The Two Places I wish To Escape Right Away all ALONE.

People who know me well know how crazy I am about Istanbul and how keen I am to visit it someday. That is one of my biggest dreams.

Since that seems next to impossible with how my life is going currently. There are only 2 places I can still hope to escape if there is a choice that is…

With all the back-to-back weddings that are going to take place in the coming months and with me not yet done with the exhaustion of my brother’s wedding saga that happened in the month of March.

I am so exhausted, that even as a writer, I can’t explain it in words. On top of it, I will have to meet so many annoying relatives at a continuous pace is something which is really messing up with my mind already.

Anyway, that is why I really want to escape to at least one of these places from the chaotic life that I am dealing with and also make you as my reader aware of these 2 beautiful places that reside in India, in Maharashtra not too far away from Mumbai.

The Fern Samali Resort

The very first is “The Fern Samali Resort” in Dapoli- Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. They also have a resort in Lonavla but I loved the Dapoli one.

I visited this place in the year 2021, January with my mother and brother. And I was absolutely in love with this place. I loved how this place is secluded from the city chaos and is surrounded by nature yet it gives you that feeling of being at home.

A picture of their garden. They have antics all around

I just so want to run away to this very place now. I absolutely need that place charm to work on me like magic and give me the kind of peace I am looking for. I really want to stay here and paint, write, and meditate in their garden which is so beautiful and has so much freshness around.

I would spend hours just sitting there in between and closing my eyes, taking deep breaths in and pushing all the negativity, the exhaustion, the build-up all clustered within my chest and just take in the fresh air that this resort is surrounded with.

Me posing on the swing that was on their balcony

I so miss that balcony of the room we stayed in and that balcony is the centre of all the love I have for this place. I would give away my toxic habit of waking up late in the morning and actually waking up early every morning if that balcony and that view were right here!

As a writer, if and when I become a best-seller one fine day, I will spend half of my fortune only to escape from all the madness that surrounds me and stay at this place to write more books.

As an artist who loves to be left alone with her brushes and paints, this is the best place to fill those empty canvases with colours and stories…

They serve amazing food that also adds to the comfort that one needs when one is away from home.

This is the entrance of their restaurant.

For sightseeing, we just went to a beach. There is nothing much to see or shop around. So if you are someone who just wishes to chill and relax and needs to escape from the daily chaos and life, just run to this place. Thank me later.

Bhilar- Pustakache Gav

I have been to this place very recently- in the month of July.

I didn’t get a chance to explore this place properly because I was accompanied by my cousins and family that are not into books at all.

Also, we were actually heading back home after our 2 days trip to Mahabaleshwar.

Read Here: My trip to Mahabaleshwar and The review on Green Cottage and Lawn (Mahabaleshwar)

So this small village Bhilar resides between Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani. And it’s also known as “Pustakache Gav” which means the village of books.

So houses in this village are like an open library for locals or visitors. So if you happen to visit this village you will see how houses are painted from the outside creatively. The houses are open to you to take your time and read books.

They have a different room with chairs and bookshelves, books all kept neatly in cupboards.

I could only visit 2 to 3 houses and most of which I could not understand much because I just headed to the village alone while there is a head office in the village which sadly, I could not locate and I had very little time to explore around.

I am not very sure if they keep English books because I could mostly find books in the Marathi language here.

Everyone has a different genre in their house. I could also spot books on Hitler and Shivaji Maharaj.

I could not talk to many locals around as I assume I visited at the wrong time. It was mid-afternoon when its usually the time for locals to take their afternoon naps or lunch.

I could only click a few pics and not much.

So that’s one reason why I wish to re-visit this place and wish to stay here itself to know the locals, how they manage this library system like I want to know everything. I can only accomplish that if I stay here for some time, and get used to the local slow life of this village because trust me rural life is slow and peaceful compared to city life.

This village reminds me of a village in London known as Hye on Wye which again is a village filled with bookstores. You can read about it more here

That brings us to the end of this blog post.

I wish to escape these places somehow alone. But that’s not possible. But if you are planning to visit these places or have already visited these places then do share about your journey and experience.

I just hope, someday I will be able to travel to all the places my heart desires…