Who hasn't heard of Matheran. The hill station is a great location for Moi* any time of the
year. In Monsoon it is divine. It is easily accessible both by rail and road from Mumbai and is a
wonderful week-end get away.
We went there recently, invited by our hosts Tamim and Durri who know Matheran like the back of their hand
and whose penchant for hospitality is well recognised.Rennie, their guest from Calif was amongst the team of five who traveled.
We drove
out of Colaba on a rainless humid morning and when the car air-con refused to
function we had to go in for a change of vehicle causing some delay. Even after
this our going was marred by some heavy traffic congestion which begged the question … “Have we left South
Bombay yet?”
Eventually we
reached Matunga the ideal pit stop for heavy snacking. We gorged on rasa-vadai,
morekuzambu-vadai and rava dosai and strong madras kaapi. Yummy.
We then motored
through Chembur, Creek bridge, Navi Mumbai and the Pune H’way to reach the exit
for the climb to Matheran.
Made a
quick stop for salted soft peanuts with the shells intact, quite a delicacy,
and we were busy opening the shells and eating as we negotiated the bends to get to the top.
 |
| Rennie,Vasu, Tamim and Durri at Dasturi |
Dasturi…the finish line; all
vehicular traffic have to halt here; unless you are a...Well!that's another story.We got some coolies to carry our
luggage and started our walk up to Saifee Lodge,built 1910.We had hoped to be drenched
with rain, but that was not to be. We trudged up to the Lodge in an hour
under fairly cool conditions, I with some difficulty while the others had
overtaken me but waited patiently. Oh! I must confess that I stopped hither and thither for capturing Nature around me, some of which is presented here.
I must submit that I am not a great believer in the “Joy of walking”; I abhor walking especially on
a hilly terrain. There are varying degrees of inclined planes that takes the
breath out of me. I for one would wish that that the going was always down an
incline.
 |
| Mist is lovely to behold |
Matheran
was green and misty…so it must have rained here before our visit. Else it would have been
brown. It has a phenomenal tree cover making days look almost like dusk. Every
now and then it is shrouded in mist which gives it an ethereal form.
You hear the clip-clop of the horses carrying visitors to various “points” with the horse keeper shouting "side". You have to decide on the side to move to in a split second! There are manual-rickshaws too.
 |
| Great Tree Cover! |
You hear the clip-clop of the horses carrying visitors to various “points” with the horse keeper shouting "side". You have to decide on the side to move to in a split second! There are manual-rickshaws too.
And then there
are monkeys. The moment they see or sense food they descend on the unsuspecting,
grabbing hold of the parcel/packet/wrapper leaving one
to protest and grimace in vain without any chance of retrieval. It is believed that
boisterous visitors resort to dunking peanuts in alcohol and allow the monkeys
to feed on them to enjoy a “monkey dance” later.Ha!Ha!
 |
| Vintage Saifee Lodge,Our Abode |
 |
| Fantastic Setting! |
We spent
two and a half wonderful days just lazing in the Lodge…Reading, Drinking,
Eating, Talking
and Sleeping, and …listening to… the "whistling bird"or technically the Malabar whistling thrush.
This bird is a renowned whistler having a melodious,almost human-like,whistling call.The bird's sweet whistling is a pleasure to listen to and I would whistle along with it.It was fun.I wish I could have seen it.So I looked up Wiki and imported this.
 |
| The Whistler |
We heard the
Rooster crowing his heart out in the mornings and the castanet-like sound from
the frogs or crickets in the evenings. It was Nature at its best. And if we
heard a rustle in the trees or thump-thump from the roof above……it was time to remove all food from the Porch lest a monkey or two disturb our peaceful Moi*
* Moi is a word
that was coined by my elder sibling more than 50 years ago at our home in Calcutta.It signifies a state of
utter peaceful rest.
 |
| Smiles say it all |
 |
| Akourie for Breakfast |
The spread
of food on the table, for breakfast, lunch and dinner was incredible, our host
leaving no stone unturned to satisfy our palate. Succulent meat, crisp
potatoes, hot phulkas, vegetables, pulao and theplas vied with special Bhori
dishes and were followed by lemon /chocolate cakes, chikkis and chocolates.
We were feted like Kings.Not withstanding all that,some amongst us grabbed hot and fresh Batata vadas at the local market.
 |
| Lion's head at Louisa point |
The calories were burnt in the mornings when we were taken on long, very long
treks after breakfast.Louisa point,Sunset point and Alexandra point were some before I decided to call myself off ! But it was worth the effort and the views were outstanding.
Nary a drop of rain fell in those three days to make our cup of Joy overflow.
Nevertheless,it was a wonderful get-away and a great effort by the hosts to make it successful.
Nary a drop of rain fell in those three days to make our cup of Joy overflow.
Nevertheless,it was a wonderful get-away and a great effort by the hosts to make it successful.
