Glowing Evershine of Kandivali

Evershine Park of Kandivali on Google Maps


Thakur Village township of Kandivali (East), Mumbai, provides a quick summary of India’s economic success and change of attitude. Impressive thing is that 15 years ago this area was a flat barren land. Today it’s an Independent Township with multiple skyscrapers of 20-25 floors, luxury shops, malls, restaurants, cinema halls, schools, Engineering, Medical institutes, hospitals and of course lots of parks.

Evershine Park, a small park, is one of the most impressive of all parks. It’s mainly for small kids and many options provided for their enjoyment like regular swings, sew-saw, sliders etc,

A mini train its own train station is also one of the prime attraction, however, it’s a automobile with multiple open coaches

A raised platform offers good view of the park and can serves dual purpose of a performing stage as well. The dual castles on the dias reminds of entrance of Disney Land.

Symmetrical Park’s has two open terraces as well, offering good view of the dias itself.


Colored fountains are the most impressive offerings of Evershine park of Kandivali. All over the park one can see dynamic and multicolored fountains of different patterns. It’s another good item which not only small kids but also grown-ups enjoy.

Small sections with green grass and the periphery of the park caters to people looking for jogging and relaxing on turf.

Mismanaged local cafeteria is one weak point not only due to its poor quality but also the price for the sub-standard quality.

Nirvana Vegetarian restaurant near, Evershine park of Kandivali, is one great restaurant in the area which is about 7-10 minutes walking distance. After long time I really savored restaurant food. In INR 900.00 five adults and a small kid had sumptuous dinner.
Domino’s pizza is also good option, plus there are other street vendors as well

Nearby Places:
Sanjay Gandhi National Park of Mumbai is hardly 15-20 minutes away, local malls, theatre, restaurant, small parks

Time to Visit:
Regardless of month, ensure that you visit around 4:30-5:00 pm, because fountains are switched ON only after dusk. If you go too early you would miss on the colorful spectacle.
I would avoid summers, since Mumbai’s weather is very humid and one gets drenched in sweat too quickly

Directions:
Once in Mumbai, take local train till Kandivali and board auto-rickshaw from the East of Kandivali. In 30 minutes, you can reach the park after crossing the Western Express highway. It should cost you around Rs. 30-40.
Park entry fee is Rs 5.00 per person and additional charges of Rs 50.00 for camera.

Empress Botanical Garden of Pune

Empress or Queens garden is one of the unique family park of Pune.
Don’t know why the garden is called so, however, it does have meaningful name – Botanical garden.

What a treat it is to spend 2-3 hours in the park, this sizeable park is grand display of nature’s unimaginable variety and beauty. Kindly bear with my limited knowledge of scientific terms related to trees but the actual park does have tree’s correct names.
Entry is Rs 5.00 and no charges for parking.

Like most other parks it has section for young kids apart from nature lovers. On entering start towards the right to see two in one beauty a small stream overpowered by big tree with hanging stems. One such big tree got uprooted and is put for display; this would force you to check the sky above and all you will see are the tall trees. No they aren’t as tall as the mighty Redwood trees but are taller than average.

On walking further came across this striking plant with red flower or fruit. Take a pick yourself!

Next to it is a motherly tree with its stem extending in curvilinear manner to form an almost perfect circle for family photograph.

We then skimped through the little section due to most unusual tree. Tree so passionate, that it tied knot to itself. Indeed a true masterpiece. Ground below is full of red colored exotic insects, but their population does give a scare.

In the mid section you will see variety of trees one of them is extra wide banyan like tree. This was one of the trees which reminded me of gigantic trunks of Redwood tree.
Right of it was a tree with two uncommon birds with shrieky sound, but their beak was an artwork.

Further round the park you will see a tree with web like base trunk, trees in natural bouquets and a chauvinist tree coiling to make the other tree look meek.



Back portion of the garden is more like a mini forest, where in one area we spotted white birds.

Caution:
Back portion of park has many insects and snakes. But more repulsive is likelihood of some anti-social elements, security guards strictly advised against entering the back zone.

Nearby Places:

Saras Baug or Swans Park. Peshwa Park. Bund garden . Pune Race course ground, Parvati Hill . Beautiful Gurudwara made of white marble. Sambhaji Park JM Road .



Directions:
Located in Pune camp area hardly 2 kms from Pune race course ground. Roughly its 7-10 kms from Pune railway station.
For mall junkies its very close to Big Bazar mall of Bhairon Bha Nalla area.

Bund Garden AKA Mahatma Gandhi udyan of Pune

Bund Garden of Pune on Google Map

Bund Garden a.k.a. Mahatma Gandhi Udyan, is very small family park on the banks of Mula river in Pune. no its location is not secluded. Park is part of the busiest road junction of Pune.

