Thursday, February 3, 2011

C is for ‘Car Trip’

 

 

ABC_Wed_8

We are playing ABC Wednesday with Mrs.Nesbitt and her clever and courteous team

 

It has almost been an year now since we went on this car trip we want to tell you about.

Shadow hadn’t come to live with us yet. For that matter, he wasn’t even born yet!

So it is just me, Buddy, Mummy and Daddy in the pictures.

 

It was to be Buddy’s first long trip by car, 600 kilometres  to be exact.

We were a little worried.

I, Ginger, am a very calm traveller and have been on many road trips with Mummy and Daddy ever since I was a puppy. But Buddy was rather excitable in the car. He would get very restless and keep barking if we stopped even for a minute.

His previous family had told us that he isn’t good in the car. Maybe he hadn’t been around much, which is why he didn’t know what to do in the car.

We say ‘didn’t’ because he is much, much better now after our enthusiastic endeavour to teach him the pleasures of a car ride! We would take him everywhere we went those first few months after he came home - shopping, eating out and of course, daily morning trips to our playground.

He still jumps up and down in the back seat and looks as excited as a little puppy but he enjoys the car. And he no longer barks when we need to stay in the car sometimes.

 

Anyway, we started on this trip late in the evening and travelled all night. I slept for sometime in between, while Mummy and Daddy took turns at driving.

And believe it or not, Buddy just refused to budge from the front seat! The entire stretch of 600 kms and 12 hours, he didn’t sleep an wink. We were worried he would be sick.

But we needn’t have. He set out to explore the hillside with me, as enthusiastic as ever, as soon as we had checked in at our hotel!!

 

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Mahabaleshwar is a beautiful hill station in the Western state of Maharashtra. Located at a height of 1353 metres, it is amongst one of the world’s evergreen forests. During the British reign, it served as the summer capital of the province of Bombay.

Now, it is not only a popular summer get-away but is also famous for strawberries. A large part of India’s Strawberry produce comes from this little hill-station.

 

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This little guy owns this strawberry farm we went to!

His name was Raja, we found out, meaning ‘A King’!

 

 

STRAWBERRY WOMAN

Strawberry Lady

 

 

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Did you know strawberries grow on the ground? We didn’t.

They put these sheets of plastic underneath the berries to keep them from getting muddy.

 

 

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The commercial outlet: You get Strawberry jam, juices, shakes, splits, ice-cream…Yummy!

 

 

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(!!!!!!!)

 

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What they meant was THIS!!

 

 

And guess what?

The night we reached this tiny little town was Mummy’s Barkday! We got a baker to bake this cake for her. It didn’t turn out all that good. But no one cared.

We were having fun!

 

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Ice-Cream & Cake at midnight!

 

 

As usual, Mummy wandered off into the night with her camera.

Supposedly, at any given moment, 80 % of the town’s population is comprised of tourists! The market place was tiny but bustling with activity and proved to be a treasure throve for a photographer looking to capture the essence of the place!

 

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A Street Vendor & her son

 

 

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A conscientious one too!

 

 

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Casino Royale??!!

 

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Must be the World’s smallest!

 

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Recharging for the morning!

 

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Breakfast at this pleasant place that served Punjabi Food

 

 

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You’re supposed to play this drum if you liked the food, just like you jingle a little bell in Pizza Hut!

 

 

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The sign doesn’t lie!

 

Mahabaleshwar is famous for a number of ‘scenic points’ on hill tops which serve as excellent viewing points.

 

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This is Dinosaur Point

 

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Do you see why now?

 

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Our Guide

 

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Back at our hotel. What good is a swimming pool if they do not allow Labradawgs into it?

 

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Finally, Homeward bound…

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Mid-afternoon snack, on the move

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The Woods were lovely…

 

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Dark…

 

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…and Deep…

 

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and miles to go …

 

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before we sleep….

