It has been raining continuously for two days now and the weather has become all gloomy with almost no sign of the sun.
The weather reminded of this small hill station situated in Maharashtra, amidst the beautiful green forest.
This place is quite different from your regular hill station and one of the most unique places I have ever been to.
In a span of 2 months, I visited this place twice and in both the visits, this place had something beautiful to show.
Almost 120 kms from Pune and around 90 kms from Mumbai – Matheran is a place filled with the beautiful green forest and the breathtaking sceneries of the Sahyadri Range.
It is a place away from all the hustle and bustle of the cities and a place to rejuvenate your soul.
So, we made our way from Pune through the most amazing road on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. It was Monsoon season and we could see the beautiful green mountains and the waterfalls making its way through them, throughout the journey. Monsoon is the best time of the year to visit Maharashtra. The nature is at its best during these few months and there is so much to explore around.
On my first trip to Matheran, we had reached the place at around 7 PM in the evening and it was almost dark as we stepped foot on the place. We had booked a private car and the guy had just agreed to drop us to Matheran. Little did we know that we were in for a very tough night. It had started to rain heavily and it was totally dark. Somehow we managed to talk to a few people and they agreed to take us to the guest house which we had booked. These people even tricked us into believing that the path to the guest house was muddy and the only way to reach there is to ride the horses for which they were charging a lot. Our phones had stopped working as well. The network connection is really the worse out here. (You may consider this as a good thing at times because this means you can spend your time in peace without the constant rings of your cellphone.) But at that time, it turned out to be the worst thing for us. As we were not left with a lot of options, we ended up paying for the horse and on reaching the guest house, we settled down and relaxed. The guest house was nothing fancy and not at all worth the money we were paying. But that was the best option available.
So, on my second trip to Matheran, I learnt from the past mistakes and we booked a resort near Neral, which is a place at a distance of 10 kms from Matheran. It was almost evening when we reached Neral and the resort was really beautiful. Our room had the direct view of the beautiful mountains and it was one of the most beautiful sights in the morning.
After having a very nice breakfast at the resort, we made our way towards Matheran. Now, the road from Neral to Matheran is one of the most beautiful, yet one of the most dangerous one. It is really steep with a great number of turns. However the scenery and the view is breathtaking. We did not want to drive all the way up to Matheran, so we parked our car near Neral Railway Station and got into these shared cabs which just charge 60 rupees per person to drop you till the entry point of Matheran station. This is one of the best option available during Monsoon. Also there is the Metre-Gauge train which run from Neral to Matheran few times in a day, but the trains remain closed during the monsoon. Else, this would be the best option to reach Matheran.
On reaching the entry point of Matheran, we had to buy some pass to enter Matheran. We got those passes and then made our way towards the town by walking. It was a little foggy and the roads were entirely muddy. It must have rained a little while ago as there were small puddles of water on the way. It was a beautiful day and the weather was really pleasant.
There are no vehicles allowed inside the town and you only have the option to either walk your way all throughout or you can even get on a horse (which is really expensive) which can take you around entire Matheran. The Matheran railway station is a few steps away from the entry point and you can even get a ticket for the toy train which will drop you till the main town. The trains do not cover the entire town. But the train journey is definitely one of the “must do things” in Matheran. There are also these rickshaw pullers who can take you to some of the places around the town. I did not try that option as it didn’t look very comfortable.
We made our way through the railway tracks, walking and enjoying the beautiful weather.
It was really foggy and the beautiful trees on the side with their leaves covering the entire sky made it impossible for the sunlight to reach the ground completely.
While walking by the railway tracks, we heard the sound of the train’s engine approaching. Everyone walking by the tracks made way for the train to pass through and once the train was gone, we resumed our walk by the tracks again.
There were beautifully painted houses on the way with some artistic sketches drawn on the outside.
There were children playing infront of their houses, on one side while there were some busy shops on the other side of the road, some tourists were riding on horses, while some of the local people were trying to convince some people to ride their horses.
As we reached the main town, we could see a lot of people around us. It was a busy place.
We stopped for a cup of tea on the way and again started walking towards the muddy roads and into the woods. The number of people had already started to decrease and it got more peaceful as we went further into the woods. There was a different kind of calmness out there and I felt so relaxed in the arms of nature.
