Day 228 of Indian places giving smiles – An outing with friends to Lonavla
A weekend getaway from the routine life at Mumbai is always welcome….and the first place that everyone decides to pack their bags to visit is just 2 hours away…yes, it was time for 4 college friends to have a reunion holiday at Lonavla….and this is 30 years after leaving college!
We ‘girlies’ were excited to meet up for a chance to become ‘girlies’ again. Our Can-Indian friend from Toronto refused to step into McDonalds for breakfast. Instead we opted to visit the food court off the western expressway to relish one of the most authentic Maharashtrian treats ever. The spicy chilly and chutney with the batata wada, the misal, the pova, the sabudana wada is something that has to be savored and cannot be described in words…(provided you can shoo away the flies that irritate you around the table).
Now we were all set to search for our resort that looked quite swanky as per the pictures shown on the internet. Lonavla is the closest ‘holiday in the hills tourist destination’ for Mumbaites and has hotels at every nook and corner. After a long drive off the main road we finally found our resort, a nice place but not as swanky as what we imagined when we saw the internet pictures. Learning experience number 1- do not get carried away by what is projected about a hotel on the internet.
It was time to visit the local market near the railway station to pick up a few essentials and for shopping….we just had to buy the famous Lovala chikki, fudge, mixture and fruit cubes. It was also time for some crazy photographs. The street around the Shivaji statue was just too crowded, instead we had out mad moments next to the mother and child statue.
And how to get a group photo of us in the crowded market place?…by sign language propositioning to an innocent local person…the look of confusion on his face was priceless…he almost fell down in shock wondering why he was being summoned by our pretty friend until it was clarified that it was only to click a picture…this was just the beginning of the many laughs that automatically happen when four old friends have a day out together.
Yes we had so much to catch up about when in the privacy of our hotel room…it was as if we had never grown up as we reminisced about our similar crazy moments during our college days. How we could burst into giggles for any silly reason. How we played pranks on our common friends. How we would keep talking throughout the day in college and also on the local land line when we came home…this was another day filled with talking and laughing again and again, a privilege enjoyed whenever there is a reunion of friends! And yes there were moments of personal life sharing of present situations too…with real friends the mask of looking good drops off and we can just be ourselves and lighten up by opening up! Learning experience no. 2 – Do go out regularly for overnight holidays with old close friends, it is good for the body, mind and soul!
We did not realize that this was a conference specialty resort until we were served lunch and dinner in the common dining hall/ swimming pool area along with other private conference members. And by the time we came down most of the food was over and we were expected to make do with the final scrapings. After paying full rate tariffs and not conference rate tariffs we expected to be treated with more warmth and care. Because of the insensitive service, we insisted for a further discount on our tariffs and we actually got it. Learning experience number 3 – make sure that you get the high standard of service that is promised to you…everything about the next mornings breakfast, the variety of food, the taste, the cleanliness, the attitude of service was now impeccable…we demanded better hospitality and we actually got it!
It was time for some sight seeing. Lonavala in the rains is a covered in a coat of greenery. I was out of the hotel at the crack of dawn, breathing in the good energy of nature. We drove past the Lonavla lake on the way towards the INS Shivaji – a training centre for new recruits to the army.
I decided to visit the Bushy dam early in the morning. My memory of this place was that of hoards of people sitting on the steps of the dam getting their backsides wet. On our earlier visits, we used to avoid this place completely because of the crowds. As I waded through the filthy puddles of water, fell on the slippery rocks, walked by the numerous shanties selling refreshments, avoided looking at the garbage left behind by insensitive tourists, and finally climbed up the steps to stand on the walls of the dam, I was shocked to see absolutely no barricade to prevent people from falling into the deep reservoir on the other side of the steps. No wonder we were advised to avoid this place completely. Lesson no. 4…miss visiting Bushy dam in Lonavla and you don’t miss anything much.
After visiting wax museums abroad, the wax museum in Lonavla could be of no comparison, or so I had thought. Did see it on our previous visit and was happy to see the wax images of many Indian celebrities. There are other waterfalls, gardens like Ryewood or Rajmachi and observation points in Lonavla like Lion Point, shooting point or sunset point where you can get a superb vantage view of the hills and valleys of nature, but Lesson no. 5 people, people, people everywhere is a disappointment of this once beautiful, now commercial hill station Lonavla.
I did manage a quick visit to the nearby Karla caves. My memory of an earlier visit to this place was when we had to climb more than 700 steps to see a Buddhist stupa like structure with many sculptures on the walls. Now the vehicle comes up more than midway, we can climb up the flight of steps in just 15 minutes and obviously there are many shops on either sides.
Well this Karla caves is now a protected site as declared by the Archeological Society of India. I was really surprised that the entrance fee to this ancient piece of heritage is only Rs. 5 and the place is obviously not maintained well. Learning experience number 4- we take for granted our unbelievable relics of the past, instead we need to charge higher entrance fees to ensure that our ancient remnants of history are well preserved for posterity.
I stood for a long time in the line for a darshan of Goddes Ekvira, who grants the wishes of the devotees. This small quaint temple has ugly political posters and donors names depicted on the walls of the structure for the devotees to stand in winding queues before entering the temple.
Lesson No. 7 I am also one of the many people who throng to commercial oriented Lonavla…so I request you to drive past it and not to stop at any of the tourist spots. If you get to know a local, instead take a trek to the many unknown, beautiful waterfall points where nature is still at its glorious best without the presence of humans!
As far as we 4 girlfriends were concerned, our purpose was to laugh lots and catch up on years and years of stories of each other…and the crazy experience at our reunion at the resort in Lonavla added to the list of stories that we will talk about for many more years to come.!
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