SAPUTARA.

It had been some time since we (me & my hubby) had gone for a leisurely drive, so anything that would attract our attention, even a little bit, was bound to be visited. 

Around 6.45 am, on the highway somewhere in Thane.

One such place which we came across while surfing on the net was 'Saputara', just about 250+ kms from Mumbai. Well, looked up for some basic information about the place on the net and found it to be interesting enough to pay a quick visit.  For Mumbaikars, Mahabaleshwar and nearby hill stations like Lonavla, Khandala and Matheran are a few regular places to escape to during the hot summer months. So for a change I did think that Saputara, too, would be a good option to check out.

Saputara means the 'Abode of Serpents'. As per the information found on the net, I gathered that it was a picturesque hill station, perched on a plateau in the Dang forest area of the Sahyadri range at an altitude of about 1000 m. A hill station with a few regular points of interest (Sunrise, Sunset, Rope-way  lake & boating), did have an impact on my mind.

Some competition to those swift vehicles on the highway!

One can plan to reach this place from Mumbai through 2 different routes;

The first option being Mumbai - Thane - Igatpuri (Via Kasara Ghat) - Nashik - Talegaon - Dindori - Kasbe Vani - Chausale - Saputara. (around 260 Kms). 

Road condition: After Nashik, once we take to the state highway, the road condition is just hopeless till we reach Saputara. (i.e about a stretch of about 80 kms)

Another option - Mumbai - Vapi - Dharampur - Vansda - Waghai - Saputara (around 290 kms). 

Road condition: This route is beautiful. Roads all over Gujarat, I have found out are in very good condition. This route is no exception.  Except for a small patch when we enter Vapi where the road is a bit bumpy.  Else, a pleasure to drive.

We drove from Mumbai (Borivali) and took the first route to reach Saputara and on our return leg, we opted for the second route. 

Tip: If one wants to have a sense of visiting a hill station, I would recommend that they drive towards Vapi and then steer towards the state highway to reach Saputara. The drive would be a pleasure with wonderful views of picturesque landscapes.

But if one drives from Nashik side, though one gets to see the grape vineyards during the right season, it is almost like driving on a plateau and before one realises one would be in Saputara.  The thrill of driving in ghats/twists & turns of the road which one expects to experience while driving to a hill station is replaced by a bumpy drive on the not-so-impressive route - at least that is what I found out during this trip of mine.

A view of the vineyard - off Mumbai Nashik highway.

Another colourful sight - A small patch of land full of marigold flowers.

Just 2 days before we planned to drive up to the place I made some phone calls to the hotels listed on popular travel sites on the net and found out the minimum & maximum tariff one could expect.  Depending on the budget, one can opt for the hotel/resort of their choice. Of all the places, the Toran hotel (run by the Gujarat Tourism) had varied options.

Toran Hill Resort building.

From Mumbai, we had reached the place around 12.30 pm. We directly drove to Toran Hill Resort and checked out all their properties (all the bookings are to be made in this place) - They have rooms in the hill resort (their prime property - may be a new addition, as the building looked neat, clean and a bit swanky but the tariff was also equally swanky – Inr 4200/- per night), Toran hotel (A/C and Non A/C rooms INR 1200/- & 900/- per night, respectively) & cottages. We settled in for C1 type cottage (non-A/C, tariff - INR 1008/- per night, inclusive of taxes on double occupancy).  Only this cottage has a reasonably good view of the valley. The Tariff also included lunch or dinner and next day morning's breakfast. Please note that all the properties are located in different places though close to each other. 

Toran Hotel - Cottages

The room condition was reasonably OK, could have definitely been better cleanliness wise.

21 October, 2013

On arrival at Saputara, I found that the place was too simple for a hill station. We had a leisurely lunch at the dining hall of the hotel and in the evening, by 4.00 pm we set out to explore the place.  We drove to the nearby Jain temple, which is still under construction/renovation. Took some quick pictures and then drove back towards the centre of Saputara. 

Jain Temple - Saputara

From there, we visited the Rose garden and were really disappointed.  The place needs maintenance badly.  It could not have been the proper season to watch the roses in their full glory but the garden as such doesn't impress one.

Rose Garden - entrance, Saputara.

Posterity sake, have to post at least one photograph from the garden.

Next, we wanted to check if the rope-way, a much hyped activity at Saputara was available for us to experience. Unfortunately, it was closed for maintenance and were informed that it wold be operational after Diwali. Bad luck, we thought. 

It's a beautiful drive towards the Vaity ropeway point.

View from the from the Vaity resort - Ropeway and the point of Sunset.

Another 200 mts uphill drive from the Vaity ropeway point, is the Table land - another point of interest.  We did drive up to the place but spent very little time and drove back.

Table Land - Saputara

Finally we thought that we should on our way back visit the sunset point and drive later to the lake. One can reach the Sunset point either by parking their vehicle at a designated place and walk up to the point or take the rope-way to the point.  But as rope-way option was not available we drove up to the place but decided against walking all the way up to the place. 

The sun was descending rapidly hence we hurriedly drove to the lake and spent some peaceful moments in the garden around the lake. Definitely a place worth spending an evening there.

The lake - Saputara

Boating is a popular activity - Saputara

Though we had planned for a 2 night stay, somehow the place did not interest us much, hence in the evening as we walked in the small market near the lake we decided that we would leave early in the morning to Mumbai. 

22 October, 2013

In the morning we had a relaxed tea session in our cottage watching the valley from the balcony.  Later ate our breakfast at the dining hall and by 8.30 we finally checked out and started our drive towards Mumbai. We had a lot of time on hand and we were there to enjoy a drive - so we took the route towards Vansda/Vapi. 

A view from the balcony of our cottage - Saputara

The drive was beautiful.  The ghats offered us the much needed thrill and to compliment it, beautiful vistas made for an enjoyable drive.

Fields brimming with food grains almost ready for harvesting!
 What a sight!!

Millet

I stopped at each and every scenic point to click a few pictures.

On the way we visited the Botanical garden. It is a beautiful place for a nature lover.  We can spend hours visiting different parts of this huge garden and watching the various plants & trees in the area.

Botanical Garden - Waghai.

Plants, trees & flowers are expected in the garden,
so is this huge spider on its web,

About an hour spent in the garden we proceeded further with our drive and again, the route enthralled us with some beautiful views of the Ambika river, small check dams through out our drive.

On the bridge - On River Ambika.

From the bridge, view of the water flowing below.

I will be a bit partial and post a few more pictures of some of the interesting sights we saw on the drive.  

Lovely?

A colourful Swaminarayan temple, by the road side

This turned out to be an interesting drive as we also drove in to the national park and spent about an hour inside, with the guide.  

Waghai - The check post.

It was almost 11.30 am when we reached the Vansda national park.  Entry fee paid - INR 200/- for our vehicle, Camera charges - INR100/- & Guide charges - INR 50/-.
It was quite hot inside and hence not much activity was seen of the animals or birds. Still managed to sight a few spotted deer, peafowl, and some other smaller birds. 

Vansda National Park, Vansda.
Main entrance.

Thew watch tower - in the heart of the jungle at Vansda.

Thickly wooded forest of Vansda.

By 12.45 pm, we were on our way back towards Vapi and further towards Mumbai.  In between closer to the national park, we had a simple lunch in a small restaurant. 

By 2.00 pm we had hit the road.  We encountered very little traffic on our way back until we reached Vapi.  Once we took to the National Highway, the traffic was a bit heavy but nothing to crib about because by 5.30 pm we were at home comfortably plonked on the sofa sipping a hot cup of coffee. :)