pune

Day 1

09:00

Reached early morning.

13:30

Left for car rental. Shitty experience with Zoomcar—not unlocking. Finally bargained for cheap and got a good SUV for just ₹1700.

Shivam drove for the first half-day, headed to Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga.

17:30

At around 17:30 took a snacks break—had dosa. The road was pretty, with wet roads and scenic views. We stopped at a gorge for a quick photo break. We resumed the drive now ETA at 2000. It was getting dark and visibility was low with heavy rains.

Day 1 (continued – Bhimashankar)

20:30

Reached the temple premises around 20:30. It was raining heavily and we had to walk around half a kilometre to reach the main temple. It was a fun walk. We hadn’t figured out a place to stay yet. On talking to the priest, we came to know about a small lodge beside the temple. It’s been a ritual of ours for a long time that we close down temples—this time was the same too.

22:30

For dinner we had piping hot Maggi. Then we walked back to get the car to the lodge. The road was quite narrow there. We dozed of.

Morning

Only to be woken four hours later, struggling to time-share a common washroom. We did our darshan/archana and headed back to Pune. On the way we went to meet an aunt, had a hearty meal, and spent the afternoon in siesta. The next day, Sunday, we headed out again.

Pune & Nearby Exploration

Sunday

Morning

Headed to Visapur with a rental scooty. The rental scooty key broke, then got another one and headed to Visapur. The view again was scenic. The trek was exhilarating, unlike before.

We climbed through a waterfall incarnated from the heavy rain flow, cutting its way through the mountain. The trek wasn’t long—just about 4 km—but the last 500 m were tough, literally climbing up rocks, trying to find footing and getting down equally carefully.

Evening

Came back to Pune to see off our parent. Returned the scooty to the rental place. A lazy day, then dinner at Lane 6.

Next Day

Early morning we headed to Baner hill. It was a pretty trail amidst the city, many paths to explore. Came back and then slept.

#draft