Idyllic and Gastronomic Amboli . Review on Amboli

My in-laws stay in Belgaum. a place which I consider has the potential to be the next Pune. This review is about our visit to Amboli however it needs to be mentioned that we began from Belgaum and not from Pune. Amboli is 65 kms from belgaum.

We started our journey at 10.30 am from Belgaum. Stopped a few kms from Belgaum for fuel. There are several gas stations on the Belgaum-Amboli road, A HP gas station looked good, so I made sure my Swift drank enough petrol.

The road is through villages, it is a two-way two lane road , so not much scope for racing. The village scenes make up for some interesting driving and you don’t really feel the urge to race. The road quality is good. Just 10 kms before Amboli is the Nangartas Waterfall, at this time (Jan end) it didn’t have much water, but nevertheless the stream was there , so we could imagine its glory in monsoons. My kid was amused to know that such a small stream of water constitutes to rivers later. We spent about 20 minutes there. Look for the sign of Nangartas waterfall 10 kms before Amboli.

Just before maboli there is another place you should visit and that is the Hiranyakeshi ugam. It is the source of the river Hiryankeshi. The access road is a little stony but nothing that you should be worried about. Once you reach the place ( 20 minutes drive from the detour) , you come across a bridge and river water flowing down through Rocks. Its like mini Laxman-zhula….

We then walked on the freshly cemented road to the river ugam. The place is very very cool and pleasant.even at 12.00 noon we didn’t feel hot..some school kids were playing in the water there..there is a small cave as well which the old people told us that goes deep a fair distance..

We went inside the cave ..it was pitch dark..we came back without being overtly romantic..the legend has it that there are seven ponds inside the cave and the sunlight reaches only the last pond..some old people who lived to tell a tale said that very few people survived in their bid to explore the caves..the water at the Ugam is very sweet and cool. We stayed there for 45 minutes before proceeding our journey to Amboli.

We had booked 2 non-AC rooms in JRD international for 900/- plus taxes. We reached the hotel at 13.00 with two breaks. We were very hungry and the board at the JRD international restaurant “ Special Fish Food” made us even hungrier.

About the restaurant: It is a decent place , quick and prompt service, exhaustive menu and the thalis that we ordered were excellent. I settled for Mutton Thali, my wife for Surmai thali and my in-laws for chicken…my son loves fish so we ordered some prawns and surmai fry. Our joy was quadrapuled when we learnt that they also serve beer! Nothing like beer and fish in the afternoon, isnt it?

The food was good and we required a nice sleep. After resting for some time, we set off to visit the points.. Mahadev Gad point had a breathtaking view of the Western Ghats, Shirgaonkar point was ok-types..the road was good but the point view was blocked due to trees. And the MTDC had not taken notice of it! There was a bench there, we climbed on top of it and got a view of the breathtaking scenery. However the best point of all was the Sun-set point..every hill station has one..like mahableshwar or khandala ..but this one was simply superb. You can actually see the sun going down in stages very clearly ..the sunset point is on the Amboli ghat road to sawantwadi..so the place was full off people stopping by on their way to Panaji to witness the beautiful moment…in monsoons, there is a waterfall on this road which one should not miss during the monsoons.

At 7.30 we came back to the hotel, JRD international has a decent swimming pool but quite in open, a TT table and carrom board, for kids the play area is really nice..I also enjoyed swinging in a bit..the lawn for well maintained.. the rooms and the lobby could have been better..but for the price , it is OK. Rooms were clean and the service is allright.The T.V in my rooms did not work. The rest rooms were clean.

We decided to have our dinner at Vithal Kamat’s place. It is on the sunset road. The place is yet to be fully done. But the bets part is food..fresh and hot..we had some nice parathas, veg kolhapuri and aloo jeera, the Solkadi was awesome..dont miss it!

After a little bit of walking we retired to bed at 10.00 pm..The following morning I woke up early , my father in law was up too..so we headed for the Shirgaonkar point..they said you may catch a glimpse of Bison or foxes..we did hear a strange noises on the way..but didn’t spot any. Unlucky.

Came back and then after a heavy brunch again at Vithal Kamat’s restaurant headed straight back to belgaum.

If you are heading to Goa from Pune, you can break the journey at Amboli for 1 night, stay at JRD International or at MTDC Green valley, and proceed to Panaji early next morning. Don’t have high expectations about this place. It is not extra-ordinarily beautiful.. There aren't too many places to see or things to do but its quiet, unpolluted and the local residents are good natured and helpful. Go to Amboli to laze, have some good food and come back. For most belgaonkars, it is a day trip.

Amboli is well connected by road to all the surrounding cities (Kolhapur 110 km, Belgaum 65 km, Panjim (Goa) 90 km) by road and the nearest airport is at Goa, about 2 hours drive away.

Best time to visit: Avoid summers if you can, if you love rain, ofcourse the monsoons, but if you are safe traveller Winter season is the best minus the waterfall.

AccommodationHotel Sailee - 02363-240202, 240217, 240479 (Contact: Bal Korgaonkar), Clean rooms - Ordinary, Deluxe, 3 bedded rooms, excellent service and kitchen. Hotel Green Palace - 02363 - 240302, 240241 (Contact: Sandeep Gawande, Deepak Dhuri), Ordinary and Deluxe rooms (with TV) Hotel Shiv Malhar - 02363 - 240301 (Contact: Mr. Bhise) Hotel JRD International (1km from Bus Stand) -higher end - A/C, Non-A/C rooms, garden and Indian restaurant, permit room. Privatised Resort of MTDC with poor upkeep, self-contained rooms (21 blocks); Check out time: 12.00 noon; Reservation: Mumbai, Kolhapur and Amboli

Some useful links;

https://nivalink.com/jrd/contact.html

https://mapsofindia.com/maps/maharashtra/tourism/amboli.html