Yes! You can actually see stars here at Saputara. No, not the Bollywood variety or the ones purportedly seen in the day. The real, celestial ones! This is made possible on account of the altitude that this relativ
ely undiscovered hill town is located at, mainly due to the clean, fresh air, spread across hectares of forest surrounding it, and the comparative lack of motorized transport here. Perched almost a thousand meters up in the Northern edge of the Sahyadri Hill Range, this little paradise is in Gujarat, just across the border from Maharashtra. If you are driving from Mumbai, the roughly 260 kms via Nasik can be covered in about 5 hours, and once there, you won’t need the vehicle till your drive back to town.
Saputara is a trekker’s paradise! You don’t walk much here just because everything is close by, like the pretty Saputara Lake; or because there are numerous gardens to choose from, like Rose Garden, Step Garden, Lake Garden; or coz the air is fresh and clean and the thick forest cover preserved by the local Dang tribe makes you want to walk here. And you can catch the breathtakingly beautiful sunset if you head to one of the ‘Points’. There is of course the inevitable Sunset Point, Echo Point, Townview Point and the Valley View Point, a little distance away.
Also advised to leave behind at the lodging along with your vehicle, is your cell phone and other electronic distractions, especially as you exercise those arm muscles in a row boat on the lake or ride the ropeway through the air. You don’t want your precious Social Network falling off into the water or the void now, do you?
For the Traveller
- Distance to Destination from Mumbai: 260 kms
- Drive time: Approx 5 hours
- Watch out for: The Night Sky
- Accomodation Recommended with: GTDC (Gujarat Tourism Development Cooperation) – http://booking.gujarattourism.com/
- તમામ હમદીનોને નવરોઝ મુબારરક - 23 August2019
- Seeing ‘Tara’ at Saputara - 5 July2016
- Reveling In The Rains At Rajmachi - 4 July2016
