Travelling

This time it's a weekend getaway. Though very close to the last road trip to Gujarat, but pre-birthday celebration for daughter!! Day 1 We started from our home in Pune around 5:40am on a Saturday morning. It was around 120km to the Mapro Garden. We reached by 8:10am. Google says Mapro Garden opens at 8am, but for their staff. Their restaurant is only operational by 9am and the mall is not totally functional even by 10am. They have put some tables for testers , however the staff was reluctant to get the samples tested. As a word of caution, this is an over hyped place. Only the strawberry cream is delicious. We bought a few things from the mall , had our breakfast and started towards Mahabaleshwar. Approx 25mins drive and we reached Marjorie point. We stopped to look at the scenic view and click some pictures. We then moved on to reach Arthur's seat point. There were a few more points on the way like Hunting point, echo point, Malcolm point, tiger spring...

December, the grand finale of the year, always seems to be packed with excitement and fresh hopes. My friend dropped by with his daughter, and we decided to make the most of the weekend by heading to the beach. Our initial plan to visit Alibaug was quickly swapped for the quieter Aravi Beach near Shrivardhan. We hit the road bright and early at 5:40 AM on Saturday. The 162 km drive took us about six hours, including a leisurely breakfast break and a couple of pit stops along the way. We passed through Mann Village in Hinjewadi and Tamhini Ghat, with mostly smooth roads—though there were a few bumpy spots to keep us on our toes. By 11:30 AM, we arrived at the peaceful Aravi Beach. This hidden gem was a serene escape, untouched by heavy crowds or commercialization. A handful of modest stalls offered snacks and refreshing juices, but the real charm was in the spacious parking and the unspoiled stretch of sand. After parking, we slipped into our swimwear and lathered up with su...

This is the full merged blog of a 13-day road trip from Pune to Gujarat and back. Day wise separate blogs are available in the hyperlinks as this entire could be too lengthy to read. Day 1 Pune - Ahmedabad   We started from our home in Pune at 4:15am for Ahmedabad. The expected drive time was around 13 hours by the map ( excluding breaks). We took the Ravet route to Mumbai which was good. The saying "Mumbai never sleeps" could be sensed when people seemed rushing to their workplaces even before 7am. The roads between Mumbai and Vapi were terrible and took much longer. The roads were under construction and had heavy vehicles all the way. It needed patience and skills to navigate that route. After crossing Vapi , we finally stopped for a break and had lunch. After a filling lunch, we resumed our journey. At Bharuch, we got onto NE4 (National Expressway 4) which is one part of the golden quadrilateral project connecting Mumbai to Delhi. Now this was an enjoyable driv...