Exploring the Hidden Gem - Jambhrun

Imagine waking up to sounds of whistling birds, water gushing through big rocks creating sound of drums and a feeling of oneness with nature. That is what you feel here in Jambhrun.

Gappa, Goshti, Trails ani Barach Kahi...

Jambhrun

         It was a place we have been wanting to visit since a year, waiting for the rainy season to end.  Nestled in the heart of untouched beauty, our recent trip to Jambhrun was nothing short of enchanting. 

         It's a small village just 20kms away from Ratnagiri city. Jambhrun is located right next to a natural water source stream flowing through the valley surrounded by lush green forest. It's a perfect escape from the hustle bustle of city.

How to reach Jambhrun from Pune:

         We started from Ravet this time, as we stayed at my friends house who was joining us on this trip along with his wife and kid. Best route from Pune is by crossing Karad and taking Amba ghat.

         We had planned to visit Marleshwar Temple and waterfall, which was on the way, with a detour from Amba ghat. 

Marleshwar waterfall and temple  

It's a must go spot if going through Amba ghat and specially during rainy season.

Route from Ravet to Jambhrun:

Pune Bengaluru Highway - Karad - Amba Ghat - Marleshwar - Devrukh - Jambhrun

Stay options at Jambhrun

         There are couple of homestay options available in Jambhrun and we had chosen Jambhrun trails as our homestay. It is hosted by Mr and Mrs Kane , we fondly called them Kane Kaka & Kaku . This post might have half portion covering them 😄 because without them the stay would have been incomplete.
        We had never booked a homestay prior to this trip, so this was going to be a new experience for all of us. 
        Jambhrun is basically a group of small wadis. Wadi is kind of agricultural forest land historically owned by local families with cultivation of likes of coconut tress, spicies, mango, cashew, chickoo to name a few of known trees.
Jambhrun trails homestay is spread across 5 acres and had river stream flowing just behind it. They have multiple stay options like

• Traditional Kokani House

Traditional Kokani House

• Kokani Cottages

Kokani cottage

• Kokani Hut

Kokani Hut
Photo courtesy:Vilas Kane

         We had initially booked the traditional kokani house, considering the look and feel and overall package. Its a typical kokani house with  semi-open area, and rooms/built spaces called 'Aangan', 'Padvi' & 'Oati'.

Kokani house structure
Photo courtesy:Vilas Kane

Kokani Cottages and Hut are cottages made of Jamba stone and are stream and jungle facing rooms. 

Things to do while in Jambhrun

• Day 1 : Reached Jambhrun

             As we had reached in evening, we had nothing much to do. We had tea and went to our cottages and enjoyed the view and the sound of the stream for a while. For dinner, we had Fish fry made in typical kokani style. Kane kaka had told us to try out local fish(Dhomi and Gejar), and both were very tasty and worth a try, if you eat fish.

• Day 2 : Jambhrun Trails and Petroglyphs

             There is no need for an alarm as the birds are natural alarm here. Beautiful sounds of various birds wake you up, especially the whistling as if some human is whistling. It's completely refreshing morning when you step out at dawn and hear the sounds of birds and the stream.

            We had breakfast at 8.45am and it was local cuisine special Ghavan with coconut chutney.

Ghavan and chutney

          Post breakfast we left for our first trail through the village. One speciality of this village is the water management system using the natural water source. 

Patth(water canals to each house)

         Each house gets the water through a small canal kind system and has water throughout the year. It makes you awestruck with the kind of planning and intelligence this system is developed and implemented.

      The water is used for all domestic purpose and also to irrigate the farms as well and if nothing else it goes back to the stream, so nowhere the water goes waste.

        We visited the temples in village which were approximately about 300-400 year old. 

300-400 year old temple structure with retaining walls

           The speciality of these was the architecture of the boundary walls, also called the retaining walls. These were constructed in a manner which they interlocked each other and also the layers were formed such that they could withstand the load of the hill. 
         When we were listening to the detailing of construction, it made us think, the kind of knowledge the ancestors had .

Simplicity of living with nature

         The knowledge was not just pertaining to the construction of structures but also the way of living. There is a term which has recently started trending - Sustainable living . But when you look at the way the people live here, they are living it in and out since ages.    