Once in a while some people crossed us on horses and few people were walking their way through the woods. There are multiple view points in different directions in Matheran and as I have been to this place twice, I went to almost all the points around this place. The roads are not properly built and you might find it difficult to walk during the rainy season as the roads get all muddy and slippery. So it is better to get your shoes on for better grip.
There are proper sign boards all throughout the way, so you won’t get lost easily. You can also find little shops in between, which sell tea, biscuits and some sweet corn. It is definitely better to carry some water with you as you might need to stay hydrated while walking all the way.
We reached a point and from a distance we could see a lot of people loitering around. There was a dam through which water was flowing on one side. Some people were having fun in the water. As we walked further and came near the dam, we could see this beautiful lake called Charlote Lake infront of us. The water looked really deep and the view from there was so serene. On the other side of the lake, we could see the view of the beautiful green mountains with layers of clouds surrounding it.
What a beautiful place, I thought to myself.
We went on further up towards a view point. There were some muddy stairs on the way and we also met some monkeys out there. They walked with us in search of food and they were a little scary.
In Matheran, you need to be very careful of the monkeys. They have the capacity to snatch away your food right from your hands without you realizing it. And there is an abundance of them out here. On reaching the viewpoint, we could see the mountain range quite clearly.
It was one of the most breathtaking view – the grey clouds hovering on top of the mountains, the sound of the waterfalls in the distant and soothing green color of the mountains.
Within few seconds the clouds took over and the mountains were no longer visible. It looked like it was about to rain. So we took out our raincoats and put our phones inside our bags. Even if you don’t have a raincoat, you can always buy these 20 Rs raincoats from anywhere in Matheran. They also provide plastic hats to save your head from the rain. Its a good thing to wear them all throughout while you are in Matheran because it could rain any minute.
A little while later we were back in the woods, trying to find the way to one of the most famous view points called Louisa Point. It was at the far end of Matheran and the walk was a little longer than the rest. We took a break on the way and had some Nimbu Soda (Lemonade) which was totally refreshing. They also made the 2 minutes instant noodles – Maggi (which takes a lot more than 2 minutes to cook) with a lot of vegetables. We were tired after all the walking and also really hungry. The Maggi was one of the best thing ever at that moment.
After filling our stomach we were all pumped up and resumed our walk further into the forest. We reached a beautiful green place after some time and from a distant we could see a very clear view of one of the waterfalls on one side, a lake in the middle and another mountain range on the other side filled with a lot more waterfalls. This place and this view was totally worth it all.
I was awestruck at the beauty infront of my eyes. I sat there staring at the waterfall and listening to its beautiful sound as it made its way towards the lake through the mountains. This place was really peaceful, with a limited number of people and this was the most beautiful place in Matheran according to me. This moment was the best part of the entire trip.
After some time, we made our way towards a small cliff to get a complete view of the same scenery. It had started to drizzle a little, the mountains ahead of us got covered with clouds and little droplets of water started pouring over us. It couldn’t get better than this. One definitely needs to escape from their daily mundane life to a place which can distract them from all the current problems, relieve them from all the worries and make them feel good about life. The place did this for me. Sitting there for a long while, I felt so happy and so relaxed.
It had started to get a little late and we had thought of catching the last train at around 4 PM to the entrance of Matheran. So we got up and made our way through the woods and walked all the way to the Matheran railway station. The rain did not stop completely and it was drizzling once in a while.
On reaching the station, we got in the queue to buy the tickets for the train. There was a huge queue and at one point we even thought of giving up the idea of taking the train. But we really wanted to experience it, so we held our position in the queue. While waiting for our turn, we saw the monkeys in action. There were a lot of them out there and they were trying to snatch food from people.
Almost 20 minutes later, we finally got hold of the tickets and a little later we boarded the train. It was a small train and the speed was very slow. However we enjoyed the view on the way, as the beautiful trees passed us. The people were walking by the tracks and once in a while we even saw the mountain range in the distant. It was a fun journey and as we got down the train and started walking towards the entry point (you may call it exit point now), we felt really happy about the entire day and how beautifully we had spent it amidst the nature.
Matheran definitely is one of the most unique and beautiful places I have been to and I wouldn’t mind taking a 3rd trip sometime again soon.
We got on one of the shared cabs from the Matheran Entry Point and they dropped us back at Neral from where we picked our car and made our way back to Pune. Happy and Content.
The Travel Tales 