3rd April 2010; it was the day I was waiting for. After an array of cajoling, coaxing and persuasion, we finally managed to gather a flock of 6 people who were ready for a weekend road trip. The location - “West Palm Beach Resort” in Vasai.

Vasai (Marathi: वसई) or Bassein is a historical town in the city of Mumbai in the Maharashtra state of India.

It is located in Thane District, 50 km north of Mumbai. The city is located on the north bank of Vasai Creek, part of the estuary of the Ulhas River. Vasai is famous for its historical fort and vast expanse of beaches. The West Palm Beach Resort is located on 5 acres of landscaped greenery. It is flanked with thick vegetation at the back and the famous Merces Beach by its side.In short, a perfect spot for a nice weekend getaway.

We left Thane at 4:00 in the evening. Myself, Nikhil, Vaibhav and Akhil decided to go on our bikes while Yogesh and Sachin agreed to come by Diwa-Vasai local. We reached the resort by 9 in the night. The place was bubbling with weekenders; guys like us (whose sole purpose was Drinking, drinking and more drinking), girls only group (it was our lucky day!!!) and families. The night was spent in boozing (a whole lot of it), pulling each others legs (a must after during every drinking session), and drooling on the girls/ladies who were present in the resort.

The next day scenes were right out of the Hangover movie. Vaibhav was the most stoned amongst all. Few rugby style huddles were required to awaken everyone from their slumber.

A night of incessant drinking had made us all pretty hungry and the first thing we did was have a hearty breakfast.

The lush 5 acres of greenery offered some scenic vistas for clicking pictures. The owner of the resort had a picturesque house of his own which looked like straight out of a fairy tale.

We could have snapped in some more photos but the sweltering heat was taking its toll on us. The in-house pool started to look more tempting than ever. Without any further ado, we jumped right into it. We spent almost 3-4 hours but it all seemed like an instant. To add to the festivities, there was a Rain dance and DJ Session too. The crowd started swaying to some of the hit Marathi numbers belted by the DJ.

The highlight was Yogesh’s unique belly dance/robotic moves a la Shakira.

Overall it was an afternoon well spent.

A light lunch and a quick nap later it was time for us to leave. It was indeed the much needed respite from the humdrums of the daily office life.

How I wished we could all do it every weekend!!!