Took a trip recently to konkan coast, a beautiful get away around 250 Km from Pune towards South South West. The route I took is; Pune -Pachgani-Mahabaleshwar- Hariharesawar-Diva Ghar- Shrivardhan. Pune- Panchgani-Mahabaleshwar is a popular tourist destination for people from Pune & Mumbai owing to short distances.
Panchgani & Mahabaleswar are tourist resorts resting in the heart of Western Ghats ( Sahyadri). I started from Pune at 10 AM, reached Pachgani & Mahabaleshwar around noon. The entire stretch gives superb driving pleasure. I have to say that Grandeur of Sahyadris has to been experienced.
I had a short break in Mahabaleshwar and started proceeding to Harihareshwar, en route, I had to let past Pratapgad, ( It was soon getting dark and I had to reach harihareshwar). Pratapgad This is the place where Chartrapathi Sivaji killed Afzal Khan of Adilshahi forces; well described in Battle of Pratapgad, . This was the first significant military victory against a major regional power, and led to the eventual establishment of the Maratha Empire.
Had to negotiate serpentine roads, hairpin bends while descending Sahyadris to reach Harihareshwar,. Hariharishwar has an ancient Shiva temple overlooking the sea. We stayed in MTDC certified home, few hundred feet from the beach. Beach is clean, safe and ideal for swimming.
I also toured Shrivardhan & Divya Gargh; two more beaches, all within 25 Km radius, both beaches are very good, again ideal for swimming. The journey from Shrivardhan to Divyagarh is one of the beautiful sights, the road traverses hugging the coastline, you would not lose sight of the sea from the road during the entire stretch. I strongly recommend this route. En route is small fishing village named Shekhadi where arms, ammunition and RDX landed for use in Mumbai blasts 93
Both Harihareshwar and Divyagragh have MTDC hotels. I recommend staying in Harihareshwar and visiting Srivardhan& Divya Gargh. You will also find several homes which are certified by MTDC for providing tourist accommodation. Accommodation starts from 300 INR per night. Here,you would actually living with a family. I suggest to check this option instead of checking into an expensive hotel suite, you would get to know stories and legends linked to these places, more than that you will be making new friends. MTDC certified homes are listed in MTDC Website .I have stayed in a house owned by Madhu Smith (Retired Gentleman), house has very basic amenities; Rs 300 per night. I would recommend this place. Land lady prepares food for a reasonable price. Madhu can be contacted at 02147-226138 for reservations
I have tracked ( GPS Trace) the route through my Mio A701 GPS mobile, when I converted these GPS track files into a KML and overlaid on Google earth, I was pleasantly surprised.... Google had done really good job creating road vector layers, my GPS tracks were all hugging the Google’s vector road network. Having positionally accurate vector road data on these high relief areas on Sahyadris is a commendable job indeed by Google.
If you guys need a tracks in shape & kml formats please drop me a mail at contact@dinakar.com I will be more than happy to share with you…..
Panchgani & Mahabaleswar are tourist resorts resting in the heart of Western Ghats ( Sahyadri). I started from Pune at 10 AM, reached Pachgani & Mahabaleshwar around noon. The entire stretch gives superb driving pleasure. I have to say that Grandeur of Sahyadris has to been experienced.
I had a short break in Mahabaleshwar and started proceeding to Harihareshwar, en route, I had to let past Pratapgad, ( It was soon getting dark and I had to reach harihareshwar). Pratapgad This is the place where Chartrapathi Sivaji killed Afzal Khan of Adilshahi forces; well described in Battle of Pratapgad, . This was the first significant military victory against a major regional power, and led to the eventual establishment of the Maratha Empire.
Had to negotiate serpentine roads, hairpin bends while descending Sahyadris to reach Harihareshwar,. Hariharishwar has an ancient Shiva temple overlooking the sea. We stayed in MTDC certified home, few hundred feet from the beach. Beach is clean, safe and ideal for swimming.
I also toured Shrivardhan & Divya Gargh; two more beaches, all within 25 Km radius, both beaches are very good, again ideal for swimming. The journey from Shrivardhan to Divyagarh is one of the beautiful sights, the road traverses hugging the coastline, you would not lose sight of the sea from the road during the entire stretch. I strongly recommend this route. En route is small fishing village named Shekhadi where arms, ammunition and RDX landed for use in Mumbai blasts 93
Both Harihareshwar and Divyagragh have MTDC hotels. I recommend staying in Harihareshwar and visiting Srivardhan& Divya Gargh. You will also find several homes which are certified by MTDC for providing tourist accommodation. Accommodation starts from 300 INR per night. Here,you would actually living with a family. I suggest to check this option instead of checking into an expensive hotel suite, you would get to know stories and legends linked to these places, more than that you will be making new friends. MTDC certified homes are listed in MTDC Website .I have stayed in a house owned by Madhu Smith (Retired Gentleman), house has very basic amenities; Rs 300 per night. I would recommend this place. Land lady prepares food for a reasonable price. Madhu can be contacted at 02147-226138 for reservations
I have tracked ( GPS Trace) the route through my Mio A701 GPS mobile, when I converted these GPS track files into a KML and overlaid on Google earth, I was pleasantly surprised.... Google had done really good job creating road vector layers, my GPS tracks were all hugging the Google’s vector road network. Having positionally accurate vector road data on these high relief areas on Sahyadris is a commendable job indeed by Google.
If you guys need a tracks in shape & kml formats please drop me a mail at contact@dinakar.com I will be more than happy to share with you…..
