Off The Beaten Track

Tired of the normal run-of-the-mill hill stations, Anand Pendharkar's search ends in Amboli

All pics: Anand Pendharkar

As the scorching summer sun beats down, your mind drifts into a flurry of thoughts of gushing waterfalls, swirling clouds and a cool dip in a fast flowing stream. You wonder if the hallucinations are due to a heatstroke or simply your yearning for the leisure - away from the hectic pace of urban, corporate life - coupled with the constant badgering by your family about taking-off for a soothing vacation, into the hills! However, reality dawns upon you that all you have on hand are a couple of days and managing bookings at any of the over-done hill-stations would be a Herculean task! Besides the fact that you may bump into exactly the same people you meet at work and feel crammed in equal measure, be it in Matheran, Mahabaleshwar, Ootacamund or Manali - also works on your mind. Alternatively, you may just be an intrepid traveler, having done most of the regular routes and some uncommon ones, again on the lookout for an exotic location to explore, with your group of backpacking friends…

Instant solace arrives in the form of Amboli or Ambolighat, as it is popularly know to people along the borders of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. Although a rarely visited hill-station, in comparison with the popular ghettos, Amboli is an ideal getaway with a calm and quiet feel to the entire place. Tucked away in the folds of the Sahyadri ranges in the Western Ghats, Amboli is a quaint hill-resort shrouded in dense semi-evergreen forests of Anjani, interwoven by woody climbers (lianas), nurturing scattered plantations of cardamom and crisscrossed by a million tiny streams emerging from almost every rock during the monsoons, which bring nearly 350-400 cms of rainfall annually. Sitting high up at 690 metres (2,300 feet), around 28 kms from the town of Sawantwadi, which is famous for its wooden toys, in Sindhudurg District, Amboli offers a pleasant climate most of the year.

During the British days, it was popular among travellers who found it a hospitable retreat to soothe their tired soul, after journeying up via the ancient routes of either Ramghat or Mahadeogarh. Nothing much has changed since then, and literally speaking this hamlet-town is yet dappled with tiny Mangalore-tiled houses surrounded by paddy fields aligned along a single-street, on the Vengurla-Belgaum Highway. The offerings of brilliant sol-kadhi and kokam saar (juice of Garcinia fruit in coconut milk), a variety of machi (fish), bhaat (rice) and kombdiwada (chicken patties) are as generous and tasty as ever before.

Pic: Sachin Rai

Approaching Amboli is fairly easy, with excellent road connections and daily deluxe and State Transport bus services from Mumbai (549 kms), Pune (390 kms) via Aajra, Ratnagiri (215 kms) and Belgaum (64 kms, in Karnataka). The inception of the Konkan Railways has made the journey to Amboli even more exciting for children with lots of tunnels and tall bridges, creeks, rivers and verdant hills and valleys that the train passes before you alight at Sawantwadi (28 kms) or Kudal, a further 10 kms, in case you arrive by a Superfast Express. Alternatively you could also approach Amboli from Belgaum (64 kms) or Dabolim (Goa, 140 kms), which have airports. However, the road journey climbing nearly 13 kms through dense forests to Amboli is breathtaking with vistas of the nearby valleys, the plains of Konkan, views stretching almost to the crashing waves of the Arabian Sea on clear winter days. As you arrive on the plateau on which Amboli is set, you enter a quiet bus-stop which has an occasional bus breaking the silence of the dense fog that this place is cloaked with almost anytime of the year. Although popularly called the 'Mahabaleshwar of Konkan', the thick forests, verdant hills and valleys of Amboli are a naturalist's paradise, with constant sounds of tree frogs, whistling thrushes, hornbills, barbets and nights which are aglow with shimmering fireflies - as if from a Christmas float! Time seems to standstill here, with the tiny temple of Parvati (consort of Lord Shiva) yet hidden in dense foliage at the origin of the river at Hiranyakeshi (4 kms), a much-in-favour destination for anglers. Those wanting to spend hours of tranquility would prefer the 30-metre crashing waters of Nagattar and the smaller Hiranyakchi Falls, which are picnic destinations of honeymoon couples within Amboli. The Sea-View Point offers a panoramic view of a good part of the Konkan coast and along with Kalsat (4 kms) and Sunset Point (2 kms) are the viewpoints of Amboli. The forts of Mahadevgad, Manohargad, Mansantoshgad and Narayangad are however, a trekker's 'must-dos'. Another pleasant expedition and variation would be a visit to the Bauxite Mines (10 kms) and of course the Shirgaonkar Point, the highest point in Amboli, is a clear 2 kms climb, if you can combat a few leeches en route!

During monsoons, Amboli is thronged by local tourists, peaking towards Diwali and waning off towards summers, when for some inexplicable reason people throng the beaches of Vengurla, Ganapatipule and Sindhudurg to relish fish, mangoes and jackfruits whilst baking in the summer heat, not realising that Amboli has all that and more to offer your palate, eyes and even the poetic mind!