TAMHINI GHAT IN MONSOON

It was month of June and raining heavily in Pune. Considering the heavy rains and the cool weather, we (myself and my wife) decided to visit Tamhini Ghat that day. We thought visiting Tamhini Ghat during monsoon could be a wet experience. We started around 12.00 noon thinking that we could cover the distance of about 70 kms from Pune via Chandni Chowk by car in about an hour and a half. But on the NH4 there was a diversion of traffic resulting in delay in reaching the destination by about an hour.

Tamhini Ghat is beyond Tamhini village and the route is though Phirangut, Ghotavade, Sutarwadi, Kolvan, Paud, Male, Mulshi, Gonvadi, Palse and ends before Tasgaon. It has some of the bigger water falls. The condition of the road in the entire stretch of Tamhini Ghat was bad with pot holes when we travelled. Visiting Tamhini Ghat during monsoon was the best experience!

We reached Mulshi around 2.00 p.m. As we were hungry by that time, we were on the look-out for a eating joint on the way. We tried Deshpande’s on the Mulshi Road but they had exhausted non-veg.by then. It was near Shedani Phata turning ( small road on the right goes to Malhar Machi Resort) we found Hotel River Place on the right. We were not sure about the availability and quality of food but the non-veg. food served there was excellent. Even the service was good.

After lunch, we moved on from Mulshi to Tamhini. On the way, we found a water stream on the Mulshi Tamihini Road where children were having a field day being a Sunday.

Moving further, we found a number of small waterfalls. Before start of Tamhini Ghat, we asked the Bikers on the road as to where the Tamhini Ghat was. They advised us to take the road at the right which goes to Lonavala instead of the Tamhini Ghat as it was raining heavily. We took their suggestion and moved on the Lonavala road.  A few kilemetres down the road, we found the Tel Baila mountains with water falls all around. Most of the stretch of the road was filled with mist with visibility less than 10 feet. It was a wonderful experience to watch so many water falls at the same time more so when it was raining heavily.

There is Deshpande Farm (veg and non-veg) restaurant on the way to Mulshi. At Shedani Phata Hotel River Palace is another joint where both types of meals are served. There is Vittal Kamat restaurant on the way to Mulshi.

Some of the other restaurants in the area are (i) Basho's Restaurant on Gonavdi Gaon, Mulshi (ii) Paradise Cafe at Village Mulshi (iii)Malhar Machi at Mulshi, (iv) Hotel Shreepad at Pirangut, (v) Garva Hotel at Bhugaon, Mulshi (vi) Ai Saheb opp. Jakat Naka, Mulshi (vii) Hotel Malwan Baithak at Jakat Naka, Mulshi among others.

The entire stretch of 50 kms. between the turning before Tamhini to Lonavala was an isolated road with hardly any traffic and no habitation for miles together. We even found water flowing over the road. After we reached Ambey Valley crossing did we realise that we had passed through a road completely inhabitated but the experience was awesome!

It is advisable to use this road if there is more than one vehicle. Any breakdown of the vehicle will only land the traveller in trouble because no help will immediately be available on hand.