Hello..! We have been on many tours since 2014 but never did the Monsoon trip. Now this year I used to make a monsoon trip with regular bike riders Naren, Vishnu and Afzal Bhai. After Evening talk with them we decided to go first Pune for some work and then visit Lonavala and Mahabaleshwar.
August 11th Thursday evening at 7:00 PM we started our journey from Gadwal, Telangana by car. An hour later we reached Raichur and then had dinner at Yadagir and reached Solapur via Gulbarga. We stayed there for the night and got fresh in the morning and started our journey to Pune. after 250 km of road journey finally we reached Pune at 10:00 AM.
We completed our work in pune till evening and moved to our first destination Lonvala in the rainy weather.
 |
| Road Map of Lonavala and Mahabaleshwar |
After one and half hour journey from pune we reached lonavala in light rain at 4:30 PM. First we went to hotel for tea and purchased some famous chikkis, after that we wandered over the lonavala street roads in a light falling rain and at 7:30 PM we check in a hotel room and stayed over night there..
 |
| Azam at Lonavala City Centre |
Early morning we check out our hotel room and went for local sight seeing..
Lonavala is the most popular mountain destination in Maharastra. It is also the most favourite hilly gateway for travellers from around the world. Lonavala is a perfect place to enjoy ecstatic weather and scenic natural landscape to enjoy beauty. It offers the most pleasant temperatures, scenic views of the western ghats and lush greenery, making the it the most refreshing break from the nearby urban jungles.
This hill station is located at 64 km from the city of Pune. We can visit Lonavala and Khandala in all seasons. I suggest the monsoon visits the most. However, monsoon exposes their real beauty. The monsoon in Lonavala is rejuvenating, what with clouds filling your face, water gushing from every corner, verdant landscapes welcoming you cheerfully.
 |
Breath taking View in Lonavala
|
This hill stations are spreading over an area of 38
square kilometers. It is often called the City of caves owing to the series of
ancient natural caves of Karla, Bhaja that line the region.
Lets go through the best locations
and popular attractions in Lonavala that travellers over the years have come,
time and again visit and fall in love with during the rainy season. By now, you
know that there is no other place quite like this slice of heaven in
Maharashtra, India, that beckons us quite so strongly with its simple beauty.
 |
| Vishnu, Azam and Afzal Bhai |
below are some of may
favourite destination's who visits in Lonavala:
LIONS POINT :
Loins point is one of the most mesmeric and frequently visited view points in Lonavala. This place offers astonishing views of the sunset. we visited this place on morning while there are full of fog. In fog and rain we enjoyed lot. If you plan to visit places in Lonavala, you just cannot skip this place. It mainly known for evening and night trekking for adventure lovers.
TIGER POINT :
After few minutes of journey a winding road upwards takes us to this next tourist spot, that is Tiger Point. This point is also mistiest point. On clear weather one can see amazing sunsets from here. With infinite views of the vast valley beneath and little waterfalls that bare their heads during the monsoon season in every nook and corner, It is a never miss place on any places to visit in Lonavala in rainy season make it worth the while, here every tourist should hangout for tea, hot vadapaos and other snacks. we also had it there.
 |
| Tiger Point or Tiger Leap |
LONAVALA LAKE:
We wandered so many times around this lake and enjoyed horse riding and enjoyed rich greenary, eye-soothing views, misty morning sunrise and evening sunset. This lake is surrounded by natural scenery, about 1.6 km from the town. During the rainy season beauty of this place is worth enjoying. Please visit this place only on early morning due to heavy traffic after 10:00 AM and there is no proper place to park your car. So just park your car on road side and enjoy the views of waterfalls and catch corn and tea from road side stalls.
 |
| View from Lonavala Lake |
Well this entire area becomes so lush and beautiful during the monsoons and it mesmerizes the visitors with simplistic beauty and serene nature around with waterfalls. This lake also known as monsoon lake, because it gets filled with water during monsoon and dries up during winter season.
KARLA AND BHAJA CAVES :
At evening we went to Karla and Bhaja caves. I recommended to visit this caves in the monsoon and evening time to get the perfect shot of caves. we travel around a zig zag dangerous road to reach the both caves.
If we want to reach Karla caves we should climb 200 steps. In between there are places to stop for food and drink on the way and also many stores with religious and pieces. The caves are stunning. There is Ekvira Temple, this temple is carved from the hill side. worth to visit.
 |
| Karla Caves |
The Karla caves consists of 16 rock cut excavations and Bhaja caves are a group of 22 rock cut caves dating back to 2nd century BC. The Bhaja caves are very similar to Karla caves in style and architectural designs. These two caves are the oldest caves in India.
 |
| Bhaja Caves |
BUSHI DAM:
Bushi Dam is one of the picturesque spots, and the water running down the dam makes it look stunning down the monsoon. Young and old everyone enjoy sitting on the steps of dam and bath in rainwater. The water from the dam falls on the steps. The water falls from many directions into huge gaps in the rock, which makes the biggest one look like a huge bath tub carved by nature.
 |
| View from the Dam side |
After staying one and half day in Lonavala and visiting many places we left for the Mahabaleshwar in the evening which was our next destination. while our journey we struggled a lot with the heavy traffic on top of the Pune highway and finally reached Mahabaleshwar. we selected a hotel and check in into that.
