It's been a long time after which I am back to blogging. Long because there was pretty much nothing to write about all these days. Things weren't exactly moving about, and my life was waiting for something to happen. So it was another creaky, creepy weekend. We usually look forward to the weekends but hardly ever come out of one feeling fresh. And that's because we decide to put it to use to do all the chores we don't do during the week. So this time we decided to hit the road and get myself a break - not only from work but also from Pune. I, my wifey and another two friends (a cute couple) thought Mahabaleshwar, definitely one of the most popular hangouts in Maharashtra, would be obliged by our presence! Not much planning though, and we ended up having no place to stay..well almost because we really had nothing to live in till we'd searched almost 4-5 places.
Anyways. I've gotta say it's one of the most beautiful places I've seen in a long long time. The flora, the fauna and the weather were just plain delightful. We managed to get a couple of rooms at a nice little cottage for fifteen hundred bucks a room, and though we were pretty well looked after, I must say we need a better place the next time round. After checking in, we decided to check out some of the must-see spots near Old Mahabaleshwar and so we were back on the road. I can assure you it was a beautiful drive what with dense jungles covering both sides of the road, and the clouds practically in our faces - so much so that we couldn’t see anything beyond 4-5 meters ! So we reached what’s called Marjorie point after what seemed to be like a really long drive. To our disappointment we could hardly see anything there, thanks to the cloud cover. Another few points with the same thing happening and we were wondering whether Monsoon was after all the right time to visit this part of the world. I mean why visit a hill station if you can’t see anything ? But on our way back, we witnessed the most beautiful site you would see as one by one the winds took the clouds away revealing, in full filmy fashion a most fantastic site of the Ribbed Sahyadri Ranges.
There’s another experience I’ll never forget. It was dark and on our way back to the Hotel, I thought I saw a Bison ! And since it was indeed one, everyone was terrified when I halted my car some meters ahead and stepped out to check out the beast. I must admit that was about the most outrageous thing I’ve done in my life because it was dark, it was cloudy and I had no idea the 1.3 ton monster was just 2-3 meters away. Once I knew how close it was, I rushed inside the safety of my car but I wasn’t done. Over and above the shrieks of my wife and her pal, I backed my car far enough to be in the Bison’s face – and then rolled down my left window to reveal a magnificent site..the Great Indian Bison – in the wild – staring us down. I think that stare made the trip memorable. I am not sure it would’ve been worth remembering had it not been for the huge beast sighting.
The next day was equally well spent. We woke up to the chirping of birds and sound of raindrops hitting our rooftops hard. After a simple breakfast we headed out to visit the newer part of M’War. Here’s where we came across an astounding view of the Krishna River Valley at Kate’s point and at Needle point. This is a must-see according to me – and don’t forget to try the ‘Strawberries with Cream’ at Kate’s point – it’s expensive but worth every penny ! By noon, we decided we’d enjoyed to our heart’s content and were ready to head back to the city that gives us our daily bread – Pune.
And so it was over. One of the most memorable weekends I’ve spent. I owe this to mother nature, the friends who were with us and made it so special and definitely to the beast called the Indian Bison who was tolerant enough to let me live to write this :):):)
