Marvelous Matheran

Maharashtra is one the most gifted states in India. It has diversity in its roots. It has been witness and a gauge to measure the progressive change of India. Along with the financial value, it has abundant nature in it too. Maharashtra is blessed with long coastline as well as tall and wide mountain ranges. One such mountain range is Matheran. As the name suggests “Mathe-ran”- Forest on the hilltop. I have been here more than a couple of times when I was a kid. But still I leapt at a chance to visit it once again with my uncle, aunties and two cousins.
On the previous night I had bid adieu to my sister who was leaving for Bangalore after her marriage. I came home late at night and due to prior commitments was awake till 1am in the morning! After getting some sleep I woke up again at 6 am as I had to leave for Matheran. I was to meet Vijay kaka and his family at Thane station. We were going to board the local to Neral. This is the place at the foot of Matheran. I met them at thane and boarded the local. We previously thought that the local was 12 coach but on its arrival we realized that it was 9 coach and so had to run to get our local and hush! We succeeded in boarding the local. The train was not jam packed but there was no place for us to sit. I was the first one to get a seat. There was a guy sitting just next to where I was standing. I have no clue what happened. He just got up saying that I was standing for long time and gave me the seat. I was not at all in a condition to reject his offer. I hurriedly sat. I took the bag Atharva was carrying and slept on it with my head placed on it. I slept very quickly and woke up only after a nice hour and half’s sleep. When we got down at Neral station it was pretty much crowded and I was damn sleepy. We met Shivendu and aunt Seema over here. Had a vada pav and got into the mini train which was going to take us to Matheran.
The train was anything but comfortable, largely due to the Gujrati family and their baggage lying in a haphazard manner throughout the compartment. After two hours of journey in the train we reached Matheran. The view from the train was awesome. We could see some of the forts in the Karjat region. The deep valleys were breath taking. The job done by the railway people has to be applauded. While in the train, I took loads of pictures. It was really an awesome experience minus the comfort of course.
When we reached Matheran our guest house was a nice and comfortable one. We had “kheema” brought by Aunt Seema. After having lunch I was dying to sleep. Past week of festivities and the prior exhausting night was too much for me to handle. I just couldn’t keep my eyes open. Very soon I slept and was the last one to get up for breakfast. After eating some junk we left of for sight seeing.
Kaka had given us a small map consisting of various points worth seeing in Matheran. We decided to visit the points which were nearby. First point we saw was Charlotte Lake. This is a dam used for various needs in Matheran. There is a cliff just adjacent to it overlooking deep valley beneath it. In front of us we could see the sun setting and the panoramic view just took away all the tiredness from me. After spending some time here watching the sun disappear behind a hill we started retracing our footsteps towards market. By now it was dark. We could just see outlines of each other. We were chatting and having fun. Sounds coming from the jungle surrounding us were thrilling. We were also playing some soft music from time to time. After walking for an hour or so we reached the market. By now Aunt Seema and Manisha were dead tired. We had lunch at a small place called Suyog. To my benefits the food was spicy and I really loved it. But Shivendu who is not as fond of spicy food was pissed of. After roaming around for some more time in the market we started moving back towards our guest house. The station of the mini train was very much nearby. We sat chatting for sometime in the train itself. It was dark inside the train but it was cool. Light breeze was blowing. After spending a nice cozy half an hour we decided to call it a night. Once we reached home we were in our nightwear and off to the dreamland.
Next day began with me lazily getting up at 8:30am. After having some breakfast in another restaurant today- “Ketkar”- we moved on for sight seeing. Today we were to see echo point, Louisa point and Malang point. Our first stop was the Louisa point. It was the farthest point there. The view from there was awesome. We could see Malangad behind us and some other pinnacle in front of us. The view was simply brilliant. After spending some time here and taking some pictures we moved on towards the echo point. On the way we stopped at a closed shop to catch a breather. The shop owner told us that recently a Panther was seen in the adjacent jungle. He had killed a dog and was eating it for couple of days on a nearby tree. There were even paws signs of it on the tree. After hearing to his story he moved towards the echo point. This was nice but the only spoiler was the raging sun. The heat was too much to bear. Shivendu, me and Atharva wanted a cold drink badly. We had a fine soda at nearby hotel and moved on. We even played a game where we had to hit some glasses with a ball in three chances. All three of us tried but failed to hit all the glasses. The heat was getting unbearable. We came back to market and had lunch out here. After lunch it was time to relax as moving around in summer heat was just impossible.
In the evening we went to Alexandra point. On the way we saw many abandoned villas. In Matheran itself there are many villas which are in ruins. These places must have been some great witness to the imperial lifestyle. The view from here was marvelous. We could see Garbat point and many other points too. But the fog played spoil sport and we were unable to know properly as to what it was that we were seeing. Soon we returned to market and visited a garden there. It was a nice park. We ate some junk their and then came back to market. Had dinner and returned to the train. Again train was a nice place to enjoy. There was privacy, peace, coziness and comfort. After enjoying it all we called it a day. Next morning we decided to wake up early and visit some far off points man to man. Aunts were too tired to walk that much.
We woke up at 6am and started towards one tree hill. This is a nice place to visit. In the dawn the jungles appeared magical. There was a magical calm all over the place. We could hear some horses coming and going. There was a steadiness in our walk now. After walking for around 45 minutes we reached one tree hill. We stayed there for around half an hour. I decided that next time we come here we will do the summit of one tree hill. It was thrilling and was teasing me to give it a climb. But I resisted this time but it would have been irresistible if my trek-o-maniacs been with me. From here we went to belvedere point and prabal point. We could see Prabalgad in front of us. It was huge and daunting. By now Shivendu and Atharva were tired so we called our aunts to come to the restaurant were we would have our breakfast and move on to do shopping.
A walk of around 45 minutes took us to the market. Aunts were already waiting in the restaurant. Soon after having a sumptuous breakfast we moved on the garden nearby. By now sun was in its full glory and we were drenched in sweat. Had a quick photography session in the garden and moved to the same restaurant again. Had a quick lunch and rushed back to our hotel. It was 1 hour to go for our mini train to arrive and bid adieu to Matheran.
Soon bags were packed ad we were sitting by the window awaiting the arrival of our train. When the train came we rushed to get to our seats in spite of having reservations! It was fun and now was the time to give our tired bodies some rest. For sometime I was busy seeing the scenic beauty around and the panoramic views. I was bringing back all the memories that we had for last two days and didn’t know when I went to sleep. I was woken up by Shivendu when jummapatti station came. I was again drenched in sweat due to the sun beating its way down on my window. When we reached Neral station there was a huge hullabaloo by the passengers of the mini train. The trip to Matheran had at last come to an end. It was truly marvelous Matheran!!!!!!!!!!!!