An unplanned trip to Khadakwasla & Panshet Dam

Quick details:

Date visited	Trip duration	Distance from Pune
Mar 16th, 2011	Half a day	50 Km/1 hr, 15 min

Aha!! 

Panshet Dam

It was a pleasant sunny day and we were to visit Singhgad located about 40 Kms from Pune. We were quite excited and thrilled with the idea of driving down the hills that we couldn’t stop imagining. We started with full energy and enthusiasm, we packed our bag and left around 8 in the morning for the wonderful journey that we were dreaming about whole night. With mast music playing & almost no traffic jams on the way, we reached the base of the Singhgad fort in about 40 min from where the ‘actual’ hilly drive to fort was about to begin.

On the way!

As soon as we were to start our hill drive, we encountered a stop sign and got to know that the road ahead was undergoing maintenance and has been closed for the next three months.  That was a bit of setback but keeping our spirits high we thought of exploring another hilly area ‘Panshet’  which is about 18 km from the Singhgad base (about 50 km from Pune). Doing masti ‘n’ fun, we diverted towards Panshet dam (also called Tanajisagar dam). It was again a hilly drive and we crossed many small villages on the way.

Canvas beauty

Panshet is a very calm place with no noise pollution, no hustle- bustle and absolutely no traffic at all! We could park our car many a times on the road itself to admire the panoramic beauty of the place. We could only imagine how the view would be during the monsoon!  It also reminded us of the picture perfect panorama we used to draw when we were kids – a stream of water flowing down in between the hills!

So calm!

School children were walking down the lanes enjoying the long daily walk to meet their basic need of education. Some ladies were washing clothes near the shore. Oldies enjoying chat in the shade of a old banyan tree…such a simple yet meaningful life! Scenic beauty was amazing! Panshet is well known for water sports & speed boating. We drove to the hill top & headed towards the boat clubs. Mercury was rising so we dropped the idea of boating in sun. 

Relax!

Finally, we stopped at a tea stall and had a cuppa of tea under tree shade before heading back to Pune. On the way back, we stopped briefly at Khadakwasla dam. It was mid-day so the dam and the surroundings were quite deserted with just few passers-by  chilling & admiring the serenity.


 

Khadakwasla

We thoroughly enjoyed the drive. Although the day didn’t go the way we planned but still we managed to make the most of it. As they say, “Life may not always give you what you really want, just go with the flow & you might find something much better”. I think a visit to Singhgad will have to wait for some more time.