Morons in Mahabaleshwar

JUN
10
2006

We reached the Shivajinagar bus stand at around 8.30 A.M., only to find out that a bus had left for Mahabaleshwar at 7.45 A.M. and the next one would start out only at 10 o'clock. A private bus seemed to be the only recourse and so, we took an auto to the Swar Gate bus stand.

We boarded a private bus which would take us to Mahabaleshwar Phata. The fellow who sold us the tickets had assured us that we would find a constant stream of buses and jeeps waiting at the Phata to transport us to the hill station. Alas! At the Phata, the few buses which we saw didn't even stop for us. We ended up catching a shared rickshaw to a place called Vayi, 12 kms from the Phata and around 30 odd kms from our destination. TD found a fairly comfortable seat at the front. Seal and myself found seats at the back. Along with 9 other people. With one of them sitting on a battery. And another on a small stool. Next to me was an old man who kept nodding his head incessantly at nobody in particular. Resigned smiles were exchanged as the auto sped towards Vayi.

Subject to TD's persuasive arguments, we gave up the Vayi bus stand as a hopeless case and hailed a taxi to Mahabaleshwar. Our taxi driver, a loquacious Rajput gave us tips on what to do at the hill station and finally deposited us at an expensive hotel. He agreed to send his brother, also a taxi driver, the next day to take us around Mahabaleshwar. Starving as we were, we feasted at a place called Rasoi - The Family Restaurant at Hotel The Kalpana Excellency (sic).

In the afternoon, it started raining heavily - the first rains of May. In the evening, the rains subsided somewhat and we set out on foot to explore the tourist trap where we had landed. We managed to cajole TD to accompany us to the pièce de résistance of Mahabaleshwar, the Venna Lake.

Venna Lake

Fortunately for us, we encountered the aforementioned taxi driver who obligingly took us to the lake. Along the way, he revealed that he had spent nine years in the docks of Mumbai, arguably, dangerous environs to reside in. He seemed to have moved here for a 'quieter life'. He also found it amusing that 3 singles had landed in a haven for families and honeymooning couples. As night settled in, the weather turned pretty cold with mists swirling about us. The whole of Mahabaleshwar doesn't receive TEN Sports - so we had to sleep without watching the India-West Indies one dayer.

The next day we took a taxi trip to most of the major tourist spots in Mahabaleshwar - Kate's point, Echo point, Lodwick's point, Elephant's Head and Sunset point.

Elephant's Head