A Short Trip to Lonavala - Part 1
Sometime back I watched a program on a travel channel, about Mumbai and how the railway operates there. It was on National Geographic. Halfway through the program, they showed a train named Deccan Queen and how it connects Mumbai and Pune and how challenging it was to construct the railway across the Western Ghats in between Mumbai and Pune. During that episode they showed how the rails had to be engineered according to the contours of the mountain geography and the Indian railways did a great job at that time. As they were discussing the route of the train, they talked about a place called Lonavala. The name sounded very interesting. So I checked out the internet and came to know it was a hill station on the eastern side of the Western Ghats near Pune. I decided to visit Lonavala and bought a return flight ticket from Chennai to Pune and back.
I booked as usual in advance and I bought the tickets at a reasonable rate, a rate at which I was happy. Next I booked the 'Deccan Queen' train from Pune to Lonavala. I would fly from Chennai to Pune on 1st April at 10.30 pm, did so and reached Pune around 00:00 hours, 2nd April.
I had booked a room at the Ritz Hotel near the Pune Railway station. I stayed at the Ritz for Rs. 1000 that night and got up early around 6.15 am and walked down to the Pune railway station and boarded the 'Deccan Queen'. The sat next to a very old man in A/C coach C3 seat 25. I sat and enjoyed my one hour trip to Lonavala. Before I got down, the railway provided me with Cheese sandwich and potato fries. I shoved them into my bag and got down fast, as the train only stops there for two minutes.
Now the trip was good. But the elevation was not evident. There was no steep climb. The slope was low and I would not still call Lonavala as a hill station. There are hills around Lonavala but it is not on a hill. So when I got down I was a bit disappointed, because it was not a real hill station like Ooty or Kodaikanal or even Yercaud. So I thanked God for the safe trip and started walking and walked all the way out of the town to the Lonavala Lake.
The lake was around 20% full. Youngsters were playing cricket. There was a warning board put up by the Tata Power corporation, that people should not swim or bathe or wash clothes in the water. I walked all the way covering a distance of about 5 km to the other side of the lake. On the way, I saw multiple groups of motorists cruising through the winding roads around Lonavala.
Then I turned and took a short cut and went into town to the resort where I had booked my room.
It was 9.30 am and I did not know where to visit. I could not check in before 12 noon. So I was offered a place in the garden, where I thankfully sat down for thirty minutes and googled about Lonavala. I read and remembered what I read before, that there are a few Buddhist caves and a fort used by Chatrapati Shivaji and a few lakes in the valleys between the mountains.
So I decided to visit Karla Caves and set out of the guest house. There was an auto-rickshaw driver in the stand waiting for his first customer and I asked him to take me to Karla caves. He said, it is better to visit Bhaja Caves and Lohgad fort. He said he would take me there and bring me back for Rs. 1000. I agreed and we started chatting and explained why it is not a good idea to visit Karla caves now. He said that there is a festival going on for a local deity named Ekveera, particularly by the Koli Caste. It will be full of worshipers and it will not be a good idea to visit in that rush.
I agreed and we reached Bhaja caves, chatting all the way up. Then he dropped me and said he would wait as I hiked up the hill and visited the caves. So I climbed and as I climbed the large valley in front came into full view. These mountains were dry with shrubs and rocks. Many of them had a large plateau on the top rather than a peak.
But this hike was half way up and I reached the caves which were cut out of a large block of granite. It was all drilling and sculpting no building, except the Buddhist stupas which were built there. These granite cut out caves were sculpted with Buddhist themes and the art of the era. The majority of the rooms were around (6x3x7 feet), (length x breadth x height). These rooms has a rock cot made out of granite adjacent to the wall, and there were numerous rooms, on either side of a large hall which contained a large stupa.
It was noisy as there was a group of primary school children visiting the caves at the same time. I went all the way to the other side and saw all the rooms and cisterns for water and Buddhist sculptures, in the wall. None of the room had any sculpture. It was outside in the non residential areas. These caves cut out about 2 B.C had been used then by Buddhist traveling merchants, going from Arabian sea coast to some place in the Deccan plateau, which occupies most non-coastal parts of South India.
