...and finally I set off to my second outing in Pune..in last 7 months could manage only the second one..that is fairly bad turnaround per my initial plans...there were fair reasons to the wide gap, mainly attributed to tasking project and of course, no good company...so, if last time it was HariHareshwar and surroundings; the trip being ridiculousely tiring, this time it was a much relaxing hill station...Mahabaleshwar and its surroundings including the one shown in picture..Panchgani...more than the wikipedia fact that it is the second largest plateaeu in Asia, what caught my attention here was something completely different...

The moment I grabbed my camera and ran down to the edge of the plateau, the first thing that came to my mind; was my first view of Grand Canyon...Panchgani view of the world has boundaries...whereas, Grand Canyon has the horizon being its' visual limit...even the slightest similarities ends there...

Grand Canyon is preserved as a National Park by US Govt. The entrance fee charged is made to the full use of the visitors and for keeping the serenity of the place intact for the generations to come...absolutely, no commercialization is allowed...visitors gets decent basic facilities and free ride through this enormous park on echo-friendly vehicles...the dangerous points are well protected...important vista points and landmark spots have detailed descriptions of the history and related scientific therories...

Although, Mahabaleshwar corporation charges the vehicle entry fee, they spare no effort to help the visitors in any way whatsoever...warning: plan your trip very carefully in summer; the days are really hot and there is almost no hiding place; the one and only natural cave is commercialized as a restaurant..for the worst part, they charge you Rs.10/- for photography inside the cave...just think about this; a private person who has absolutely no business here demands money for taking pictures of the nature..pure irony!

Now, have a look at the picutre again...it was one of those poor horse which had to carry me and my four friends..and of course the driver too...the only option to explore the plateau (of course, other than taking a walk, which is almost impossible in summer noon) is to hire a "Goda Gadi"... people are (of course, including me then) mostly merciless to these animals..they want their vehicle to run like that of Rani Lakshmibhai or Shivaji Maharaj...com'mon, give them a break; those legends did not have any other echo-firendly, fuel-efficient hybrid-cars in those days...now, when we claim our culture has grown leaps and bounds, why go back to bother these innocent animals...

Growing demand drives more exploitation and the sad story of these animals just continue on an uphill trend much beyond what the size or stature of this plateau itself is...

But for an optimist like me, there is always a bright side of the story...and at Mahabaleshwar, it was the stunning Maprao...we really enjoyed the evening at Maprao which had a Strawberry festivel on offer during the season...and what is more is that you get to eat and take back Straberries for free...also you get to taste and buy a whole lot varieties of fruit syrups...I especially liked the keysar flavor...and they sell decent icecreams too...

At other view points, we went on an eating frenzy with mulberries (cranberries), corn, strawberries and many other fruits (can not recall the names now)...and then, the water oozing out of the statue at the panchganga temple was ice cold even in the hot sun...and I really felt the godly vibrations at the sanctum sanctoram of Mahabaleshwar temple which is kept continually serene by a natural spring..

On the way back, I felt, Mahabaleswar should rather be named after the strawberries they produce...to me, it is rather a "Strawbereshwar"..:-)