I took an early train at 7:15 a.m. from Ghatkopar going to Neral. This took 1hr 15 mins. After which i had a choice of either going to matheran in a narrow gauge train which runs all the way up to matheran bazaar or in a taxi that takes 50 rupees for 1 ride and and stops 2 km from the bazaar or main matheran city.
I decided to take the taxi owing to the tight schedule which i had to maintain. Matheran is an eco-sensitive region. 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. From where the taxi left me , i had a option either to walk all the way to matheran city or take a horse ride all the way to the bazaar at a cost of 200 bucks. The ride on the horse was one of the most amazing one owing to the fact that it was my first one. It took 30 mins to reach the bazaar. The bazaar was very different from what we normally see. Plastics are strictly banned in matheran. Everywhere you turn you can see horses. The place is as close as you can get to mother nature. However what amazed me more was the fact that the place still had all modern amenities from swimming pools to billiard boards. I took my lunch after which i started to look for places i coulld go to look. 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. Well time did not permit me to go for all the 38 points , however i hired another horse which would take me to 12 such look out points. The sight seeing was to start at 3:30 and it was 1 then, so i decided to look around the market. Most shops there were of shoes,gifts,accessories,clothes. i decided on buying a pair of slippers for myself. There are an incredible number of hotels and resorts in matheran ranging from simple ones to 3-stars. The games that you normally find in melas were also there. I tried a hand at shooting balloons too which took me to my childhood days.
The few look out points which i remeber are -
Loisia point -
honeymoon point -
echo point -
lords point -
charlotte lake -
cecil point. The entire way runs through a dense jungle where trekking is not allowed after 7 p.m. My horse often scared me when it trotting its way through the uneven geography of that area.
The sunset from the louisa point was the most amazing one. After sunset we came back to the bazzar., after which i decided to leave for mumbai. I again took a horse ride back to the taxi point, after which i came back to neral in a taxi and then after a 1 hr wait at neral station got a train back to ghatkopar. The the trip was a short one , it felt real good to be in the heart of nature still so much in its natural form without much interference from modern human nature. All in all it was a good experience.
