Beautiful Uttarakhand.. 10 days Itinerary for families

    Uttarakhand, aka. Devbhoomi is really amazing state of India. I travelled across this state recently and in this post I am covering my itinerary of Uttarakhand. Apart from places I am mentioning here, there are many more places to visit, which I will cover in another post.

  We traveled in Uttarakhand for 10 days as I could take only that much leave from office, but if you want to cover entire uttarakhand at leisure, I will suggest 2 weeks of vacation. So, here is a route I took.

Mumbai - Dehradun-mussoorie-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Nainital-Jim Corbett-Delhi-Mumbai

  Here is a day by day account along with notes:
DAY1:
   Traveled from Mumbai to Dehradun by flight and stayed at Dehradun. (If early morning flight is possible for you, then fly only till Delhi and book a taxi for round trip from Delhi to Delhi and reach Dehradun on first day. Delhi - Dehradun by road will take 6-7 hours max.)

DAY2:
   Did local sight seeing in Dehradun.
   Forest research institute building is must see for its beautiful architecture, magnificent lawns and there are 3 small museums as well. You will spend around 2 hours here.

   You can then head for Robber's Cave aka. Kachchu Paani. which is some 15 kms. away from Dehradun.

This is interesting 600 mts cave with water flowing out of it. Water is not very deep but its very cold. This is another point I liked in Dehradun. You have to walk through this water to see this cave from inside but its worth walking and then after coming out you can also enjoy hot maggi or pakoda's..

Again, at this place you can spend 2 hours max. You can either visit deer park in remaining time or opt for evening stroll in Bada bazar which is near Dehradun Clock Tower.

For eating in Dehradun, I tried Town table restaurant and level one restaurant. Town table food as well as ambiance is very good.

DAY3:
  We visited Musoorie on this day. Its only 24 kms away from Dehradun. Road from Dehradun to musoorie itself is very scenic and beautiful. As you climb up, temperature starts dropping. Views of the valley from mussoorie are amazing. We also visited company garden and kempsky falls which are 15 kms from Musoorie. There are other small places in Mussoorie, but I wont recommend spending a day in Mussoorie. We went straight to Haridwar after spending day in Mussoorie. Mussoorie to Haridwar takes around 3-4 hours of drive. So Start from Mussoorie latest by 5 pm. We checked into Hotel Ganga Lahri in Haridwar which is on the banks of Ganga river.

DAY4:
   This was long day for me which started very early at 5 am. I went to BrahmKund for morning Ganga Aarti. Aarti starts around 6:10 am. (but time changes as per sunrise and sunset so confirm with hotel staff). Morning Aarti is not as grand as evening one but the atmosphere is amazing.

Beautiful Ganga Ghat in Haidwar

   After enjoying Ganga Aarti and amazing breakfast of hot Suji Halwa, Chhole Bhature etc. we headed straight to Rishikesh. Rishikesh offers amazing adventure activities, but we had our small daughter with us so couldn't enjoy those. You can enjoy Rafting, River cossing, Kayaking or Bunjee Jumping. These activities take place 5 kms after Rishikesh. On the road to DevPrayag.

  In Rishikesh, you can cross Ram Jhula bridge and visit Temples, Baba Kaali Kamli Wale Ashram, Geeta Bhavan etc. and then come back by boat.

   We came back to Haridwar in the evening for evening Ganga Aarti. Evening Aarti is bigger and its really amazing. Dont miss this Aarti. For best view, be at Har ki Paudi, Brahmakund at 5:30 pm. Time changes as per sunset.

Evening Ganga Aarti at BrahmaKund, Har ki Paudi, Haridwar.

  Haridwar is great for foodies. I shall write separate post on this topic and present Haridwar in detailed manner. But dont miss amazing Haridwar food.

DAY5:
   We left Haridwar and headed for Naianital.We visited Patanjali Peeth in the morning and then went to Nainital. Haridwar to Nainital will take around 6 hours to travel.

   Reached Nainital at night and checked in to Hotel Vikram Vintage. Its really amazing hotel and charged us 4500 INR per day including BF & Dinner. There are many other good hotels in Nainital (Pavilion, Grand, Manu Maharani to name a few). Vikram vintage is amazing considering quality of food, service and room as well.

