Blogs from Maharashtra, India, Asia - page 19

Arriving to our hotel in Aurangabad, Donna and I were surprised. Actually, we were surprised by a number of things. Firstly, the hotel room was as nice as the website pictures….surprise number 1. We were also surprised by the faux tiger print window seating that we had which would have been a great perk had the views not been of the shabby hotel next door and various other roofs of our neighbours. But the biggest surprise of the lot was the gecko that scurried out of my day bag over my shoulder and onto our bed. I confess that letting out a small and girly scream was my first reaction to this, but put this down to surprise rather than actual terror….. If you have ever tried to catch a gecko, you will know that this ... read more

Finally, this was the one outing that makes me come back to the the blog after almost 4 years! I saw people comparing this place with some other places and calling it mini-swiss, but ask me, it's just our own India and I am proud of it - the serene beauty of Maharashtra, the ranges of Sanhyadri, favorite among the trekkers, known for the fog covered mountains, having several valleys and forts! So, how did I landed there? I wanted to take my family out, especially had not taken my daughter anywhere in this monsoon, wanted to take her close to waterfalls, dams - now that she has started understanding what they mean! I was on search for something which is little different than regulars like Lonavala, Tamhini, Matheran and even the forts and I finally ... read more

“The discovery of a wine is of greater moment than the discovery of a constellation. The universe is too full of stars.” Benjamin Franklin I’ll start by defending our massive disregard for the rules of the road whilst backpacking and hence why we chose to head off to the fantastic ‘Beyond@ Sula Vineyard’ resort in Nasik. The main reason for this seemingly outrageous overspend was that it was Donna’s birthday and so we decided to treat ourselves. The second reason was the unbelievable package that we managed to snare because we were in the right place at the right time. Being Monsoon, I guess business is a little slow at this fantastic hotel and spa and so we managed to get a 2 night, 2 meal, 2 breakfast package which included a bottle of wine a ... read more

The year 2000 December I landed in Mumbai weighing all of 36 kilos, exhausted and stressed with Kolkata. I managed to find a paying guest accommodation in Bandra and then a job developing business for a medical import and export organization. The next year in February we drove down to Pune for some meetings with doctors. I remember being very impressed with the expressway and it was a lovely drive round the Ghat section of the Western Ghats. A couple of meetings, a quick lunch and a visit to Jehangir hospital and we drove back. A very exhausted me almost went off to sleep during the drive before being deposited near my paying guest accommodation. I believe the expressway is far more advanced now and Pune has developed into a hub. I do wish to go ... read more

We were only coming back to India as our return flight home was from Mumbai. We had just 4 days there and still we decided to make the most out of it. What was obvious to us was that we didn't want to stay in Mumbai for a single extra minute that was necessary. First we were thinking about going to Goa but that was a little bit of crazy idea considering that we had just 4 days including the journey and flight tickets were extremely expensive. So then we absolutely fell for the idea of going to Kashid (thanks Indu for the tip!) which is called the Goa for a poor man. Perfect for us! :) It was supposed to be only 3 hour drive from Mumbai. And not touristy at all. But of course ... read more