Tag: drive

  • Panshet Dam

    My father is visiting us from Kerala. We went to Phoenix Mall at Viman Nagar on Saturday. I wrote this post about the drive to Tamhini yesterday after we returned. A line I wrote there reminded me that I had originally planned to visit Panshet first. That trip was forever postponed as life kept throwing things at us. Since my father was here, I took the opportunity to drive to Panshet.

    Drive to Panshet

    The drive to Panshet took us right through the heart of Pune and out the other side. We started late in the morning. The road extended up to Lavasa went past Khadakwasla before it reached Panshet. The dam seems to have created two catchment areas. I did not fully understand the geography and having just returned, I do not understand it completely.

    There was minimal traffic in the city itself. There were multiple road closures because of construction of the Metro.

    Once we were on the road to Khadakwasla and at the lake side, there was enough traffic as there was parking only to one side of the road. Bamboo sticks were used to stop vehicles from parking on the lake side of the road. But the views were lovely. We did not stop here.

    A little bit up the road, past the defence lands, there was a Mankar dosa point with multiple other eateries. It also had a clean, decent toilet facility since it was new. We stopped here for a bathroom break and had basundi tea.

    There was still some heavy traffic headed towards Khadakwasla but as we turned away from Sinhgad Fort at Donaje, the traffic was lighter. We made good time on the road to Panshet but the views slowed us down.

    At Tamhini, we saw a lot of jackfruits being sold on the road sides but mangoes dominated the road to Panshet.

    We also drove past a lot of paddies on the banks of the Mutha river. We saw some terrace farming examples of paddy as the water gushed down the sides of the hill to meet the Mutha.

    We passed the little town of Panshet before the dam dominated the view on one side. The canals taking water away from the dam seemed to be full but the river itself had dried up. We took a road to the side which took us past the MTDC resort where we briefly considered having lunch at.

    My father wanted to go to the top of the dam but we found a small road down one side which took us unexpectedly to the boating place.

    At Panshet

    Unlike Tamhini, where we just drove to a point and then took a U-turn, we decided to do at least one activity while at Panshet. We went boating. My wife is crazy about boating and everything related to water.

    On the side of the hill, we looked at the lake that had been formed by the dam. The water level had gone down considerably. When we left the parking lot, the hotel was on the lake side and one level down. The boating place was at least a few levels down from there. One could fit an old Bombay styled two story building between the lake side hotel and the boating place.

    We had standard Maharashtrian food at the hotel. It was delicious because of the taste and because of the hunger. My son caught my father’s hands and walked up and down the length of the old Bombay style two story building between the hotel and the boating point.

    We chose a standard motor boat. I am queasy about boat rides but got in without too much hassle. I somehow expect the boat to sink on one side while I get in. The boat went a distance to the side to get some paddlers away from trouble. After that we resumed the boat rides. We acted touristy, posed, and took pictures. I found it harder to get off the boat.

    The walk up the cliff to the hotel was a hard one. My son encouraged us on the way up. He took one step at a time. We rejoiced and took a step behind him. So reflective of life.

    Once we got up the cliff, my daughter wanted to play in the park filled with rickety old park things – swings, slides, etc. After a while even she found it hard to enjoy there and we decided to return home.

    Ride Back Home

    The ride back home was disappointing. I guess the same scenery didn’t excite us. Or we were just too tired to notice. We stopped at a roadside sugarcane place, one of those operated by a bullock. The sugarcane juice was lovely. We had just got network back on our mobile phones and the first things I saw was an alert about how sugarcane juice was bad for you.

    We stopped at the same place at Donaje for some cold water, some tea and bathroom breaks.

    We then drove home non-stop. At some point the road was not the way we had gone. But it was standard Pune fare. Nothing noticeable. On the way back, I showed my father my work place. We got back just in time for evening tea.

    After Travel

    For certain parts of our journey, we make use of the mobile to lull our son so that we get a good attempt at eating some food. This is not possible when you try to stream content he likes. We must remember to download it for such times when network isn’t available.

    We made the same mistake at Tamhini but did not learn our lesson. But I used this opportunity to tell my daughter of a time when this was how it was done. She expressed happiness that she did not live in such times. I guess she doesn’t know what she is missing.