Early morning in fresh air and foggy weather we started our sight seeing in Mahabaleshwar. I below mentioning the visited famous places in this destination.
MAHABALESHWAR
Mahabaleshwar is also called as Queen of Hill Stations in Maharashtra. It has been a preferred weekend gateway for adventures. It is a small town and hill station located in the Satara district of Maharashtra. There are several places of interest that can keep all kind of travelers happy. A part from this, there are many mythological, historical and cultural stories associated with this beautiful hill station. You can discover them as you explore the hill stations.
1. KATES POINT:
Early morning first we went to Kates Point. This point is actually a combination of 3 view points namely Kates point, Echo Point and Needles Hole View point. From Kates point, one can enjoy the marvelous views of the lush green Krishna valley.
 |
| Vishnu and Afzal Bhai at Echo Point |
Echo point as the name suggests is where you can scream, to hear back the sound and from needles hole view point, one can see a natural rock formation with a hole in between, thus giving the name needle hole.
 |
| Azam at Kates Point |
2. PARSI POINT:
After Kates point we moved to Parsi Point. This point is known for its extensive views of the lush green Krishna Valley and the crystal sky blue backwaters of Dhom Dyam. It is surrounded by lofty, green mountains on all sides, this spot is indeed a sight remember for a lifetime. this place can refresh the tired travelers and rejuvenate them from within by bursting all the stress and anxiety of everyday life.
 |
| A Spectacular View from Parsi Point |
Here visitors even avail telescope service to catch jaw-dropping views from different angles. There is a small shaky bridge made at a height of 4 ft from ground where people click a lot of pictures surrounded by a good scenic view. we also found some small stalls selling home made jellies, watermelons, fruit plates which are very tasty.
3. TABLE LAND:
Table land is the highest point of the entire region of Panchagani. It is situated at an approximate distance of 3 Km from Parsi point. Here roads are very small with heavy traffic. This land gives beautiful views of the surrounding hills and valleys. When ever I reached that place I saw the hills are covered in green and Table land was covered with full of wildflowers, green grass and bodies of water. we can also visit Tiger cave which just adjacent to Table Land.
4. MAPRO GARDEN:
Our next destination was the Mapro Garden. Mahabaleshwar is famous for Strawberries and when we are here, we can not miss visiting Mapro Garden. This place is always crowded from morning to night 8 PM. We can also try their different fruit syrups at the counter before buying free of cost. They have a store where we can buy jams, sauce, chocolates, fruit syrups. We also purchased some items there. Back side of the store there is a nicely decorated garden which we can walk around and take some pictures.
 |
| Azam at Mapro Garden |
5. ELPHINSTONE POINT, SAVITRI POINT, CASTLE ROCK POINT, ARTHER SEAT:
After visiting Mahabaleshwar temple we came back 5 Kms and turns into another road to continue our journey towards Elphinstone point followed by Savitri Point, Castle point and finally the Arthur seat.
All these points are very near to each other and offer the same views from different angles. These provides some breath taking views of the nearby valleys.
6. VENNA LAKE:
Actually we wandered so many times around this lake also but evening we stopped our car and spent some time there with horse riding.
Venna Lake is a beautiful lake surrounded by trees and offers boating to tourists and there is a mini train ride for kids. You can also riding here. You will find so many horses around this lake having particular names and trained professionally by their caretakers. They fixed rate Rs. 200/- for single person and Rs.300/- for double persons.
There is also a market area around this lake where you will find some fresh raddish, cucumber, blue berries to buy with some eateries and tea stalls right in front.
7. WILSON POINT:
Whenever our return journey we visited Wilson Point which have two ways to reach, we went back side road which is good.
Caution : A part of approach road is quite steep and not well made. Venture on it only if you are extremely confident about driving and go there in day time.
Wilson point is very nice has multiple view points and fog was around most of the time. At a point we couldn't see in front and there was very cold. There are three watch towers around from where you get different views of the mountains and the valleys and terraced land. Greenery all around can be enjoyed through eyes. Such a soothing view of the nature.
 |
| Wilson Point |
 |
| We are at Waterfalls |
 |
| Azam at Lonavala |
" The valley's rich green, eye-soothing views, misty mornings, foggy evenings, and funky breeze makes our monsoon trip rememberable for long time.. Thank you.."
