OK, first things first, this is about a weekend trip I did long long ago (September 2006). I guess I have some time to kill today so I'll blog about that trip. My close friend Anirudh was about to head to Australia to work, and so we decided the two of us should meet up once before he left. Since he was in Jaipur and I was in Hyderabad, I thought I'll pick something in the middle, and Matheran (none of us had heard about it then) happened.
A view of the hills - photograph (most probably) by Anirudh
Matheran is a popular tourist resort not too far from Mumbai. The most attractive part is that it is a "pedestrian hill station", which means except emergency vehicles, no vehicles are allowed there. So both of us reached Mumbai from our respective cities, got together and started towards Matheran.
Dew drops - photographed by me using Anirudh's awesome telephoto lens (don't remember which, I don't know much about Canon gear)
If you have visited some of the popular places in Western Ghats you would know how beautiful they look post monsoons. It was the same for Matheran. Anirudh and I both love to walk a lot, so we walked a lot. A lot. No horses or rickshaws for us, we just walked. (The hundred year old chuk-chuk train ride the ideal way to reach the top, but it doesn't run during monsoons so we walked).
We sat on one side of the hill and saw the sun set behind clouds and then into the Arabian sea visible far far away. Again photograph most likely by Anirudh (I kept borrowing his camera because it was a digital SLR with an awesome telephoto lens :) hence the scope for confusion).
Good thing we got to spend Friday there, because on Saturday and Sunday there's a mad rush. There are human beings everywhere, and the charm of being secluded in beautiful hills without being overrun by tourists is lost completely.
Cute native girl
Why the blog more than two years later? Well it was triggered by the sight of some permanent red stains of that soil on my jeans :) . If you go to Matheran your shoes and jeans/trousers will get permanent red coloration from the soil there. So be prepared. What else to be prepared for? Monkeys. I got to witness a brave primate trying to get away with Anirudh's precious bag (with the camera and lens) while Anirudh held on to the other end! Eventually a foreigner (I think she was a doctor) scared the monkey away with her cane. It was hilarious and scary at the same time. I mean, if the monkey had gotten away with the bag, it would have been really tragic.
Red soil, bags and a photographer inches away from the edge.
To conclude, Matheran is highly recommended for people who like to call themselves "nature lovers". As I mentioned before, go for weekdays rather than weekend. And carry a stick for scaring monkeys if you can :) .
P.S. I think I've not used so many smileys in a blog before!
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2 comments:
Matherna is a lovely place. I had been there when i was in pune on deputation. We didn't knew that we need a torch if we have to come back after sunset. We(few friends from TCS) lost our way in the forest and wandered for more than 1hour and it was very dark. Luckily some foreigner who is a frequent visitor there saw us and helped us out with his torch. On the way he was telling stories of some wild animals that are frequent visitors to his residence...it was scary. I absolutely loved this place. BTW loved the pictures posted in the blog.
Yeah I believe the "wild animal" scare is right. Glad you liked the photographs. :)
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