DAY6:
  Visited High altitude Zoo in Nainital. Its very close to city and must visit Zoo built on top of the hill. Tigers here are amazing. They also have Bear, Sambhar, Leopard, fox, Red Panda, and many birds as well.

Tiger in Nainital Zoo

 After Zoo, we took a boat ride in beautiful Naina Lake. This lake makes Nainital stand apart from other hill stations. There are many lakes in and around nainital which are really beautiful.

Beautiful Naina Lake.

  After lake we headed to Bada Bazaar which is main market of Nainital. Dont forget to buy amazing candles which is specialty of Nainital. There are scented, aromatic, magic or various shaped candles available in the market.

DAY7:
  It was another day in Nainital, we went for horse riding to peak. Its around 2 hrs. ride which covers around 8 kms of route. We paid 700 INR per horse. but this ride is must take. If you are big PETA supporter then you can go for trek on this route. but dont miss this one. View of Nainital from the top is amazing.

Beautiful Nainital from Peak

 After this we visited Bhimtal and saatataal. You can also choose to visit Mukteshwar which is around 40 kms from Nainital or almora or kausani.

DAY8:
  Travelled from Nainital to Jim Corbett National park. Its only 2 hours drive and very good road. Checked into hotel The Den Corbett. Its very good resort inside open forest zone. There are forest rest houses inside reserve forest as well but as we booked only for visit purpose, I booked it in open forest. Resort charged me 5500 INR per day including all meals. This resort is very good place to relax and views from open terrace is beautiful. If you are booking over the phone ask for DEER PARK room which is vey beautiful

  We just relaxed after reaching to corbett and spent evening on beautiful sundeck constructed near the valley.

DAY9:
  Went for early morning safari from Durga Devi Gate. Safari was from 6:30 am to 9:30 am. It was a open Jeep safari, but the choice of gate was wrong. This being a hilly area, citing animals is very difficult and rare. If you are visiting jim corbett with intention of watching animals or tiger. Please plan your trip after doing proper research. I will put few points in separate post.

 After early morning safari relaxed in the resort and then went on small elephant ride near resort.

DAY10:
  Started from Jim Corbett at 7:30 am in the morning for Delhi. We went to Delhi airport directly from Jim Corbett. If you are planning in same manner please keep at least 8 hours in hands for this travel. Many times you get heavy traffic between Gaziabad and Delhi. So keep buffer time.

 So on day 10th, We reached back with lot of beautiful memories from Uttarakhand. If you need any help planning your trip to uttaakhand, you can write to me at kaustubhkhare@gmail.com or call me at 9820031162.

  I will write few more options of itineary as well as budget soon.. till then bye bye.. and yes dont forget to write your feedback on the post.

Switch too Chemical Free Life today. Visit our website http://indicwisdom.com for buying traditionally made products with all authentic, natural and pure material and processes.

Srinagar for foodies

In my latest trip to Srinagar, I got great opportunity to spend time doing my most favorite activity.. EATING.. So, if you are foodie and love trying various delicacies.. this article is for you..

To start with, I enjoyed some sweets, chats and bakery stuff at Nathu sweets. Nathus sweets is opposite to Dal lake ghat no. 11.

Nathu sweets not only serves Kashmiri sweets but has amazing variety of bakery, bengali sweets and chaat items.

You can enjoy pastries, puffs and lots of cookies here. Hot veg puff was really amazing.

If you are craving for chaat.. Dahi bhalla, Dahi puri & the famous Aloo tikki will satisfy your taste buds. You can also get panipuri here, but pani puri and shev puri are no where near Mumbai.

You can also try some kashmiri sweets full of dry fruits like appricots, walnut, almonds etc.

For veg lunch / dinner, the road parallel to dal lake, between ghat 11 till dal gate provides lots of Vaishnav restaurants. All of them serving amazing parathas, chhole puri or some even serving south indian.
  
Now comes the part for real food explorer..

I had an opportunity to enjoy traditional kashmiri meal called wazhwan... Its a serving for multiple people and must be enjoyed in group, sitting on the ground (bhartiya baithak).. 
First course consists of platter of kebabs which include chops, seek kebab, chicken leaver, sweetish reshmi kebabs etc. This platter is served on top of base of rice.. this rice is enough to accompany all courses..

