Saturday, February 27, 2010

Treasure Hunt in Lavasa


One more Sunday trip, wokeup at 4.30 am, but it was worth it!!!

It was a treasure hunt organized by my office. We were supposed to meet in Dadar at 6 a.m., bus was waiting for us. We started our journey at 6.15 am picking others on the way.

Our journey : Mumbai-Pune Expressway Talegoan Toll Plaza to Chandini Chowk (33 KM) on the expressway, through the fly over bridge, from Chandini Chowk Toll Plaza we  travelled along the same road and we reached LAVASA.

Though it was far from Mumbai, but the road was excellent and nice scenery - mountains and greenery always make the best view. It was also nice to play games and know people during the journey.

 
Before we reached the gates of Lavasa, we could see it from the hills and it looked beautiful!! Great architecture and greenery together, very nicely planned. And still lot of construction remaining...i hope the environment will be same and hopefully more beautiful even after all the buildings and other constuction comes up.

Sooooo after reaching Lavasa, we had a quick breakfast and rules were told to us... 4 groups  of 13-15 members, no member should be far from his group more than 7 feet and other stuff.
 
We all started from the starting point and got scattered   to our points. We were provided with a guide, map and a compass. Guides were supposed to give us a hint / puzzle indicating our next location and after solving the puzzle we were given a task to complete.

Point 1 : Lakeshore Watersports
Point 2 : Bungalow no. 101
Point 3 : Water tank
Point 4 : Building with some alphabets
Point 5 : Back to our starting point
While completing the treasure hunt, we felt like Roadies!! it was great.. the location made it more delightful. The lake, bridge, houses, everything was neat and pleasing. Like i mentioned before, construction was not complete and many buildings even if completed still were not used, but still it was a joy to see them. Climbing hills and again climbing down was so much fun.
Even after roaming the whole place for 3-4 hours, no one was tired (except during climbing wooden stairs making way between trees). It was a experience, i will never forget. The place, its enchanting beauty, view from any place we stood is just unforgettable or i should say worth remembering.

So after completing the treasure hunt, all of us had tea with bhel puri and again took off for our home

by bus.

I don't know what was more entertaining - the treasure hunt or the place. Maybe it was the mixture of both. It would not have been so much fun without Lavasa, i believe.



Sunday, February 21, 2010

Fun at Awas Beach, Alibaug

It was two weeks back and i still miss the beach so much! Had such a great time with friends…ahhhhhhhh!!!

Sunday morning waking up at 5.30 am is just like not sleeping at all!  But had to!!!

Soooooo……the trip started at 8.00 am from Gateway of India  -  20 kms by Ferry (MALDAR was the name)  & then by road…it was a 6-seater rickshaw and we were singing songs till we reached Awas.

   
  

 In short, the route was:  Gate Way of India - By Sea- Mandwa and then Mandwa -By Road- Awas Phatak – Awas

We stayed at a house of friend’s relative. They were very welcoming and kind.  There we took some rest, had tea, changed clothes and ran for the beach… actually we walked to the beach!!!

The beach was flat and had 3 different types of sand and good. It was calm and no one else at the sight. Water was clear and beach very clean. The scenery is beautiful – trees and the beach is breathtaking.

We had breakfast on the beach and ran in the water as fast as we can. We played like small kids…playing with water, throwing sand on each other and then putting it on the face.  Then settled down and had a good chat sitting in the water.

 
 We were on the beach for more than 4 hours and there was no one to disturb us… what else we could ask for…. clean beach, good sand, clear and safe water and only us!! No vendors and no shops only a peaceful beach with calm water.

Only problem we faced was coming out of the water, but we had a ferry to catch. So after having a lot of thought and quality discussion we decided to leave the beach and go for lunch.

After taking a bath on the well, we had a delicious lunch… all of us ate as much we could. The food was fantabulous.

Soooooo………it was time to leave. We left the village again in the rickshaw for catching the ferry (This time it was PNP). 

And we returned back to MUMBAI!!! Had a good sleep at night .... for next few days had a dark skin and sunburn ... soooooo will be going back sooonnnnnn!!!!