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:
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).