This is how Wazhwan enters the eating area ....

And then... the real beauty is revealed and presented to you....

Second course is a spicy red gravy called rista.. its close to apla marathi Rassa.. this rassa has 5-6 big meat balls prepared from minced mutton. 

Third course is of gostaba.. its a white curd based gravy again with meatballs. Tastes really fantastic.. not spicy, but sour gravy and made very rich probably by adding dryfruit paste..

Fourth serving is of roganjosh.. this is again brown spicy gravy with mutton, but this time not minced.. it has big pieces with bones. The gravy is spicy and tastes amazing.

Dont take your closest friend if he is foodie.. else that bone can break the friendship

Once you put all this in your tummy.. drink hot kawa to help digesting it..

This amazing drink is made up from cardemom, saffron, sugar and some local spices.. its real bliss

If you are in shrinagar, dont miss this lavish grand meal.. but dont forget to go in a group and enjoy this meal together.. the best place to get this meal is at mughal darbar restaurant which is 15 minutes walking from dal gate. There are two restaurants with similar name, the real one is on first floor..

They also serve portion for one person but then you will miss grandeur of this treat.. so go in a group and enjoy...
Apart from this, you can also try yakhni, kashmiri pulav, chicken kanti, Kabarghah (Mutton Chops)...

So.. when you are in srinagar.. apart from shikara ride dont miss on this SHIKAAR.. 
Bon Appetit 

Karnala - Best trek for beginners, Best patch for climbers

  Although I personally started trekking from Mahuli near Asangaon, I have taken few groups to Karnala as their first trek. If you are in Mumbai, this trek can be done in a single day. Very less travelling required, and you can club this trek with karnala forest resort or trip to Alibaug, Kihim etc.

  Karnala base is just 14 kms from Panvel as you can see in this map.

Panvel - Karnala Map

  I have mentioned it as best place to start trekking because, its comparatively easy and small trek. You can reach to the top in 1.5 to 2 hours easily. Apart from one small rock patch, I dont remember any tricky portion enroute.

  You can travel to base by your own car / bike, then park it in any of the restaurant and start climbing. Else you can also travel easily by state transport buses.

  You will easily get a bus from Panvel ST depot, as all buses going to Konkan pass through Karnala.

  Apart from Karnala fort its a bird sanctuary and if you are lucky and interested, you can spot few nice birds around.

  Once you reach at the top, there are around 50 stairs which take you to the entrance of the fort. The fort is not in very good conditions but you can see some bastions and protection wall which will give you glimpses of what it was in past. 

  If you are climbing enthusiast. Then the image shown below will surely attract you. A thumb shaped peak is a good challenge for climbers and many groups plan climbing expeditions at karnala.

 There are two water reservoirs, carved beneath this thumb. They have very sweet water and most importantly the water always remains cooler compared to the water you have carried with you. You can safely drink this water, provided groups before you have not thrown garbage in it.

  You can prepare, or unpack your meal at the top, enjoy it and then start your descend. You can come down to base in an hour or so.

  If you have additional day in hand, you can either enjoy at karnala forest resort, or travel to alibag / kihim for spending remaining time.

 

Kihim Beach

  So, if you reach karnala base by 8 am on saturday, you can easily come back to base by 4pm.

  If you have your own vehicle, you will reach Alibag, kihim by 5:30pm. Then enjoy sunset on alibaug beach. Spend night at Alibag / kihim. And come back on next day post lunch after enjoying your dip in the morning.

  So when are you planning your first trek? Its not too hot yet.

  but, Please dont leave any plastic behind when you come back.

  If you need any help, dont hesitate to write to me at kaustubhkhare@gmail.com or contact me @ 9820031162.

Unexplored Beaches of Kokan - Ratnagiri District 1

   In My first article I had written about some beaches of Kokan which are in Raigad district. This time I am taking you further south. Ratnagiri district has many beautiful beaches. Most famous being Ganpatipule, Velneshwar, Ratnagiri etc. but I am taking you to some lesser known beaches.

Anjarle:   

This village is famous for Kadyavarcha ganpati temple and also has a small but beautiful beach. You can reach Anjarle via Goregaon -> Mandangad -> Kelshi or Dapoli -> harnai.

