Dam, the road passes thru several small villages winding up and down. The dam is huge with a large water body but no crowds and very peaceful - it is offlimits to tourists. We decided to take the back road to Lonavala which passes thru dense woods.
This journey was one of the most beautiful ones I have had in my life - lots of dense trees, huge rocks and hardly any car passed by during our 45 minutes drive. We stopped our car at several places to feel the small waterfalls and sometimes to feel the silence ...this silence cannot be explained and felt in our cities. Some of these areas were very dark n cool and had small pools of cold water - all in all I would most certainly drive by this forgotten road again.
The next day morning we explored the resort, saw a few snakes and checked out the thin flowing river - they have boating here post- monsoons. Post-lunch we were ready to go home ...via the express flyway.
I highly recommend this short weekend break, if you have your personal vehicle - the whole trip is very economical.
Next travel review on Sydney, Australia sometime next week.