Strolling Around Mahabaleshwar Market and Boating on Venna Lake

Saturday, January 13, 2024

Strolling Around Mahabaleshwar Market and Boating on Venna Lake

After another comfortable night and good, hot showers in our hotel, we got dressed and decided to go and meet the day—our last one in Mahabaleshwar. Having passed several times by Café Peter at the corner of the street in which our hotel was located, we figured it would be a good place to have a hearty breakfast. And we were not mistaken. Café Peter was wonderful!

Breakfast at Café Peter:

Given that Mahabaleshwar is all about strawberries at the moment and given that Café Peter serves wonderful Continental food, I was pretty certain we’d get excellent waffles with strawberry compote at this place. How delighted I was, therefore, to see a sign advertising their Strawberry Waffles and, of course, without any hesitation that was what both of us ordered.

The waffles were large and crisp and covered with sliced strawberries in a lovely flower-petal fashion that made it look too good to eat. It came with a small pot of strawberry flavored whipped cream but no maple syrup. I asked for some honey and was quite delighted when they could provide it. It made an extraordinarily hearty and most delicious breakfast with hot chocolate (for me) and coffee (for Llew). We took our time over breakfast as we realized that we had up to 2.00 pm to fill as that was when we intended to start our return journey to Bombay.

Strolling Down the Hill to Find Stone Cottage:

The first item on my agenda was an attempt to find a house called Stone Cottage as I remembered my Mum telling me that she and my Dad had spent some wonderful summers there before I was born when they were guests of my Aunty Anne who used to rent the place for a whole month at a time. I had passed by a hotel yesterday called Stone Villa Hotel and I felt sure that this place was, at the very least, in the vicinity of the cottage.

Here, too, my instinct served me well. Just one cottage before we reached the hotel, we passed by a house called Stone House—it was, in fact, adjoining the hotel property. I felt certain that this was the place in which my parents had spent those summers in the 1950s. I requested the watchman to allow us to saunter around the place and came to the conclusion that part of the property (that which was covered with fruit trees more than half a century ago), had been sold to the hoteliers who now run the hotel next door. At any rate, I was very pleased to take pictures of the place and to walk in the footsteps of my parents’ youthful days.

Shopping in Mahabaleshwar Market:

Having accomplished this mission, we made our way to the market to do some souvenir shopping. The shops were just opening for the day and, in no time, at all, we were able to buy boxes of fresh strawberries, mulberries and raspberries plus two walking sticks. These too were bought out of nostalgia as my parents had bought twin sticks over seventy years ago—they happen to be sticks which I now own. I decided that I would buy two similar sticks and I was thrilled to find them and add them to my collection in my umbrella stand—similar sticks just seventy years apart! And, of course, we could not leave Mahabaleshwar without buying strawberry jam and fruit gummy sweets and armed with all these buys we called Ravi, our driver, to the market so that he could help load our buys into our car.

Back at our hotel, I was further delighted to find that the shoemaker had, true to his word, sent a person to deliver my pair of brown tan sandals. I was even more pleased to find that they fit me perfectly and were exactly as comfortable as I had hoped they would be. All these purchases went into the booth of our car before we made our way back to the market.

Visiting Nells Hotel and the Church of the Holy Cross:

were two other places I wanted to see before we left the market area: one was Nells Hotel in which my parents had stayed when they had last visited Mahabaleshwar together with my brother Russel and my daughter, Chriselle in 1991 or 1992. They had described it as a lovely place, perfect for young families with whom it was very popular at the time.

Nells Hotel is right in the heart of the market—so, very convenient for families who do not have a car at their disposal. However, it looked pretty run down from the outside and I had the feeling that it no longer operated as a hotel. The face was badly in need of maintenance and there was no one around from whom we could make any inquiries.

Just next door to Nell’s Hotel is the only church in Mahabaleshwar. It dates from 1831 when it was first established and is called the Church of the Holy Cross. It is cute and small and well-maintained. Imagine a small country church somewhere in the English countryside. This little church reminded me of those. Llew and I paid a short visit inside as the church was open and found out that there are regular Sunday services conducted inside.

A few minutes later, we were back in our car heading down the hill towards Venna Lake for the last item we wished to accomplish and the last experience we wanted to have.

Boating on Venna Lake:

Boating on Venna Lake is one of the most popular activities in Mahabaleshwar and although we were there, off-season, there were loads of people making their way down to the pier and at least a dozen boats of various kinds on the water. We opted for a thirty-minute boat ride with an oarsman as neither one of us fancied getting stuck in the middle of the lake as a result of our poor rowing skills!

Accordingly, we were in a private boat with a lovely rower called Ismael (for Rs. 600) who chatted away to us throughout the ride and filled us in on the history of the hill-station and the changes that have been wrought over it by time. The quiet serenity of the lake (but for his occasional chatter) is a good enough reason to spend a morning messin’ about in boats and I would highly recommend it.

I must also say that, apart from boating, horse-riding is a popular pass-time in the hill-station and that there is a dedicated segment of open land, adjoining the lake, where riders can have a turn on a horse—either with or without an attendant. My cousin Blossom informs me that her brother, my cousin Brian, who became a very competent polo player, learned his horse-riding before reaching his teens, right here in Mahabaleshwar. I thought that was an interesting aspect of family lore. Llew and I did not do any horse-riding as I was not too impressed by the fact that it was only in that little segmented area that one could ride. In Matheran, another Maharashtrian hill-station, where I have actually ridden a horse with my friend Nafisa, just three years ago, the horses take you all over town as well as into the jungle—a really splendid experience (even if it results in a sore backside for the next three days!).

Return Drive to Bombay:

With the last item on our agenda successfully accomplished, Llew and I were ready to hit the road and get back to Bombay. We’d had a really terrific three days and we were so pleased that our little break from the city had proven to be so successful.

We left Mahabaleshwar at 2.00 pm and enjoyed the drive down the mountains back to the plains. There is not much to say except that Poona was still dizzying with its suburban high-rise development and once past it, we were in the thick of slowly increasingly Bombay traffic. We stopped a little ahead of Lonavla to get an early dinner at a Burger King (lovely to have the occasional burger) and then we drove straight back home. We reached Bandra at about 8.15 pm which was a perfect time really as our journey was wonderfully comfortable and relaxed and we could go straight towards an early night.

Thanks for following me on this short expedition to Mahabaleshwar. These brief excursions have certainly whetted my appetite for more exploration in venues not too far from Bombay and we are already thinking of our next one. vUntil our next trip, thanks for armchair traveling with me!