Nesteled in the Sahyadris, surrounded by water bodies on either side and blessed with tons of nature-themed options, Vikramgad's newest chill pad is a great place to unwind and take time out with friends or family. The trip dropped by for a rain check.
Nesteled in the Sahyadris, surroundedu00a0by water bodies on either side and blessedu00a0with tons of nature-themed options, Vikramgad's newest chill pad is a great place to unwindu00a0and take time out with friends or family. The trip dropped by for a rain check.
There are typical trips that emerge from meticulous planning complete with a choc-a-bloc itinerary that squeezes in all the must-dos and must-eats that the place in question can offer. And then there are the other kinds. Last weekend, we experienced the latter, as we embarked on a soulful journey of the unplanned sorts.
We chalked out our route as we moved ahead, took tips and tricks from the locals, and set off on a fanciful whim till the next milestone. 
Lake View, at Vikramgad in Thane District is a great place to chill out,
relax and engage in some serious time out, alogn with the family and friends.
PIC/ PRADEEP DHIVAR
We were at a teeny village called Vikramgad in the Thane district, the 'gad' suffix of which had fooled us into believing that one of Shivaji's glorious fort lay there in ruins, waiting for intrepid travellers like us to discover. 
Cashew trees line the pathway leading to the imposing structure of the
Jai Vilas Palace
Turned out that Vikramgad was just a bustling village on the brink of becoming a town. Earlier in the day, we had rubbed sleep from our eyes before the sun had surfaced, and hopped into an SUV for a day visit to Reso'Villa, a newly launched leisure resort by realty developer Disha Direct. Nestled in an enviable plot near Vikramgad, with a lake up front and a placid river flowing in the backyard, it got us to tune in to nature sounds: the suru trees lining the lake whooshed along as the winds caressed them, while the gentle murmur of the river was punctuated by village women thumping their laundry on the rocks.
Reso'Villa lies at the banks of the placid Deharje river
L'arte di non fare niente
Soon we were to learn why time spent at Reso'Villa encourages one to remember this Italian phrase (that translates to 'the art of doing nothing'). Spread across 82 acres, the property consists of a resort ufffd Lakeview ufffd that includes eight rooms facing a natural lake, along with a reception area, a play area for kids (with a life-sized chess board, with pieces as tall as a five year-old), a teeny pool in the process of being built, a restaurant, a conference room and tons of open spaces to amble around or cosy up with a book.
Further down the property is an area marked out for as many as 114 villas that will be built for sale. The sample villa appeared straight out of a page from a luxe real estate magazine, with picture-perfect rooms, windows with a view, balconies and a tree-laden courtyard. Since it would take at least two years for these villas to be built, the open spaces make the present a good time to visit this place.
If restless feet and the need to 'do' something get the better of you, the resort will arrange for a leisurely session on horseback to explore the area. After the rains fill up the pond, enough to flush out the floating moss, you can also sign up for paddle boating. Those wishing to lean on stretching a leg will enjoy a jog around the lake or adventure sport activities including angling, rafting and river crossing, which are in the pipeline.
Amble around
Considering Vikramgad had nothing much to offer, we drove up to Jawhar, which is an hour away. We whooshed past countryside replete with several shades of green, which would've gotten greener by the time you read this. In one of the few tribal kingdoms in our country, locals pointed us to the famed Jai Vilas Palace as a can't-miss-it hotspot.
To reach the palace, you need to park your car off the road, and walk past cashew plantations for five minutes. Weeding our way through foliage, an imposing stone structure emerged, almost desolate, save a wobbly caretaker and a couple of young boys who will gladly play tour guide for a couple of crisp notes, though technically, the palace is off limits to outsiders.
Soon, we soon learnt that as imposing as the structure looks from the outside, it's in an equally derelict and pathetic condition inside. A mounted tiger that would have been a prized slay in the past stood in a corner of a room with a leaky roof and tin buckets kept in places where rainwater trickled down. A locked room filled with toys of the once-young princes of the royal Mukne family lay next to one with a gigantic telescope. Just when we were told that the palace had been given out for a number of film and TV serial shootings, including that of the horror serial Aahat, a young chap unaware of our presence burst through the door beside us, scaring the living daylights out of us.
The state of the palace saddened us, but we were impressed by its raw, earthy grandeur and its many forgotten tales. Next on our tour was Hanuman Point, atop a neighbouring hill. One is privy to a panoramic view of the valley below, from the Hanuman temple stationed here. Look down at the sweeping vistas with the palace topping one of the neighbouring hill tops.
Warli wanderlust
The guys at the resort, as genial as they are when it came to playing host right down to even lending us their laptop to shoot off a last-minute office mail, were pretty confused when it came to suggestions for trails in the surrounding areas. However, they made amends with a fantastic lead: Dhawle Hospital in the nearby Bhople
hamlet.
Before you think of us as sadists who seek pleasure in other people's pain, hold that thought. We dropped by the Dr ML Dhawle Memorial Trust Hospital which besides running mobile clinics in the surrounding villages and providing free treatment to villagers, has a workshop in its backyard where six Warli artists work hard at keeping the world-famous Warli art alive. In this bamboo structure, they paint their art on functional products including coasters, bags, clocks, trays, jewellery boxes and parchment. The Trust ensures that these are sold at events including Mumbai's Kala Ghoda Festival, as Ankush Atkari, one of the artists, told us. The art is typified by a white pigment made of rice paste, water and gum, which is smeared on an ochre background made of cow dung and earth. Pity then that artificial white poster colour paints now replace it.
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