Blissful In Bhandardara

After many years of driving around in the foothills of the Himalaya's, we are currently in the process of adjusting to the fact that the 'hill' stations of the Western Ghats of Maharashtra were more like 'hillock' stations, e.g. Mount Kalsubai which is the highest peak in Maharashtra is half a day's hike uphill! But what they lack in height they make up for by the absence of crowds and a sleepy quality which slowly sucks you in. Located four hours from Mumbai off NH3 to Nashik, Bhandardara is one such gem. Checking into the government run MTDC lodge right on Lake Arthur hill, we spent our time wandering around the lake shore, visiting the ancient Amruteshwar temple from where the legendary Pravara river originates and stopped ever so often to take photographs of the numerous lakes and rugged cliff faces. Saving the Randha Falls for a later visit, chose to indulge in a rustic meal of fresh lake fish and rice and then explored the trails around the base of the Wilson Dam. A friendly official from the irrigation department regaled us with stories of this earthen marvel of British Engineering and invited us to come back again and visit in the monsoons when the river would be in spate and we could see him controlling the ebb and flow of the third largest waterfall in India. As we drove away the following day, we played hide and seek with Mount Kalsubai as she stood guard over her kingdom and knew in our hearts that we would be back to experience again, the bliss that is so easy to come by in Bhandardara...