Bandardara - A scenic place I have never been before....

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bhandardara is a holiday resort village on the western ghat of India. The village is located in the Ahmednagar district of the state of Maharashtra, about 185 kilometers (115 mi) from Mumbai.

Bhandardara sits by the Pravara River, and is a blend of natural beauty, waterfalls, mountains, tranquility, greenery, invigorating air and pristine ambiance. The Wilson Dam, Arthur Lake and the Randha falls are major tourist attractions.

My experience - I visited Bandardara along with my friends in the month of july in 2012. The place is best to visit during monsoon. We hired a taxi from Pune and planned a 2 day trip. We left early in the morning and it was raining all the way. I just love to travel when it rains. The smell of rain is just amazing! 

It took around 4 hours to reach there. All I could see was a place that had scores of waterfalls and very dense greenery. It was the Wilson dam that welcomed us with its charm. The umbrella waterfall was just stunning. We did not do any bookings in advance so the first thing was to find some accommodation.  We headed towards the MTDC resort. And then comes the famous Arthur lake. It was overflowing on the road and the stream was falling down on the other side of the road to form a beautiful waterfall. The drive over the flowing water was scary! We were 6 friends so we took a big hall for stay in the resort. It was not that luxurious but fine to live in for a day. We got dressed up and went out. It was still raining. And this time with an immense blow of wind. It was hitting us like a storm and the feeling was out of the world. We stood on the edge of the lake and kept experiencing the joy. 

 Now, it was time to have some food. The food at MTDC was home like and good. Later we decided to have a closer look at the Wilson dam and the umbrella waterfall, It was still raining. By the time we returned to our room, it turned darker.But we managed to get some bottles of beer. Rain, cold breeze and beer, wow!! But I prefer coke as I don't drink :).  The day ended with long chats over the drinks and then it turned out be darker as the electricity had gone. But I could see a dam from my window! hey that's for the Mumbai city. With no other option left we went to sleep.

But am I going to have another chance to come here? Not sure, so I stood up and decided to go near the lake to feel the rain again. It was the darkest night I have ever seen. It has been a day of non stop raining and the wind was still hitting hard. I sat on the lake shore and thought how these experiences hit our heart and make us feel that our lives should not be bounded within the rooms. We are just another creature of god and there are many amazing things in the world to look out for. It makes us light and compassionate.

Next morning, we had breakfast at MTDC and started our journey back to Pune, the best city in India I have ever lived in.

Please comment if you liked it and share your experiences.

Photo references - Google.com