Pune - Places to See / Go - I

When I was planning to shift to Delhi a friend asked me to compile list of places to see in and around Pune. I had sent a list of eating joint and was expected to make a list of "good" places. I am a bit late in making this list and my friend has already explored many of these places but I will try to make this list here anyway.

There is no particular order, I am just writing about places that I remember.

1. Chokhi Dhani: Yes there is a Chokhi Dhani at Nagar Road, Pune. It's a good place to go to after office (if you come back home at 6). You should be in the resort/village at around 7-7:30 to enjoy the rides and dances in relaxed mood. The food is good it's a good getaway from hectic office life. The drive to Chokhi Dhani is not the best in the world but overall it is a good place to spend and evening.

2. 3D-Destination: If you like arcade games, bowling etc. 3D-Destination near Swar Gate is a good place. I was never able to stay there for more than 2 hours. It gets boring after that.

3. Gold Adlabs, Kalyani Nagar: Gold Adlabs also has a small gaming area and a small bowling alley. A good place to go to while you are waiting for your movie. They also have a house of horrors.

4. Wonder Funkey: I never got a chance to go there but what I hear from people is that it's a bigger version of 3D Destination

5. Khadagwasla Dam/Lake: Khadagwasla Dam/Lake remains a favorite place where we used to go quite frequently. I like sitting on lake side and eating Bhutta (corn). However, I preferred going to the 'other' side of lake where they have small resorts (I went to Lakewood). The resorts charge a small entrance fee and you can sit in one of their huts or hammocks and enjoy the lakeside without getting disturbed by traffic and honking.

6. Lonavala / Khandala: I need not write more about these places. :)

7. Mahabaleshwar/Panchgani: Again a good one day tour or a full weekend tour option.

8. Mulshi Lake / Dam: We wen to Mulshi Lake and Dam once for an overnight stay and a couple of times for a couple of hours on a weekend. They have a couple of hotels/resorts there. We stayed in Lake Residency and booked our accomodation through Residency Club, Pune. A very peaceful place where you can spend entire weekend looking at mountains and bathing in waterfalls. Very beautiful place which has remained hidden from limelight.

I hear that Tamhini Ghat beyond Mulshi is also beautiful, I must go there sometime.

9. Manas Resorts: Best place to spend a lazy afternoon. They have decent indoor as well as lake side restaurants. They have go-karting and different types of boat rides. Best thing about Manas Resort is that it's on the way to Mulshi.

10. Panshet Dam: If you have a couple of hours free on a weekend. Make a quick dash to Panshet Dam.

I haven't tried to give a lot of description, addresses etc. because there are a lot of websites that provide all this information. I just wanted to make a quick list of places that I liked :-)

Blogging because I can

I was not planning to write this post. But now I am writing it because I can. I mean because my broadband started working. Not that it was not working earlier, it was not working 20 minutes ago. I called an Airtel Broadband representative and within 15 minutes the guy was at my place and replace the faulty adapter.

I am more than happy with Airtel's broadband service. I get good speed, zero downtime since last 3 months. And today's downtime was resolved in 15 minutes on a Sunday night. Rarely I see organizations for Airtel's size responding so fast.

I think a lot of credit goes to their executive who takes personal pride in having satisfied customers in his 'territory' :-). I hope he continues to work with this enthusiasm and does well in his career.