Beaches along Shriwardhan coast

The Shriwardhan taluka of Raigad district is entirely located along the Arabian Sea coastline beginning from Dighi village in the north to Harihareshwar village in the south. Until quite recently barring Diveagar and Harihareshwar, the beaches were unknown to tourist (even those too were famous only because of historic temples). Although the beaches are still good, but they could soon become non-visit material due to port activities and tourist commercialization.

Despite a major part of the coastline being rocky or cliff filled, there are several sandy seashores. Am listing down the places I visited although there are quite a few more (Dighi, Sarve, Velas & Harihareshwar were skipped).

Adgaon Beach

Tungarli Lake / Dam in Lonavala

Tungarli Lake

Lonavala has tons of lakes and ponds; some natural ones and several ones created due to the innumerable dams built in this area. One such lake known as Tungarli lake is formed by a small dam. Calling this a lake would be geographically incorrect usage of the term "lake". At best it can be said to be a pond since it's size seems to be quite small even though the rainy season was just ending. I doubt the water will exist even beyond winter.

It's about 4 kms from Lonavala. The approach road is a narrow one and uphill enough. It's probably tarred because some resort have opened here near the lake. While on the road you will encounter the dam wall. Its quite old and was probably built during the British era.

Once near the lake there is plenty of evidence of human litter, some eatable bags and plates; plastics and all but this was still minimal. The main problem is innumerable glass shards of broken bottles all obviously alcoholic. I think going in the lake barefoot will surely leave you bruised in several places. In case you plan to spend the time here, search for a place not littered with glass for your safety. Better still clean the place for yourself. I think the other bank of the lake could be much more cleaner than this place since this is the first point of contact.
Inspite of all this the place is still not that dirty, still visitable.

Karala Caves: The 350 Steps Climb

A few kms from Lonavala off the old Mumbai-Pune highway lie the twin caves of Karla and Bhaje. When you notice the road sign of Karala, take a turn in opposite direction since the road-sign is actually for the village and the caves lie on the other side.

There is now a road that takes you very close to the caves and the climb is reduced considerably (just 100). However, horsepower issues ensured that we climbed the whole way by parking at the foothills.

Initially the steps are large (I mean large in length) and about a metre or two. Then they start reducing gradually and towards the end become normal sized.

Koraigad - Lohagad Trek contd...

In the previous post, I narrated about the first part of trek namely the Koraigad fort. Here we continue on the 2nd part.

From Mumbai, there are several ways to Lohagad. If you want a more complete trek, take exit at Khalapur toll-naka and head towards Malawali station. From here you can also visit Bhaje caves. The route from here is long and it will take about an hour to just reach the base.

Since we were already in Lonavala, the shorter route was an internal road that we could drive directly till the base.

The internal road from Lonavala to Lohagad isn't that great as of now with big potholes (see map at the end of this page). Other than that the final 3 kms are a challenge for small cars with gravel littered roads giving little traction over the steep slope.
At one point, after several to and fro runs to climb uphill, the one way to give the 1L WagonR support was the age-old method of S.T. drivers; use stones on the back tyres for support. Worked like a charm and the car climbed uphill easily.

So take care at this part, don't stop for snacks here just go ahead. This is the point where the road bifurcates towards Pawna dam

Koraigad and Lohagad Forts: A Refreshing Monsoon Trek

Both these are pretty simple to do considering there are restored steps to climb them. I had already done both of them once, but Koraigad earlier was in winter.

Vashi >> Lonavala >> Peth-Shahpur(near Amby Valley) >> Koraigad >> Lohagad base village >> Lohagad >> Sinhagad Institute >> Vashi

06.00: Vashi

07.30: Lion Point

08.00: Peth-Shahpur village

09.30: Koraigad Fort

10.30: Start descent

11.15: Proceed to Lohagad

12.45: Lohagad base village

13.45: Lohagad Fort

14.30: Start descent

15.00: Lohagad base village

17.00: Vashi

Lion's Point

Reaching here at about 7.00, this place is continuous under cloud cover as this is the start of Sahyadris range with Konkan region below. Clouds coming from Arabian sea constantly ensure a foggy atmosphere.

Road visibility is next to nothing so not easy to drive this stretch as seen from the snaps below. Parking lights are a must:

Karnala Fort Trek Through Bird Sanctuary

Karnala bird sanctuary is a small forest in Raigad district of Maharashtra.

The fort lies within the bird sanctuary perimeter. Its a thickly forested hilly region. The Karnala fort pinnacle can never be missed from Mumbai-Goa highway due to it's peculiar Thumbs-Up structure. The following image would make it clear:




Route:
Panvel -> Karnala Bird Sanctuary = 12 KM

Lonavala: Pavana Dam Boating Trip

Pavana/ Pawana Dam is about 45 mins drive from Lonavala. Since we were already based in Lonavala it served as an ideal place to spend time.
The drive as expected is entirely through hilly narrow one lane roads, so just be careful. Nevertheless the scenery is quite picturesque green especially since we were going at end of monsoon.

The main attraction here is the boating in the lake. View from the parking lot:




There's a garden near the boating club. It also houses a cafeteria which was a relief considering the hot sun.

Valley's With A Name: Khandala's Tiger and Lonavala's Lion

Tiger Valley

Located in Khandala in the beginning as soon as you cross over the ghat; has magnificent views of the valley. Almost anyone travelling to Pune will never have missed it. Although seen several times over, never really had stopped to see it. It's best observed from Old Mumbai-Pune highway since that is at a greater height.
A couple of scenes from the valley:

Unexplored Murud: Khoda Beach & Jetty

Khoda is a small village between Murud-Janjira and Rajpur. To reach proceed on the way to Janjira fort, and just as you cross the bridge you will come to a village. Take a left or ask someone for directions to the jetty and you'll reach there. The beach/jetty overlooks the Janjira fort too.

Anjanvel - Fish, Fort, Sea and Lighthouse

Anjanvel village is under 20 kms from Guhagar. It's also near from Dabhol village; infact midway between the two.

Anjanvel is a sleepy village but it does have some great beauty. There are no options to live or dine here; so you can explore this place while using Guhagar as a base. Reasons to visit this place:
1. Gopalgad Fort
2. Spectacular views of the sea (with lots of fishes jumping around).
3. Tolkeshwar Lighthouse.
4. Dabhol Power Plant (formerly Enron).


Dabhol Power Plant

From Guhagar, head towards Dabhol and mid-way there will be a diversion towards Anjanvel village in the west (near power plant).

Strange thing is that the power plant is very near to Anjanvel rather than Dabhol and it should have been named after this village.