Mahabaleshwar in the Winters – A Different Experience - Part 2

Previous - Day 1

Day 2

On Day 2, we decided to have a leisurely trip around a few of the sightseeing points. Since most of the points present similar views from a different angle, we finalised on the ones we could not cover during our last monsoon trip to the ‘Queen of Sahyadri’. We hired a car since I did not know all the routes.

We started with old Mahabaleshwar. The older part of the town is not accessible during the monsoons because of poor visibility. This part of the city does not have much to offer apart from a few temples – Atibaleshwar Temples, Mahabaleshwar Temple and Panchganga temple – all of the places have restrictions on photography inside the premises.

Outside of Atibaleshwar Temple



Outside Panganga Temple, another small temple



The next on the list was a series of viewpoints located closely –

• Arthur’s Seat – the best of the views of them all
• Hunter Point – Not sure why the name
• Echo Point – we didn’t check whether it echoes there
• Malcolm Point
• Tiger Spring
• Window Point

All the points looked very similar overlooking the same valley and the gorge, but it must look fabulous in the monsoon, only if the visibility allows.

A view from Arthur's Seat

List of points



On our way back as well, there were three different points –

• Monkey Point
• Savitri Point
• Marjorie Point

Again almost same views at every point but from a slightly different angle.

We then moved to Elphinstone Points - lower and upper. Locationwise and in terms of view offered, in my opinion it was the best among the lot.

Our day trip ended within 3 hours and now it was lunchtime, we then came to the main city where we had a sumptuous meal. Then again we roamed around the marketplace, undoubtedly the most happening place in the city – the variety of shops did justify the crowd. One can get literally everything in the market. Tourists flocked in some of the more renowned shops, but in general all the shops were occupied. The most crowd puller was the strawberries beyond any doubts. The market yard gave me ample opportunity to do some amateur street photography.

We came back to our nest at MTDC to have a quick nap, which we really enjoyed. In the afternoon I continued my photographic ventures around the MTDC resort and then we headed off to the Polo Ground

The Polo Ground looked like a dilapidated barren land where just a few horses were standing, we were utterly disappointed and proceeded to Venna Lake.

The lake was thronged to the fullest. There were innumerable number of boats floating on the lake and people were waiting in queue to be on the next one.

We anyway were not part of the adventure boating trip so we went for another attraction of Mahabaleshwar – the ‘Strawberries with Cream’ which was just Yummy!

 

The dusk started to set in, the Venna Lake looked gorgeous in the evening. People did not loose their enthusiasm a bit, for a lot of boats still floating on the lake.

But our day was over since we only wanted to spent it relaxingly and that we did. We returned back to MTDC once again where a lovely meal and cosy slumber were waiting.

Next - Day 3, Day 4 and Return