You can also, enjoy very nice homely lunch / dinner here in small houses of locals.

If you are visiting konkan from Mumbai, I will suggest travelling from Mandangad -> Kelshi -> Anjarle and move southwards after enjoying anjarle beach.


Harne - Murud - Karde

    These three beaches are almost adjacent to each other. From Anjarle you have to head towards Dapoli and these beaches are on the way. On this road, dont miss one spot atop the hill where small gallery is constructed to observe beauty of this entire area. You can see beautiful view of Suvarnadurg & other forts near Harne.

  Suvarnadurg is sea fort which can be reached from Harne in a ferry. You will have to negotiate with local fisherman to reach this fort. But if you are fort architecture enthusiast then you should not miss this fort.

Harne offers another very very important thing for Fish lovers. The grand fish market near Harne port. If you are travelling in own car I will highly recommend purchasing fish here and then ask the cook at your destination to prepare it for you. Here is a small video of auction at harne beach which takes place every evening except heavily raining days.

After visiting harne, you can proceed to Murud and Karde beach and then head to Dapoli. Murud & Karde beaches has some good accommodation options if you want to call it a day alternately, you can proceed to Dapoli and stay in Aryavart.

Ladghar - Burondi - Kolthare

If you want to explore more, you can take a right turn for Ladghar just before entering Dapoli. This right turn will take you to two more less explored but scenic beaches, first is between Ladghar & Burondi. & another one is Kolthare. There are few more small beaches but I personally liked these two mentioned above. If you are planning to stay here, you have option of sai sawali at Ladghar.

In Kolthare you can check for homestay, or travel till Dabhol jetty for accommodation.

After visiting these two beaches, you can head straight to Dabhol & cross the Dabhol creek in a ferry to explore Ratnagiri further. This Dabhol Ferry carries your car / mini bus as well so take this ferry, else you will have to travel back all the way to Khed -> chiplun to reach our next destination.

So this was the first part of unexplored beaches in Ratnagiri, soon I shall put the second part where I will cover beaches near Guhagar to Ganpatipule and more.

What to Eat - Rajasthan - Jaisalmer

This is not a desert... at least for food lover.. For me being in Jaisalmer was like being in Oasis & not in dessert.

When you are in Jaisalmer, along with beautiful Sand dunes & Haveli's & Fort , the most enjoyable thing is variety food served here.

Dont give miss to any of these as you wont find them in other part of country and more importantly they are very different.

Ker Sangri:
Ker sangri in its raw form looks like this. Its mostly found in desert and requires very less water to survive.

After preparation, the final dish looks something like this:

Apart from Ker sangri, you should also try Gatte ki sabzi, papad soup.

Ghotma Ladoo is another such delicacy from Jaisalmer, it is different type of Bundi laddu. You can enjoy this laddu  in a Bhatia Shop inside Jaisalmer fort. You can pack them with you as well as they will remain good for around 15 days even without refrigerator.

Rajasthani Kadhi is another interesting thing you can enjoy it across Rajasthan. and even in Jaisalmer most of restaurants serve Rajasthani Kadhi.

What to Eat - Rajasthan - Jaipur

Travel and Food cannot be separated.
If you travel without trying local food and talking to local and taking a stroll in local market.. you better travel on google maps or google streetview. This is my belief please dont feel offended & at least dont stop reading.

I am starting this new segment in blog from Rajasthan as thats the place where I found dishes from different segments all together. So here I bring you step by step guide to eating in Rajasthan while you are travelling to Rajasthan.

Jaipur:
     Its a capital of Rajasthan and all famous cuisines here are really very very reach in all aspects. So if You are very cautious about calories, burn some extra fat before going on rajasthan trip.

    I will recommend Chokhi Dhani if you dont have much time to explore various places in Jaipur.
    Daal bati Churma is the must have when you are in jaipur .

  Bati is made in shuddh desi ghee and if that not enough, they pore some additional ghee when it is served. The real fun is, when you break the bati, then pour Daal & lots of ghee on it and enjoy.. Its amazing...

