State Maharashtra
Distance 557 km S of Mumbai
Journey time By rail 9.5 hours plus road 1 hour, By road 11 hrs, By air 1 hr plus 2.5 hours by road
Location A small hilltop town in the Sahyadris, 2,264 ft above sea level and 28 km from Sawantwadi
Route NH17 from Panvel till Akheri Road Junction, short of Sawantwadi; SH121 to Amboli
Where is the horse?’ is a good question to ask in Amboli becaus
e the rest seems in place. The one road that runs through this town carries no name; hotel managers look sweetly bewildered when asked for an explicit postal address which they patiently repeat —“Amboli”. And Divya Bharati, the young actress who died a decade ago, still tops the list of what the young men of Amboli, refreshingly not up with the times, want most from the plains. Even before them, Amboli’s potential had already been discovered by the Sawants of neighbouring Wadi, within whose fief Amboli lay. The sky above this village in the Sahyadris continuously dripped for a good four months if not the entire year, making it the wettest place in Maharashtra. But the surrounding forests were so thick with trees and tigers at the time of the Raj, and Matheran so much closer, that Amboli remained unchecked on maps for a very long time. Amboli also suffered due to its proximity to Goa, only 80 km away. And despite its charms, tourism came here only when interest in Goa’s beaches began to flag. Consequently, all the hotels here are under 10 years old and original forest cover rests, like a blessing, as far as the eye can see. See and do
Amboli is a classic family holiday destination. Cars of varied provenance drive up from the surrounding states throughout the year, with the holiday season starting every Friday and waning every Monday. All the places to see will be either on the right side or towards the left of Hotel JRD International, the most prominent landmark in Amboli. You can also pick up a useful map of the town from the hotel’s reception desk. The best way to get about is to take an autorickshaw if you haven’t driven up. It should not cost you more than Rs 400 to cover all the tourist spots over the weekend. One must-visit is Madhavgad Fort, four times the size of Shaniwarwada in Pune, and now in a state of ruin. A memorial on the main road gives you an insight into the ‘war’ that it marks; the tombstone reads that only one British soldier died in the battle. Another must-do is a visit to the abandoned Summer Palace of the Bhonsales of Sawantwadi for a trip into nostalgia and unbeatable views of the hills. Waterfalls
There are two of note here, on opposite sides of the town. Nangartas Waterfall, 10 km from Amboli, chiefly has only spectator appeal. It falls deep and noisy into a beautiful ravine and you will need to watch that you don’t slip in your enthusiasm to peep into the invisible bottom. The other one (5 km away), simply called Waterfall by the locals, demands more participatory effort. It offers the kind of fun that families and gangs of college kids drive up here for — standing on rocks under cascading sheets of water, giggling and wriggling in pleasure. Views And Walks
Like any intelligent hill station, Amboli offers many different viewpoints. During the rains, clouds cast a white blanket over the horizon. Some of the walks, depending on the road situation, might be inaccessible at this time. There is the mandatory Sunset Point, then Pariksh*t Point, Kavelsad Point and Shirgaonkar Point, which offer views of the surrounding forests and sometimes it’s possible to see deer, or a rare leopard here. Mahadev Gad, built by the Sawants, has good views of the Arabian Sea in the far distance. Temples
Hiranyakeshi Uppam, where the Hiranyakeshi River springs forth from the mouth of a cave, has a small Shiva Temple built many years ago by a man who is supposed to be a manifestation of Shiva, according to the pujari. The nearby Maruti Mandir, on the other hand, is more of a commercial effort, by a ‘holy baba’, who had earlier sought followers in Goa. His devotees are adding another temple here, which is a study in bad architecture, but it’s a quiet, green spot near a stream so you won’t mind visiting it. Where to shop
Indigenous produce is the best buy here and you can get it at any of the handful of kirana (general) stores in town. The local shopkeeper will tell you that satyuvan, a medium-sized bee, produces tastier honey than the bigger bees and that this honey has special curative properties for asthma patients. He will also tell you how to test honey for purity — if a dog laps it up, it means the honey is adulterated. People in Amboli eat rotis made from nachni, a local grain. They swear by its taste and nutritional value. In the summer, nachni is ground fine, mixed with sugar and water and drunk as a cooling agent — sattu. Take some back home, it tastes good!
