It
was around a month ago, when a thought suddenly struck my mind, that it had
been a lot of time since I last went for a trip with friends. That evening when
we met at our usual meeting place, I proposed a trip. All the three of us i.e.
myself, Devendra and Chaitanya, being highly enthusiastic about travelling and
visiting new places, the idea was picked up unanimously. We finalized the dates
15-16-17thNov 2014 looking at the availability of all and finally it
was the time to decide the location.
We
first decided to go to Kelshi, a village in the Ratnagiri district, located at
approximately 192 km from Pune.
Day 1:
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| Plus Valley |
We
decided to leave early in the morning at 5:00 AM, because you get substantial
part of the day once you reach the destination. So as decided we left Pune in
Devendra’s Indica early morning on 15th. It was raining heavily
which was totally uncalled for considering it was mid November. Rain was
affecting our visibility. Connecting to Mulshi Road from Chandani Chowk, we
started travelling steadily. By the time sun rose, we had reached close to
Tamhini ghat. Tamhini ghat is always a beautiful landscape early in the
morning. After having a usual chai+poha breakfast at a just opened snack
center, we started travelling again and had a halt at famous “Plus Valley” in
the ghat. There are four routes to enter the valley, one from each side, form a
‘+’ symbol thereby giving it the name.
Once
we started driving the winding roads of ghat, the scenery was getting
increasingly attractive. The ghat winds down in Raigad district, at Mangaon.
From Mangaon, Kelshi is approximately 80 km by road. Condition of the roads is
not that great, but still surroundings were treat for the eyes. We reached Kelshi
village at approximately 11 AM. We got an accommodation at Hotel Surabhi (PP:
Mr Naresh Vartak), which actually was a part of house modified into a hotel,
located in the Bapu Ali (lane). The room was available at 1000 Rs a night with
a bedding facility for four. Once we got settled and set our bags in the room,
we went out for a stroll and noticed that the lane was entirely untouched by
urban life.
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| Our Accommodation: Kelshi |
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| Our Accommodation: Kelshi |
Post
lunch we left for Keshavraj Temple located at Asud approximately at 35 km from
Kelshi. On the Kelshi – Asud road we need to turn left for Keshavraj. Once we
start walking through the lane with houses on both sides, you totally enter
into the realm of natural beauty. Once you walk down to the river and cross the
bridge (Sakav: as called in the local term), you start climbing for the temple.
The temple is located at a pretty lonely place and we three were the only
people over there. Following are few snaps of the temple that will explain it
to you better:
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| Way to Keshavraj |
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| Keshavraj Temple |
On
the way from Keshavraj, we went to Anjarle where there is a famous Lord
Ganeshatemple over the mountain, known popularly as ‘Kadyawarcha Ganpati’.
Enjoying scenic beauty on the way, we reached back to Kelshi at approximately
7:30 PM.
Day 2:
On
the 16thmorning, we left for Dive Agar, a famous destination in the
Raigad district. To experience something different, we had first planned to
travel by jetty. The jetty services are available at Bankot (approx 40km from
Kelshi) to travel to Harihareshwar. It is a travel time of 20-25 minutes.
Unfortunately, due to certain maintenance issues jetty service was not
available.
Hence
we decided to travel by road and reached there by 2:30 PM and had a delicious
lunch at a renowned place owned by Parkar family. Post that we booked a room at
Manas Resort nearby. In the evening, we went to Diveagar beach. That being a
Sunday evening most of the tourists were on their way back home. Beach had just
reasonable crowd.
After
spending some time taking photographs on the beach and taking strolls, we came
back to the resort we had booked. It was a spacious AC room available for 1300
Rs. For dinner we went to a restaurant names ‘Golden Dish’ which is established
just before we enter Diveagar.
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| Sunset at Diveagar Beach |
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| Starfish at Deveagar Beach |
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| Experts !! Please name the bird. |
Sitting in the balcony provided in the
late night with no sound and little light was really soothing.
Day 3:
On
17ththe Monday, we spent some time taking photographs around the
resort. We captured multiple types of hibiscus, a paradise flycatcher and a
purple sunbird. The area around the resort was really a haven for photography
lovers.
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| Multicolor Hibiscus |
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| Pink Hibiscus |
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| Supari Tree |
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| Purple Sunbird |
We left for Pune at around 12 Noon. After having a lunch at Mangaon and travelling back through Tamhini, reached Pune by
6:30 PM.
Contact
Numbers:
Mr Naresh Vartak (Kelshi): +91 96231
13162
