Le Monde - A Poetic Travail » Igatpuri

Thirsty Thursday – Igatpuri

Cuckoo — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:39:59 +0000

This is typical rural Maharashtra of our India. We had gone for a trekking trip near Igatpuri and on our way up had to cross this small village named ‘Baaichi-wadi’ meaning ‘Woman’s house’.

The mud houses were vibrantly coloured and beautifully decorated. The walls, the border on the door frame and the doors… everything was beautifully hand painted. Mostly they use vegetable colours but these days since they are easily available, normal wall paints are used.

I immediately clicked some shots. Seeing me clicking them, everybody felt extremely shy.. .. the house lady, the kids, even this girl including cows and goats !!
The small girl was very shy, I requested her to stay there but she couldn’t face the camera. Her mother was the first one to run into the room and initiate the ’shy’ run. LOL..

LOL…

In a fraction of a moment they all ran in. You can see the left over green leaves which the animals were enjoying till then.
Will definitely go there once again. I fell in love with this village.
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Vipasana Center

Cuckoo — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 07:17:00 +0000

Third day- We never had in our schedule to visit Sula Vineyards when we had left Mumbai for Igatpuri. Our plan for third day was to visit Vipasana center and go back to Mumbai. It was on the breakfast table on third day of our stay that we suddenly decided to visit this world famous Vineyards as well.
Since it was decided quite late, around 10 o’clock, by the time we checked out of the hotel, it was well above 11 AM. This is what happens when one travels in a group, however small it is. Decisions have to be made in keeping everybody in mind.

First we drove to Vipasana center. It is also known as Vipasana International Academy.

The main person who could give us some information about entering the center was not available. At the reception while waiting for him we watched a detailed one hour program on a projector.

This meditation center offers meditation techniques, which relieve stress and promote inner peace and spiritualism. During Vipasana courses one follows the basic precepts of Buddhism: abstaining from killing, sex, intoxication, stealing and lying. The technique of Vipasana Meditation is taught at ten-day residential courses. One is not allowed to speak to fellow students, but a student can speak to a teacher when necessary.

There are no charges for the courses – not even to cover the cost of food and accommodation. All expenses are met by donations from people who have completed a course and experienced the benefits of Vipasana. Normally everybody who comes out of the center donates a moderate sum.

This Stupa is inside the campus. See the clear sky.

The main gate.

The ceiling of main gate. Looks so rich & beautiful.

By the time the main person came it was lunch time for inmates, and nobody is allowed inside during that period. Since it was getting late, we headed towards Sula vineyards. I promised myself to visit this place again. I’ll probably opt for the course someday. The queue for opting the course is normally six month long.
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Eid, Dargah Sharif and Ajmer (15)

Igatpuri – Day Two

Cuckoo — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 04:37:00 +0000

Second day- Second day was reserved for Bhandhardhara Dam & Randha falls. Woke up early morning & went for a short walk around the resort. It has a beautiful view of hills and railway tracks/tunnel. After coming back found others still sleeping. The late night party effect was still there. That Belgian little girl was not ready to leave the bed. She was still in her time zone.

So our second day started quite late.. around 11 AM. We proceeded towards Bhandhardhara & Randha falls via national highway NH3 to Nasik.

On our way we crossed a small town called Ghoti. Because of traffic jam it took us more than one hour to cross that town of half a kilometer stretch. Sitting inside the vehicle I didn’t have any work except to click some pictures.

I was amused to see deities getting sold on a handcart for as less as Rs 25/- on Diwali day.

One good thing about roads is that for some stretch, the roads are excellent on the highway to Nasik. On way to Bhandhardhara, everywhere signboards in Marathi for safety measures like “Ghaai nahi, chinta nahi” & “Thambu naka, Pudhe chala” welcomed us. I felt something good about Indian roads.

We’ll have to make another trip to see Bhandhardhara falls in full flow. The dam is called Wilson dam and it had closed just two days back. We were not allowed to go near it. The pictures are of dried dam.

Anyhow, proceeded towards Randha falls. Randha falls also didn’t have much water but we could play in it. Tried to catch fish / tadpoles by bare hands. It was a relief on a hot sunny afternoon.

One interesting thing happened here. How we assume things and what role cultural difference plays !!
At the hotel, we were told that we can have fun in water. So, we females had worn our swimsuits underneath our clothes. I have a special one piece swimsuit (not the v-type, slightly longer one) only for this kind of Indian outdoor activities.
However, after reaching there, we saw many local females bathing in full clothes. That somewhat made us think. I was familiar with this but the Belgian lady was quite amused to see those locals bathing with full clothes on and drying themselves on the rocks. Nevertheless, we started removing our outer layers. She came to me and asked quietly if it was alright if she also removes her clothes. Little did I know she was in her skimpy two piece bikini suit !

Came back exhausted.
Since it was Diwali night, hotel people made Rangoli in front of each room and put some diyas. Again there was a party, some games & fireworks at night. Not going to show any pictures of that. Nothing exciting about it. Played some games. The dress code was blue & white. I wore a dark blue silk kurti with white trousers.

Glossary - Ghaai nahi, chinta nahi = No hurry, no worry
Thambu naka, Pudhe chala = Don’t wait, move ahead
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Igatpuri

Cuckoo — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 08:06:00 +0000

During last year Diwali vacations we had been to Igatpuri and Sula Vineyards. It was a three day trip.. Friday early morning to Sunday night. Igatpuri is famous for Bhandardhara dams, Randha Falls and nearby Vipasana center. The distance between Mumbai and Igatpuri is approx. 130 kms.

We had already booked our rooms in Manas Resorts at Igatpuri as during vacations it is difficult to find a good accommodation.
On Friday morning at 8 AM, reached Dadar for a cool cab for Igatpuri (the rates for Igatpuri & Nasik are same). From Dadar trains and shared taxis (I think Rs 300/- per person) are also available but since we were more than two, thought it would be better to take an individual cab. I was told that this is the best option to go in that direction. Trains were out of question as all wanted to reach there directly and comfortably without wasting time. To our bad luck, no cool cab was available for that direction and after quite some wait we got an AC taxi for Rs. 1600.00. Normal rate is Rs 1200.00.

First Day – We took the Mumbai-Nashik Highway (NH-3). On our way, we had breakfast in this food joint. For us ladies, traveling by road has its own set of difficulties. So, I always prefer to stop at a joint where they have clean washrooms and more than the food, I judge the services by its washrooms. I must say this one didn’t disappoint me.
Reached Igatpuri at around 1 PM. Since more people were to join us by evening, it took some time to select the best rooms, take possession of all and check in. Had our lunch and we were ready for our small trekking atop a small hill.

On the base of this hill there is a village called ‘Baaichi-wadi’.

I clicked some pictures of Fauna category. The houses were very colourful and beautifully decorated.

Seeing me clicking them, everybody felt very shy, the house lady, the kids, even this girl including cows and goats. LOL. In a fraction of a moment they all ran in.

See how they are running into their houses. So camera shy they were !

Went on top of the hill, this was the scene from the top.

I like this picture very much. So many shades of natural colours. The golden hues of rice paddy looks so rich & good.

Saw the train bridge and the tracks which goes to Nasik.

Back at hotel by evening we were joined by others including our Belgian friend and her little daughter. We had a karaoke session besides the pool. I enjoyed the session very much as most of the songs were of my choice )
At night there was a party at poolside again though personally I would have preferred a night at that shy village.

Glossary – Baaichi-wadi – Baaii’s house. Marathi readers, translation please. What is Baai ?

Note :- There are more pictures in my Fotoflickr and Webpicasa.