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Chasing the monsoon can be exhilarating and exciting, if you don’t mind being wet all the time. We did that and got you the best experiences

India shares a peculiar love-hate relationship with the rains. After a long harsh summer, faced with the frightening prospect of water shortages and wilting crops, we wait for the refreshing downpour. You can almost feel the anticipation in the hot, heavy, humid air. But when it does rain, it pours. It floods our roads, it leaves behind ugly crater-like potholes and sometimes, it even washes away our crops.

Yet, India continues to romance the rains. There is more depth to the green colour in nature. The fragrance of the mud that wafts within your room after the first shower is unforgettable. A dusty, dirty city like Mumbai looks like it’s just got a good wash. When you see its rain, you can also feel the city’s fury. Goa, on the other hand, looks deserted. The season is over, the tourists have gone home, the cafés are shut, and it’s the time you see the state for what it really is – green and verdant and delightfully empty.

Up in the country, a rainy day holiday is more about misty mountains, windy hill stations and ominously dark monsoon clouds. Monsoon is when you should try driving down the Malvan coast, with its tiny fishing villages and its lovely little homes or through Kerala, where the southwest monsoon is at its furious best. Or take a break at Cherrapunji in Meghalaya. Though the intensity of the rain has decreased over the years, it continues to be the wettest place on earth, a good reason to be there.

We present a guide to some of the best monsoon holidays and a few rainy day getaways.

CHORLA GHATS, Western Ghats

Text and Photographs Nirmal U Kulkarni

It’s been more than a month since the southwest monsoon has swept across the parched landscape of the Chorla Ghats in north Goa. The rains were a bit delayed this time around, but it has magically transformed the Ghats and the countryside. The Valvanti River is in full flow and the monsoon clouds in various shades of black and grey have enveloped the Chorla Ghats with a vengeance, leaving it beautiful and naturally wild.

No one state can claim Chorla Ghats as its own. Located in the northeastern side of the Maharshtra-Goa-Karnataka border, it is a virtual paradise, teeming with creatures of the wild. Somewhere at a distance I hear a rumble and the blue sky goes grey. Located at an altitude ranging from 46metres to 819metres above sea level, in Chorla Ghats you'll see the rain in all its glory, complete with thunder and lighting… a crackle, a burst and then the downpour. When the rain comes calling, everyone’s invited to the party.

From the incessant call of the Hanuman langurs to the display of mating colours by the Forest Calotes lizard, the fluttering of the Southern Birdwing butterfly and the sprouting of several species of wild mushrooms, the Chorla Ghats seem to be at the centre of all activity in the monsoon, much like any other forest patch in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary. This is also the time when Burrowing Frogs take over the plateau and announce the arrival of the rains, and the forest crabs and slugs venture out in search for mate and prey. With over 10 waterfalls and a stunning landscape, the forests of Chorla Ghats are a paradise for wildlife lovers.

I have trekked here several times but that doesn’t stop me from exploring the Chorla Ghats once more this monsoon. I squat amidst the clouds on Panji Dongar, a peak that offers a panoramic view of Goa on one side and the Anjunem backwaters on the other, and stare at the twin Vazra Falls at a distance, which come alive at this time of the year. They dominate the forests, cascade into the Valvanti River, only to flow down and breathe life into the hamlets in the plains and feed River Mandovi, considered the lifeline of Goa.

This, perhaps, may be the last time I will see the twin falls. The Virdi Dam Project, planned by the Maharashtra government, will harness its water and submerge the forests. It will also seal the fate of an important wildlife corridor, which is used by birds and large cats and connects the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary to the forests of Karnataka on one side and Maharashtra on the other. My research and study as an ecologist has revealed that the Chorla Ghats are a biodiversity hotspot and home to several wild species, most of who need to be urgently cataloged and studied. I have documented over 55 species of reptiles and amphibians in these patches over the last five years. The Mhadei range is the catchment area for Mandovi River, and preserving it would mean preserving Goa.

Getting back to the present though, the forest is alive to the sounds of rain. Fresh blades of grass have sprouted from every available niche, the Rock Balsams and Utricularias flowers have painted the landscape in shades of purple and pink, and the Malabar Pit Vipers have descended to the forest floor to give birth to their young. This is the best time to observe life in the villages. Tourists have deserted neighbouring Goa, and people are back to plouging their fields and picking wild vegetables. Most are oblivious to the fact that habitat alterations would mean a change in man-nature relationship. As I wind my trail, night has taken over – the Bush Frogs are at their loudest and the complex system of luminescent fungi light up the dense forest floor.

Where to Stay
YMCA Camp Lakeside, Village Nilshi, Khandi PO,     Maval Taluka, District Pune - 410507
Tel: Melvin Louis: 022-23824534, 9821643102

 BHANDARDARA, Maharashtra

Waterfall Country
Gusts of strong wind accompanies you as you drive or walk down the curvy Sahyadri roads
By Deepali Nandwani

There is very little to do in Bhandardara except watch the rain drench the verdant green countryside. Or watch the mist settle over the quaintly named Lake Arthur. One of the highest points in the Sahyadri range, the little hamlet, off the Mumbai-Nashik highway, is a perfect rainy day getaway.

