Valley of Waterfalls! – A Pristine beauty

Preface: 
“I could see atleast 40 waterfalls in front me” said Girish but I couldn’t immediately agree. I googled and scanned through regular hiking blogs for Jamrung but hardly found any mention of these waterfalls but yes there were lot of real estate owners wanting to sell plots instead – even the hills and mountains were on sale! One blogger put up a photo of 4 waterfalls and said “this is Niagara of India”. Now I doubted it even more since I was living just under 100miles from this place (and should have heard this Niagara roaring :D). It was futile searching for directions on the net so called Girish. He sent me a word document; going through it I realized why any online map can’t place it but that turned out to be the best way of reaching there.

The Stage: So with lot of expectations I hit the road on a Sunday morning – there were dark clouds on the horizon and rain was imminent – the fourth consecutive “sun-less” morning.  After a quick stop at Kamshet for breakfast we reached Khopoli around 11:30am. Next 40km was a driver’s nightmare - pothole ridden roads, hidden sign boards and missing milestones! The only guide was a real-estate owner’s hoarding that was placed at regular intervals – as mentioned in Girish’s document. Except for the poor road conditions, the entire drive was very scenic – lush green trees, water streams, cloud covered mountains, Kothaligad to your right and light drizzle! The setting was perfect. Kothaligad	Lonavala
Padargad	The Destination: Around 1pm or so we first sighted a wall of waterfalls on the left hand side – there were around 6-8 waterfalls coming down a mountain. As per the driving directions we were still 3-4km from our destination. On the right hand side, the summit of Kothligad peeped out of the clouds – it was a sight to see. Fort Padargad was on extreme left and Fort Kothaligad on extreme right and a range of cloud covered mountains between these two having atleast 40-45 waterfalls in different sizes playing hide and seek with the clouds. A perfect canvas from the greatest painter of all! I had no words to describe this beauty of nature unfolding live. As the clouds thinned a little at some places we could see more waterfalls on the upper decks of the mountains. We kept driving closer to the falls but there was no road after some distance. I parked my car and started walking towards the falls. We clicked a lot of snaps.
At the end of the pathway I spotted an under-construction house. It was a just wow - one of the best location to build a house with 4-5 magnificent waterfalls nearby. There was no construction possible beyond this to obstruct its view. We went on the terrace and clicked few more snaps. It was a breathtaking view. Just when we were looking for a way to go under the falls a farmer advised us not to go near the falls since there was a huge stream that had formed from the many waterfalls and the water was atleast chest deep. Heeding to his advice we stopped well before the falls only to decide that we will visit this place again at a later date.
Driving Directions : From Pune - Khopoli – Chowk - Karjat – Kadav – Jambhulwadi - Kothimbe – Dukkarpada/Jamrung Points to Note: - Carry your own food or pick supplies from Karjat/Kadav.   - Currently there is no mobile signal on most networks(Idea, Airtel, Reliance, etc)  - Carry back your trash and keep this place clean(as it is )	Accomodation : Most of the homes here are weekend homes that are let out. I saw a few resorts too, so spending a day or 2 here would be a great idea so plan accordingly Best Time to Visit : Heavy Rains! aShashi Pune 4/9/2011