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ASMITA BAKSHI SAMPLES AN ADRERNALINE RUSH IN THE WESTERN GHATS

Ever been dirt bike riding in a luxury resort? How about stepping out of a posh café to milk Jersey cows? Perhaps you’ve done a free- fall from 300 metres in the air? Della Adventure Resorts in Lonavla, hosts all this of for the weekender seeking an adrenalin high. Created by builder Jimmy Mistry, the three- year- old resort has recently unveiled new activities.

The drive up is picturesque, winding roads flanked on either side with lush green mountains, made hazy by clouds. The road turns off into the 40 acre property which has luxurious rooms and tents, an adventure park with over a hundred activities, and the experience that awaits can seem fairly confusing. But, rest assured, try a mix of everything. The rooms are impressive, black walls with gold embellishment make for striking interiors and they really don’t skimp in the comfort department. One must mention, that the bathroom, which has in it a shower stall, a tub and a flat screen TV, matched, if not surpassed, said room in size.

Toilet humour All the bathrooms here are something of a spectacle. The lady’s loo shocks you with a male mannequin seemingly urinating into a toilet bowl just outside one of the vestibules. The gents toilet has several video clips of women one angrily waving a broom, one throwing enticing expressions on unsuspecting toilet visitors— just above the urinals.

The sport Believe it or not, the adventure only gets better from here. Cards are given to partake in a selection of the adventure sports in the park right next to the resort. There are four kinds of zorbs, aqua, land, water and roller, and we started with the water zorb, in which we were seated inside a plastic pouch that was inflated, zipped up and thrown into a pool for us to maneuver it from the inside like hamsters. If you dare, try what they claim is the longest zip line in the country at 1,250 feet. The champion of adventure activities, however, is the Swoop. Packed and harnessed into what look like golfing bags, we were turned horizontal and raised to a height of 300 metres above the ground. At this point, we were asked to pull a cord on the side of our carriers, which resulted initially in a free fall and later in us swinging across the length of the ride, looking into the mountains from a height we never thought possible. Tariff Rs 12,000 per night, plus taxes Tel 096644 55000; dellaadventure. com