Chiplun =Guhagar =Koyna

Chiplun- Guhagar

Day 1

Starting your journey from Sangli through Kolhapur you reach Amba Ghat. Through turns, valleys and breathtaking beauty of Amba ghat you enter "The Konkan" . You travel the mango and jackfruit trees and if you carry tiffin from home then you are ought to enjoy it under the shade of a mango tree. There are lot many options to stay at Chiplun.

As soon as you enter Chiplun by evening you visit "The Lokmanya Tilak Smarak Vachan Mandir library and Museum". This is located in proper old Chiplun city .Its almost 150 years old library and museum with a large collection of rare ancient artifacts. This includes stone age tools, ancient statues, coins, utensils and more. We had opted for a tent stay in private property of Mr.Mirji. This property is on the hill top and operates in the name of Global agro tourism.

We had a tent stay in the cold breeze of hill top. The hill top and the adjacent land is around 50 acres property with proper arrangements and local food.

Day 2

We started with a jeep safari on the hills and dense trees and ups and downs of the mountain and through plateaus of dried grass.

Then we had a trek through the dense plantations of the area where we had a local guide who was also a bird watcher and expert . We saw more than 15 varieties of birds and experienced their chirping. Also there are many natural and artificial water bodies and plantations of mangoes and other trees.

Then we moved to the old private runway on the hill top and hangar. Now the aeroplane is kept in the hangar and you can touch and feel the aeroplane in this hangar. On this non operational runway... the thrill of running the jeep is worth experiencing.

Then we moved onto boating club of Chiplun on Vashishti river. There are many options for boating in the club. We took a guide with us for boating.Here in boating you can enjoy the islands, scenes and the view of crocodiles too .They take near the bank to get a view of crocodiles. Also you get to see different varieties of birds.

Also nearby the bank are many villas which belong to local people and who are now in abroad. The buildings are with impressive architecture surrounded by trees.

From there we proceeded towards Savarde, village on the Mumbai-Goa highway.Just 2 kms away from Savarde is located , beautiful ‘Shivasrushti’ of Dervan. Many different sculptures based on the historical events of the life of Shri Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj have been engraved on the walls. The Samadhi Mandir inside the premises is very quiet and calm.

There are many places, colleges ,stadiums and natural locations to enjoy and see near Savarde.

Then we moved to visit Shri Parshuram temple located around 10 km from Chiplun.We reached there in evening .A very nice temple ..so serene and beautiful located on a hill worth seeing in daytime . There are three dieties inside the temple namely Kaal, Parshuram and Kaam.There are also temples of Renukamata , mother of Lord Parshuram, Ganpati and Ganga mata.You can buy local things like Kokam Sharbat and lot of other local produce from here.

Again we came back to Chiplun and took a halt.

Day 3:

Fresh morning ...fresh start... we checked out from Chiplun and proceeded towards Dabhol. We came across many cashew nut processing industries where you can taste and buy authentic cashews. Also you get to see the Enron power project from outside. In Dabhol you get a Jetty where you have take your vehicle to travel to other side to Chandika Devi Mandir.

After getting down ,you have to travel around 3 km on hill with nice turns and views to reach Chandika devi mandir. This temple is swayambhu and centuries old. The idol of the Goddess is placed in a natural cave in the mountain. There are no lights in the cave and the darshan of Goddess in the lantern light is galvanic. Sitting in the cool premises of the temple you can enjoy local foods and kokam sharbat .From there back through jetty we proceeded towards Guhagar.On the way too you have too many options to visit many temples which are old and worth seeing.

Reaching Guhagar there are many nice options to stay varying from beach side bunglows and resorts to lodges. You also have options of eating Maharashtrian foods like Dadpe pohe (shown in picture)and many other mouth watering dishes in the lane near Shri Dev Vyadeshwar. Here Shri Dev Vyadeshwar temple is almost exactly opposite to guhagar beach and bus stand. Apart from guhagar beach it is one of the major tourist attraction. The lane here is full of shops hosting a lot many varieties of cashews, kokan food and wooden toys.

The beach here is nice and clean to play and enjoy many water sports and in the sea as well. The sea shore is backed up many locals and sea guards .Thanks to them.

The return journey...

After taking halt at Guhagar we were back to Sangli through Kumbharli ghat and patan road. In the ghat you can enjoy small water falls and scenes of the mountains and special hot maggi and tea at a tea stall situated on a turn near waterfall.

After the ghat we went to Koynanagar to see the famous Koyna Dam- The lifeline of Maharashtra. There is a wonderful garden and we get to see a short documentary regarding the history of the dam. The view of the dam is superb. From there through Karad we were back to our place loaded with memories and kokan mewa.......