      They produce their own homemade biogas, their own food/milk/fruits, fetch water without electricity,  no or minimal garbage(dry and wet) and above all without mobile network in most area of village.

         We crossed the stream to go on other side of village and this trail was through the jungle. The overall trail was fun and exciting to the kids as well even though it was around 2-3km with ascending and descending the hill. We then ended our trail in the stream of water where kids had some cool dip and we got ourselves a free fish pedicure 😜

Petroglyphs(Rock carvings)

        Evening we had another interesting trail planned. It was to the Petroglyphs/Geoglyphs (rock carvings) for which Jambhrun has been added in the UNESCO Heritage list along with 8 other regions of Kokan where these are found. There are around 1700 such carvings found in these region and research is still going on. These carvings are said to be real life size carvings and might be older than 12,000 year.

Human figure carvings

Real life size animal figures

            This walk is about 5km including both ways, so we couldn't take our kids with us. My friend had decided he won't come for this, so it gave us an open window of 2 hours to visit this. It's not a trail for small kids unless you are ready to pick them, so better plan accordingly.

Path to Petroglyphs

         It's a great trail for bird-watchers as well, as you get to see huge variety of birds, some are migratory birds as well. We were able to capture few of them in camera others were feast to eyes.

Jambhrun is paradise for Bird watchers

                                   

         It was quite a eventful day filled full of interesting stories and information shared by Kane kaka of his exploration days and experiences during his documentary film-making.

• Day 3 : Places Near Jambhrun

         We got up at dawn and went for a walk along the stream flow into the jungle. What a refreshing moment to be with the nature.

            This day was planned for visiting places nearby Jambhrun which included below places

1. Lakshmi Keshav temple, Kolisare - A must visit

Lakshmi Keshav Mandir  

    

     2. Ganpati Pule

Ganpati Pule Temple 

      3.Aare Ware Beach

Aare ware beach

       

    4. Malgund Beach

      Its already a long post so, I will come up with a separate detailed post for the places to visit around Jambhrun.

• Day 4 : Bidding goodbye

         We had forgotten completely, who we are , where we came from in these 3 days time. But today it was time to say goodbye to this beautiful place and get back to our cement houses. 

Smiling faces

• We took a halt to visit Rajwadi hot water springs which was on our way back. 

While returning back we took a different route, we came back from 

Chiplun- Mahad - Varandh Ghat - Bhor - Pune

Homestay Experience

          It was a wonderful experience staying at Jambhrun trails. The speciality of this stay, apart from the natural beauty of village, is the warm and welcoming nature of both Kane kaka & kaku and the delicious food made by the locals. They made us very comfortable, giving it a sense of being at home. Especially the kids were so comfortable, they played and conversed with them like they do with their grandparents.

           Day 1 when we  reached Jambhrun at 5pm, we were welcomed by Kaka Kaku with a cup of refreshing tea in the Aangan area of Kokani house. They were quite generous to inform us that Kokani cottages were also available and if we would like to stay there instead of Kokani house. 

         After comparing both, it surely felt the Kokani cottages/hut were perfect for the stay for couples or family of 3-4. Although Kokani house was also a good option but it is more suitable for a group of 8-12 people.

          The homestay includes food (veg included, non-veg charged separately) and trails as well which is guided by Mr.Vilas Kane. His knowledge and experience as a photographer and renowned documentary film-maker speaks for itself. The amount of information and stories he told us made the trails and stay more exciting.

         Time flies when you start having conversation with both Kane kaka and kaku. It was surely one of unforgettable and amazing stay experiences for us.

Expenses during the Trip

• Stay - 1800-/- per person/night for Kokani House(dormitory), 2200/- per person/night for Kokani Cottages(Veg food and trails included)
• Petrol - 6k 
• Food other than veg food at Jambhrun - 4k(4 ppl + 2 kids)
• Toll - 450/-

       Nature has provided everything in abundance to this place. There are things which can only be experienced after going there.

Whether you are seeking a adventure, cultural or a peaceful gateway, Jambhrun surely offers it all.

Konkan is place to find peace, solace and enjoy slow pace of life. Checkout another one of my favorite place in Konkan - Karde Beach and Keshavraj Temple