Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka!!

Driving across 3 states – Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa

After the trip to Lonar Lake and Aurangabad, this was our first trip post summer season.

Below are the trip Itinerary:

Day 1: Start from Mumbai – Karnataka (Gokak Waterfalls) – Goa (Arambol Beach via Gadhinglanj)

Days 2: Arambol Beach – Amboli Falls – Kolhapur (Rankala Lake) - Mumbai

We started from Mumbai at 10 Pm in the night. This has become our usual timing to leave for any road trip. It was a windy and a rainy night travelling from Mumbai to Karnataka. This was our first trip towards the southern part of the country and we were all geared up and excited to explore the new horizons of this beautiful world.

We were driving through the Mumbai-Bangalore Highway and it was an exquisite experience to drive on this road. Around 2 AM we left off from pune toward our destination.

At the dawn, we had crossed satara and the view was ecstatic due to the smooth and curvy highway roads. It was greenery on both of sides of the road which made the sight more pleasant, thanks to rainy season.

Day 1:

We had our first halt at a petrol pump near Kolhapur to complete our morning chores and set off for Karnataka.

We entered Karnataka through Nipani which is around 35 kms from Kolhapur. It is always a different feeling to enter a new state. You get to see and observe various change in the tradition like difference in the looks of the people, their attire, the language, architectural structures, etc.

Driving through Nipani we reached to the first spot of our trip - Gokak Waterfalls. It was not raining much in that period and hence there was not much water falling down the cliff, still it was a scenic place to visit. The view from the cliff is very enchanting. There is a bridge over the waterfall which connects to the temple on the other side.

Unaware of the surprises, we left off from Gokak and started driving for Badami Caves. We had a heartbreak after driving for 50 kms from Gokak when we saw that the road is blocked and got to know that there is a bandh in Karnataka due to some water issues. After a lot of brain storming we decided to change our destination and started heading towards Amboli Falls through Gadhinglanj.

The climate and the greenery was so ecstatic that it made us forget the sadness of not getting to visit the Badami Caves.

After driving for around 3 hrs we reached Amboli Falls at around 7 PM and it was dark by then. The climate was very good, however we could not enjoy the scenic beauty of the watrerfull due to darkness. We started our descent towards sawant wadi in the dark.

There was a very less visibility due to darkness and the mist and it was very difficult to drive in the ghats, however it was a lifetime experience to drive in such a challenging situation. The roads were very narrow and the valley on the other side of the road made it more adventurous to drive. A mixed feeling of fear and adventure had a lasting impression on us.

Goa is around 70 kms from Amboli falls and we started heading towards Arambol Beach in Goa. After having an adventurous descent from Amboli Ghat we reached Arambol at around 10 in the night. July being the off season for Goa, the roads were deserted with hardly any shops and shacks were open. Luckily we found a hotel to spend the night.

Day 2:

We all went for a short a walk at the beach in the morning and after getting fresh in the morning we started heading back to Amboli falls in the morning via sawantwadi. We reached Amboli Ghat in an hour and the view which we missed in the night left us mesmerized. We could see the clouds moving around the ghats which was covered by greenery. The blissful experience made it worth returning via the same route.

After driving an hour or so we reached amboli falls at around 11 AM and it was pretty late and hence there was a bit of crowd at the falls. The men in khaki were there to control the crowd and the traffic. After a continuous drive of 2 days, we could not control ourselves from getting drenched in the cold water of the waterfall.

We enjoyed in the waterfall for some time , and then had hot tea and maggi to satisfy our hunger. The waterfall was pretty crowded as it is reachable for people staying in north Karnataka, north Goa , Kolhapur , Konkan Region of Maharashtra.

We started heading towards our home post having food in Amboli Falls. However, since we had to go through Kolhapur, we decided to have a visit to Rankala Lake situated in Kolhapur City. We had our dinner at Kolhapur city by having the famous ‘Tambda’ and ‘Pandhra’ Rassa. The food was very good and it did meet our expectations.

And that was the last stop of the trip, we had full stretch drive to Mumbai post dinner and reached our respective homes late in the night.

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