    We did not carry clothes for change this time and we had multiple places where we could have enjoyed the water otherwise. I may not have stopped for this, but the possibility existed and we weren’t ready for this scenario.

  • Tamhini

    My prior understanding of Tamhini Ghat was that it was a dangerous place to drive.

    My wife wanted us to go somewhere to escape the heatwave that hit Pune in the month of May 2024.

    May 19

    I was going to give a talk about space policy at the Fat Labrador Cafe for its Policy Adda. I usually don’t talk to the Uber driver but he had come in a Maruti Suzuki S-presso. I asked him about the car and he spoke of how he tolerated it more than drove it. He said it was a wonderful city car but not one that could be taken out for a long drive. The talk of long drives led to a conversation about how only the Harihareshwar Beach was the only Konkan beach worth visiting. We spoke of many other things. I spoke about space policy. I returned home late that night but slept early.

    May 20

    I went to Mumbai with Rakesh in his Old Monk to cast my vote in the Indian General Elections 2024. I was discussing the conversation I had with the S-presso driver on the day before. I mentioned about Harihareshwar Beach and wondered what was the best way to reach there from Pune. This was when Rakesh mentioned Tamhini Ghat.

    May 25

    Through the very hot month of May, my wife and I were discussing getting an air conditioner for the bedroom. The nights seemed to be hotter than the days and she had to be at home with two infants through the night and the day. For the n th time, I said no to buying an air conditioner. It was at this time she asked that we at least go somewhere. Since the conversation with the Uber S-presso driver was so fresh in mind, I suggested that we go to Harihareshwar Beach in the morning of May 25.

    We carried some clothes in hand just in case we actually did drive to Harihareshwar Beach. I was preparing my mind to face the dangers of Tamhini Ghat. We even considered going to Mumbai just before we started the car. We got a very tempting invite from my aunt. But, I put my foot down (not on the accelerator) and said we should drive up Tamhini Ghat if not all the way up to Harihareshwar Beach.

    My daughter’s close friend’s birthday was one of the prompts for this rethink in destination.

    Then, I put my foot down on the accelerator and we were on the way to Tamhini.

    Drive to Tamhini

    I had come to Pune in July 2019. By the time we got setup at our new house, it was the pandemic. After we got out of the pandemic, our second child was on the way. The aforementioned second child was not someone who was easy to take on a drive. He cried, felt uncomfortable in enclosed spaces, and wriggled out of his mom’s hands all through the drive. Contrast this with my first child who fell asleep when the car began to move.

    We slowly drove towards Tamhini in the late morning of May 25. We passed several hotels which were full upto the brim despite lunch time being an hour away. We did not pay attention to these cues. We drove past the village of Tamhini. We were mesmerised by the views of the dried up Mulshi lake. There was still some water.

    We saw some wonderful geological features up-hill. I cannot name them nor did we take photographs of them.

    We drove for half an hour past Tamhini when we spotted a clearing with road side food places on both sides of the road. We stopped here and turned around.

    Return from Tamhini

    We turned back home an hour after what should have been our normal lunch time. We had not had lunch. We had seen a pair of hotels on the way to Tamhini. We decided to eat there. We drove about twenty minutes to reach there. Between running behind our second child and eating, we did not feel full but felt confident about returning home. We shot a few videos, took a few photos, and had much better conversations.

    On the way back, unable to help myself, I taunted my wife to have Mutton Bhakri. I annoyed her enough times that she asked me to stop at one place I was pointing out to her. We stopped but it looked quite shady. She lost her appetite for Mutton Bhakri and I quit taunting her. The son fell asleep at this point and we drove back in silence.

    Post travel

    I was very calm about the whole trip despite the prior negative information that I had heard about Tamhini. The roads were good. The traffic was sparse. The drive up was awesome. It generated in me some confidence about driving here in the rains, if need be. You can never be too confident about driving in the Western Ghats.

    I did some reading about the Western Ghats to understand its geology but not enough to identify landforms that I saw there.