It was as if I had been transported back in time, to the time of the caves, which contained information about the life and times of the people of that generation.
I finished my trip and came down and called Rajesh my auto driver, who had given his name and number to me so that I can call him as soon as I descended the hill. I called, he came and we set out to our next destination.
Our next destination was Lohgad fort. The winding roads took us up to the steps of the fort in the Lohgad village. I got down, grabbed a bottle of Miranda and started to climb. It was noon, it was hot and I had already hiked half a mountain to visit the Bhaja caves. I kept climbing the steps, which felt like never ending, infinte number of steps. But I knew it was finite, so I sipped the Miranda and kept climbing. First in the fortification was the first gate called Hanuman Gate, and then I climbed more and reached another gate, and then I climbed the steps and reached another gate and then I climbed and reached the final gate which led me into the fortification. It was on the top of the mountain. It is a large plateau, where stands the fortification, which has not been fully excavated yet. There a Hindu temple near the entrance and a Islamic Darga at the other side. I sipped the last drops of Miranda and went to the western side of the fort where there was a steep gorge which opened up into a valley where the Pavana lake stood. The lake was a formed by a dam which I could view from where I stood. It was a beautiful site. It went to the other side, the Islamic side which had the highest point. I climbed over that small elevation and stamped my feet as a mark of my conquest over the fort, or more precisely the mountain. I had a very good view of the valley all around which is really a wonderful sight and which made the climb worthwhile.
After shooting a video and couple of selfies from my mobile, which was at the end of it's battery charge, I started my descent. I came down and Rajesh spoted me and we made our way back to Lonavala. By around 2:00 pm I reached Fereira resort, where I had booked my room. The inn keeper was a very courteous and helped me to settle in. The tour had ended, in a limited way, in that I was totally exhauted and fell into a deep sleep.
Then in the evening I had dinner and slept again and then the next day I left for Pune at around 11:30 am. I caught a bus and I reached Pune. Pune City was not a pleasant place to roam around, so on the way, I booked a room near the airport. I rested in the room and walked down to the airport at 8:00 pm. I boarded the return flight at 10.30 pm and reached Chennai by 00:00, 4th April. I reached home by 4:00 am.
Photos in Part 2
I booked as usual in advance and I bought the tickets at a reasonable rate, a rate at which I was happy. Next I booked the 'Deccan Queen' train from Pune to Lonavala. I would fly from Chennai to Pune on 1st April at 10.30 pm, did so and reached Pune around 00:00 hours, 2nd April.
I had booked a room at the Ritz Hotel near the Pune Railway station. I stayed at the Ritz for Rs. 1000 that night and got up early around 6.15 am and walked down to the Pune railway station and boarded the 'Deccan Queen'. The sat next to a very old man in A/C coach C3 seat 25. I sat and enjoyed my one hour trip to Lonavala. Before I got down, the railway provided me with Cheese sandwich and potato fries. I shoved them into my bag and got down fast, as the train only stops there for two minutes.
Now the trip was good. But the elevation was not evident. There was no steep climb. The slope was low and I would not still call Lonavala as a hill station. There are hills around Lonavala but it is not on a hill. So when I got down I was a bit disappointed, because it was not a real hill station like Ooty or Kodaikanal or even Yercaud. So I thanked God for the safe trip and started walking and walked all the way out of the town to the Lonavala Lake.
The lake was around 20% full. Youngsters were playing cricket. There was a warning board put up by the Tata Power corporation, that people should not swim or bathe or wash clothes in the water. I walked all the way covering a distance of about 5 km to the other side of the lake. On the way, I saw multiple groups of motorists cruising through the winding roads around Lonavala.
Then I turned and took a short cut and went into town to the resort where I had booked my room.
