Hey there! How are you guys doing? I hope you’re doing well. Let me introduce myself to you. My name is Karan Chandrakant Sarvade. I’m a Mechanical Engineer. Apart from the mechanical knowledge, I also have a well versed experience in digital marketing, creating and editing YouTube videos. I’m fond of travelling and also I love to explore different types of cuisine. My blogs will mostly be on Travelling different cities and exploring their cuisine. I will try to show you things you might haven’t seen before in that particular town which I will be visiting. Exploring the unexplored things, you might say.
So, stay tuned for my new blog posts.
One of the oldest city in the world, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Hello everyone! Hope you all are doing well. In my previous blog, I wrote about one of the most famous mountain ranges of Bulgaria which is Vitosha, located in the outskirts of the capital city Sofia. If you haven’t read it yet then I request you to read it now. As we have explored the natural beauty of Sofia, in this blog I’ll take you to the tour of urban part. Sofia is the capital and the largest city of Bulgaria, which is located in the western part of the country. The landmarks of the city marks the history of more than 2,000 years, which includes Greek, Ottoman Roman and Soviet history. It is said that the human habitation in this city dates back to 7000 BC. Since it has the ancient history, the monuments and structures here are a marvelous masterpiece built hundreds of years ago and there no words to describe their beauty. Sofia is the city where one of the most largest and ancient cathedrals have been built. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is on of those. The building is an awesome structure built in the 19th century with an area of 34,100 sq.ft. and can hold upto 5,000 people at a time. I’ve shared the pics of the same. If you ever visit Sofia, then add this to your to do list for sure. It’s worth a watch. At an approx. 250m distance from the church, lies a Bulgarian National Library which is also called, Sts.Cyril and Methodius National Library. This library is yet another example of a marvellous structure built in the capital city of Bulgaria. I suggest to keep walking along the street instead of hiring a cab to explore more of the beautiful structures made in the city. At an approx. 1 km from the Bulgarian National Library, lies the President office of Bulgaria, and other buildings too. The street is named Kniaz Aleksander Dondukov. All of these structures are closely located to each other and the place is called Sofia Center. Regarding how to reach there, we boarded a bus number 123 from Studentski Grad, Sofia to G.M. Dimitrov Metro station and from there boarded a metro to Sofia University Metro Station. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is at a 5-10 mins walking distance from this metro station.
So, this is yet another underrated country which you all must visit at least once to explore it’s natural as well as man made beauty. Let’s have a look at the city.
Vitosha Mountain,Sofia, Bulgaria.
Hello everyone! Hope you all are doing well. In this blog, I’m going to take you to the tour of one of the most unsung yet a beautiful country in Europe, which is Bulgaria. Bulgaria is a Balkan nation which means it is surrounded by mountain range. So, we will be visiting one of the most famous mountain in the Capital City of Sofia, Bulgaria via this blog. Vitosha is the mountain range on the outskirts of the Capital City of Sofia. It is easy to reach Vitosha if you’re in Sofia. You can drive or can avail the public transport like buses and metros. Bus no 122 from Sofia Zoo takes you directly to the cable cars at the foot of the Vitosha Mountain.Yes! The only way to reach the mountain is via Cable Cars, so the fun starts right from the foot of the Mountains. While sitting in a cable car, you can have an entire view of the Sofia City from the top. There are daily passes available to travel the entire city via all the public transport like Buses, Metro as well as Trams. The daily pass is available at a very cheap rate, priced at 4 Lev (160 INR approx. The price may have changed. This was the price in the year 2016).
Vitosha hosts adventurous sports like Hiking, Alpinism as well as Skiing. The mountains are snow clad in the winters but even in Summers you can find patches of snow on the top. I’ve shared pics of the same. Vitosha is a dome shaped mountain formed as a result of Volcanic Activity. The mountain is 19 kms. long and 17 kms. wide. The highest peak of the mountain is Cherni Vrah (Black Peak) which is at a height of 2290m. The mountain is lined with the snowy pine trees. Not only snowy pines, but research has also revealed that on the comparatively small area of the mountain there are 1,500 species of higher plants, 500 species of fungi, 500 species of algae, 326 species of mosses, and 200 species of lichens. So, if you ever visit Bulgaria, mark this place as a must visit place in Sofia, Bulgaria. Thanks for reading. Take a look at some pictures of Vitosha.
