Trip to Nashik….. after a long time and from a different perspective

After completing engineering in 2010 and staying there for 4 years, I wanted to visit Nashik again. This trip was from a different perspective because during at that I was a student, wasn’t as easy to commute, explore as it is now. So many memories with different places that I thought it would be fun to relive those moments, this time with my wife.

We were planning for this trip for a long time and finally the dates were decided. Good Friday holiday utilized and we left for Nashik on 30^th March 2018 Friday, around 8 am from Pune. Followed google maps blindly. It took us via Alandi and famous temple. The roads here are newly constructed and they are awesome. The roads looked different because they were divided like BRT but not with high barricades. Probably they will be used by the pilgrims and the palkhi. We then joined the Pune Nashik road. The roads are really good. In between we come across some small villages where no bypass is yet provided. That becomes little boring, driving on one lane road and waiting for long time to overtake. Finally, we reached Nashik. We had our lunch at a nice little restaurant Surabhi near Sarda circle.

We left for Sula around 4 and reached there around 5. The location is wonderful. Also, the ambience of the place is amazing. However, I was highly disappointed with the space crunch, unprofessional staff and overpriced menu (Kanda bhaji for 250/-). The information tour and wine tasting tour costs 375/-. Again, it was a bit on a higher side. Considering the staff and crowded restaurant, we decided not to take the tour there. We ordered two dishes, one with the corn and one with potato. Potato one was tasty. Corn was bad. We spent some nice time there. There are many places where there is a photo opportunity. We also purchased 2 wine bottles. 375ml each. One red wine and one white wine. They do give you some minimal discount. We spent almost 1200/- there.

Agenda for the next day was to show my wife some places in Nashik that I know and have some memories of.

In the morning, we visited the college where I had completed engineering 8 years ago. KK wagh college. It was a good walk down the memory lane.

The newly constructed flyover is huge and long, I mean really long (The second longest Elevated Corridor in Maharashtra, the third in India). After that, visited the Godavari ghat where the Hindu rituals are performed. Also made that I show the famous Hanuman ji idol which gets immersed in water in rainy season and that indicates the flood.

Later, we visited famous Chandicha Ganpati temple (Lord Ganesh idol made of silver) at Ravivar Karanja. Then I purchased my favourite madras tikhat farsan that we only get in 1 shop. That shop is here in Nashik. Next to Chandicha Ganpati temple, and the name is “Simla food products”.

Later we visited a friend’s place near Satpur area.

The next halt was the GP farms. We checked in to our room. This was more of a farmhouse or a place that is rented out for conference/small birthday parties/maybe a wedding. That is how the arrangement of the rooms was. The room was amazing. Wooden finishing. Split ac, mini bar (even though it was empty). Then we went straight to the restaurant. It was a good small restaurant. We ordered some paneer kofta sabzi with very less mirchi. It was nice and tasty. It is good when we go to such restaurants who make less spicy food when asked for and not just say “Medium spicy ayega!”

Luckily, we were planning to visit York Winery & Tasting Room and in our hotel itself we got free coupons for its tour and wine tasting.

We went next to York Winery & Tasting Room. It was 3-4 km ahead of Sula Wines. The road after Sula wines is in a bad condition. Soma and York people should do something about it. Very less people with a good class (unlike Sula). That is what I liked about this place the most. And because this place wasn’t crowded at all, the winery tour and wine tasting session was enjoyable and informative where we could ask questions and have a good conversation. Thanks to “Yamin” for wonderfully conducted tour and a good wine tasting session. Wine tasting + tour costs 250 for 7 types of wine and 150 for 5 types of wines. Now I know the difference between a red, white and sparkling wine. Also, the logic behind different shapes of wine glasses.

The wine tasting room is nicely decorated with bottles, cheeky quotes and has breath-taking view of a water body. Even though there were limited seats facing the view and they were all occupied. And it’s quite natural that people won’t move from their places with such fascinating view and a glass of wine in front of you.

If you compare York and Sula, I would recommend York. It has less and good crowd, good tour, reasonable pricing.

The next stop of our trip was the Kashyapi dam. It is around 20 km from Sula winery. It is unexplored territory. We reached there and we were amazed. It is beautiful. You need to drive and look around for nice spot where you can park the car. But there is no one around. Entire lake is for yourself. I was mesmerized to see clean environment, still and clean blue water. We put our feet in water and spent lovely quiet time there. This place is highly recommended for the people who like peaceful places, no crowd at all and who like to explore new places.

After almost an hour spent there, we kept on driving. We noticed on google maps that there is one more water body nearby – Ladachi. It was not far, so we decided to go there. Next to a village there is a small lake. Few villagers around. Since we had come back from a huge water reservoir, this looked a bit small, but still a good place to relax for a while.

Finally, after a day well spent, we head back to our room at GP farms. We were already full hence decided to have a light dinner. The three-layered sandwich was yummy. Different layers fruits, veggies and mayo-cheese in between a grilled bread was a wonderful choice with chilled bournvita milk. All tired went to bed to get up early and leave for Pune.

I thoroughly enjoyed the smooth drive 590 km in total, at an amazing mileage of 19 with my Tata Tiago :)

To summarize, a perfect road trip – relatives, visit to known touristy places as well as exploring new places, a leisure relaxing trip :)