   Churma is sweet crushed form. You can enjoy it as a dessert after finishing your daal baati.
   If you have sufficient time, you can explore this dish in Dhabas near Sindhi Camp.

   and for those friends who think rajasthan is all veg... Laal Maans is must try. In Jaipur, On MI road, you can try Handi restaurant for amazing spicy laal maans.

You can enjoy this dish with Missi Roti. Missi roti is made of mixture of various flours and with added some ajwain.

If you are not visiting entire Rajasthan then you can try some Pyaaz kachori, Mirchi Pakoda, mawa kachori, ghevar, gajak, gatte ki sabji as well. but if you are visiting entire Rajasthan visit my individual city wise posts to know what to try wherever you go.
   

Aurangabad - Maharashtra

     Maharashtra has great history. Although Shivaji maharaj is the highest point of History of maharashtra there were many important events and places which belong to historical periods other than period of Shivaji maharaj. Aurangabad belongs to the historical period of Yadav's.
     Today's Daulatabad was capital of Yadav kingdom till 11th century. Yadav's ruled this part of India for many centuries and formed very stable rule in this region. As a result, this part became very rich culturally.
     This part was so well developed that Mohammed Bin Tughlaq shifted his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad.

     Today this place hosts many beautiful and historically important places, which makes aurangabad must visit. Here I am listing down some of the important places within or very close to Aurangabad city in details.

1> Deogiri (Daulatabad Fort): This is amazing fort and in very good condition still. Built by Yadav Kings back in 11th century. This fort is architectural marvel and those who are interested in Fort architecture cant afford to ignore visiting this Fort.

  The fort has very unique arrangement at entrance to fool the enemy attacking the fort, it has multiple levels for defence, it has maze to fool the attackers, it has pit dug from all the sides to protect the fort from enemy troops climbing the wall and it also had multi layer protection wall. Architecture of this fort is separate topic of discussion. but if you are planning Autrangabad keep at least 3-4 hours for this fort and see it with guide. It is very close to Aurangabad city, and you can visit by taxi or local public transport.

2> Ghrushneshwar:
      Maharashtra hosts 5 of the 12 jyotirlings of lord Shiva. Ghrushneshvar is one of those Jyotirlings. This temple is very close to Ellora caves. Its 30 Kms from Aurangabad city.

3> Ellora: Ajanta & ellora are one of the most famous caves in India. Ellora has 34 caves in total showcasing carving art of various beliefs. It has set of Hindu caves among which Kailas temple is most important as it is carved out of Single rock. It has buddhist caves as well as Jain caves.

4> Biwi Ka Makbara:
   This amazing place has a great resemblance with Taj Mahal in Agra. Constructed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 17th Century. This place though not as beautiful as Tajmahal, is a worth visiting when you are in Aurangabad.

Apart from the above mentioned things there are many interesting things around Aurangabad, which includes,
1> Ajanta Caves
2> Lonar crater
3> Paithan
4> Nathsagar lake
5> Panchakki
6> Sindkhedraja (Birthplace of Jijamata)

If you are planning a trip to Aurangabad from Mumbai or Pune, I will suggest 4 days trip. This place has really great attractions which are worth spending time. You can travel from Mumbai to Aurangabad by train or State transport run buses. Most of which run overnight. You start journey in the night and by morning 7 you reach Aurangabad.

It will take
1 day for local sightseeing including Ellora
1 day for Ajanta
1 day for paithan
1 day for Lonar

There are many hotels in Aurangabad including MTDC. You can also spend one night at Paithan.
Paithani saree is another attraction of Paithan and you can visit Paithani making factory and purchase a saree for yourself.

So visit Aurangabad, enjoy the places and write your experiences. Feel free to contact me if you need any help in planning this trip. you can reach me at 9820031162 or kaustubhkhare@gmail.com

A day around Dubai creek

First and very important point about this day around Dubai creek is, the day has to be between october to march. Dont even think of trying this schedule between June to September mid.

Many of Dubai attractions, especially those which are part of old Dubai, are placed around this creek.
Here are some interesting things to do / see around creek.

Dubai Museum: This is small but interesting museum near Al-fahidi metro station. You can spend around 2 hours in this place and you can visit in the morning after your breakfast. Its has many details and artifacts about Dubai.