    If the rains have not started, I want to drive down to Panshet. That is the first place that I had in mind for a drive since it has a MTDC resort.

  • Pune

    I wanted my first visit with Dhanya to begin with a visit to the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple. So, when Dhanya wanted to begin to visit places near Mumbai, I thought it was time to visit Pune. Dad suggested we check in to Vivanta by Taj Blue Diamond in Pune and drive to Pune.

    We left Mumbai around 8:30 in the morning in our white Swift car. Driving along the Sion-Panvel highway we reached the Mumbai-Pune Expressway without any issues. The drive on the Expressway was also eventless and we whiled away time listening to the radio. Once we reached closer to Pune, we switched on Google Maps to help us navigate to Vishrantwadi Junction in Pune. The route was reasonably reliable, though it took us through a maze of lanes that we were not familiar with and at times were doubtful whether we had got lost in the maze. However, as we got close to the Junction, signposts appeared helpfully. Pune is developing its own BRTS for which work seems to be progressing. There was drizzle enroute to Pune but it really started pouring when we were waiting for Dhanya’s friend’s husband, Rakesh.

    He came in his white Swift and guided us to their house in Dhanori, quite close to the airport. We had vegetarian biriyani and kurma for lunch. This was followed by dessert. Dhanya’s friend is also named Dhanya. Both of them went to college together in their BBA days. They had a lot of catching up to do and so Rakesh and I left them to do the talking.

    We left their house and again with great help from Google Maps, found our way to Blue Diamond hotel. We slept a while, soaking in the cushioned beds under the warm blankets, cherishing a moment of togetherness. We then went to the up and coming Koregaon Plaza mall and returned to the room quickly for a night out in a pub.

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    Dhanya’s friend, Dhanya with her husband, Rakesh

     

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    Dhanya and me at the Independence Brewing Co.

    Dhanya and Rakesh picked us up at the Taj. Both Dhanyas had spent considerable time discussing what to wear. We went to the Independence Brewing Co. For both Dhanyas it was their first pub experience. Everyone enjoyed themselves with drinks and lots of photos taken for keepsake. They dropped us at the Taj again on their way back home. We were both exhausted from the long drive and promptly went to bed to sleep.

    Rakesh had mentioned in his conversations on the day before that they were going to Lavasa and asked if we were interested in coming along. We were planning to return to Mumbai that afternoon after checking out at around 12 pm. I considered not going but realised that we had come most of the way to Lavasa and without company might not go to Lavasa on our own. I confirmed that we would be coming after a visit to the Dagdhusheth temple. I said we’d confirm times on the next day.

    The next day we awoke at 6:30 am. We got ready and used the Taj’s car to take us to Dagdhusheth temple. I was not sure if there would be any lines and also wasn’t sure if we’d get parking there. We got an easy and early darshan there and made our way back to the hotel by 9 am. We caught the Taj’s sumptuous breakfast spread.

    We then headed to Lavasa in our respective Swift cars. The plan was to drive to Lavasa, grab a bite of lunch there and then head back to Mumbai that day afternoon. The drive to Lavasa, though, surprised and it was afternoon by the time we got there. After parking our cars, we walked on the lakeside in the rains. We grabbed a bite of pizza at Smokin’ Joe’s. There Rakesh got news that a landslide on the Mumbai Pune Expressway had led to its closure. The news came out that people had died in the landslide and it was suggested that the old Mumbai-Pune Highway, the NH4 be taken. We drove back to Pune in the hopes that the landslide would be cleared and we could head back to Mumbai that night.

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    Both Dhanyas met in Pune after a looonnng time.

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    Both cars chilling after the long trip to Lavasa.

    It was 5 pm by the time we reached Wakad junction and both Rakesh and my father in Mumbai suggested we stay the night and attempt to head back to Mumbai only early next morning. Accordingly, we headed back again to Dhanya’s friends house for the night. We had rice and onion sambar that night for dinner. It was midnight by the time we slept that night.

    We headed back to Mumbai early that morning. There was no traffic jam and the landslide was cleared from all four lanes of the Expressway. There were light to moderate showers but we reached back home at 9, just in time to head back to another week at work.