Pawna Lake Camping, Lonavala, Maharashtra.
Hello everyone! Hope you all are doing well. Today I’m going to share with you my experience in Pawna Lake Camping, Lonavala.
Pawna Lake Camping is an overnight camping near the mesmerizing Lake called Pawna Lake.
Pawna Lake is a reservoir turned artificial lake, formed by the Pawna Dam, in Maval Taluka, District Pune. If you’re planning for an outing with your circle, be it family or friends, then this place is something you should try and visit.
Located amidst the beautiful landscape of Lonavala, this place will surely rejuvenate you and disconnect you from the hustle and bustle of your daily routine.
The Pawna Lake Camping is divided into number of different camps namely A, B, C, D and so on. The price of each camp varies accordingly, starting from ₹999/- per head (The prices may vary over time). The Camp includes Sharing tents, Evening high tea (with pakoda),
Barbeque (250 gms. per person), Dinner(unlimited), Common bonfire & music, next day morning breakfast (poha and tea).
It also includes games like archery, football, badminton carrom volleyball and many more.
Some camps also include live guitar sessions, welcome drinks and two way transportation, the price varies accordingly.
So, do visit the camp and enjoy it’s natural beauty and the picturesque location. We visited during the monsoon, so the bonfire part was cancelled due to the rains. But the climate in the morning, the lake side view with mountains in the back and the clouds hovering over it is something which made our camping unforgettable. Sharing the pics of the same.
Trimbakeshwar Temple, Nashik, Maharashtra.
Hello everyone! Hope you all are doing well.
My today’s blog is on my visit to one of the most iconic temples in India, one of the 12 jyotirling, Trimbakeshwar, Nashik, Maharashtra.
I know not all people love to read the blogs on the sacred places in India, but I always thought of writing something on this topic as India has a very rich and cultural heritage. The architecture of these iconic temples depicts us that India too had great sense of architectural as well as engineering knowledge since inception. Talking about the Trimbakeshwar Temple, it is located in the town of Trimbak in the Nashik district.
Distance from Nashik Station : 37 kms.
Distance from Nashik Bus Depot: 34 kms.
You can reach there via sharing Auto Rickshaw.
The Temple building work was started in the year of 1755 by Peshwa Balaji Bajirao, the son of Peshwa Bajirao Ballal (Recently a Bollywood movie was made on Peshwa Bajirao Ballal, named Bajirao Mastani) and it was carved out of black stones. Every miniature on the temple’s building is worth appreciating( I’ve shared the pics below). The story behind Jyotirlingas: Talking about the Jyotirling, it is believed that once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God of preservation) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation. To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either direction. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Lord Shiva appeared as the second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of eternity. That is the only reason why Hindus do not include Brahma, the creator in their religious ceremonies and there is no temple of Brahma, the creator in the whole country, except in Pushkar, Rajasthan. The story behind Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga, Nashik, Maharashtra:
The Trimbakeshwar temple, is located between three hills namely Brahmagiri, Nilagiri and Kalagiri. The temple has three lingams (an iconic form of Shiv) representing Shiv, Vishnu and Brahma. This is the only temple among the other Jyotirlingas to have three lingams.
Due to the excessive use of water, which comes from the ground, the linga has started to erode. It is said that this erosion symbolizes the eroding nature of human society. The Lingas are covered by a jeweled crown which is placed over the Gold Mask of Tridev (Brahma Vishnu Mahesh). The crown is said to be from the age of Pandavs and consists of diamonds, emeralds, and many precious stones. The crown is displayed every Monday from 4-5 pm (You definitely should not miss this ceremony). P.S.: If you’re hungry after visiting the temple, you might visit the famous Misal House in Nashik, Sadhana-Chulivarchi Misal. Sharing the pictures of the same. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you’ve learnt something new from my blog. So keep reading, keep sharing and follow me for more such posts.
