A Quick Weekend Getaway to Khandala on a Shoestring Budget #Only3000

After a long hectic month of assignments, submissions and college exhibitions our college clique collectively decided to go for a quick weekend getaway to Khandala – a hillstation known for its natural beauty and pleasant climate, perched on the foothills of Sahyadri on the Western Ghats. Being easy on our budget we ensured that there was no compromising on the fun quotient. Keeping in mind the budget earmarked and the size of our group we decided to hire a bus to Khandala. We turned our bus journey into a ‘Bacardi Jam Session on Wheels’- with plenty of refreshments and eats. No fancy limousine ride could ever substitute the level of entertainment and excitement we had enroute Khandala. We reached our accommodation just in time for dinner. Being students of St. Xavier’s College we decided to stay in our college villa at Khandala. We ended our day by enjoying the beautiful view of a sky full of stars and returned to our rooms to pump ourselves up for an early morning trek to Bedse Caves. Carved from a single rock these caves are a must visit, especially for those fascinated by architecture and ancient history. The significance and the purpose of these caves is very well explained by the local guides. Being tourism students this was our primary source of information in learning more about the diverse history of our country. Climbing multiple steps to reach these caves is definitely worth the view. On our way while descending we undertook a responsible activity of collecting all the waste material, this gave us a sense of contributing fulfilment because of everyone’s active involvement. We then returned back to our accommodation for some team building activities arranged by our event management professor. These well planned and executed activities really helped to strengthen our bond and were also meaningful as the reason behind them were like metaphors that helped us understand the different challenges that would come our way once we venture out of college. Post lunch we indulged in some outdoor activities like cricket, football and Tug of War. Later in the evening we had a lovely campfire session dancing to the tunes of different genres of songs we ended our day with ghost stories with deep conversations- a mandatory way to end a campfire session under the night sky. The following day after breakfast we headed back home with some delicious Chikki, Fudge and memories galore. Some Travel Tips: Select your type of accommodation according to your budget. For a low budget one could go for hostels instead of resorts and villas. Cooper’s Fudge and Maganlal & Sons are the best places to buy some local treats. Khandala is also known for its jam and strawberries. While journeying do not forget to carry water along and stay hydrated. We enjoyed the entire trip with not being harsh on our pockets, everything in #Only3000