Inspite of its urbanish location in a city where real estate prices have already sky rocketed, it does cater to different sections of society kids, parents, youths, casual bird watchers and health conscious individuals as well.

A small section of park is dedicated to kids with swing, see-saw etc. Most of the park is covered with green grass and has benches for comfortable seat. But the noise pollution of the busy junction drives you towards the fence overlooking Mula river.

If you visit mid monsoon, i.e. July – Aug onwards, you would enjoy the sight of gushing flow of water in otherwise dry tributary of Mula river. Park‘s trees house variety of birds nest like sparrow, mayna, crow etc. Deccan College road leading to Khadki is located on the other bank. Shiv mandir on a small hill of Deccan College road is good view. On the right of the park is the AhmedNagar Rd bridge.


We visited just before dusk ~ 6:30pm, birds were so active that their noise had overtaken the traffic noise. Park also has a center fountain, but due to renovation it was closed.

Paying Rs 5.00 parking charges is good means securing your vehicle in isolated area instead of leaving aside on main road and bear the brunt of exhausted Pune motorist eager to reach home or other destination.

In parking there is a ghat leading to Mula river, where historically some boating activities were carried out. Now there is no sign of any boating. Parking area is very dirty and poorly managed area. Thankfully there is no human filth.

Opposite the park is joggers park of Rotary Club of Pune, entry is Rs 4.00 per person, but since it was almost dark we skipped the joggers park.

Bund garden is place one can easily skip as there is very too much price paid for its little offering. But if you are mall junkie then there are two malls a stone throw distance of the park

Nearby Places:
Pune Central Mall on RTO road, Satgurus mall for ethnic and luxurious gift items, Osho ashram at Koregaon park., JM Road and Sambhaji Park.

Saras Baug or Swans Park. Empress or Queens garden

Directions:
Park is within 5 kms of Pune railway station. One has to come on Ahmed Nagar road where RTO office, famous Ruby Hall Clinic and Jehangir Cancer hospitals are located.
Auto rickshaw is a good option.
If you are coming from Swargate, then you have two options - either get onto overcrowded JM Road or drive through Pune Army's camp area which gives respite from crazy evening traffic.

If coming from Aundh, Kothrud then reach Sancheti Hospital via driving on University Road. From Sancheti turn left and then turn right towards RTO / Le Meridien hotel.

Right next to Pune Central mall and opposite KBC (Kumar Builders) tower.

Life is free in Sarasbaug

Sarasbaug – Swan’s park is a neat, family park located near Swargate & Parvati hill in Pune. As the name suggests the park has many free resident swans both white and black.
Yes you read it right – swans are not caged as in zoo, so it’s a great spectacle to witness the beautiful birds having accepted this park as their permanent dwelling.

It’s a great joy to see these beautiful birds from so closely in their natural habitat free of any cages.

Centre point of the park has nicely built Ganesh temple and there are plenty of trees and plants with beautiful flowers and green grass. Whats striking is that the Ganesh temple is constructed on a natural small pond. One has to climb around 20-30 steps to enter the temple, not to say that it does give good overview of park’s front and the main road.





At first sight the pond appears to be just another with plenty of hyacinth and water lilies but on careful observation it’s inevitable to notice plenty of marine life. Yes the pond is full of tadpoles, colorful fishes and huge tortoises.
Infact, hyacinths play important role in privacy of marine life from camera flashes of intrusive humans (like me ) but also protection. Protection from innocent looking swans. Yes they too need to eat something to maintain their looks.



It’s actually the pond which has contributed to building the community of swans. This small natural ecosystem in the park makes it unique from other contemporary parks and very-very different from zoo.

Trees at the back of Ganesh temple is the place to view the beautiful white swans. They are in plenty in this park. You may not even have to wait to reach the back of the temple to watch them. If you carefully watch the pond, you could very easily find one amongst the hyacinths - catching a fish.

White swans with orange beaks are easy to spot, it’s the black swan which is hard to find. I luckily spotted one taking a quick dip in pond and flying away with its meal. Good sight but felt bad for the fish.



Also you will see beautiful twin trees at the right side of the temple, which lulls you to be in Kerala backwaters. From the same right side you can see the Parvati hill.

Park has another entrance from left side of the temple. This side road is full of eating stalls very similar to stalls of Mumbai’s Chowpatty. You can really savor on variety of Indian snacks. But for restaurants you have to drive towards the Swargate Bus depot


Caution:
Entry to the park is free but it’s safer to park your car in pay and park to avoid risk of car getting towed by authorities.

Nearby places to see Parvati Hill. Peshwa park. Other temples. Bund garden . Sports stadium. Empress or Queens garden.