Knife Road: From Dubai museum, you can take an Abra taxi in Dubai creek and go to opposite shore where you can visit knife road. This place has big gold souk & spice souk which are really interesting.

Knife road - Gold Souq

Everything that glitters is gold here

Deira city center. This is one of the oldest mall in Dubai, and its really interesting place to visit. You can catch metro from gold souk and reach here. You can spend two hours here, have your lunch and spend hot and humid part of the day indoors.

Dubai creek park: Reach Dubai creek park by 3 - 4 pm and you can enjoy cable car ride here. Then go to Dolphinarium at 6 pm. and you can enjoy amazing dolphin show. take a stroll around creek and enjoy your evening.

Cable car in creek park

Dhow cruise with dinner: If you dont want to roam around again for dinner you can take a Dhow cruise for enjoying beauty of Dubai creek at night. Dhow cruise is trip around Dubai creek for 2 hours, usually from 7:30 to 9:30, which includes, dinner, Tanura dance & magic show. So after

Dhow Cruise ride with dinner

Apart from these, you can also opt for RTA ferry which runs from Ghubaiba and takes you to Palm jumeirah, burj al arab & atlantis. This is one hour cruise and runs 5-6 times everyday. You can also spend time shopping in Meena bazar or Karama market. So enjoy your time in old Dubai, and especially around Dubai creek.

History of Left Hand vs. Right Hand Passage

  Today, I am not taking you to any place or not suggesting any itinerary. All of you must have heard the concepts like right hand drive and left hand drive.. or left hand passage vs right hand passage.

  If you observe, all british colonies, UK and Japan has left hand pasage, whereas USA, Europe & Arabic region etc. have right hand passage.. Left hand passage meaning vehicles run from left side of the road..

  Today, 75% countries in the world have right hand passage whereas 25% countries have left hand passage.

  There is a very interesting story behind why some part of the world drives on left and other on right side of the road.

 Up to the late 1700's, everybody travelled on the left side of the road because it's the sensible option for feudal, violent societies of mostly right-handed people. 

Jousting knights with their lances under their right arm naturally passed on each other's right, and if you passed a stranger on the road you walked on the left to ensure that your protective sword arm was between yourself and him.
Revolutionary France, however, overturned this practice as part of its sweeping social rethink. A change was carried out all over continental Europe by Napoleon.The reason it changed under Napoleon was because he was left handed his armies had to march on the right so he could keep his sword arm between him and any opponent. 
From then on, any part of the world which was at some time part of the British Empire was thus left hand and any part colonised by the French was right hand.
In America, the French colonised the southern states (Louisiana for instance) and the Canadian east coast (Quebec). The Dutch colonised New York (or New Amsterdam). The Spanish and Portugese colonised the southern Americas. So The British were a minority in shaping the 'traffic'.
The drive-on-the-right policy was adopted by the USA, which was anxious to cast off all remaining links with its British colonial pastOnce America drove on the right, left-side driving was ultimately doomed. If you wanted a good reliable vehicle, you bought American, for a period they only manufactured right-hand-drive cars.

From then on many countries changed out of necessity.
Today, the EC would like Britain to fall into line with the rest of Europe, but this is no longer possible. It would cost billions of pounds to change everything round.The last European country to convert to driving on the right was Sweden in 1967. While everyone was getting used to the new system, they paid more attention and took more care, resulting in a reduction of the number of road accident casualties.

This story is taken from http://able2know.org/topic/20745-1 forum. 

URL: http://able2know.org/topic/20745-1

Panchgani - Dala Rooster

   Hello all... We all are enjoying beautiful winter and many of you must have planned or are already travelling  in this amazing season. Today I am going to write about a specific accommodation and not about itinerary.

   Last month, I visited this fabulous place. A well furnished, well maintained, warm and welcoming bungalow near Panchgani market called Dala Rooster, owned by Capt. Vikas Gokhale from Pune.

Dala Rooster - Near Panchgani market

    Its a 6 BHK Bungalow with well maintained dining area, backyard garden, parking area, gazebo, camfire & BBQ area. Rooms are spread across 3 levels. 4 Bedrooms are self contained and others have toilet besides them.

    All amenities in this property right from televisions to crockery are in perfectly running, maintained & hygienic condition which is really commendable. All public area are guarded by CCTV cameras.

