MATHERAN

Matheran – literally means forest on the top and lives upto its name. With ever increasing temperatures within the city, it is one of the most popular weekend gateways among nature lovers in Bombay.

Located on the Sahyadri range in the Karjat Tehsil, at an altitude of 800 mts and has now been listed by the Environment Ministry as an eco-sensitive region. Matheran truly is Maharashtra's one of the most beautiful and well maintained hill station. This little hill station was discovered by an Englishman Hugh Mallet in the year 1950. Since then Matheran has well preserved its natural beauty to bedazzle its visitors. No motor vehicles are allowed in Matheran and so the environs are spick and spawn. The landscapes are untouched and pristine. The paths are shady and thickly wooded and stretch to infinite lengths.



My Journey

We visited Matheran during the rainy season, and reached Neral in three hours when it was still sunny. The toy trains in rainy season are not functional so best option to reach is to take a train from Mumbai to Neral and a taxi from Neral to Matheran . Taxi would charge you somewhere around Rs50 per person and if you want to hire it completely it would cost you Rs300. We also had consciously did the hotel booking through Make my trip (most reliable site acc to me  ).




As soon as we got down of the taxi in matheran, a huge bunch of people rushed towards us with their horses and hand pull cart. With no motor vehicle available in matheran the only option we had was using horse or a hand pull cart As it was difficult for me to climb a horse I settled down on a hand pulled cart whereas my friends chose to walk to reach the hotel .Thought looking at the 2 ppl who were pulling the cart and filled with sweat I felt pity but overall the ride was amazing. The mud around the place was all red and it was difficult to identify the color of my shoes which supposedly were white in color. Reaching the market area made me excited with small shops selling footwear, bangles, hats and lot of food stuffs .The main market is around the Matheran railway station and this is the place to do all your shopping for leather goods and Chikki/fudge for which Matheran is famous.

We reached the hotel around 5pm .Being a sunday people had already started moving out of the hotel and we could hardly see anyone. Though having a proper booking from make my trip, the hotel made us really disappointed. The Jacuzzi was a common place for monkeys to drink water and swimming pool looks like a common pond in a village  .we relaxed our body as soon as we got the room keys as the journey left us tired. The hotel was a good 10 minute walk from main market. We were given a room next to swimming pool. After resting for an hour we started towards the market at 6.30pm, it was all dark and we could see glittery roads with family and couple enjoying the most with small shops on road side. Lot of white skin people and being the Eid time lot of Muslim families were seen is great enthusiasm.




We halted at a restaurant with the motive of quenching our thirst with a small peg of Alcohol but unfortunately they dint had a license to provide us one so we satisfied ourselves by having paneer chilli as again my fav chicken starters were seemed to be unavailable in that beautiful valley. We came back to hotel and could hear nice Guajarati songs on the backyard. Asking what the scene is, hotel wala explained us that every night they have dandiya program.



A dinner at the beautiful pool side area with light music and drink what else we had wished in this journey. The night passed with a beautiful feeling.
Next morning at around 10:00 AM we left our place and moved on to visit the various points in Matheran. We didn’t cover all the points, as we had only 2 days to spend, but we walked around as it’s the best way to take in the sights of Matheran.




Once in Matheran you again have a couple of options – go for long walks in any direction and you are bound to visit some ‘point’ or the other or refer to the map that is printed on the reverse of your entrance ticket to visit all the 38 points marked therein. My research revealed that a max of 4points is worth the visit and while visiting them you will visit maybe 20 others by default!



Monkeys are a nuisance here as they are always in search of easy food and can often attack the tourists. They can be typically seen snatching bags and lurking around food joints waiting for right moments. They took my ice cream, nuts and chips and left me empty handed. We spent our evening in shopping, eating bhutta, ice cream and having dinner at the lovely dhaba which gave us homemade food. The evening was stormy and beautiful as it started raining and the beautiful place filled with fog, couples roaming in market area tried getting close to each other, the whole weather became cozy and romantic 



It was early morning again and it was time to head back to Mumbai ... the trees were silent, the paths misty... everything was calm, only the birds twittered...... the forest was beautiful.

While we were walking, a dog started to walk along...it accompanied us for few hours and finally left us. We took a cab till Mumbai with and gave a good bye to this beautiful place .



Tourist Attractions in Matheran

Echo Point - The Echo Point is another key attraction of Matheran. It provides its visitors with a panoramic view of the Shayadri ranges and offers you the enjoyment of echo.

Charlotte Lake - The Charlotte Lake is the only source of water to Matheran. The lake is a must-visit for all the visitors and holiday-makers as it makes a beautiful sight meandering down the hills. The lake lies at a distance of 1 km from the main market.

Louisa Point - Louisa Point is yet another attraction for the tourists. It gives a close and frontal view of the waterfall seen from the King George Point.

King George Point - King Charlotte Point provides you with splendid view of the waterfall that is formed as the Charlotte Lake overflows. One can, as well, get to the mouth of the waterfall and enjoy the scenic beauty and the intoxicating surroundings.


About Matheran

Best time to visit Matheran- October to May

How To Reach Matheran?

By Air - Mumbai, around 100 km from Matheran, is the nearest airport.
By Rail - Neral (21 km) is connected by rail to Mumbai and Pune.
By Road - Neral(21 km) is well connected by road to Mumbai and Pune