Blogs from Matheran, Maharashtra, India, Asia
October 11th 2010
I'm back in sweltering Mumbai this morning after a weekend in Matheran sucking up some fresh air. Matheran is the nearest hill station to Mumbai, about two hours' drive away. It's about 800m above sea level in the Sahyadri Hills, a range of the Western Ghats. The area was more spectacular than I expected. A six kilometre taxi ride took us from the dusty base of the hill up a series of switchbacks into lush forest. Scattered among the trees are tumbledown colonial mansions, and all motor vehicles are banned except for a miniature railway, which heroically winds along a 21km route up the escarpment. There's still paan-wrappers and crisp packets dumped everywhere, though. We followed signs to the Bombay View hotel, where we had a reservation, even though it seemed abandoned. An hour or so ... read more
December 19th 2008
Cannot believe it's been 8 months since we returned to Blighty and all the accompanying trials and tribulations - due to overwhelming popular demand (specifically my cousin Alan...) thought I'd better finish this long overdue blog before the details fade from my uncertain memory bank, so here goes.... And so we wobbled into Matheran in some style, and booked into the Lord's Hotel just in time for dinner - absolute bliss, French onion soup and crusty bread, fabulous curry and rice main course, Floating Islands for desert, it set the scene for the next two weeks at this impeccabley clean tho' slightly shabby hotel (but then we were fairly shabby after 14 weeks on the road so we fitted in perfectly). Our apartment was set in a row of chalets overlooking a magnificent valley that afforded ... read more
September 18th 2008
Matheran Trek (12st Sept-14th Sept 2008):: For sometime I had this desire of trekking in the dark and my wish was fulfilled when the enthu group(raj, saju n me) decided going trekking on Matheran(2 weeks ago).Then came the tedious task of gathering people. Frantic calls to friends ,relatives ,friends of friends etc went on ...though to no avail .Finally we ended up with the usual suspects(raj,saju,arnie,aalu n me). Skepticism crept in as Aalu was the only girl and we weren’t sure that she would be able to complete the trek.But then we thought, oh hell its arnie’s problem:-) not ours .Worst case we had to leave them midway and we were ready to do that . D-Day-12th Sept- Plans of reaching Ghatkopar stn early etc were made ..but as usual we can never be on time..Last ... read more
May 13th 2008
Bombay/Mumbai - a city by any other name would smell the same.....The taxi from Bombay to Nehrul took 4 painful hours - Bombay was recently voted '7th filthiest city in the world', tho' a citizen complained to the local newspaper that they were robbed, surely it qualifies for first place? We drove through what is officially named the World's Largest Slum - 150,000 people and 1 toilet to serve all of them - we passed this facility, and astonishingly there was no queue. This particular slum has the added disadvantage of being built on a swamp, miles of ramshackle huts constructed of corrugated iron, plastic sheeting, huddled together with no permanent structure to be seen. Apparently there is a thriving economy in the slum, they even have ATMs, tho the nature of the businesses here probably ... read more
February 16th 2008
When we had finally seen the magestic Ellora Ajanta caves, we knew it was time at last to head to Mumbai, or as I've been told, more properly still called Bombay~ Yet this rustlebustle city is still by far the most expensive in India, so we sought a refuge from the city for a few days - within easy reach - but a relaxing spot where we could await the arrival of Lex's best friend, Alex... And we found Matheran. Considered the most picturesque of the Hill Stations in Mahareshtra, this little town called to us~ we hopped a local train for a short train ride from the beautiful Victoria Terminus station. Though completely empty when we first jumped on, our car very quickly crammed full of our Indian brethren who piled atop eachother and us, ... read more
January 2nd 2008
We traveled to a little hill station about 100 km east of Mumbai. This little hill town doesn't allow any type of motorized transport, a great respite from the traffic of Mumbai! It was also neat because we took a little "toy train" up through amazing scenery to get to the town (altitude 800m.) ... read more
November 11th 2007
In Pune - far from Delhi, in a self-driven Hertz Getz. No fear of wanna-be-s with deep bass thumps of Mauja hi Mauja around here. I was wrong. Period - all this cool Mumbai vs Delhi is propoganda by people who don't own loud systems - and they are a minority. I aim high - and pump torque to my inclination for Matheran. Asia’s only pedestrian hill station, an ecologically protected zone. No vehicles, no honking, no wading through lungful of deep carbon muck, no parking blues, or gas-stations etc. I drive over my twin, a pock-marked path to elevation for people to use. The path's dotted with 'Switch to 1st gear' warnings and sir when you see that, rev up and shift, for what comes next is at an incline crafted by a sadist, an ... read more
Fear and Loathing; Horses and Monkeys!
Published: November 4th 2007Asia » India » Maharashtra » Matheran
October 25th 2007
Exit mayhem, enter idyllic peacefulness! I had a very exhilirating 3 hour car ride from Mumbai to Matheran - the excitement ranging from cows and goats in the road (nothing new - HONK HONK!), the driver having NO idea where we are going and stopping for directions at EVERY intersection, and then winding up a tall mountain in the middle of nowhere .... wondering ... what did i get myself into THIS time!?!? We got to Matheran junction, which is where everyone must leave their cars, and my car was literally swamped by people offering tuk-tuks and porter services. Apparently its another 3km to the town, and since no cars are allowed, transporting the people and their luggage is big buisness! I took a minute to talk to a few of them and evaluate my options, ... read more
February 21st 2007
Like the middle class Indian families on their weekend breaks and honeymooners we've decided the perfect way to run away from the downsides of India, is to head to the hill stations. For Mumbai city folk, the small town of Matheran is an oasis of green, 3000 feet above sea level and the best place to rest ones lungs. At the top of the hill, taxis and other automobiles are forbidden as there are no roads in Matheran! A bit like entering a theme park, we paid our entrance fee (a small price to pay for litter free streets) and then had to choose whether we would reach our hotel by handcart, cycle-rickshaw or horse! We walked and for some reason employed a porter to carry our luggage. We’d expected two porters to share the load ... read more
August 29th 2006
Finally, a much needed break from the world of shredded codes and excels, a refreshing weekend spent on trekking up the dense green mountains and waterfalls, a relentless adda (chat) with old buddies and baring the soul to the nature, forgetful of the noisy city life. Destination Matheran: A hill station in Maharasthra perched on the top of western ghats at 2600 feet above the sea level. It is 110 kms drive from Mumbai and 120 kms from pune. Except me, all the trip members were from Mumbai, so we decided Neral as the meeting point for the group. Took a train from pune in the early morning to Neral, where the rest of the gang arrived from Mumbai by a local train. Met Sharmistha, who joined the trip at the last moment after getting a ... read more