    The couple which stays there to take care of this bungalow is well trained under Mr. Gokhale and is very hospitable and welcoming. They will serve you very good food while you are staying there. Their charges are also very simple which are calculated as price for raw material + cooking charges per person.

    This bungalow can accommodate 12 to 16 people and charges are per person based. You will also get some discount if you are booking entire bungalow. If you are a single family or couple you can book a room as well. Booking entire bungalow is not mandatory.

    You can find booking information for this property on below link.
 
                               Dala Rooster all info

    If you are looking for relaxing weekend at home away from home this is the place to be and if you are going there in a group and booking entire bungalow, there is nothing like it.. Every penny you spend will be WASOOL..

   So, visit this beautiful property, enjoy your vacation and write your feedback about the property as well as whether this post was helpful.

   If you need any help planning your trip, dont hesitate to write me mailto:kaustubhkhare@gmail.com

Prakruti Resort @ Kashid, Maharashtra

      After a long time  I have started travelling again. This time my 6 months old daughter joined me in my first trip after entering fatherhood. Although it was a small trip, I will be writing two posts on it. This first post will as usual narrate about place, what to see, how to reach etc. and the second one, how we prepared ourselves to travel with our baby.

      Kashid is around 120 kms. from Mumbai (Chembur). You have to travel on Mumbai Goa highway till you reach Wadkhal (Chembur - Panvel - Karnala - Pen - Wadkhal). You can take a break at Palaspe or Wadkhal, try Amantran at Wadkhal for your breakfast. After Wadkhal, roads are not in good condition so It will take you another 60-90 minutes from Wadkhal.
  
     You have to take Murud road (Left turn before entering Alibaug) and travel another 25 kms from Alibag bypass to  reach Kashid. Beach at Kashid is very beautiful but "We the people" have made it look like any other beach in Mumbai by throwing all possible type of bags, bottles and stuff.. But, you can walk for 10-15 minutes and reach cleaner part of it and enjoy.

Me And My New travel partner @ Kashid Beach

      Apart from Kashid beach, you can plan to visit fort Janjira @ Murud, Fort Korlai, Kashid view point, and some other beaches like Kihim, Ashti, Nagav, Revdanda etc.

     But, if you have already seen all this and want to spend your weekend relaxing and just spending good time with your family or friends.. Here is one option which will give you some wonderful time.

    Prakruti Resort is just 5 minutes away from Kashid beach. This is excellent landscaped resort spread across 45 acres and has various options like studio apartments and 2/3/4 BHK villas to stay.

Restaurant @ Prakruti Resort

Scenic walkway inside resort

One of the villa inside resort

SPA @ Prakruti resort

Swimming Pool

Dining Hall

Studio Appartment @ Prakruti Resort

Bullock Cart

   There are lot of facilities at this resort to ensure you have good time without getting bored
      - You can take a dip in swimming pool with sip of wine or beer
      - Play Tennis
      - Play Table tennis
      - Bicycling
      - Play Pool
      - Enjoy massage at Spa
      - Enjoy a game of Golf
      - and most importantly enjoy a private beach, clean & away from crowded Kashid Beach.

  The food is included in package and its very good. All meals are buffet and you will get sufficient variety in Veg as well as Non-Veg. Apart from that they have pool-side cafe. You can also enjoy your beer relaxing at poolside or order tea and Pakoda.

  All the amenities are well maintained and you can enjoy them at reasonable rates. (Access to swimming pool is free, other activities are charged).

  Resort also has conference center, so if you want to plan outbound for your company, you can think of this option. You can access internet in their reception lobby.

  Rooms are good. Each room has garden facing balcony. All appliances, lights and amenities inside room were working. Room service was also good. Villas are spacious and if you are going with big family you should surely go for a Villa.

  When I visited this resort, rate for single night for studio apt. was 8300 but they gave some discount. Rate for 2BHK villa was 16000 & for 3BHK it was 24000.

  Overall it was amazing experience, if you have a kid ranging from 0-2 years and thats stopping you from travelling for weekends then this is very good option. I am sure you wont regret the money spent.

  If you need any help planning a trip, you can reach me @ kaustubhkhare@gmail.com