Vedi Farms

From last few weeks I was having difficult time to find suitable place to visit during summers. The summer is a bit harsh this year and it is not helping to make this decision any easier. So while idly reading the local newspaper I spotted a news about agro-tourism. This is where I spotted the name of Vedi farms... Vedi Ve as is Way and di as in Dinar, is about 90km from Pune on Pune-Satara NH4 highway, approximately 45km before Satara. As soon as you cross the Khambatki Ghat, keep an eye on your left for a village road and a hoarding pointing towards Vedi farms. This stretch of road is quite rough and lasts for about 10km. On reaching the destination I was told that the road is under construction and would be tarred within a year or so. And what I found was that the Vedi farms itself is under construction. This fact was hidden very cleaverly by the marketting person from me. Most of the staff was on leave, the caretaker was not informed about our arrival. We were left to ourselves and after lunch we asked the caretaker about the activities and farm visit. They agreed to show us the farms as and when we were ready. So we started in the evening at around 5 pm after a siesta. Saw some crops like tomato and capsicum and then headed to see the Emu farming. Also saw the green house of Gerbera. I was curious as I had never seen the bird before. It bears similarity to ostrich, is about 5-6 ft tall and has a stronf smell. In the evening we had dinner and roamed around the Machan, this is a wonderful construction at this farms. It is quite windy at machan and one can see for long distances at a stretch. At night one can see the lights of the vehicles driving down the highway far away.

The next day we left after lunch. On the way we saw the windmills and on whim decided to check them out. Just about in 10-15 minutes drive we were at the base of the first windmill. I was awed by the size of the structure. I was surprised that the windmill was spinning even when there was not much wind. My idea was that it would need a huge thrust of wind to move those huge blades... its a must see.

In about an hour and half we were back in Pune. All in all the visit was not all that interesting. Probably I had some expectations set after seeing the website of Vedi farms, and they were not met there. As a matter of fact there were no vistors there and it was so very empty. I hope that the owner of this wonderful site would make the most of this location and most importantly handlle the marketting properly. Afterall a satisfied customer is the best advertisement.

Checklist for outing

Outings in general consists of happy moments, either with friends or family members or both. Sometimes it so happens that in the excitement of making these happy memories, one misses out to put the camera in their bag pack or to forgets to pack that special outfit bought specially for the trip. Of course the trip goes on but somewhere we know that it is little less than perfect, right?

So to reduce this problem to significant extent I thought of preparing a checklist of some sort. So whenever you are planning your next excursion, make sure to keep this check list handy!

I think I have included most of the essentials in this list. And I suggest that you keep a copy of this with you while planning your next trip. Do you think something is missing from this list, say it.

Wishlist-2010

When ever I have some time at hand I like to travel. Some of the places are my favourites and that includes Kashid Beach and Goa (specifically Colva beach). I make it a point to visit these places once a year. And most of the times I plan well before stepping out. The hotel bookings, the travel arrangements, the site seeing if any, everything is planned to last details (Satara was one of the exception and the trip turned out to be great). So a thought came to my mind ... why not create a wish list of the place which I would like to visit! And so here it goes:

Goa (Colva beach): This time around would like to try Vinay beach resort. It is close by to the GTDC resort and the beach as well. Last time I had checked it and found that the rooms are much cleaner and better than the GTDC's. And the charges are almost same. The GTDC service is good, so I hope that GTDC paints and cleans their property. I would like to spend around 4-5 days in Goa and would be visiting Panjim and explore some interior parts of Goa. And yes I want to try my hand at photography too! Bangda fry on plate and watching sunset in the silver sands is definitely a bliss! Goa is the place where one can be enjoy being lazy and not feel guilty about it :-)

Kashid: The start of my winter would be at Kashid, around 3-4 days is good enough. Would be eating at Patil Khanawal (hotel or mess) but would also like to find some other local food joint. Kokani fish recipes are hmmmm... my mouth is already watering. Seen it twice already so this time around I might give a miss to the Janjira fort. On the other hand would explore the Phansad Wild Life Sanctuary. I understand that it is somewhere near-by to Kashid.

Jaipur: Always wanted to see the pink city for myself. Seen this magnificient city on television many times... the pink buildings, the hawa mahal, the palaces, the intricate art work, the kathputlis (puppets), the Rajasthani cuisine. I think it will need 4-5 days to do justice to Jaipur. But I need to do some research to find which season/months are more suitable for this visit. May be you can help me in this. I would like to know your experiences if you have visited Jaipur... or are from Jaipur.

Koyna Backwaters: Saw the pictures on net and they are superb, especially during monsoon season. I certainly would like to spend 2-3 days at Koyna dam. Just want to get wet and roam in rains. The back water would be magnificient with mist and the breeze. Wow, I wish to be at Koyna dam in 2010.

Kaas: How can I miss this one. I have been to Satara and after visiting the near-by Kaas Lake I was so taken a back by the greenery that I decided to re-visit it. Later the locals told that the right time would be September-October. During these times all kinds of flowers bloom near the Lake and the view is mesmerizing. It is said that many of the flowers seen here are not even categorized by the botanist. These flowers are said to be found only in this region.

For smaller duration, am considering some near by resorts. Durshet, Saguna Baug, Panhala, Malshej Ghat, stay at Sinhagad.

Now that my wish list for touurist places for 2010 is almost finalised, I am going to try every bit to make it real. With my fingers crossed I am looking at 2010.

By the way if you have to spend say 5 days at a destination, where would that be? C'mon be sporty now.