Holiday Destination near Mumbai - MALSHEJ GHAT
Somewhere down the state highway to Malshej Ghat, Mumbai and everything it stands for vanishes and the show begins to unfold. You don’t need a signboard pointing out the route to heaven, you will know when you have reached Malshej Ghat. You enter a short regular-looking tunnel, little expecting the light at the end of it to fall on waterfalls cascading down as if the set designer of the ghats was suddenly overcome with recklessness and decided to see how much beauty one place could handle. The drive up is beautiful enough, but when you get your first view of the backwaters of Pimpalgaon Joga Dam, the picture has the kind of ethereal quality that makes your breath catch in your throat.
Malshej Ghat is a wildly beautiful haven of towering peaks and bottomless valleys, home to a hundred different kind of flora and fauna, and mountain air so fragrant and pure, you wish you could pack some to take back home. Miles upon miles of rolling meadows and paddies neatly stitched into a huge quilt of varying greens, the peaks hiding behind rolling mists and blue-grey monsoon clouds…all vie for your attention. You almost don’t know where to rest your wondering gaze.
Malshej in the monsoons is sheer poetry. Something happens to these hills when the rains come. The ghats come into their own when the rains begin to lash against them. And the beauty of the drive to Malshej at this time takes a stout heart to bear. Wet bark along the road and soaked valleys that make a long curve towards unmoving distant hills and the unavoidable clichés of mountain scenery, all maintain their own peace in a breeze that is mostly feeble and an August rain that’s sometimes gentle, and sometimes harsh.
Thins To See And Do
Having survived the beauty of the drive, the magic of Malshej will have already triggered off a million expectations in you. Relax, for you’ll continue to bask in this blessed state. You will see that Malshej does make its visitors a little giddy-headed.
The Water rises…
Perched on the very edge of a plateau, the MTDC hotel, managed by a private party, is gifted with best location. But just 160-odd ft from its restaurant, in the hotel’s very backyard, is land’s end. The plateau ends its life suddenly and the next piece of land emerges hundreds of feet below. A gentle rain blows in a tired breeze as we walk to the edg. As we look down into the valley, the drizzle changes its route radically. It begins to rain upwards, from down under. It’s as though the valley is pushing the silly rain out, to spring clean our probing faces. It’s one of those moments that you carry with you for a long time. As we trekked up the hills we saw again a giant waterfall that rises up majestically into the air instead of falling down into the Valley-a waterrise! Such is the force of the wind in some parts of the mountain heights that water falling over the peaks is forced back over the peaks in what seems like brilliant bursts of crystals, which shower down on you with icy splendour. Malshej is for long walks down twisting mountain trails, for plucking wild flowers for your beloved, for shouting silly love songs down into valleys and waiting for affirmation. Malshej is also home to a variety of nature’s amazing creations-the giant Indian squirrel and the giant Asian moth are among the more famous ones.
State Maharashtra
Distance 150 km NE of Mumbai Journey Time
By road 3 ½ hrs By rail 1 hr + road 1 ½ hrs
Location In the Junnar region of Pune District, at 3,500 ft above sea level
Route NH3 from Mumbai to Bhiwandi; state highway to Malshej Ghat via Kalyan, Saralgaon and Vaishakhare
Where to Stay
Flamingo Hill Resort (Hill-Facing)
Post Khubi
Tel: 02132-64767
Email: fhrshej@vsnl.net.in
Web: fhrmalshej.com
Sushant Holiday Resort (Hill-Facing)
Post Karanjale
Tel: 02132-57108
source : Outlook traveler
More Links
Recession? 5 Budget Getaways near Mumbai.
Click here for Travel Agents and Travel Packages
List of trains coming to Bandra Terminus: Click here
How to books Indian Railways Train Tickets Online? Click here
