Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Mystifying Panchgani

Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar are 2 places I have always been planning to visit in the last 4 to 5 years but somehow things haven't clicked. Add Goa to that list. I know its a crime nowadays not to visit Goa. Anyways this time round, I was not gonna miss Panchgani atleast. So lets get the onus on Panchi as it is fondly called.

The day was July 3, 2006. It was Amruta, my fiance's birthday. I feel I should have blogged about this much earlier but the charm and fragrance of Panchi has lingered on for close to 10 days now ..... I was having a bath at around 7 am when Amruta called me and told me that she will be coming to my place and that we would then go to some nice place. I didn't have much time to react but I knew that it was not going to be Lonavla again. Amruta came home at around 8 am. We had a light breakfast and I asked her whether she would like to go to Panchgani. She obliged. So on your marks ... get set .... go ... to Panchgani.

The one thing I was worried about was Katraj Ghat. It had screwed me on several occasions before and I had to detour and head via Saswad. But I guess this occasion was a wee bit too much for it to try its luck although the road was as pathetic as you can imagine. Amruta was enjoying her special day ... busy with the handycam with her patent commentary in the background. Once Katraj Ghat was annexed, what followed was a dream drive to the most heavenly destination I have been to. After ofcourse, Tirumala.

Hills, lakes, bridges, ghats, landscapes, fog, mist, waterfalls, tunnels, a smooth road and heavy rain. You name it and we had it. The higlight of the drive was Khambatgi Ghat. The fog was so thick that I even tried switching on the headlights of my car. But the only solution was to drive very very slowly as it contained S turns and U turns. Good that it is one-way. I guess they are modelling Katraj Ghat on the lines of Kambhatgi Ghat.














There was a right turn from the main highway around 30 kms before Satara. We gladly took that turn and headed towards Wai village. Already the scenic beauty of the place was getting better. Wai itself is a beautiful place with the Table Land of Panchi overlooking it and we just couldn't wait to reach Panchi. We had some Vada Pavs at Wai and headed towards Panchi. Amruta, being a big fan of waterfalls asked me to stop at once such waterfall and we enjoyed ourselves over there.







We reached Panchi at 12 30 pm and we were amazed to see the number of schools passing by. Panchi is renowned for its residential schools. As with many places in Pune, finding a place to park my car was a task.



We went right uptil the starting point of Table Land and parked the car there. We were greeted by 2 horsemen promising to show us around some 8 points for Rs. 500. Being regular visitors to Fashion Street, we bargained and got it down to Rs. 200. Believe me, a horse ride amidst the fog can be one hell of an experience with gusts of wind threatening to blow you away any moment.

The horsemen (acting as guides) showed us all the 5 table lands. It was breathtaking to watch all 5. Some very close, others quite a distance away. We started off with Paanch Paandav Point. There are 5 stones shaped in the form of a human foot placed on of of the Tables. (Tables can be visualised as a flat plain land with a radius of say 150 meters). The biggest foot is of Bhima. All this is only if u wanna believe it. Thats wat the guides prescribe.






Next came One Tree Point. There is a place on the Table where there is only one tree. Apparently this is the tree under which Aaamir Khan puckered up to Karisma Kapoor in Raja Hindustani or atleast thats what the guides told us.




After that we went to Shooting Point. This is the point at which most of the Bollywood songs and scenes are shot. Lots of wind here reminding me of Wind Point at Sinhagad. From shooting point we can also see Sydney Point names after some Mr Sydney for starting a strawberry plantation there. We also saw Gliding point where there are people who teach you how to glide but it is closed during the monsoons. Big B had a scene here during the making of the movie Yaarana.









The guides urged us to have a horse ride alone and we didnt want to let this oppurtunity slip by coz the guides assured us that the horses are trained and that they wont run wild. It was too tempting an offer to refuse. And Amruta and I kindly obliged. There is no better thrill to gallop away.









After that, we went to Monkey Point which is situated in a kind of a jungle like location. There is a cave over there with plenty of squirrels running around but sadly no monkeys. :(. But the jungle is quite a sight still.









Finally, we noticed what time it is and realised we need to head back home before night sets in. We had some junk food including Bhutta, chips and tea and headed back home. Reached home at around 7 pm. What a wonderful day. Panchi rocks !!

1 comment:

Murtaza Ghiya said...

Great description. I felt as if I have just been there too. Truly Pachgani rocks :)