Lost and Fun ... @ Lonavla

On our way out of Mumbai

The day Mumbai witnessed the first showers, most of friends had already planned an outing to Lonavla over the weekend. The closest hill station to Mumbai and a favorite of Mumbaikars because of ease of transportation. My first trip to lonavla was completely unplanned venture. It was in the month of July of the year 2010.  I had planned this along with a colleague, a lady chef. So it was me and Amey along with her and her husband. We hired a car and the very evening she dropped the plan. But the probability of giving up the plan was really low for me. I had made some advance payment and secondly I really wanted to go because since the time I had left Goa I hadn’t ever gone out for an outing. And that was one year back then. So, as per plan we started next day at 7:30 am. It was a sunny morning in Mumbai. So we were just telling ourselves to keep finger crossed else the whole trip would be a waste.

 

As we escaped from the polluted clutches of the city, I could see an open road,

Road heading to sky saturated with dark clouds      

Clouds kissing the tomb of the mountains,

 Mountains whose slopes were draped in several shades of green,

Green slopes through which small streams and huge waterfalls were flowing 

The tunnel before lonavla

The whole route is so enchanting and absorbing. I was few kilometers away from Mumbai but the weather transited as though I was almost on another horizon. Let me describe the way I felt. I peeped out of the window to take a picture, the wind was gusty, pushed my face back immediately. I narrowed my vision to look through; pushing myself again out, my hair opened up and played over my shoulders and face… Mountains gazing at the sky…Sky in get – set- go pose, ready to pour any time. Trees were running past me, my face filled with the fresh air…. Most fragrant perfume of wet earth ruled my senses.Stereo singing “Behne de” from Raavan, a perfect match to the environment I was in. A. R. Rahman’s voice sounded like that of god and it started raining really hard. The whole scenario was exclusive and totally priceless. We got stuck at the entrance before the tunnel for half an hour but soon we were out from that and on our way to Bushi Dam. Well, a major attraction for tourist. Our driver Murli was a skilled guy. The road was fog logged. Even if someone was standing a few steps away from you, it was hardly visible. But the most amazing part was the fog curtain lifted and fell alternatively within span of few minutes. 

The wrong turn that attracted us....

While posing

 We got out of the car, stretched ourselves. We went ahead to explore the dam. Well we miss the first right that we were supposed to take and proceeded in the other direction. We walked for a few minutes realizing that we were heading to the wrong place. We saw a beautiful open space. It was very hard to guess what was beyond the fog. It looked as if it was a cliff. The land ended and there was little water with small pebbles around it. So we didn’t step over the edge. However Amey was guessing that we had entered a space which was within the dam. The pictures below will elaborate. We took a break sat down and then started clicking pictures. Amey asked me to stand close to the last piece of land that was seen. I stood confidently posing. His expression changed and then he asked me to turn around. Looking at his gaze I wasn’t even confident whether I wanted to see what was behind me. When I turned it looked as if something almost hundred times huge was encroaching. I gave out the scariest cry and ran towards him. Godzilla, Dinosaur, Anaconda what is this??? Questions were ringing in my head. He fell to the ground and started laughing uncontrollably. I was surprised and as I looked behind I froze…stood still... Not even a hair on my body moved. There wasn’t anything approaching, the curtain of fog was clearing out and the beautiful island hidden behind it was getting visible. It was the most mesmerizing sight of my life. The sight of magical transformation of mist into this island. A huge mammoth island emerging out slowly from the mist. Dense greenery categorized by tree, bushes, grass and dark woods right in between water with small houses. It was a perfect 3D scenic of magical transformation of mist into this island. This was the best experience I had of getting lost. We were really happy we missed our way and landed into this beautiful location

The surprise unfolds-1

Stage -2

I was dumbstruck.....awesome!!!!

Tiger point... The waterfall spout visible behind me

Hearing my loud cry a cleaner from the guest house on top rushed out. By then I was frozen and Amey was laughing. As he looked upon us, he was startled thinking who yelled. He asked us to come up. We asked him the direction for the dam. He showed us the same. Well yes at the end, Amey was right as we were at a part which was bank a river bank located in the dam. We gathered our stuff and moved on towards the dam. Well the area on the other side of the dam is very exciting. We walked a bit then found the location of the waterfall. But I had to climb some rocks to get to the running stream. I just felt satisfied at the place I was. I could wet my feet comfortably. That’s good for me Amey went up, got wet and I sat down listening to some trance numbers. Once he was through with his adventures we headed back where Murli had left us. It was very cold and I didn’t feel that it was 11 am. Before we could sit in the car, Murli recommended us the makka bhaji which is very famous in Lonavla. Makka bhaji is corn pakoda or corn fritters for less known. We had three plates with some freshly brewed hot masala chai. Then we moved out to the Tiger point. Alright this is a place where a big waterfall opens up it spout. I stood at the cliff and my feet went shaky looking at the depth of the valley. This is indeed the windiest spot and the place from where you can see a deep green, slippery and watery valley. Well, the rain did hit us really hard here. It poured 45 minutes continuous and I enjoyed myself such that there won’t be any rains after this. There was something different which kept on making me feel free and liberalized at every minute

Amey - He always likes to live his life on the edge (Tiger point)

By 1:30 we were heading to the Amby Valley. Hold your horses; we were just heading there to see the beautiful premises and landscapes created. On reaching there we were told that the entry inside is only if you have a house inside or are invited to one. We had none, so we started descending towards the railway station. My brother was meeting up with me out there. We joined him to a bungalow where he stayed while studying at the Sinhagad College. As he packed up his little stuff that was left behind I closed my eyes and absorbed a day which was a treasure to some great fun. The sun was orange and its light dazzled in my droopy eyes and with a start I got up “Sunset point”. This point is the must see one especially on the last evening of your outing. It seals the whole experience. The sky turns from orange to crimson with hints of magenta as the sun sinks down the valley from between the lofty mountains. The birds are flying back to their house. There is a rail route on which a coal engine train is running giving out the dark dense smoke. Everything just complements so well. Such is the palette of nature. The colors they blend so well, the object and the subject belong to each other. Thanks mother nature for painting such a beautiful picture. We reached back at 9:30 pm and I was exhausted with the amount of fun that we had. I also brought different types of chikkis while returning from Maganlal. They were awesome.

At the tiger point - after the long pour

For the next few months the trip was a integral part of discussions amongst various friend circles. The memoirs are still afresh. Wow it was a great trip. Travelling is an exercise which makes you realize so many hidden facts of life. Facts which are also a treasure. I learnt one thing, whenever you can’t foresee or judge situations...Just wait and watch till the whole picture clears out. It is not necessary that it may be worst it can be the best also.

Cheers!!!

Asmita Kabre