 

Wags,

Ginger

 

 

 

Pee Ess:

For those looking for directions:

Take the straight, simple route - Hyderabad to Sholapur (National Highway 9) - leave NH and take state highway to Baramati - NH 4 towards Pune - divert away at Wai - Panchgani - Mahabaleshwar. Safe, easy, busy route. Plenty of re-fuelling stations, for the car, humans & dogs!Took us exactly 12 hours with about 4 stops. 

 

mahabaleshwar map

 

We made the mistake of diverting into Satara forest route from Sholapur while going. Very lonely stretch, absolutely nothing around, not even a re-fuelling station in site till you reach Wai. Better avoid this route.

 

 

19 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

that sopunds like a doggone good time.

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

Great photos. Looks like it was worth the long, long car ride! And we're impressed that the dogs were included! Thanks for taking us along.

XXXOOO Daisy, kendra & Bella

Mariodacat said...

What a fantastic road trip you had. Those are some great pictures you shared too.

Teddy Bear said...

That looks like one amazing road trip! We feel like we were on the adventure with you all.:)

Love,
Teddy Bear

Cheryl said...

Great story and photos.

Cheryl
ABC Team

rookie said...

Great Photos. Looks Like you had a great trip

Molly the Airedale said...

What a fun trip and the best part was cake and ice cream at midnight! Lucky you!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

What a wonderful trip!!! Glad to see that Buddy did so well. Mom says she would love to be able to buy fresh strawberries - yummers!

Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

fromsophiesview said...

Strawberries and Labradawgs...what a perfect combo.....your world is so fascinating...just plain amazing. Don't you just love blogging...PS many thanks for your kind birthday greetings! Cheers to you and yours!

Two French Bulldogs said...

Absolutley love the pictures. What a fun time
Benny & Lily

Unknown said...

What a wonderful trip you all had! It looks so much fun there, the foods were good and everywhere was sunny and bright.
The downside was the swimming pool wasn't for doggies, that's a shame!!!

the booker man said...

hihi miss gingin and buddy!

buddy, i sure am glad that you got used to car rides, cuz they are so funsies, aren't they?? me 'n asa looooove car rides. when we go on long trips, asa does the same thingie as you. she will not go to sleep evarrr! heehee.
thankies for sharin' your totally awesome adventure! it was so worth drivin' 50 gazillion hours to get to that mahabaleshwar place...so pretty! me and asa and mama and daddy would so enjoy hikin' with you there!
we didn't know that ya'll grew strawberries in india. yummy yummers!! do you like strawberry shortcake? that is one of our most favoritest desserts at my house.
your mama always takes such way spiffy pictures! we especially
like the street vendor and her son, dinosaur point, and the woods!
mega tail wags to shadow, too! :)

*woof*
the booker man

pee s -- mama keeps gigglin' about the "fresh hot & testy" sign. she's guessin' it was supposed to be tasty, not testy? heehee!

jabblog said...

Sounds like a wonderful trip. I'm glad Buddy's happy in the car now. I really like all the photographs - so interesting:-)

Leslie: said...

SO enjoyed going along on your trip with you! As a dawg lover, I must say yours are gorgeous! I'd like a chocolate brown lab some day. Ginger writes great stories! Look forward to "seeing" you again next week.

Leslie
ABCW Team

Oskar said...

It looks like a great trip!

Nubbin wiggles,
Oskar

Jed and Abby in MerryLand said...

We concur: stunning photos of what sounds like a wonderful trip. Even if the cake didn't taste as good as you'd hoped, it was gorgeously decorated! Bet Shadow is looking forward to his first long road trip!

Jed & Abby

Anonymous said...

Talk about a great getaway for all!
Great places for Ginger and Buddy to explore, yummy yummy eats, colorful shops stocked with character, oh my!

Happy Birthday Geetu! :D

Waggin at ya,
Roo

snoopydogknits said...

Wow! That sounds like a fabulous road trip. Great photos! we almost feel like we came along too! Ros and Oscar

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