Trip to Malshej Ghat & Igatpuri

Hi,
Pune has the max no of weekend breaks than any other city i've ever known and if you dont go out and enjoy the monsoons you are simply wasting life !!
So this time, decided to go to Malshej Ghat & Igatpuri which is north of Pune. Started off from Pune and took NH-50 towards Nasik.This also leads to Bhimashankar. Reached Narayangaon (famous for the worlds largest metrewave telescope) and took a left for Junnar.  The roads are good with the odd bad patches. Enroute saw some Buddhist caves dating back to 2 century BC and Shivneri fort (the birthplace of Shivaji). Then proceeded onto Malshej Ghat which is an amazing drive through lush countryside. Its only 130 kms north of Pune. The only worth while place to stay is the MTDC Resort which has the best location on a plateau surrounded by the ghats on all sides. Another resort is Sushant which is so-so.The cottages at MTDC of  Rs 2400/- for 04 persons were not really great and i would recommend to stay in the deluxe rooms (1200/- for 02 & 2800/- for 04) which have these nice balconies to sit out on and enjoy the view. Food has to be preordered but was very simple yet tasty. You can got out for walks along the plateau to its very edge and enjoy nature at its utmost beauty.  There is a very nice lake on which you can drive along the bund or park on it and walk down to the clear waters.
Next day drove through the famous beautiful Malshej ghat road through the waterfalls and tunnel towards Bhiwandi (Mumbai) to catch NH-3 towards Igatpuri and onwards to Nasik. The roads are again good with the occasional construction going on in NH-3 and the heavy traffic at Kalyan. Igatpuri was 200 kms but hardly came to know how the time and distance flew. There is nothing to do in Igatpuri unless you are staying in Manas Resorts and enjoying the resort itself. The resorts of Manas group are beautiful but after Malshej what we wanted was to be closer to nature, to go for walks, to enjoy the waterfalls..Hotel Ashwin is bang in the middle of he village with no views. We were in quite a dilemma as to what to do when along the way we came on a shanty signboard announcing Golden Resort. Just on a whim took the turn off the highway and proceeded into the green fields. And what a surprise we got.. the resort was beautifully located amongst mountains, waterfalls with a lot of planning into it. It had nice seating, play areas, swimming pool and although not five star but it was definitely one of the best budget resorts we had come across. I would definitely recommend it to everyone not only because of the location but also because of the wonderful service we got in which they tried to accomodate all our needs to the best of their effort. The rooms were around 2500/- and all had nice balconies with good views. Food was good and well prepared. The resort has lot of tracks branching off in various directions and you can pick any one of them for a long and satisfying trek right to the top of the mountains. Just sat on the top enjoying the cool wind, the small trickling waterfalls nearby and the lovely view all around.
The trip was amazing and totally enjoyed the lovely views which makes one realise our country is so beautiful ..all you need to do is go out and explore it !!