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2023 - The Year That Was

Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with

Lavasa Trip Part 6 - Information


For the last one week, ever since I began writing my Lavasa posts, I have been inundated with queries about the place. Now that I am done with all the major posts, and have just a few assorted photos left, I am dedicating this post to give some relevant details about the place.


Getting there:

Lavasa is about 200 Km from Mumbai and 70 Km from Pune. The best, in fact, the ONLY way to get there, is by car from either Mumbai or Pune. There are detailed driving directions available on the website.

Accommodation:

Lavasa has been planned as a city with a permanent population of about 3 lakhs, and tourist inflow of about 20 lakh per annum. Considering the expected flow of tourists, it is no surprise that there are many options for accommodation. While the first among the five towns at Lavasa, Dasve, is due to be ready by this year end, there are already many options for the incoming tourists.

Ekaant – The Retreat is one of the premier options offered, with the view alone scoring high enough to attract tourists. Added is the advantage of the nearby nature walk, and it is a perfect getaway for those who wish to be away from the maddening crowds. Details are available on their website, and for making a reservation, drop them a mail or call them up and transfer the money to their bank account.


Tariff:  Approx. Rs. 6000 per head, inclusive of breakfast, lunch and dinner + taxes (rates as told to us on 28th Feb, 2011)

The Waterfront Shaw is where we were put up, and it is the best place if you want to try out various cuisines, enjoy watersports and adventure sports, and generally like to live in the heart of the town. Details are available on their website, and online reservations are possible.


Tariff: Approx. Rs. 4500 per head, including breakfast; + taxes (rates as told to us on 28th Feb, 2011)

Fortune Select Dasve is typically a Fortune Hotel – huge and looks really grand! For details and booking, check out their website


Mercure, Lavasa, is part of a chain I didn’t know about before, so no personal information, just their website. Online reservations are possible.


Activities (click on the activities to visit the website for details):





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