Pune-Murud Janjira-Alibaug-Lonavala

Alibaug-Murud

HOLIDAY,But where? A common thought that keeps hitting our mind…Where can we go easily without tiring our self, where can we go for relaxation, which is unexplored place…My cousin Vivek too was looking for holiday. so we decided go together…

I remember my cousin Vrijilesh suggesting Murud Janjira, a name that had raised my eyebrows…I decided to check this place and started to look out for its images in google. The place looked stunning and the fort in the middle of waters of sea seemed like an exciting reason for us to visit. It was just 3hrs drive from Pune and suited just what we where looking for.

The tickets to Pune, was the 1^st step to confirm our travel…we got the sleeper booking on train, and luckily got it upgraded to 3ac when we boarded it. We started on holiday with excitement and also a strange feeling on how this holiday will be.

Day1: We reached Pune in the afternoon and had made arrangements for a cab to take us to Murud which was ready to drive us to our destination. But before moving ahead, we decided to have a quick lunch…KFC was the easiest pick and my friend who had helped me arrange the cab dropped in to meet us and brought along huge packet of cake, chudwa, chips and methai which would be useful for our journey. We started from Pune at around 2pm and reached Murud by 5pm, but in these 3hrs we experienced the amazing .Pune - Mumbai expressway passing through tunnels, scenic hills..this was the first indication that we were surely going to have lovely holiday.

Pune - Mumbai Expressway

On reaching Murud, we checked into the resort which was a beautiful sea facing resort with lovely rooms which weere well kept & designed beautifully. We had an evening coffee and were tempted by the sound of waves coming from the sea and so without wasting anytime we walked on towards beach…we spent the evening on beach & later enjoyed the indoor games.

Murud Resort

Beach:

Day2: It was time to explore Murud, we hired an auto and started out on the exploration towards the Murud fort.. the narrow roads, lush green trees on either side of the road, the village was all soothing…once down the valley we got the first glimpse of the fort which was situated in water, we could see the boats ferrying people to fort and decided to go experience it ourself. It was typical old boat packed with people, but was wonderful being on it.. when we reached there we were instructed on being very careful while stepping out of the boat as the steps were submerged in waters and thus slippery…we jumped out on of the boat and entered the huge gate of the fort, the guide told us the interesting story of the old fort and then we headed back to the boat for our ride back to the shore.

Murud Fort

we had a quick lunch at a beach shack. The spellings on the menu card was enough to give us good laugh but the food was very yummy after an an amazing sea food lunch we headed back to the resort through a nice stroll on the beach. Evening was relaxing with a nice game of caroms and snacks followed by good dinner buffet.

Day3: At 8am,we started towards our second stop…Alibaug. Through narrow well laid lanes passing through big industries we reached Alibaug resort in an hr

Murud - Alibaug road

Alibaug Resort

not as impressive as Murud, however Alibaug had its own charm...the 1^st place that we decided to visit was the Alibaug fort.We were disappointed that we could not go to that fort because of high tide but little did we know that we were to plan our trip, the resort guy told us the low tide timing as that was the only time when people r allowed to visit the fort. The story is that, during low tides, the water moves behind the fort creating a clear beach for the tongas to ride the visitors to the fort, however the tourists have to make sure they head back to the shore by 5pm as the water starts filling back…this wonder of the world is worth an experience and believable only when seen with out own eyes.

Alibaug fort before low tide

Alibaug fort at low tide

Alibaug Fort

Rest of the evening was spent in visiting Kihim beach & feasting on pompfret at a sea side stall. A game of table tennis was perfect way to end our day.

Day:4 Our holiday was coming to an end, we started back from Alibaug early in the morning as we planned to do a quick sightseeing of Lonavala & Khandala. The expressway passing through hills tunnels clouds & mist was amazing and a photographers paradise…Having had a quick stopover at Lonavala we shopped for the famous Lonavala Chikki we reached the Pune railway station in 2hrs bringing to an end an unforgettable holiday with Vivek & Neha.

Lonavala: