A five-light junction. A cow and a calf wandering around. A small bus stop. A public tap. Two or three shops. A slice from the enchanting Malgudi town was coming alive, at Kulgi barely 12 kms away from Dandeli town. Arun Bandekar’s Hotel Apoorva is an extension of his small, non descript shop selling some snacks for the school children and perhaps a bit of grocery for the locals. Arun, who came from Sawantwadi in Maharasthra to Dandeli some three decades ago, runs his enterprise along with his wife. The Bandekars’ hospitality and culinary expertise eventually made Hotel…
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Guhagar, being 320 odd km away from Mumbai means fewer crowds. Or so we thought. We forgot that Pune was probably only 200 km away. We reached Guhagar a little late in the evening, around 7.30. We were a bit overconfident that in these little not so known places, hotels, lodges or home stays would be easily available. But as always Murphy has the last laugh. All (two or three) known hotels were full. People indeed are traveling. We drove a few times up and down through the main street knocking the doors of a few hotels and a few…