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Went to Bhandardara over the weekend with 10 other colleagues of mine. Trip was planned pretty haphazardly, but turned out great in the end. Its around 200km from Pune. Visited many internet sites looking
for accomodation, but could come up with only 3-4 hotels, many of which had non-functional phone numbers. One person (agent, i presume), had the nerve to ask us to transfer 50% of the amount to a bank account in advance and he would book a room for us. Obviously, didnt go for that.
A mini-bus was booked on Friday evening. We set off on Saturday morning, bright and early. Reached Shendi village (near Bhandardara) at around 11AM. The road was very smooth and had very less traffic. The ghat sections were especially scenic and very beautiful.
Searched around for a hotel after reaching and within half an hour found one to suit us. Its called Hotel Amruteshwar. Its located very near to the MTDC resort (and Anandvan Resort). It has very decent rooms for Rs.550 per night (2 people per room + arrangement for extra beds at extra charge). We booked 3, and paid a little extra for more beds. Very cheap if you ask me. The hotel has a magnificient valley view on one side and a lake view on the other. We took rooms opposite the lake.
First evening, we visited sunset point (around 22km away) and enjoyed a glorious setting sun.
The hotel even went to the extent of setting up a bonfire for us in an adjacent empty parking lot. We cooked food (wood + kerosene + utensils + food ingredients provided by the hotel at a reasonable cost) on the bonfire itself and had a blast around the bonfire for around 3-4 hours.
Next morning, we checked out and decided to climb the Ratangad fort, but dropped the plan due to lack of time. But we still took a boat ride upto the Ratanwadi village (row boat - Rs 60 per head, to-and-fro). Visited a temple near the village, ate lunch at the boat-owners house in Ratanwadi and came back by 3. Planned to leave by 4. Did that, but on the way we came across the Umbrella Falls (falls created by the release of dam water). Everyone wanted to bathe, jumped in, and came out dripping wet (most people forgetting about cell-phones, wallets, watches and cameras on their person in their excitement!!! Thankfully nothing got spoiled). We had to go back to the hotel to change or we would have been chilled on our journey back. Another plus point for the hotel - the manager opened up rooms for us on two occassions after we checked out at no extra cost.
On the way back, ate at a Dhaba on the Pune-Nashik highway.
Thoroughly enjoyed the 2 day weekend getaway trip.
Hotel Amruteshwar
Near MTDC resort and Anandvan Resort.
At post Shendy (Bhandardara), Tal. Akole, Dist. A.Nagar
Rajusheth Rathod: 02424 2571122
Sachin Rathod: 9420342877, 9421584380, 9421938106
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Pros: |
close to Pune and Mumbai, cheap, scenic, good climate, many places to see
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Cons: |
Need private vehicle to get around
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Type of Travel:
Weekend Getaway
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Duration of Stay:
2 days only
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Average Expenditure:
Shoestring (less than Rs.500/day)
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Group Size:
Ten to twenty
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Best Suited For:
Friends
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Best Time to Travel:
Dec - Feb
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