To Lion from Tiger point, Lonavala

Lonavala is one of the most famous and popular tourist spot in Western India amongst family and youths. Monsoon onwards (June) Lonavala hill station is swamped with people of different age groups. Thought Bushy dam of Lonavala is the hot spot of all visitors and numerous waterfalls are the crowd pullers, but 20-30kms from Bushy Dam is majestic view of Western ghats (ravines) from Tiger point and Lion Point of Lonavala in the Sahyadri ranges. Amby Valley project of Sahara group is about 20-30 kms from Lion point.

Acting on pleasant hangover our recent visit to Tamhini ghat, Lonavala was easiest of the spot to pick. This time we had our family members with us.
Our starting was unexpectedly agonizing, as the driver didn’t know a better way and we ended up taking a much longer route from Chinchwad, Pimpri to reach the old Mumbai Pune highway. I wanted to enjoy the drive from the local villages, hence was biased against the routine Mumbai – Pune expressway route.
After unnecessary drive of 1 hr, the sight of lush green villages was very refreshing.
Roads were surprisingly good and as expected soon we came across toll booth where nominal charges of INR 25.00 was paid.

Coincidently just left of toll booth had a swamp full of fresh green plants. The background of hills was further beautified by the cavalry of spotless white birds, which seemed to be feeding on swamps marine life. The site was picture perfect.
Sight of parallel railway track playing a secure host to colorful speeding train in the valley was a bonus of choosing the route.
After cutting through crowded main street of Lonavala, hit a traffic congestion on a narrow road. Soon realized it was due to poorly managed toll both. Though wasn’t too happy in paying Rs 5.00 per head & Rs20.00 for the car as pollution tax, but it made sense. Bushy dam is nearly 4-5 kms from the toll booth and 7-8 kms Lonavala railway station.

Bushy dam was overly crowded and with local parking rates of Rs 20.00, decided to skip and continue ahead. It was indeed the right .

Passing Bushy Dam, we stopped at Tiger point of Lonavala, 15-20 minutes from Bushy dam . The view was spectacular and many people were enjoying the waterfalls. Some couples were unnecessarily brave for climbing down while holding their 1-2 year baby, especially because the waterfall was close to ravine and rocks were very slippery. Some youths did trip but thankfully on the wrong-side of ravine.

View from Tiger point of Lonavala is very good, especially of the dome like peak with a flatbed holding the dam’s water. Apart from the view ensure to savor the salty baked corn with lemony tinge, it costs only Rs 5.00 & 7.00. But a must do to enjoy the monsoon rain on the high peaks.


Less than 5 kilometers further is Lion point of Lonavala. Its one of the best places I have seen. The view is very spectacular - due to the unprotected cliff which is thousands of feet high. Getting close to the edge enforces a feeling of great adventure & thrill. Down below you see open flat land with small villages and local farmers busy with their cattle in the farms.
The panoramic view is nature’s extravaganza and its might.


On the right side you see the same dam, visible from Tiger point, but you also see the rugged muscles / scales of the strong mountain on which the natural water repository is housed and excess water being drained as spectacular waterfall.
Left hand side has peak which locals call as Shiva ling, while to me looked more like gigantic Hershey’s kiss me chocolate. Peak could have been easily used in Charlie’s Choclate factory.



In between is open cliff called the Lion point of Lonavala, due to geographical arrangement the wind from lower stratum gets blocked by the tall mountain which causes a wind force of 40-60 kms/hr on the cliff. Yes the headwinds were too overpowering, yet there were many youths braving to the edge of the cliff but we practiced discretion is better part of valor.

20-30 kms further is Amby Valley, location of Sahara groups most reputed housing projects where many Bollywood, cricket celebrities and well known industrialists have bought prestigious property worth a fortune. Roads leading to Amby valley are world class and lulled me to believe of being driving in USA.

On our way back clouds had captured the Lion point and visibility was almost zero. What a day it was proving to be – being in the clouds at thousands of feet in one of the most beautiful valleys of Western India. Place where it was bright sunlight had no visibility in less than an hour. Nature’s magic had been constantly unfolding in stages displaying its might and beauty in phases. For me it was sign of warm welcome by Mother Nature to all the visitors. Else why it would have been so articulate and precise in her grandeur?

Nearby Places:
Mulshi Dam, Tamhini ghat, Karla Caves, umpteen waterfalls, water park near Lonaval station. Khandala. BhimaShanker
For Mulshi Dam, Tamhini ghat after crossing INS Shivaji (Indian Navy), take left towards Mulshi to enjoy beauty of Tamhini ghat on same day.
Plenty of restaurants to eat and enjoy, including Smoking Joes Pizza joint.

