Malshej Ghat - a day jaunt from Mumbai

Having five days a week working and being an avid traveller, I always look  forward to weekend to explore new places.  Against my basic instinct, I didn’t go out on Saturday but I had to go on Sunday since I am not the one who can be hooked at home when there is every opportunity to go out. Due to one day in hand, I thought of exploring Malshej – a mountain pass in the western ghats range of  pune district in the state of Maharastra.

This place can be reached through Thane and Kalyan from Mumbai. It is about 60 Kms from Kalyan and 130 km from Mumbai. There are numerous state buses which goes to Malshej ghats. By Car, it takes  three hours to reach depending that you keep your blinkers on and don't stop at numerous Dhaba's which make you salivate and gives you a gastronomic high!!.

Expecting it to be like any other hill pass and at the same time not being much talked about, I didn’t foster any high hopes. But to my amazement , road from Kalyan to Malshej is well maintained(stress free driving) and the topography is awesome,  added benefit being less crowed,  serene and picturesque. There are various waterfalls, big and small , we enjoyed bathing under them( Carry extra pair of clothes) . There are numerous viewpoints with breathtaking  view  and fills with joy and delight. There is a saying “a thing of beauty is joy forever”.

Monsoon season is best time to visit because the weather gets pleasantly cool and when you experience such weather afteroffbeat humidity of Mumbai, it takes you to  some different level of awesomeness. There is a vast and clean lake which makes the place more scenic. Pimpalgaon Joga Dam is also one of the attractions.

If  planning to stay overnight one can consider  Flamingo Hill , a resort run by MTDC – Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation and few private resorts (near the dam) . Eating options are very limited but you can enjoy Maggie, roasted corn, boiled corn, vada pao , boiled egg, scrambled egg, omlettle  and of course tea and coldrinks on the road side (I did eat all this, no exaggeration)  After spending good 3-4 hours we were Mumbai bound again. It was short and refreshing trip. One must experience it.

Signing off to explore other beauties in the hinterland of Maharashtra