Monsoon Trip to Lavasa

           After our trip to Bhaja caves, this time we decided to go to Lavasa for a full day drive. This was our 3rd visit to Lavasa and 1st after our marriage. Monsoon is the best time to visit Lavasa city (India's first planned hill station) which offers you pleasing climate that permits the exploration of nature and waterfalls established in the region.

Lavasa

About Lavasa:
          Lavasa is a private, planned city being built near Pune. It is still under construction and mainly people visit this place for Monsoon nature. It is also a famous driving route for bikers. Currently, Lavasa is controversial for many reasons such as Environmental damage, hill cutting, Use of water resources which belongs to Pune city, Land acquisition issue etc.  Construction of Lavasa had to be halted due to orders obtained from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
In-spite of all issues, it is a famous destination for the monsoon.

The routes to reach at is Pune - Chandani Chowk – Paud Road Toll – Pirangut – Take a left at Ghotawade Phata – Temghar Lavasa Road – Temghar Dam – Lavasa Ghat road – Lavasa entrance Gate – Lavasa city.

There is another way to avoid Pirangut village is take a left turn just before descending Pirangut ghat. As I haven’t tried this route I can’t comment anything about it.

My Uber cool machine...i 20

12th August 2012 Lavasa: (Total Distance traveled: 121 km)
            We started our journey by 8.30 AM in morning. I observed that rush begins in Lavasa after 2 PM so to enjoy nature journey, we left home a bit early (Considering tourist trend to visit Lavasa). Our entire drive was memorable. Showers of rain welcomed us when we reached near Temghar Dam and then faced continuous heavy but pleasant rain. Hills, which were completely covered by clouds, was giving us a spectacular view. We took numerous pit stops for photography. The road takes you towards Temghar Dam after descending the Mutha Ghat. It is one of the famous spots to take a little break and enjoy the view of the Temghar Dam wall and then the actual Temghar Dam after driving few kms.

Temghar Dam

Near Temghar Dam

Temghar Dam wall

Dam backwater

            After passing Temghar Dam, very lovely curvy road welcomed us. By this time, we were too hungry and we had a tasty Vada-Pav and Corn (Bhutta).Complete cloudy weather with heavy rain, cool breeze, Temghar backwater view & cup of coffee & hot served Vada-Pav (Indian Burger) with your loved one is just a memorable experience. There are too many corn stalls from Temghar Dam area till Lavasa entrance gate. The same road takes you towards Lavasa Main Gate and beyond. This complete road is fun to drive. I was not able to touch 60-70 speed because of regular turns. The sharp turns in the Ghats were fun. But the drive coupled with the scenic beauty was awesome. Greenfields on sides along with waterfalls, then the Temghar backwaters and then the Dasave Lake at Lavasa. We did our bit of photography on this road bcos of heavy rainfall.

Corn

Corn

           There was proper security at Lavasa entrance gate and the security personnel noting the vehicle numbers and reason for the visit. After crossing the main gate, we could see Dasave village i.e. Lavasa Phase 1. It is about 7 – 8km from this point. There were few roadside small gardens and they provided parking space & from this point, you can have a birds-eye view of Lavasa.

Lavasa

Waterfall

            

          Lake/Dam backwater is at center and Lavasa is surrounding it with the wide road. Along the road are the Residential Villas, Convention Center, Hotels, Water Sports Center and Lavasa Information Center and so on.There are ample sign-boards to guide you to the places in Lavasa. To have a walk on walking plaza gives you feel like you are in a European country. There are lots of restaurants available such as The All American Diner, Zodiac restaurant (4-star), 24 hrs. Coffee shop, Granma's Homemade Patisserie, Tabakh (Lebanese), Oriental Octopus (South East Asian), Past Times English pub, Chor Bizarre (North Indian cuisine), Sub-way, Pizzawala, Brewberry's - Coffee bar and fast food outlet, Natural Ice cream etc.We had our Lunch at Potato twist, Sub-Way & then pastries at Granma's Homemade Patisserie.

Potato twist making

Potato twist

lots of restaurants

          There are some watersports activities in Dasave dam from morning till 5 pm (Depending upon weather condition in monsoon). It is little expensive, but they have all equipment’s in good condition like Jet Ski scooters, paddle boats, Kayak, inflatables, Bumper boats (dashing boats in a limited area), cruise etc. rate range from INR 100/- to 500/-. We were a bit unlucky as it was raining heavily. You can also have the ride of Lavasa in a minibus with a large window or in a toy train (wheel vehicle converted in toy train) which runs on the road. After Hanging for some time around Lavasa, we went for a drive away from Dasave village. This route was parallel with the backwater of Dasave dam.

watersports 

          By 4 we decided to move back home. Again with some pit stops for nature photography we reached home by 5.30 pm safely. All in all, it was an awesome long drive trip that we wanted in Monsoon.

We 

View from X thrill point

Waterfall

When cloud meets road

• Car Petrol: INR 500-600/- (approx. 7 lit: INR 75/lit)
• Toll on Paud-Pirangut Road: INR 30/- (Return toll)
• Corn: INR 20/- per piece
• Vada-Pav: INR 10-12/- per piece 
• Potato twist: INR 70/- per piece
• Sub-Way: Rates almost same as other subway branches
• Pastries at Granma's Homemade Patisserie: Range INR 45/- to INR 125/- as per flavor. 

Thanks for reading this Travel Blog. Happy traveling.

Pritesh Kulkarni

Pune