Saturday, September 25, 2010

Day Trip to Lavasa

LavasaThe upcoming hill city of Lavasa is known as much for its green verdant surroundings as for the controversies related to commercial exploitation of forested lands close to a vital water reservior. Driving to Lavasa from Pune is a pleasure, especially at this time. The roads are excellent and scenic.

Temple enroute to LavasaWild flowers and small farmlands filled with sugarcane and sunflowers passed by as we ascended the winding roads leading up the hills. Wispy clouds surrounded us as we marvelled at the beautiful hilly vistas as far as the eye could see.

Enroute to Lavasa
Lavasa
Enroute to LavasaWe stopped briefly at the Temghar dam, a desolate large structure on the Mutha river. The river Mutha originates close by near a village of the same name. This is an area with multiple dams and catchment areas - a critical lifeline for Pune since much of its water-supply depends on the rains that fall here and are collected by these dams for use through the year.

Tamshet dam
Enroute to LavasaIt was lightly drizzling as we arrived at the gates of Lavasa, but the sun came out shortly after and the steam rising from the roads made for an interesting picture.

Lavasa from the hilltopWe had made bookings for lunch at Ekaant, a well appointed lodge at the top of the hill, overlooking the lake and cityscape of this hill town. We freshened up and rested for a while before heading to their restaurant, Vyanjan, for lunch.

Ekaant in Lavasa
Ekaant in Lavasa
Ekaant in Lavasa
Ekaant in LavasaVyanjan serves a very good lunch buffet. South Indian, North Indian, Italian and Chinese food was combined together for a scrumptuous spread to please any palate. I especially liked their fiery Baramati mutton curry and Amritsari fish tikkas. The kosambari salad brought back memories of my days at Mysore. Dessert consisted of fruits, gajar ka halwa and a creative twist on mousse made with Rasgulla, Gulkand and called Gul Gul Mousse. It was actually pretty good!

Lunch buffet at Ekaant, Lavasa
Lunch buffet at Ekaant, Lavasa
Lunch buffet at Ekaant, Lavasa
Lunch buffet at Ekaant, Lavasa
Desserts at Ekaant, LavasaWith prior planning you can do rock-climbing, water-sports and other stuff. We down to the city, still under construction. They are designing villas and the waterfront buildings to resemble the Italian Riviera.

Waterfront apartments and villas at LavasaLavasa/Ekaant is a good option for a quick day-trip from Pune. You can make reservations for lunch and/or boarding in Ekaant at: 020-66757000.

11 comments:

Pushpa said...

Nice descriptive read and a beautiful place to visit for sure.

Shantanu said...

@Pushpa: Thanks!

shweta said...

gul gul mousse..sounds so creative:)...lavassa looks great...I would be interested in the real estate there!

Shantanu said...

@shweta: Yeah, loved that name too! And the dish is good too. Re: real estate, I don't know about that... It will take a while to fully develop; good for short weekends right now.

Sandeep said...

Excellent post!. I like all your posts as they are informative and crisp.

I like Lavasa a lot. Very close to Pune, yet offers a nice atmosphere which gives you a feeling that you are away from Pune!.

I have not tried Ekaant for lunch,will do next time. Stayed at Fortune Select at Dasave..offers very good breakfast and lunch too.

Ekaant has the best view though.

Keep writing.
-Sandeep

Shantanu said...

@Sandeep: Thanks for leaving your comments.

Samir Pawaskar (aka Sam) said...

Hey Shantanu,

That was the best lowdown on LAVASA i have ever witnessed. Your description gave me a virtual feeling of us being there at this juncture..... I have been targetting our WANVAS to Lavasa for quite some time now, but to no avail to date. My expectation amongst other things like verdant ambience, colorful peeps, planned layout of the city, etc, is to get the best car-drive experience on those curvy highways and ghats leading to Lavasa & Ekaant..............

Sam, Mumbai
On behalf of WANVAS(Travel Group)

Unknown said...

Hey.. Me n ma frnds planning for one day trip msy b 24th june.. Soo wll u highlight wat should we look for in lavasa... We r vry excitd for our frst monsoon outing so plss tell me naa wat r the things we shud look for??

Shantanu said...

@Nikita: The drive to Lavasa and back itself is a nice experience in the monsoons. When there, you can chill out in the gardens and the restaurant here, or book some adventure sports in advance - rock climbing, etc.

Shantanu said...

@Nikita: The drive to Lavasa and back itself is a nice experience in the monsoons. When there, you can chill out in the gardens and the restaurant here, or book some adventure sports in advance - rock climbing, etc.

Travellingcamera said...

I am late in checking out your blog :( .. I wish I had checked it before going to Lavasa. I would have loved to stay there for a night, the way you guys did...