Malshej Ghat

Date : 19-Jul-2012

The idea behind this travelogue is not to introduce you to Malshej (I’m sure most of us have been here umpteen times) – but to give a picture of how it looks at this time of the year – especially for people hesitant to plan a trip due to missing rains in Mumbai … So I will prefer to keep the travelogue short and add pics at the end so you can skip the text to save yourself the boredom.

Wifey was really desperate for a monsoon trip and I kept telling her there is no rain, whats the point in going ? Ultimately she proved me wrong.
We set off on a weekday as weekends @ Malshej are avoidable for families due to the unruly crowd and the sheer amount of people who turn up.

We left Mulund @ 09:00 and touched the NH3 in no time. There was a small confusion at Anjur Phata which I thought was the right turn for Kalyan, but after some local help we were back on track moving towards Kalyan. While NH3 was super good after the completion of the extra laning, the roads till Kalyan were very bad, especially the one that bypasses Kalyan station (situation may improve after the work is completed).

It took us 1-1/2 hr to reach the outskirts of Kalyan (mere 45 kms) – that shows how bad the roads and the traffic were. Once we crossed Kalyan, and got onto NH222, the situation improved and as we were past Murbad it was a silky smooth drive till we reached the landslide prone area of Malshej. In no time we crossed the villages of Tokawade and Vaishakhare (the starting point for Naneghat trek). Being a weekday there were hardly any vehicles apart from the odd ST bus.

As the ghat climb started it started to rain very heavily giving the feeling that this trip would be futile. But soon it stopped and the weather cleared slowly giving a glimpse of the many waterfalls on the way. The rain had added to their bulk and soon the region was transformed into a lovely contrast of green-black-white. It was an ideal time for a bhutta (the best one I’ve had so far). The fog started to get very dense as the altitude rose and I consciously started to drive very slowly. It was a pity to see people park their vehicles exactly next to the board that mentioned ‘Landslide prone area. Do not stop here’.

The waterfalls falling on the middle of the road were in full force and I could imagine the condition on weekends where people literally gather in the middle of the road, some dancing – others sitting – with bottles in hand. One of the lanes here had caved in due to a landslide. Visibillity was very low in this area and we could barely see the car ahead – thats it.
In fact, we almost missed the MTDC resort due to the fog.

Being a weekday, we got a decent service at the restaurant with yummy chicken. However, there was so much fog outside that I could not spot the gap in the fence to go to the edge of the cliff. In any case, that would be futile as nothing could be seen. A short wait later we resumed our trip back to Mumbai with multiple photo stops, one of them to see the huge MTDC waterfall caused by the Pimplegaon Joga Dam overflow.

Just loved the drive till Murbad – beyond that it was again a pain to cross Kalyan, but overall a pleasant drive. Do visit Malshej irrespective of the rains in Mumbai as you will realise there is an entirely different season out there.

Below are some pics from the trip.