Tantalizing Highlands of Mahabaleshwar...

Heaven on Earth ??? .....

Naah.... with such a short lived life and more to come, I believe I would be an audience to such a creation one day. For Mahabaleswar.. it was very close !

Summers had started with a bang in pune and the mercury was rising like never before. So to beat the heat We ('Ladki, Bade Bhaiyya and Me') 'planned' to visit the higlands around pune. The planning was almost perfect, it was such that we started planning to go by Bus but finally ended up in a private Car. We planned to move out at 5 am but could only manage by 8 am (Thanx to me :) )

Bhaiyya grabbed the front seat just beside the driver, that way he could stop the driver whenever I wanted to "Su Su"..... :)...kidding... A photographer by choice, "bhaiyya" wanted to take snapshots of things we often miss & in the end he really proved his worth with the cam.
For Us: We enjoyed the long ride & glimpses of "India Shinning".

After 3 hours of drive we reached "Wai" {Known for its 'filmi village' fame, since most movies shot village scenes down here}. From there it was an uphill drive towards Mahabaleshwar. The scenic beauty by the side of the roads were simply "Awesome". Although I dont really remmember the no of points (close to 20 I think !!) we did visit after entering Mahabaleshwar, each one of them was worth a thousand praise. Of all these places I remmember a few, "lodwick point": where bhaiyya made us walk 4 kms for few snaps,

"Vennu Lake": where we rowed the boat more than the person we hired and finally paid him 40 bugs, "Needle Point": where we had a ride on horse back n got snaps in "Filmy Ishtyle", "Sunset point" where Bhaiyya went crazy to take pics of the setting sun but to his misfortune the sun sank earlier than expected.

And then there was "PARA GLIDING": an Experience of a lifetime: 15 mins of Jaw dropping experience and an adrenaline rush which we never felt before. The Colorful parachutes with which we flew, looking at the "Tiny" elements (people) on the ground, this experience was "One Hell Of An Experience". Thanx to bhaiyya's discharged battery, we never got clicked when we wanted the most !!!

Of all the wonderful experience we had, a good amount of credit also goes to the place where we stayed. "Hotel Arya !! Room No "111", The balcony of which presented a mesmerising view of Mahabaleshwar.

When all the above was not enough, Bhaiyya and me tried 'Go Carting'. Where there was no car but "cranky bikes". It was here that it was proven that bhaiyya had grown old. Since I beat him by 2 laps, while he was still struggling to manouver the bike !!

Like all good things, this experience was also shortlived.... But was too good to forget !!!