Wai

A weekend trip on a whim

When you are living alone, and the city starts suffocating you, its best to drive out for the weekend. That's exactly what I did on a March weekend in 2019, when I was tired of spending the weekend in Bandra, Bombay. So after completing my morning walk, and a great breakfast at Cricket Club of India (CCI), just drove out of the city, with no particular destination in mind. Since I normally have a change of clothes, a sleeping bag and toiletries in the car at all times, I am never worried about not being able to return home the same night.

Springtime is always beautiful, bright and sunny in and around Bombay. Crossed the Thane Creek and entered Navi Mumbai, and picked up some snacks and chocolates from stores around my old home Palm Beach Residency. And then was off on the MUmbai - Pune Expressway. It was a lovely bright blue sky day, with Kishore Kumar songs playing on the radio, the card mostly on the middle lane, and the speedometer rarely crossing 100 kmph. A lovely, gentle, relaxed drive on an emptyyyyyyyy road.

Reached Pune at around lunch time. Perfect timing to stop at Maratha Village for a long long chilled out lunch. This is my favourite shack in Pune - located on the Pune - Bangalore Highway, just after the Pimpri exit. The food is cooked by local villages - spicy, hot and always fresh. The bajra / jowar roti will be baked right in front of you. Food is normally delayed here, since everything is cooked fresh - nothing comes readymade. So while your moth-ki-ussal, chicken sukka and mutton curry is being cooked, you should relax yourself with a couple of crispy masala papad and a couple of glasses of spicy-tangy-sweet pinkish solkadi. The owners are particular about cleanliness, hygiene and the taste of the food. A sign on the entrance reads " If you like our food, tell others. If you don't like our food, tell us. After a wonderful lunch, and a brief siesta at the shack (the owners didn't mind - since I told them after their wonderful lunch will lull me to sleep at the wheel if I start driving immediately), headed further south, still without any idea where I would stop for the night. Finally, when I crossed the hills just ahead of the Mahabaleshwar exit, I parked the car, and started searching for resorts that were available. The old faithful - Rutugandh River Resort, popped up with an empty cottage, and I quickly reserved it online.

Wai is a small village at the foothills of Mahabaleshwar - Panchgani tabletops. Since the entire tourist crowd is concentrated on these two hill stations, which get awfully crowded during the weekends, its always better to stay over at Wai, which is normally empty, and not crowded at all. Since all tourists rush for the famed destinations, places like Wai tend to remain empty for people like us, who like solitude, and and enjoy the beauty of non-famous places too. Any place that is quiet, has fantastic views, is green, has a gentle breeze, and birds chirping, is a place for me. A place away from the crods and "happening" things. I love this solitude.

Once the reservation was fixed, and the destination was clear, exited the Pune-Bangalore Highway and headed west towards Wai. Have been to Rutigand River View resort a number of times in the past, and I love this tiny boutique resort at the foothills of Panchgani, right next to the Krishna river. After a relaxed drive, settled down at the resort, and went for a walk up the hill, towards Panchgani. It was a lovely walk, with beautiful views. Since it was getting dark, did not walk all the way up to Panchgani, but stopped midway, and sat on the parapet, taking in the lovely views. The view is really breathtaking. Its a vast vast valley, with hills of the Western Ghats all around, and the Krishna River flowing through the valley like a small rivulet. The Krishna river originates at Wai, on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats (just about 70km from the west coast of India, as the crow flies), and flows through the Deccan plateau and into the Bay of Bengal in the east coast, near Vijayawada. The small rivulet that ribbons through the Wai valley, is a kilometer wide major river at Vijayawada. Its a fascinating thing to have seen the same river both at its source and also at the place where I meets the sea.

After, what seemed like an eternity, I realised that it was really getting dark, and I had a 9 km walk down to Wai. So walked back carefully, keeping a watch out for snakes, and reached the vehicle at around 7 pm. Instead of heading back to the resort, headed straight for Mapro factory garden. And ordered a sinful sinful strawberry with cream. It was super heavy, and after I had licked off the last drop of the cream, I could barely move. After a while, somehow managed to plod back to the vehicle and drove back to the resort. It was a tiring day, and no sooner had I tucked myself inside the sleeping bag, I was fast fast asleep. It was a wonderful Saturday.