Kolad Water Rafting A Thrill Worth One Try Atleast! Tamhini Ghat Waterfalls And Shree Ballaleshwar Ganpati In Pali (Raigad District)

Leaving the easy route Rasayane

This time a totally new set of friends from my office (or should i say just colleagues....Lol just kidding) decided this adventurous activity since don't remember how long because like others we also heard about the famous rafting in Kolad and went with a firm decision (except some people who later on opted out of this plan). Well they missed out on the fun we had. No hard feelings though... So one my friends arranged for a car and we all were going to meet at Thane station East (Kopari) and started our journey at 06:15 am approx.There were other friends also but they arranged a different car from Kharghar as they stayed in Navi Mumbai. And off we started our journey to Kolad. Well not to mention the time that we were given by the adventure sports team of 08:30 am sharp we got a little behind and took the long route which gave us the beautiful nature ride for some extra kilometers (the roads did give us a hard time....phew!)

    Around 10.30 am ( yes 2 hours late but adventure sport people were good) we reached near Kundalika river but super confused about the start point A(from where your rafting journey starts) and we just ran in circles there and an awesome movie scene happens with the other set of friends when we see them driving towards us on a one way and just stop and think "hey that car looks familiar?" Laughing out loud!!!

The movie scene........ O.o

 So together we go to find the point A and we see the river besides us with some people already rafting in it.... Adrenaline pumping and nervous as never dared to swim in a deep river. One of our friend drove the car to point B where our rafting journey was going to end (it was pretty far) and then we wore our life jackets,raft paddles, helmets and we started....Yayyy!! :)........

Chivalry is ready

The nature's awesomeness

        I seriously wanted to shoot a full on video in the rapids with everyone's reactions but just couldn't ....guess it was for the best....listening to the instructor and sitting on the edge of the raft...especially when you are sitting in the front and you know before all you have to go through the rapids is thrilling and scary at the same time. But no regrets as I felt never such adventurous before. The instructor told us that the speed of water currents depends on the number of gates the government decides to open. so the more gates open the more water and more fun....... Lucky! so after some rapids the instructor just throws you into water....lols just kidding !!! he tells us that there is a patch of river with no rocks and safe to swim and he is there if something goes wrong. I almost though this is it for me as when I went to swim I was so exhausted I just couldn't kep my feet moving and when the river to its force I was like.....man I m drinking a lot of water!!!
       On a serious note if you never swam then take the opportunity to swim here with a life jacket on as it helps but even though it can get risky and when you feel so just call out and try to get towards your raft for some relief.OH! by the way It was Kolad White Waters Kundalika River Rafting a cool team. So after my resurrection..Lol!! we had a phase of still and silent river water where we just swam endlessly  almost getting near to Point B the end where we were called to our rafts and do the hard work part of rowing the boat till the end.

Tamhini Falls

            Here after having some some pictures,snacks and changing we parted from our Kharghar friends as they had a curfew of time. They drove back to their home. But we saw something on the mountains and starting asking nearby locals about the waterfall that was visible from a real far distance. It was Tamhini falls.
          It took about 1 and a half hour more to reach there but man it was woth it as you drive in the ghats and upfront is this huge water fall which was visible from a far away distance. We took some time to enjoy the view and take some picture near the waterfall

Shree Tuljabhavani

Shree Swami Samartha

         Moving on around 02:30 pm we decided to have our lunch so on our way to returns we went to Shree Swami Samartha Temple  and  Shree Tuljabhavani Ani Shivaji Maharaj Temple in Kolad which was devotional as one of my friends really wanted to pay a visit to them.

Shree Tuljabhavani ani Shivarai Mandir

 So had our lunch after visiting this temples and drove towards our last destination which was Pali in Raigad district approximately taking 2 hours to reach we were witnessing the grasslands and villages and the hill ranges which was nature at its best although it rained though i don't like rain but things were pretty scenic. 
  And we reach near the entrance of Balleshwar Mandir one of the shopkeepers told us to pay a visit to Dhundi Vinayak Ganpati as it is a common practice to do before you visit Shree Ballaleshwar. 
         So after visiting Dhundi Vinayak we went into Shree Ballaleshwar temple. The temple has ancient importance and there since the time of Peshwas.....haha !! History..... 
        There is a pond behind the temple with a large bell hanging on the door which is since the time of Shivaji Maharaj as it is said that he offered the temple this bell. And here we completed our journey in the name of Lord Ganesha! :)

Shree Ballaleshwar (Pali cha Ganapati)

   So this is how we started our return journey but trust me Google Maps are necessary.....Music while driving. Endless chats with friends and more relief is when you find the rightway to home Mumbai- Pune Expressway. And you start thinking you will reach home on time but the traffic just catches up to us...Lols!!!

 Yet I would say there much more to explore.....!!! 

    You all can check out my youtube video of the above places

                                                                                              Thank you!!!!