Bhandardhara is about 178 kms from Mumbai. After you pass Igatpuri, you will reach Ghoti. The road from Ghoti to Bhandardhara - a stretch of about 40 kms- is really bad and to make it worse the Government has given a contract to somebody at Ghoti to charge you for the upkeep of this road! They charge Rs.21/- for the privilege of getting rattled and your vehicle shaken and stirred whilst you strain to reach Bhandardhara.
But once you reach Bhandardhara you wonder if this place is really so close to Mumbai. The lake is a placid, serene, beautiful carpet of water surrounded by lush green mountains. We went there at the end of september so obviously everything was green. It is a huge lake though we were told that by summer it empties out since it supplies water to a huge populace.
Locals will pester you to hire them as guides. You can bargain with them or better still take off on your own. There is nothing really historical for a guide to explain to you. What counts is the sheer beauty of the surroundings.
You can take a circuit starting from MTDC and go on to Konkan kada. This is about 21 kms away. On the way you will pass a dam built by aid from Japan Bank. Then from Konkan kada you can see this dam from top. On the other side of the mountain is another pool of water which has been dammed off. Through a tunnel water enters the Japan Bank dam and drives the turbines. A really beautiful sight.
From here you go on to the temple which has a shiv ling and is supposed to be 1200 years old. A peaceful location.
If you are travelling during the monsoon you will see a number of natural waterfalls along the way, but by late september they had dried up to a trickle.
Take the diversion for about 10-12 kms and come to Randha falls which again are a torrent during peak monsoon but lose their charm when the monsoon ends.
"Continue the circuit till you come to the Wilson dam and Arthur lake. You can see the lake at eyelevel in front of you with massive gates of the dam holding up the water. When the gates are raised the water will flow towards you, under the roadway and fall spectacularly on the opposite side. Again best seen when the lake is overflowing during the monsoon.
Further on are the "garden" and umbrella falls. The garden hardly exists and the umbrella falls are seen when the gates of the dam are opened on this side.
For the avid trekkers and mountain climbers there is a lot of opportunity.
Locals are quite enterprising and organise a camp fire with veg/non-veg barbecue inside a tent for about 500 rupees for 4 hours.
Boating is available on the lake at two places and generally they charge 30 Rs per head for a 20 minute ride.
If it rains in the evening with a thunderstorm the whole atmosphere changes and the beauty is a sight to behold.
All in all Bhandardhara is a great hill station to visit, but do so during the monsoons. If they could improve the road surfaces and the MTDC rooms then it can beat any other hills station.
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