It was 9.30 am and I did not know where to visit. I could not check in before 12 noon. So I was offered a place in the garden, where I thankfully sat down for thirty minutes and googled about Lonavala. I read and remembered what I read before, that there are a few Buddhist caves and a fort used by Chatrapati Shivaji and a few lakes in the valleys between the mountains.
So I decided to visit Karla Caves and set out of the guest house. There was an auto-rickshaw driver in the stand waiting for his first customer and I asked him to take me to Karla caves. He said, it is better to visit Bhaja Caves and Lohgad fort. He said he would take me there and bring me back for Rs. 1000. I agreed and we started chatting and explained why it is not a good idea to visit Karla caves now. He said that there is a festival going on for a local deity named Ekveera, particularly by the Koli Caste. It will be full of worshipers and it will not be a good idea to visit in that rush.
I agreed and we reached Bhaja caves, chatting all the way up. Then he dropped me and said he would wait as I hiked up the hill and visited the caves. So I climbed and as I climbed the large valley in front came into full view. These mountains were dry with shrubs and rocks. Many of them had a large plateau on the top rather than a peak.
But this hike was half way up and I reached the caves which were cut out of a large block of granite. It was all drilling and sculpting no building, except the Buddhist stupas which were built there. These granite cut out caves were sculpted with Buddhist themes and the art of the era. The majority of the rooms were around (6x3x7 feet), (length x breadth x height). These rooms has a rock cot made out of granite adjacent to the wall, and there were numerous rooms, on either side of a large hall which contained a large stupa.
It was noisy as there was a group of primary school children visiting the caves at the same time. I went all the way to the other side and saw all the rooms and cisterns for water and Buddhist sculptures, in the wall. None of the room had any sculpture. It was outside in the non residential areas. These caves cut out about 2 B.C had been used then by Buddhist traveling merchants, going from Arabian sea coast to some place in the Deccan plateau, which occupies most non-coastal parts of South India.
It was as if I had been transported back in time, to the time of the caves, which contained information about the life and times of the people of that generation.
I finished my trip and came down and called Rajesh my auto driver, who had given his name and number to me so that I can call him as soon as I descended the hill. I called, he came and we set out to our next destination.
Our next destination was Lohgad fort. The winding roads took us up to the steps of the fort in the Lohgad village. I got down, grabbed a bottle of Miranda and started to climb. It was noon, it was hot and I had already hiked half a mountain to visit the Bhaja caves. I kept climbing the steps, which felt like never ending, infinte number of steps. But I knew it was finite, so I sipped the Miranda and kept climbing. First in the fortification was the first gate called Hanuman Gate, and then I climbed more and reached another gate, and then I climbed the steps and reached another gate and then I climbed and reached the final gate which led me into the fortification. It was on the top of the mountain. It is a large plateau, where stands the fortification, which has not been fully excavated yet. There a Hindu temple near the entrance and a Islamic Darga at the other side. I sipped the last drops of Miranda and went to the western side of the fort where there was a steep gorge which opened up into a valley where the Pavana lake stood. The lake was a formed by a dam which I could view from where I stood. It was a beautiful site. It went to the other side, the Islamic side which had the highest point. I climbed over that small elevation and stamped my feet as a mark of my conquest over the fort, or more precisely the mountain. I had a very good view of the valley all around which is really a wonderful sight and which made the climb worthwhile.
After shooting a video and couple of selfies from my mobile, which was at the end of it's battery charge, I started my descent. I came down and Rajesh spoted me and we made our way back to Lonavala. By around 2:00 pm I reached Fereira resort, where I had booked my room. The inn keeper was a very courteous and helped me to settle in. The tour had ended, in a limited way, in that I was totally exhauted and fell into a deep sleep.
Then in the evening I had dinner and slept again and then the next day I left for Pune at around 11:30 am. I caught a bus and I reached Pune. Pune City was not a pleasant place to roam around, so on the way, I booked a room near the airport. I rested in the room and walked down to the airport at 8:00 pm. I boarded the return flight at 10.30 pm and reached Chennai by 00:00, 4th April. I reached home by 4:00 am.
Photos in Part 2
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