Caution:
Drive Slow especially while driving down the steep hill. While climbing, Be watchful of oncoming traffic
Administration of Lonavala has done good work by deploying cops patrolling to avoid past nuisance created by youngsters after getting drunk and create the place more family oriented. Indeed, toll money is being used properly by the administration - good reason for me to pay the toll.



Directions:
From Mumbai its 3-4 hours drive at a distance of 120-150 kms.

From Pune it takes about 1 hr 15 minutes to cover distance of 40-50 kms.

From Pune two routes are either via the Mumbai-Pune expressway where toll of Rs 84.00 is charged or travel on NH 4 (old Mumbai - Pune highway) where you get to enjoy the countryside beauty more and toll is also much less.

Wild West glimpse at Tamhini ghat near Mulshi

Tamhini ghat near Mulshi on Google Maps

Tamhini ghat is part of mammoth Western ghats of India, also known as Sahyadri ranges, starting from Western and central state of India and crosing over the southern Indian peak. For nature lovers it’s another quick and great escape from urban Mumbai or Pune. From Pune, it’s a day’s trip. Without indulging in trekking or other adventure it can easily be completed in half day.
After series of monotonous, tiring weekends we decided to take a break and go for a days outing. With advent of monsoon, Mulshi lake was natural choice since its only 1-2 hours drive from my house. The drive is scenic since its on a small hill overlooking the busy Banglore-Pune-Mumbai highway. Within 5 kms of the toll you are already away from urban Pune and driving through towns.

We started at 11:00pm & after taking some photos of scenic route stopped at village to buy fresh buns for our pre planned brunch in Mulshi lake resort which was still about 45 minutes away.
On the way crossed Paud town, which is known for its police station, law court and a road connectivity to phase 3 of Hinjewadi’s Rajiv Gandhi IT and Bio Technology park.
This IT park hosts multiple big campuses of Infosys, TCS, Wipro etc.

Immediately after Paud in next town you saw pack of hill hotels and resorts on asingle hill, but it’s the neighboring hill reclining farming which forced us to stop for few more photos. View was reminiscent of Darjeeling in Assam, India.

From there onwards, it’s all rustic villages separated by vast fields in between. After crossing Mulshi Dam, now in control of Tata Power for hydro electricity generation, came across Yoga retreat centers till we reached the resort for our brunch. Had a quick feasting on Missal Pav (blend of spicy curry of potatoes, lentil with dry mixture).

Location of the Green Table resort at the foothills of Mulshi of cloudy peaks and on the shores of Mulshi lake is ideal. But the landscaping of the small resort is very well thought and immaculate. It was truly amazing to see the beauty and variety of the flowers and plants in the small resort.


Blooming flowers were attracting many colorful butterflies to draw the nectar. It was indeed a retreating view of butterflies feasting on flower nectar – a sight I witnessed for the first time in my life.


On resort owners recommendation we decided to travel 30 kms further towards Tamhini ghat. After reluctantly driving we came across mesmerizing view from height of thousands of feet overlooking of cascaded peaks with abrupt valley.




Sight reminded of Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA, with added tinge of cloud clad peaks better than smoky mountains in Tennessee, USA. Few kms further saw flat landresmbling the wild-wild west western landscape of mid western USA, e.g. Monument valley of Utah.



The declining road reminded me of view from peak of Mt Washburn of YellowStone national park in Wyoming, USA.

What is remarkable is that single place offering contrasting views i.e. green and cloud covered Smoky peaks and few hundred meters below one sees dry and barren land. Sight reflecting India’s unity in diversity.

Caution:
The place is relatively secluded especially after leaving Mulshi lake, yey you would come across villages and off road restaurants. Venturing alone in Tamhini ghats should be avoided as I have heard occasional cases of robbery. If not in a group then daytime travel is recommended. Its safe to travel during daytime.
Also there are many sharp turns and in monsoon season one should drive with good care, especially whenever a heavy vehicle is passing from other side. As there aren't road dividers.

Nearby Places:
Mulshi Lake, Mulshi Dam, Konkan Region, Mulshi Rustic Villages, farms, Mulshi Yoga retreat centers with plenty of options to eat and sip warm tea/coffee in the clouds

How to reach
We started around 11:00 am and from Chandni Chowk, Kothrud in Pune, turned onto toll road going towards Konkan region and Goa. Toll charge is Rs 25.00 for normal car. Came back home by 7:00 pm.
A positive note on commendable effort of Maharashtra government for having regular bus service in remotest places. Something for American government to learn from, especially after petrol prices soaring to $4.5/gallon. Please note that I traveled by car and advise you to start driving with full tank due to regular mountainous terrain.

Nearby Places to see:
Lion point, Tiger point, Lonavala. Karla Caves. Khandala. BhimaShanker

Related Links:

http://www.westernghats.org/

http://www.westernghatsforum.org/