The Brook , Lonavala

Mumbai to Lonavala,
Sep 04,2007


A two hour ride onwards to the mumbai pune highway takes one through the initial hurdles of mumbai traffic and then across tunnels and rocky enclaves all moist and covered in green; and once you reach the upper range, the chill weather announces your arrival to Lonavala.
One among he numerous tunnels you pass through

Its a good sight to see the valley down below, provided you convince the driver to stop alongside the roadway. The group comprised of Deepak,Hemant,Alok,Prajyot,Mani,Saurabh,Rohit, Gaurav and muself...Felt the same way Alok migh have felt when he came on a trip with me in Bangalore...
Karla Caves

Buddha sculpure

It was a sad plight to see the poorly maintained caves but still the majestic giant pillars left us in awe. Many carvings were still intact, and there were chambers where probably the monk used to meditate.....the group also tried to meditate, a joint effort, in one such chamber.

Kansal clueless on how to climb down; caves visible above

The entrance to the Buddhist cave; the hindu temple can be seen aside

Inside you could see the stupa, various sculptures and the old scripts embedded in the walls and pillars. There is also a small hindu temple of worship though i doubt if it was as old as the caves. Probably, it was built by the locals later on ,in keeping with the Indian way of having temples around all major historical sites of religious importance.

In front of the caves

Inside the Chaitanya hall

There was a small tiled path going to the back of the cave from the outside ....the path was slippery and gave way to a patchy ground trail which further along became more and more narrow... A group of goats passed along and I could see a few more caves on this side. Kansal joined in but in a few minutes we decided not to venture further. A light rain and we had to scurry back downhill, interupted only by the small crabs which kept running in front of us, along the side of the steps!

After the down pour

From the hill , it was a wonderous site to view the farmlands down... light green, a pleasant view to the human eye....

Behold! View from the top...

From Karla, we had lunch at the town centre and tasted the famous local chikki speciality. Our final destination was a small dam on the way to Ambi valley and another point on the top ranges , a few kilometres away from ambi valley. We had crossed a Navy quarters and as soon as we reached the point, it started rainng heavily ...off and on...It would rain and then stop suddenly...in a moment everything would be covered in thick fog. Everyone were out to dancing and running around.Had a steaming hot tea and biscuits and moved off to the dam.

Gone Beserk!!! A lighter moment ...

In another 5 seconds, it turned all foggy...

It was a very one indeed, but the intensity of the waterfall was huge. There was one big pool where it was risky to get into, so everyone moved to the other one down which was less deep. Everyone were into the pool and after someime I decided to venture a bit more but was called back by everyone as they didnt trust me going away from sight with a stick in hand ; "Hakuna Matata".....

Alok achieving Nirvana :)

Me,Gaurav ana Alok on the way down

The last leg over, everyone wanted to settle down and relax. I wandered around and reached a small dam. Climbed over and was amazed to see this small patch of green beside a pond....undisturbed....Deepak accompanied me and in another hours time evertone were on to this newly found bliss...

A new green discovery

There was this patch of green...a brook crisscrossing...snails slugs and tiny fishes...slippery rocks, yellow flowers strewn across ..... this was what we had come for....Moved on further in till I slipped over a rock and cut my hand. Some one had thrown glass bottles in this area and I got my hand cut while falling over it.

Me by the Brook

It emptied into a small lake

Played with a few crabs, some big fat white ones and whiled time sitting silently on the banks....Remembered Tom Browns School days and a poem taught in school...Dunno why , but started thinking about school days....This silence was what i wished for!!!

I come from haunts of coot and hern ,
I make a sudden sally,
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley...........

The Group from SIMSR, Mumbai

Returned back at around 6 in the evening and stopped only at a wayside restaurant to have some tea and snacks and in time we were back at Shoppers Stop near Sahkar plaza.