AutoCar (June ’09) takes a road tip to Durshet and Alibaug situated near Mumbai in Maharashtra. Maharashtra in the monsoon can be extremely scenic with waterfalls tumbling down hillsides and the land taking on a million hues of green. Durshet offers some rafting and jungle walking while Alibaug is famous for its superb seafood and Konkan cuisine. Join the AutoCar team as they enjoy the monsoon…

The start point of the trip is the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. When you turn off the Expressway, after the first toll booth coming from Mumbai, the exit takes you to a T-junction. Turn right at the junction and you’ll cross the bridge running over the Expressway and come to a tri-junction. The first exit on the right goes to Pen and the second leads to Pali and Nagothane on NH17. Take the road to Pali and Nagothane and Durshet is 12km down this road after you leave the Expressway.

The drive is fantastic and the road hardly sees any traffic but do watch out for water-logging and the State Transport Buses which come in full force. The view is panoramic with the area coated in myriad shades of green and rushing rivers gurgling joyously. Completing the rustic pastoral picture are villages with thatched roof houses and lethargically smoking brick kilns.

In Durshet, Nature Trails India runs a very basic lodge that is more about beauty of location and being close to nature rather than creature comforts. Behind the lodge, the Amba river is at its burbling best during the rains and sitting by the banks reading a book or just taking in the verdant vistas is reason enough to break journey here. If the clouds are not too low, you can also get a breathtaking view of the Sahyadri Ranges. The Durshet Forest Lodge also organizes nature walks and if conditions favour, rafting…

Carrying on from Durshet, a drive of an hour or so will get you to Alibaug where the Radisson Resort and Spa is a destination by itself. At the resort, the swimming pool with its sunken bar makes for some very languid lazing and lounging or you wish, the Mandarin Spa has various treatments and massages to pamper and knead all that stress away.

The in-house restaurant ‘Kokum & Spice’ is yet another reason to stay here. The menus are interesting, the dishes well-explained and the glass kitchen means that you can see the chef at work.

If you are still hungry for some activity on your way back, you could stop for a while at the Karnala Bird Sanctuary, but AutoCar advises an early start from Alibaug so that you arrive at Karnala before the hordes of tourists do. The Kamat’s Restaurant about a kilometer away from Karnala towards Mumbai, makes for a good breakfast and lunch stopover  recommends AutoCar (June ’09). A good end to this quick monsoon break.