Auto World Vintage Car Museum, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Hello everyone! Hope you all are doing well. Today I’m going to share with you my experience in Ahmedabad, one of the busiest city in the state of Gujarat. The city is well known for it’s hustle bustle throughout the week, but you’ll find all the recreational sites and temples closed if you are visiting on Monday. Yes! You heard it right. So, if you’re planning to visit the city on Monday, for recreational activities, then you might want to reconsider your plan. But if you still can’t reschedule your plan, or you do not have any other options, rather than visiting on Monday, I have a better plan for you all. On Monday, you’ll find the most famous places like Sabarmati Riverfront, Zoos and Akshardham Temple in Gandhinagar closed. But you can visit Auto World Vintage Car Museum on this day.You have to purchase a ticket of the Museum, if you wish to click the pictures of the Vintage cars. We were charged 100₹ per camera/mobile camera.It remains open 7 days a week. This is the best place for vintage car lovers. You will find 100+ different types of Vintage Cars in this museum. The manufacturing date of these cars go back to the 19th century. The museum displays the famous models like a variety of Rolls Royce, Ford, Mercedes Benz, Chevrolet and many more. You can see the now extinct brand Plymouth cars, which back in 1928 was dominant model for their cheaper rates. Plymouth, in the beginning of the 20th century gave a tough competition to Chevrolet and Ford. Apart from these display of vintage cars, if you are fortunate enough, you might get to see the rarely seen, our national bird, Peacock in the adjoining garden of the museum. The residents or the locals are used to these, but as me and my family, who came from Mumbai, were very much excited to see the surprising scene. As it was a monsoon season, the availability of peacocks were very much favoured. And to our surprise, one of the peacocks started dancing right in front of us. I can’t express the feeling in words, but the peacock dance, with the open feathers, made our day in Ahmedabad. So, if you are in Ahmedabad, I suggest you to visit this museum for sure. Also there is a bird sanctuary in the adjoining area of the museum. The museum closes at around 6pm, so make sure to plan accordingly. Please have a look at some of the pictures clicked at Auto World Vintage Car Museum.
The beauty of Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani.
It was undoubtedly a wonderful experience of our 2 nights stay at Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani. These two towns are closely located to each other within a distance of 20 kms. It is indeed a hill station well known for it’s beautiful climate throughout the year. Most people prefer to visit here in the Summer, because the temperature here in Summer is always lesser than rest of the towns in the state. It is often more popular as a honeymoon destination in Maharashtra. Well known for it’s greenery, Mahabaleshwar is also famous for it’s strawberries. Inspite of visiting in summers, we decided to go during the monsoon and our experience was jaw dropping. You’ve multiple options for visiting this place by bus, motorcycle (might be risky in monsoon), tourist cars, but since we were a group of 5 friends, we decided to go by our private car. The advantage of having your own vehicle is that there are no time restrictions for you and you can literally visit the spots of your own choice and on your own time, spend as much time as you want if you like a certain spot. With all these, your expenditure gets split into the number of members traveling, so the trip becomes economical. We booked an OYO room named by Shree Cottage (OYO 13344). The rooms are quite clean and well arranged and mostly at a very cheaper price than the others. I’ve uploaded the pics of the same. Everyone coming to Mahabaleshwar must visit the famous spots like Venna lake, Sunset point, Kates point, Krishnabai Temple of Lord Shiva, Lodwick Point and the list continues. But what I would personally suggest is to travel once through the Mahabaleshwar Panchgani road to see the real beauty of nature amidst the monsoon season. Greenery along with the chunks of clouds hovering over the green mountains, empty roads is a thing you must experience. That is all! Thanks for reading!
Mapro Garden, Mahabaleshwar
Mapro Gardens in Mahabaleshwar is famous for their delicious and mouth watering pizzas. You can also shop for the famous strawberry crush, green apple syrup and a variety of other stuffs including different types of chocolates in Mapro Garden.
The pizza and Milkshake here are worth a try. It goes by the saying, “Mahabaleshwar aaye aur Mapro Garden nahi gaye to kya khaak Mahabaleshwar aaye”. 😁🤟
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