Mahabaleshwar, strawberry fields forever

Mahabaleshwar to me is a place for strawberries, jams, crushes, jellies, you name it and they’ve got it. There is much in common between the hill station and the delightful red fruit. It is the summer capital of Mumbai, which engages not only the strength of its natural beauty but also because of the charming tales spun around its most favored points. It has rugged hills, steep and sudden falls, forests crowded with plant life, rivers that flow every way they please. The fabulous weather here will never make you sweat despite of electricity often playing truant. You can go at anytime of the yearend be assured of a warm welcome and all the hill station experience you anticipated.

You can also take a guide for a tour of the hill station. At Sunset point or Mumbai point adults and children come to ride or about horses. Arthur’s seat is named after British actor Arthur Malet was destroyed in an earthquake in 1967. There is a grilled area that marks the point where Arthur would sit and ponder the nature of the wind. Mahabaleshwar has almost 30 designated sightseeing spots like Hunter Point with its clear view of Pratapgad Fort to Mahabaleshwar’s highest, Wilson Point that offers a spectacular view of the twin peaks of Makrangad. Malcolm point is named for Mahabaleshwar’s first citizen, who loved these hills.

On the Mahabaleshwar Oanchgani road there is a Lake Venna, which is the ideal place for an evening outing after we had done with all points, high and below.
Then there is Mahabaleshwar Temple where ancient shivaling inside the temple is a natural formation and over 500 years old.

The most famous was the Panchaganga Temple, which is situated at the confluence of five rivers the Krishna, Gayatri, Savitri, Koyna and Venna. The water from these rivers pours from the spout of a sculpted cow suckling its young one, and collects below. There were separate outlets of the river at the temple. This natural setting is considered very auspicious and devotees through come here through out year.

Then we went to Morarjee Castle, where Mahatma Gandhi stayed when he visited Mahabaleshwar and there is also few colonial style bungalows built during the Raj.
Mahabaleshwar is excellent trekking city. There were taxes and buses conducted tours but we preferred our own vehicle and used a guide to show us the place.

There is a bustling marketplace nearby where you will find all varieties of jams and jellies.
We stayed at Strawberry country, which gave us a affordable tariff, however there are many more hotels and resorts like MTDC Holiday Resort, Pratap Heritage, Hotel Shreyas and many more.

Mahabaleshwar offers several kinds of cuisine from Chinese to Indian, Continental to Mexican. The Imperial stores are famous for their pizzas and burgers and after having that I suggest to try them once. Then the Aman Restaurant is good for kebabs and tandoori.

Then Archie’s’ strawberry Farm, near Kate’s Point is a great place to glut a few milk shakes and learn a few things about strawberry cultivation.