A narrow mountain road snakes up from ‘Modacha’ Pimpad Gaon located in a quiet corner of the busy, new-age, Mumbai Nashik Highway, part of the Golden Quadrilateral, a network of highways connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. While there is nothing 21st century about Pimpad Gaon, 21st century has managed to creep into Bhandardara, which has a few ATMs and a cyber café, thanks largely to the tourists who come here. The locals speak a smattering of English and in season time, which extends from June to March, work hard to keep the tourists happy. Sonawane, our guide in Bhandardara, supports his family of six on the money he earns ferrying people around the treacherous narrow roads of the Sahyadris, or taking them on a trek to Ratnagadh Fort just wearing his rubber slippers. Manoj, a 23-year-old is as ingenious. He has learnt how to massage, and he offers full body massages to men at Rs 200 for an hour, a rather cheap bargain. If you are a woman, you can ask for a head and feet massage, all for a princely sum of Rs 100.

We chose to go on a weekday, when Bhandardara is near empty. On weekends, it resembles a noisy picnic spot with hordes of rowdy city dwellers gone crazy seeing so much empty space and pristine waterfalls. Thankfully for the little hill getaway, and for us, fewer people come here since it is a four hour long drive from Mumbai and you need to stay overnight, unlike say Khandala, which you could do in a day. Fortunately, also, there only three resorts in Bhandardara – the rundown MTDC resort, situated at a great location with expansive cottages facing the lake, but very basic rooms, and the overpriced Anandvan and Yash Resorts, recommended only if you have too much dosh and no clue where to spend it.

On our first day there, we opt for a small trek from our cottage along Lake Arthur, which leads to the Wilson Dam on the Pravara River. The road along the dam is used by locals to cross from one village to another. Outsiders are forbidden to use it, until like us, you manage to sneak through. Built in 1910, the Wilson Dam is situated at a height of 150m above sea level and is the largest earthen dam in India. There was no water in the river but sometime in August, when it is in full force after a bountiful monsoon, the sluice gates are opened to let 80ft cascade of water plummet down on the rocks below. It’s fun, peering below to see a little bridge connecting one end of the valley to the other, staring at the white lilies growing wild and some pink flowers that we could not identify, watching a trickle of water flow out of a solid rock, seeing little kids with heavy bags walk by, and taking a ride in a wooden boat used for fishing. The silence, after the cacophony of the city, is therapeutic.

Bhandardara, located on the banks of the Pravara River, is all about the drive, drive, drive, and the trek, trek and trek. Take a car, preferably a small one (its roads are as narrow as a model’s waist), and just cruise along. Stop at different waterfalls that dot its mountainside at this time of the year. In summers, Bhandardara is hot as hell and devoid of the refreshing waterfalls. But during the rains, it is true waterfall country. There are big ones and small. The Randhaa Falls is about four km from the peculiarly named Shendi village. It’s the third largest fall in India and its water falls into a deep gorge that seems to have been hewn out of the solid rocks around. The drop is sheer and frightening. There are small waterfalls along the way, ones in which you can get drenched. It’s fun to stop your car by the side of a deserted waterfall, step into its icy cold water, clutch on to the trees at a corner and then trek up, to a point where a small plateau allows you to sit and let the water crash on you.

The Sahyadri range is dominated by gigantic rocks and an array of trees. Legend has it that Ratnagadh Fort, a 10km drive from Lake Arthur or a 20 minute boat ride, was said to be Maratha emperor Shivaji Maharaj’s favourite fort. It is deserted, not even a village in site, much like most of Bhandardara. We see people only in the village centre or near Lake Arthur. But the view is spectacular…the rocky Sahyadri terrain sprawls out below. The fort overlooks several high peaks, one of them being Kalsubai, which, at 5,400ft above sea level, is the highest peak in Maharashtra. On the Kalsubai side, the terrain is covered with luscious forests and small tribal hamlets, all picturesque from the top of the fort, but rundown and ramshackle when you walk through them. The 21st century, with its smooth roads, hospitals and schools is at a touching distance and yet continues to elude the poor inhabitants.

How to get there
Bhandardara is 185km from Mumbai by road. Turn off at Modacha Pimpad Gaon, on the Mumbai-Nashik highway. Ask for the village or Shendi gaon. Igatpuri, 45km away, is the nearest railway station.

▲ MTDC Bhandardara, Express Towers, 9th Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai-400 021. Tel: 022 2204 4040 E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

▲ Anandvan Resort, Anand 105', 7th Floor, Dr. Ambedkar Road, Pali Hill, Bandra West, Mumbai - 400 050.

▲ Yash Resorts, Bhandardara(Shendi Village), Akole, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Tel: 9890081324, 02422-257031