Matheran Adventures!!!

As doctor Watson would say, the time has come when it is quite safe to speak about events that took place in the past, I can place the facts before the discerning public. About a month ago I had been to Matheran with a couple of my college friends. Just the three of us, a total girly road trip. Names have been withheld in this blog post as my friends are still under a witness protection programme, my friend drove all the way and if any of our parents found out they would have a coronary and we would become orphans, because the road up to Dasturi (the point upto which you can take vehicles) is quite treacherous, what with it winding this way and that. But B, bless her, is the most amazing driver...when B drives, she can change gears, text message, change the music station and talk... all at once...and the way she handles the car is great, she is in total control, no jerky movements whatsoever. I am in absolute awe of her. Back to the story, A, called me on Monday to ask if I was OK with a day trip to Matheran...I was more that happy as the past few weeks had been crazy busy at work and I could use a break. A also dangled the added carrot that I could stay over at her place on Saturday so we could travel together in the morning to B's house. This was but ofcourse an excuse to spend the entire night gossiping and giggling.

Accordingly I arrived on Saturday at A's place around eight, we had an early dinner and retired to her room, to google up the route. A, had been to Matheran with her family in the past and took it on herself to be the guide, I being hopeless with directions decided to be the photographer, all the pictures you see in the blog post have been captured by your truly on her trusty blackberry. Photos which contain the three of us have been withheld for reasons disclosed above. We wrote down the directions and then settled down for some serious gossiping.

We had not met up for quite a while and had some serious catching up to do. By the time we were done it was one in the morning as we decided to call it a day, else we would not be able to wake up the following day.We set the alarm for six as we had agreed to meet B at seven in the morning, prayed that it be a perfect day for a trip and hoped the rain gods would not play spoilsport and went off to sleep. We woke up on time thanks to the chirping of the multitude of birds who live in the trees opposite A's house. A little background, A's house is situated in a delightfully shady street and the view from her bedroom balcony is to die for. You open your eyes to a green canopy, where a multitude of birds are chirping praises to nature in all her glory. You simply cannot have a bad day when you wake up to all this beauty. To make it all the more beautiful, it was a pleasant day with no rain clouds in sight!!!

Putting that down a good omen, we got dressed and arrived at B's house a little after seven. After a quick stop at the petrol pump we were off on our trip!!! The trip to Mahape was uneventful and we made good time, things got a bit mixed up after that, we kept asking people the way to Neral which is at the foothills and they kept pointing us to Nerul, which is a place near Vashi. One rickshaw fellow confidently pointed us in one direction and after travelling on it for a while B declared that if I take one more right turn on this road we will be back in Mumbai!!! Finally we chanced on a traffic police check post and the constable there helped direct us to the right road. Much to our chagrin we realised that we were on the right track before asking for directions and would have reached this place an hour ago if the locals had not misguided us. All of us decided never to ask for directons going forward!!! We arrived at Dasturi a little after eleven and after finding a place to park the car (the whole of Mumbai seemed to have decended here) we started trekking up to Matheran.

A little history lesson on Matheran, courtesy wikipedia, Matheran (Marathi: Marathi: माथेरान is a city and a Hill Station municipal council in Raigad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is also the smallest hill station in India. It is located on the Western Ghats range at an elevation of around 800 m (2,625 feet) above sea level. It is located around 90 km from Mumbai, and 120 km from Pune. Matheran's proximity to the metros makes it a popular weekend getaway for urban residents. The name Matheran means either "forest on top" or "mother forest".Matheran is an eco-sensitive region, declared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India. It is one of the few places in the world where vehicles are not allowed, which makes the place different from others.

Matheran takes you over a hundred years back in time when there were no vehicles.Because of vehicles being banned in Matheran, the place is quite peaceful despite the thousands of visitors coming to visit throughout the year. There are lots of lookout points that provide spectacular views of the surrounding hills and valleys. Matheran has a reasonably dense forest cover. There are around 38 designated look-out points in Matheran, including the Panorma Point that provides a 360 degree view of the surrounding area and also the Neral town. From this point, the view of sunset and sunrise is breathtaking. The Louisa Point offers crystal clear view of the Prabal Fort. The other points are the One Tree Hill Point, Hart Point, Monkey Point, Porcupine Point, Rambgh Point, and more.

Back to the present when we arrived at Dasturi there was a slight drizzle and a dense fog, we felt like we were walking through coulds!!! After a thirty minute trek we arrived at the quaint town of Matheran, you really feel like you are in an old black and white movie, the shops in this place still play old songs, everyone is on foot and you can see horses trotting grandly down the main streets. After a while you half expect to see an officer from the British era riding a buggy with his lady sitting pretty beside him. I can see the snicker on your face, yes, I admit it, I am a sucker for the victorian era "Angrez chale gaye, mujhe chod gaye". Its like time stood still here!!!

On arriving at the main market square we decided to tuck in some lunch before we started visiting the various points and accordingly went to Kumar Plaza. The red tiled roof of the kitchen looked so pretty against the backdrop of the fog and the shillouttes of the trees made for some interesting photography subjects. Post lunch we visited Sunrise Point (on the map it is down as "Sunrice Point, refer picture), Lord Point (the sign said "its Onely 1 Mint" away, refer picture), Charlotte Lake (it looked like a giant lake filled with tea) and Echo Point (I chickened out of this one as the approach road was too slippery and I could not afford to take any days off work!!!).

By the time it was four in the evening we were craving for some tea. A small road side hotel provided us with steaming mugfuls of tea, refreshed we hit the stalls for a spot of shopping. We purchased some chikkis, fudges, chappals (you get the most amazing footwear at throw away prices here). With our bags over flowing with all these goodies we desended to Dasturi, this time we walked along the railway track. 

A small toy train is operated here, however it is quite to safe to walk along this route during the monsoons as the train is not operated during this period. We arrived at Dasturi physically tired but mentally refreshed. I quite loved this trip as we could be ourselves, no pretence, no rush, enjoying the simple pleasure which nature offers in the company of the people who matter. I look forward to more such trips in the future!!!