Hi Everyone
I welcome you to my first video in the year 2021. Last year, I took a few short trips with my family. This video is about one of our trips during the pandemic, which came as a blessing. We’ll cover our 3 nights weekend trip to a very exclusive and private resort near Amby Valley, Lonavala. The Machan is a luxury forest getaway. It is located in the scenic Jambulne jungle, about 17km from Lonavala and has 20000 lush, green, flower and fruit bearing trees.
In this video, we will take you on a tour with us through this amazing property and it will cost you only a click on the subscribe button. So click subscribe now and we will also include these complimentary drinks that we whipped up on the deck of our gorgeous Machan.
We started off early on the morning of 18th September 2020 and headed towards our resort in Lonavala. Needless to say the drive was spectacular, thanks to the Monsoon in Maharashtra. Throughout our journey the weather remained overcast with dark clouds rolling in, pushed by a steady wind which was extremely soothing.
Needless to say, 2020 was a year of uncertainty for most of us but in a way it taught us how to make the best out of the worst.
The drive from our home in Mumbai to our resort is about 3 hours 15 mins. The drive throughout is mostly smooth, but as we entered the last patch before reaching the resort the roads became extremely narrow and difficult to drive due to the potholes and incomplete road construction.
Now, we are about to enter the resort “The Machan” ! The approach path to the main gate is through a narrow path with thick undergrowth on both sides. At first glance one may feel they took a wrong turn but once you reach the end of the trail you arrive at the main entrance where we were given a warm reception by the gatekeeper.
Then we drove down this narrow one way road. Along the pathway we noticed the access to some of the machans. We immediately realized this stay was going to be unlike any other experience we've had earlier.
We slowly moved ahead to reach the reception cabin. The reception is located in a more open area and overlooks a man-made pond in the middle of the property. As we got down from the car, we could already hear the chirping of birds and the foggy weather made things even better.
Known for its eco-friendly approach, The machan prides itself in being connected to nature. There is No A/C, network coverage, swimming pool, or saunas. Just nature and you enjoying each other’s company.
The entire property is accessible through designated walking areas marked either with stone slabs or wooden planks and some areas are accessible by wooden bridges. It takes almost a couple of hours to walk around the entire trail.
Walking through the trails we ended up in an area where they were growing various types of flowers. The landscape there looked breathtakingly beautiful with the mountain peaks enveloped in mist and a sea of clouds. The sun was barely visible from behind the clouds, the air was fresh and dewy. And to make things even more magical, we also spotted a few camera shy butterflies.
The Heritage Machan has 2 bedrooms apart from the common area and deck, & is ideal for a family trip. We did not want to intrude.
However it is certainly an experience we would like to have with our families in the future.
Walking around in this serene place made us lose track of time.We hastily made our way back as we feared we might miss lunch. After the long drive, we did build up quite an appetite.
Surprisingly enough, we found a beautiful Coy Pond at the entrance to the common guest washrooms located right next to the restaurant which had floating stones which you can walk across to reach the doors.
Finally after the drive, the walk around the resort and a very satisfying lunch, we were ready to check in to our rooms. We were guided along a similar trail into the woods by a very courteous staff member towards our machan. The clouds had started to come down again as we made our way across the pathway
And here we were. Our machan stood over 30 feet above the forest floor, supported by only two pillars and cables, it was towering above the forest cover. The only way to access it was through this spiral staircase. We headed above carefully step by step to reach the door.
From the top, we were able to see above the trees, an expanse of greenery under a blanket of clouds.
Considering the safety standards. The door was sealed after it was sanitized and only we were allowed to break it open.
Thank you for being a part of the journey so far.
If you liked our video let us know in the comments, We’ll be happy to answer any queries you may have about the machan
Don’t forget to subscribe and like this video to continue getting notifications about our upcoming video where we walk you through our stay in the canopy Machan as well as sharing the room charges.
See you then.
Take care ! TATA !