Mahabaleshwar for a day

It's very difficult to keep oneself entertained and plan for interesting travel vacations when you're pregnant in India and have lack of resources or are paranoid like me. So after 5 months of being stuck in Pune and cancelling all our other travel plans for this little baby to come, my husband decided I deserved a treat and planned an overnight getaway to Mahabaleshwar. Now it's not like this would be my first visit to the place of strawberries, but this was going to be a different sort of getaway- one which just included being a sloth and one which didn't include any usual sight seeing or activities as you may call it. Hehe... This would be a first for me, you know a getaway with no agenda and no alcohol and eating healthy, but it would definitely be better than nothing at all, I thought :)

So, on 24th Dec, we had a heavy breakfast at home and then left home by 10 am for our resort. Mahabaleshwar is just 120 kms from Pune, which makes it closer to Bombay. So when we left, we thought it shouldn't take us more than 3 hours to reach, even with traffic, but little did we know. The journey onwards was just excruciating due to the traffic. There was roadwork going on along the entire route and it being a long weekend, there were almost thrice the number of vehicles on the road, just adding to the traffic and mayhem :( We had no other alternative but to brave it out and take a few rest stops along the way to refresh and stretch my limbs and go for pee breaks. So my tip number one for weekend getaways, specially if you're pregnant or traveling with kids is to have enough food and water in the car  and have planned stops for loo on the way, or avoid going out during the usual festive long weekends, just to avoid the traffic! Hehe

Finally, after 5 long hours, we reached our resort- Bella Vista hotel at mahabaleshwara - this is 5 kms from Mapro garden. And this place was just a treat to the sore eyes after all those cars and dusty roads! We were quickly taken to our room, which was non AC , but that was perfectly fine since it's quite cold during winters and you don't really need the airconditioning :) Our room was really pretty and had this view from the window, the bed was nice and the bathroom very luxurious too.

So we quickly freshened up and took a small nap to relax ourselves and then ordered in hot pakoras and tea for evening snacks! You see, the slothing had begun! Hehhe .. Once done, we stepped out to explore the resort and were pleasantly surprised. It's a small resort, but was nicely nestled between trees and shrubs and lots of colourful plants! They were so beautiful! They have a small lawn area and a sun deck near the restaurant and a Viennese style swimming pool with similar romantic settings :) we saw a lot of newly weds, pregnant couples and families with kids and concluded that this resort probably caters to this kind of crowd specifically, since they don't serve alcohol, don't use msg at all in any of their food and the entire premise was non smoking! So I was really happy :) We walked until sunset and took a lot of pictures! Hehe

We headed back into our room to relax and watch Fringe on our laptop until dinner time. We had such a lovely and quite dinner, of Chinese food since they assured us that they didn't use Msg in their food. There was a live band playing too and all that just added to the charm of the place and the night. I loved it! Post dinner, we took another quick walk to see the lights and the moon and then had an early night, so we could sleep really long and wake up on time for breakfast! Lol!

Next morning, we woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside our window and the view of a wintry misty mountain early in the morning! How I wish I could wake up to this all my mornings! Hehe But I guess that's why people have getaways , so they can appreciate the simple joys of nature more :) We quickly headed off for our buffet breakfast, which is complimentary and boy did they have a spread!! I hogged on puri, sabzi, idli, sambhar, masala omelette and coffee! Yes, you can call me a glutton but I don't really care! I was just so satisfyingly full! Hehe.. Post breakfast, we went out to the lawn to soak in some sun and walk barefoot on the grass and just sit and feel like we were meditating :) And at that moment I felt like I didn't want this sloth vacation to end just yet, but we had to head back sadly.

So we showered and checked out and stopped on the way to buy some strawberries too! The journey and road back was much better and faster and there was hardly any traffic, so we made it back within 3 hours, which was a boon again :)

So all in all, I thought a trip that feels relaxing and ends well, is a great trip :) And I'll probably recommend a two day slothing vacation Coz it's really easy to get used to doing nothing! Hehe

Travel Tips:

Stay- Bella Vista resort (great for couples, elderly people, pregnant women and people with children). A one night non AC room cost us 7k INR

Other expenses- 1500 on food, 1100 on diesel

Loo stops - Onwards to Mahabaleshwar -mc Donald's after the toll, food plaza just after the ghats, Mapro garden

Loo stops- onwards to Pune- Mapro garden, Mapro food mall just before you touch the expressway, lots many on the way too