Khodala Holiday Trip

Khodala is located Maharashtra India, just off the road to Nasik and a demanding 40 km trek across the Western Ghats from Jawhar. The road to Khodala from Mumbai runs through the Mumbai-Nasik Highway which in parts in parts is almost First World in appearance. Down this highway at Jawhar Phata you take a left turn onto a much humbler road. After about 22 km you will come to a village that has grown around a 100m stretch of road. From some breathtaking drives and wild animals that may want to meet you but that is everything you need to make your holiday ambitions come true.

The cheapest way to go to Khodala is to take one of the many trains from Mumbai to Kasara. From the station government buses and private jeeps that stuff people into them will drop you off at Khodala but this should be your last resort. The only commonsensical way to reach Khodala is by car because the place demands flexibility of transport.

Mountain Range Wild Camp

The camp is set one a small lush incline. Run by the Mumbai based adventure group India outdoors wild camp is not merely a place to find shelter and eat. There is also rock climbing and garden variety trekking or you can rent a bike and cycle into the hills. The most popular of all is the extremely wise choice of the activity called hammocking where you lie down and do nothing.

Deobandh Temple

Spend many a blissful moment gazing at Khodala’s hillocks small soft green plateaus huge trees and marvelously slow moving people. The snap out of your reverie and visit the small Ganesh Temple here. The spot around the lake is worth absorbing with its hills and rocks and valleys and free beauty and all the other things that sound a bit boring in prose.

Around Khodala

Suryamal 10 km

Ten kilometers from Khodala village is suryamal plateau which offers calm and deep view of all that exists below and beyond. Here to take in the sunrise, it is one of those simple experiences that come up on you free and unannounced but mysteriously stay with you for many years. After the initial exhilaration of watching endless fields behind which land simply disappears there is nothing more that suryamal offers so take a drive down from Suryamal towards Wada. It’s a queer drive that may be eerie at night. To the left of the road is a thick greedy forest in which leopard’s jackals and like minded creatures roam. There are a few tiny unpaved lanes that go off the road into the jungle.

Some l6 km before Wada is a signpost that says that to your left is the Upper Vaitarna Dam. The rocky path takes you to the tip of what looks like a jungle. You keep walking and after some time you see one portion of the huge dam. You go down a slope to find hidden behind all the vegetation a stairway to the top of the dam. These days tourists are not allowed entry through the main gate which is at the end of the official road. But we did look at Vaitarna Lake from up above for one full minute and it was unforgettable.

Road Take NH3 till Jawhar Phata via Bhiwandi, Khardi and Kesara. Turn left onto the road to Khodala 23 km away. The drive takes 3 half hrs plus Nasik via Wada halt at Khodala.

Nearest railway station: Kasara 32 km 45 minites. Serviced by local trains on the Main Line from CST from Kasara take any ST bus heading for Jawhar or Wada and get off at Khodala. Or take a shared jeep from kasara Rs 60 per head, Rs 300 for entire jeep approximately.