A Road Trip to Amboli.....

Even two days before the annual road trip, we hadn't zeroed down on the place to visit! During a chance conversation with a colleague, she happened to mention this off-beat hill station by name "Amboli" somewhere on the Karnataka - Maharashtra border. There was a small hitch though - imagine if in this day, all that google search can throw up about a tourist place is not more than 5 results then its definitely off the radar! But the tourist junkies we(me n hubbs! who else) are, we decided that this is where we are headed - maybe the lack of  info added a "mystery" element for us!

A good 570 Kms to be covered and with hubs the sole driver, we set off early in the morning! Crossing Hubli, Belgaum we hit the Pune highway. Once we took the diversion towards Amboli, the roads seemed almost deserted except for an odd village on the way! It was almost dusk by the time we reached outskirts of Amboli - we were welcomed with stretches of sugarcane and they were indeed a sight to behold. Soon we reached the center of Amboli town - only to be welcomed by this weird sight of  hardly any soul on the road and this was supposed to be our holiday destination (really!).The odd person we met was clueless about the resort we had booked and to add to our misery the mobile didn't have have any coverage. Off we went in search of a land line and once we spoke to the resort owner, reached the place without any more adventures!

The "resort" was more of a extended B&B - but the nice guys there arranged some beer and food from a nearby hotel! The absolute silence in the resort and the yumm local food (Their buttermilk with kokum was a definite favourite) is all we city jaded souls needed.

The Malvan Thali! Don miss their pink - kokum buttermilk........


A trip around the town next day confirmed the fact that this is indeed an unexplored quaint small "hill station" with hardly any tourist footprints. The town had exactly 3 "Resorts" and a few shady looking shack that doubled up as "hotels"(A vegetarian "Kamat" hotel was the only exception). But when u can fill your stomach with delicious upma-sheera, vada-pav and the authentic Malvan food, we weren't definitely complaining! Maybe it was this remoteness that added to the charm of this place - I will show u a glimpse of the place in this pic...

Verdant Green Valleys!


The verdant beaches of Vengurla and the town of Sawnatwadi (they specialize in wooden toys) can all be done as day trips from here!


@Vengurla!

Wooden Toys in all forms!

We returned back refreshed after spending 3-4 day away from the maddening city - an entire day was spent lolling around on the hammocks in the hotel property with a book in hand! Absolute Bliss I tell u....




On the drive back to Bangalore we stopped over at Dandeli and spent 2 days there river rafting and on jungle safari! On the final leg of that journey, so dead tired were we that we took a nap in the middle of the night inside the car parked bang on the Tumkur - Bangalore highway until a patrolling officer came knocking on car window wondering if everything is ok ;)

This post is a part of Indibloggers "The Perfect Road Trip"(sponsored by Ambipur)- this was perfect simply cause we went with zero expectations n came back delighted :)

14 comments:

  1. Gud luck with the contest. I kept thinking I should write for this one, but ended up doing nothing about it :P

    I love such getaways with zero expectations :)

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  2. Wow! That is the perfect road trip! I love impulsive holidays like this! We haven't done too many of these in the recent years. And your account just makes me want to go on an unplanned, fun holiday.

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  3. That is truly the most perfect road trip - zero expectations, and you go back home with so many goodies, memories of people places and good food! :D

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  4. You know I had heard of this place first in Outlook traveller... I guess they listed it down as one of the places to go and enjoy the rains... during the monsoons... it was listed among the top 10 destinations in India by the author :D and I was hooked... then for a while I don;t know but I forgot the name... but was always sure it was on the mumbai goa route... and now that I saw the name of your post immediately it struck in my mind... this was the place :D I so so want to go there :D

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  5. The buttermilk with kokum is called 'Sol-kadi' and I love it. It has cooling effect on the body.I think a waterfall too is around???. Enjoyed your trip.

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  6. I have heard a lot about the Malvan cuisine and I am just dying to try it ! I love road trips. And yours seem the perfect kind !

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  7. wow!!
    I didn't know there was such a place! heh!
    Looks like you guys had fun! I love river-rafting!!
    And such a coincidence - we are going next weekend! :D

    And the food pic looks yummm... Bliss I tell you!

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  8. Oh wow! This seems just like a place Jose and I would love. Thanks for sharing the lovely pics!

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  9. wow !
    an unexplored hill station. That sure adds to the mystery and desire to explore
    Noting down the name Amboli.....such a respite from city buzz
    good one :) and good lck fr the contest

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  10. The thali looks very inviting! It is wonderful to explore such non-commercial, new and beautiful places. The touristy destinations with so much commercialization no longer are so appealing!

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  11. Wow!! that looks like a beautiful place, most importantly pristine and less commercialized.

    Police pulling you off the car, are you sure you weren't doing something else in the middle of the road? Wink wink :)

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  12. What a wonderful trip. And sleeping in the parked car, you both must have been really tired!

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  13. Glad I found this post. It’s really awesome. Thanks for your information about amboli trip. Amboli sightseeing consists of different tourist spots.

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  14. Amboli is really amassing place. Find more information about amboli hill station at http://www.touristsafari.com/hill-stations/amboli

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