Sunday 22 December 2013

Veranda Ghat - Where Waterfalls Galore

If a person is in love with the waterfalls, this is the place to be in the monsoons. Veranda Ghat - only around 120 Kms Pune towards Mahad via Bhor - is a place which is yet unspoiled by the crowd but still offers arguably the best of the sceneries of Sahyadri range in Monsoon. There is absolutely no dearth of waterfalls and greenery. On top of that, an out of the world view point consisting of rugged mountains covered with lush green, penetrated by the milky white waterfalls is always a bonus.

The following map provides the direction towards the same:


Starting from Pune, one has to take the Pune - Mumbai old highway near Katraj and drive towards Bangalore. Once you cross Kapurhol, you need to take the right exit and drive towards Mahad. If you are unsure, ask for direction towards Shivtharghal - a local temple of Swami Samarth Ramdas - from the local people. We also reached following this method only.

When we reached the hills, we took a break at almost every interval possible - such was the beauty of the heavenly place. Waterfalls - ranging from the tiniest ones to the big ones - were everywhere with magnificent vistas. Here are some of the snaps.






 












It was raining continuously but we had indomitable spirits, so nothing could stop us - we drove forward. We came to the main viewpoint - a cliff like area from where one can see all the gorges and the hills at every direction as far as eyes could see. the whole are was covered under the lush green, naturally with the monsoon effect. And through the green carpets zigzagging were the silver jets of water-streams. 





When we first disembarked the car at the main view point, we were spellbound and speechless at once by the spectacular vistas that surrounded us, as well as we were ecstatic that we made the wise decision to come this far. 






For sometime, nobody from the group spoke in awe of the nature. We were busy in sinking in the pure atmosphere and unpolluted greenery which was plenty and free of cost. This is so rare in our urban lives nowadays. 




The above are a few snaps of the place - I am sure they will not do full justice to the real marvel of the place, but I just hope that they would be able to give some idea to the more imaginative souls and make some more nature-cravers to be there.

The area was not that much commercialized, which is great in one sense - not everything should be polluted and corrupted by us. On the other hand, finding 'ok-ish' food will be a little difficult unless you are okay with the local foods - Vada Pav, Kandi Bhaji etc - as lunch. For us, this much adjustment was perfect on a trip. Moreover, the lack of a jazzy and luxurious meal were more than compensated by the mother nature with her offerings to this panoramic surroundings.







We spent almost the whole day in Veranda Ghat, but the trip finally ended as all good things unfortunately but surely come to an end. But without doubt, it filled our hearts with unparalleled joy and left us longing for more. Hence with a promise to go back to the lap of the nature, to embrace its pristine and unspoilt beauty, we concluded the trip (for this time).

Thursday 19 December 2013

Saadiyat Island - A Seashore with Western Flavor

I had been reading over internet about the nearby places to visit in and around Abu Dhabi. Suddenly I came across a beautiful sea beach with magnificent turquoise colored water. I wondered what it was and where it was. To my surprise, it was of a newly opened public beach in Abu Dhabi itself - at Saadiyat Island.

We decided that we had to visit this beautiful place once. So on one fine Friday afternoon, we took a taxi and reached to the front gate of the seashore. Yes, you read it right, the beach is accessible only through a gate and with a basic entry fee of 25 Dhs. In taxi it took us around 15 mins and 22 Dhs from Tourist Club Area, so it is not that far. See the map below for the driving directions. In a nutshell, take the highway for Yas Island through Mina, pass by ISC and follow the instructions for Saadiyat beach as the instructions are more than clear to reach to the front gate.



Once we reached there, as I mentioned there is an entry fee:
  • 25 Dhs per person for basic entry fee
  • 50 Dhs per person including lounger and towel
Once we entered to the beach, we were literally surprised as we did not expect what we saw. It seemed that we were in either Europe or USA, just for the sheer number of bikiniclad ladies around. There is absolutely no restriction on wearing any swimsuit or bikini. It was a fantastic place and heavily crowded. People were swimming, water-surfing, kayaking, photographing, playing music, barbecuing or just simply enjoying the sun - the place was indeed full of various activities.

We walked towards a less crowded side where we were compensated by the magnificent views.The water was so beautifully colored, that it looked like we were out of the world. The blueness of the water was simply fascinating to watch. The air was pure, the waves were gentle and the beach was clean - it is indeed a perfect beach to spend the time with family. At one side there was a lot of mangroves which added greenery to contrast of the the blue water and yellow sand.

We explored the beach away from the madding crowd. I read that there was turtle breeding farm or something but we couldn't find the same

We roamed across the mangroves, we passed by the seashore, we dipped our feet into the water, we collected sea-shells which were plenty and we enjoyed each others' company. We sat there till it was dark.There was a cafe just besides the front gate where we enjoyed a large cup of coffee before actually leaving the premises.

Now it was time to come back. The drawback of the beach is that there was not taxi stand. If you don't have your own vehicle better rent one or book a taxi in advance. Immediately besides the front gate there is a bus stop (Bus no 404) but the watchman informed that after dark the buses get very irregular. We were not sure whether the bus would really come or not, but we waited around 15 minutes and a bus arrived to our relief. It dropped us near the Al Diar Capital hotel from where we strolled towards our nest after joyfilled afternoon.

I also shot many pictures, some of which I have shared below.

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The Blue Sea
 
The Beach Activities
Sandstones and Footsteps
The quite stretch of the beach - there was a resort at the backdrop
Beach Activities
Industrial Area at one side
Floating..
Saadiyat Rotana Resort - Bang on the beach
Seashells and the Sea
Seashells and the Sea - with some blurring effect
Poshest Villas overlooking the sea
Proof that some Karting also took place
Experiment 1 - Subject Blurred, Background in Focus
Experiment 2 - Subject in focus (with lighting effect), background blurred
Really wanna shift to one of 'em Villas
Mangroves
Footprints
Sand Texture
Sand Texture - in monochrome
Walk by my side
Romantic Walk
A Romantic Walk - in monochrome
Diagonal

Crowded

Moments
Kayaking under the Sun
Sand Houses
Photographer and his subject

Watchful
Father and Son





Time to wrap up