My first travel spot review and about a stunning place. Here is your absolutely stunning hill station within reach from Mumbai and still relatively virgin as a tourist spot. If you love nature, if you love green you just have to make it to the place and I can assure you, you will not regret it.
I shall try to break this in three parts - the travel to and fro, the place and the accommodation.
Travel to and Fro
Its about 180 odd kms from Mumbai. the best access is through the Eastern Express Highway. You will get on to the Ghats, go through Igatpuri and then take the first right after the kitply factory on your right. The kitply factory is about 4-5 km after Manas resorts. Take the right, drive through a rather dirty Ghoti Village, take the first right again, and keep following the road till after the railway crossing. Then you will pass by a village called Dewla. Keep going, till you find another t-junction (and this has an MTDC board), and take a right there. Then just keep following the road till you reach the Shendi Village and again take a right to reach the MTDC resort (if that is where you plan to stay). So this is what we did on an early Sunday morning. Try to leave Bombay by 7 or so, so that you get a free run on the roads. We reached Igatpuri around 10 or so, and had a breakfast in Manas resort. If you go during a weekday, I am hoping that the service will be better there. This unfortunately is about the only decent eating place in the entire route. of course there are a few roadside dhabas, but thats like challenging your stomach really in this rainy season. There are two other hotels in Igatpuri, you could try those if you like - Golden resort and hotel Ashwin. the road till Igatpuri is fairly decent, the ghat roads are very good in most places, well painted and maintained except in one or two long stretches, where the road has gotten itself potholes. The route during the rains also becomes very pretty, you start seeing plenty of green as soon as you leave Bombay. its beautiful all around really.
just after you pass by the Ghoti village, you enter a different world all together, of friendly villagers, stunning sceninc beauty and tranquility. The tranquility takes a backseat if you happen to be visiting during Friday or the weekend. suggestion is to do a mid week trip or at least a Sunday monday.
you will pass above rivulets, through absolutely lush green paddy fields, pass by tall (at least by Sahyadri stds) mountains on your sides and traverse by deep valleys too. but, what you need to keep in mind is that this place is best visited during monsoons or just after. Even if you are visiting this place during monsoons, it should have rained well for at least 20 days before you get here. then the streams will be full and the greens would be lush.
the way to Bhandardara is as pretty as the place itself. I went there on a photo trip and came back beaming. If landscape photography interests you, this is it.
Accommodation
There are three hotels in B’dara. Without a shade of doubt, the best location is that of the MTDC place. Right by the lake which is one of the star attractions of this place. Also it is the most optimal to stay in the regular Rs 800 (for two) rooms because the cottages are a bit away from the hotel (lends privacy, but is inconvenient). The view from the cottages is no better than that from the room. The place is really windy from evening to morning. If you dont like lower temperatures, take a wind breaker with you. We needed to use blankets in the night. The wind does really howl through the night and howls hard.
Do not, I repeat DO NOT eat at the restaurant at the hotel. they serve really crappy food, the plates are unclean et al. You cant cook in the rooms, so take some bread, canned ready to eat food, cheese and stuff with you. Oh yes, take bottled water with you as well. the tap water is horrible, brown and smells of diesel as well. I even brushed my teeth with Aquafina. Between three of us, we had taken a case of botled water for an overnight trip.
The water in the tap might run out anytime, so be a bit careful if you are in the middle of taking a shower. the bathrooms are fairly clean and have geysers which you will be able to operate if there is power.
Walkabout - if you have your own vehicle, try to get a local to show you around. One of the workers in the hotel would be happy to accompany you around for a hundred bucks for a day. They will take you to table top (which is across the lake) and is a plateau with great views. Also to konkan kada which is on top of a mountain, with a three sided gorge and has stunning views again. Its a bit far away, but really worth the drive. the most famous of all places is the Randha falls of the Pravara river. There are some great photo opps in every nook and cranie of this area. So if you are a photo enthusiast take plenty of film, ensure that your film is of the type that represents the green truly (fuji velvia, reala do a good job). If you are there during July August, you will get to see lots of farmers doing the rice transplant and that makes for great photos too.
The Kalsubai peak is the highest in the Sahyandri Range and is quite a trek. Better done after rains through, it becomes a bit dangerous during the rainy season. There will be mist and fog once in a while, there will be really low hanging clounds most of the time. But once in a while the sun will shine through and make everything dazzle. MS doesnt let us, but if it did, I would have shown you some of the photographs of this place.
Thought I mention June-Aug as the best time to get here, because of the choices below...the best time is actually July-Sept. The rivers are in spate late August, the greenery is the starkest during that time as well and it would not be raining too much either.