Wanderlust Tales : Road Trip to Bhigwan

BHIGWAN:

Bhigwan is a town near Pune famous for Flamingo sightings.

Flamingos are a type of wading bird, who usually stand on one leg. They are believed to be social animals, living in big colonies. It is here that Flamingos stay for the cooler part of the year and flock in great numbers in Bhigwan. And we were off to catch a glimpse of this tall beauty - weekends give you all the reason to travel.😊

HOW TO GET HERE:

Bhigwan is approximately at a distance of 80 km to 90km from Hadapsar, Pune.
We started our to journey by 05:45-ish in the morning. Despite Friday being a late night-er, I pulled myself up and got ready.

And we hit the highway by 6-ish. With the first rays of the sunrise hitting us, trying to play a game of hide and seek amidst the populous buildings, the high rise buildings, and trees - it was a splendid feeling altogether.
Watching the sunrise is always a pleasant experience and there is a certain sanctity in it.

We paid a toll of Rs.30/- right ahead of Hadapsar, although we said we are local to Hadapsar - they charged us the toll - which was unfair. Little ahead, there was another toll for which we showed our old coupon from Hadapsar toll Naka, which sufficed. Next toll Naka, we paid a toll of Rs.100/- for the to and fro journey.

The highways are a charm to drive on - straight roads and the car zoops through easily at a speed of 100 km/h. Don't forget the Google Maps.

After taking the final diversion which led us inside Bhigwan, the last stretch of 2-3 km was horrendous - kachha roads, with lots of ups and down.

After the treacherous ride, we finally made our way to the Flamingo point managed by MTDC. 😐

It is a cottage where they facilitate for food, stay and boat rides. So we stopped by and asked them to arrange for the breakfast and by this time we headed for the boat ride. There are clean washrooms also for one's use.
We were quite dicy if we would chance upon any Flamingos at this time, but we couldn't have gotten any luckier. Far off, we could sight the Flamingos, ducks and few other birds - whose name I would never be able to tell.

BHIGWAN BIRD WATCHING:

http://xylo742.blogspot.com/2017/11/wanderlust-tales-bhigwan-bird-watching.html

JEJURI TEMPLE:

After our visit to Bhigwan, we had some time in hand - so detoured to the Jejuri Temple:
http://xylo742.blogspot.com/2017/04/wanderlust-tales-jejuri-khandoba-temple.html

Few pictures from the visit:

FOOD STOP:

After our boat ride for about an hour or so, we returned to the cottage where our hot breakfast was ready -  poha - we were damn hungry since there was no intake of food since the morning. The poha tasted good, garnished with sev and lime.

Cheers to life!!

~Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!

P.S. All the above photos have been clicked by me.