Solo Backpacker - 3 #Matheran

“The trail ahead was fully covered with fog and mist. It was surrounded by forest area and I couldn’t see anyone behind or ahead of me. The langurs were staring at me as if I am going to kidnap them. I was shivering and I could feel the Goosebumps in my body”

It became an annual ritual for me to go for a solo trip to any place, as of now in India. There was the only place, which was coming in my mind i.e. Matheran. Matheran is famous for its breath-taking views and mainly the place is completely free from automobiles. The bio-diversity is well preserved. So, I decided to visit Matheran and some surrounding places. I know it been 2 years since I visited there, but the memories are still fresh. I researched a bit about the place, travelling and other kinds of stuff. Usually, I would book only for my onward and return journey. Hotel booking and other stuff, I would look once I go into the place (I almost do a budget trip😉). It was the start of the monsoon and a perfect gateway to explore these places.

After taking all the necessary things in my backpack, I started my journey from Mysuru to Bengaluru and from there I took a train to Pune. It was one night journey and I reached Pune in the following evening. From Pune, I took a local train to reach Matheran city. I reached almost late at night and started to search for a few budget hotels. Sadly, I couldn’t find any. But I had noted about a Dharmashala in my dairy. So, I went in search of that. Luckily, it was near and was able to find it. Initially, when I asked for the room, they refused to give. But after some time, I was able to convince them and told them it would difficult to search for a hotel at this time. They agreed and gave me a room which is kind of a storehouse. I was scared a bit seeing the room condition, but I thought, Ok, Just one night. Somehow I would able to adjust. While I was sleeping, I could sense a few rats passing near my legs. But somehow I survived that night. Sorry, I forgot to mention, one of the main attraction of the Matheran is the Toy train which runs from the place called Neral which is near to the city, to Matheran Hilltop. From there we can explore the viewpoints.

The Foggy Railway Tracks

Next day morning with much excitement, I took a local train to reach Neral. To my shock when I enquired about the toy train timings, the railway personnel told that the train has been cancelled due to the massive rainfalls. I was disheartened. Since I had no other option, I took a shared taxi to reach the hilltop.  It was around 45mins of the journey. Once I reached the top, my adventure begins. Initial few kilometres were completely commercialized with the hotels and fancy shops. Usually, the tourist who would come will take a horse ride to see some main viewpoints. But I had a complete day to explore and the weather was so pleasant and kind. So, I decided to walk alone with my camera as a companion. The initial viewpoints were good and each of the viewpoints was having some kind of peculiarity. For a few places, we need to trek a good amount of distance and for few, we need to climb the iron rails carefully. But I was enjoying all these adventures and clicking the pics all along. While I was enjoying the place, I used to interact with a few tourists who came and they were surprised that I came alone till here. I remember in one instance, where one of the tourists offered me some snacks and asked my where-about and we had a good conversation. This made me feel good.

The Road not taken | Scary Roads ahead

By noon, I had completed 6-7 viewpoints like Panorama, Monkey, Heart viewpoints etc. As I was going towards another one, I entered a thick forest area and by then it was around 1-1.30 PM I guess, the sky was getting darker and the whole area started to cover with fog/mist. The visibility was only a few meters. I couldn’t see anyone behind or ahead of me. The langurs were in a huddle and were staring at me. I didn’t have an idea of what road lies ahead. I felt scared and started to walk back. Within a few hundred meters, I could see a couple of people coming in the same way. I was more than happy seeing them and slowly I followed them acting as nothing happened to me ;). After some distance, they parted away and I reached one more point. I guess its Gurbut point. It started to drizzle, so I thought to stay back and rest while experimenting a few shots using the camera. Once the drizzle stopped, I decided to go to the final viewpoint i.e. Sunset or Porcupine point. I reached there early to have the best seat to see the sunset and to take some amazing pics. But again due to bad weather and cloudy conditions, I couldn’t gaze the view and decided to go back to the start point before it’s too dark. I returned to the taxi point using the railway track as the navigation. Luckily, I found the last share taxi and reached Neral and from there to Matheran. When I reached the city, it was raining heavily, with the help of a local autoricksaw guy, I got a room in the hotel since I decided not to go to that dharma shala thinking what I had experienced in the previous night. I had a nice peaceful sleep thinking about the beautiful place which I had visited in the morning. 

The Majestic Mountain Ranges

Next day morning, I had planned to visit Karla caves and Ekvira temple. The temple is next to the caves. The place is one hour journey from Matheran and I took a local bus to reach there. To reach the caves and temple, we need to climb for around 30mins and the elevation is relatively easy. One need to purchase tickets to see the caves. It’s an ancient Buddhist rock-cut cave and ASI protected Site. It was maintained well. What I had liked, is the architecture, sculptures and the patterns of the hall called Chaitya. After seeing the cave I went to visit the temple but it was a weekend and had a huge rush to see. So I just prayed from outside and climbed down to the base. Once I reached down, I couldn’t see any private buses to go back. I thought to wait for some more time and check. But I couldn’t see any buses or rickshaw. I decided to go by walk to the main road which is around 2-3 km. As I was walking, I was hungry and was searching for a hotel. For my goodness, I found a Udupi hotel. I ordered some food and I got to know the hotel owner was from Karnataka. I started to have a conversation in Kannada with him and asked his experience living here and other few things. I had tweeted the same. Link Below 👇
(https://twitter.com/mundak_hogona/status/1008301287975342080?s=03).

The Grand Hall inside the Caves

Patterns Everywhere..!!!

Once I had my food, the owner helped to get an auto to reach Lonavala which is around 10kms. I reached Lonavala around 03.30 PM. I had a few places in my mind to visit in Lonavala. But due to persistent rains, I decided to explore the city limits and besides my return journey was on the same night. I went to a dam and a park which was nearby. By then, the sky had opened too much. So I decided to go to the railway station. I did a hitchhiking to reach there (May God Bless Him😀). Not to forget, Lonavala is famous for Chikkis😋, which I like so much. I bought a few packs of that from an authentic shop. Later I boarded the train and reached Bengaluru and from there to Mysuru🚉.

Lonavala Railway Station

This trip gave me a lot of memories as well as life lessons including the value of self-belief. Nature was at its best and amazed me each time when I visited new places. Finally, I can tick the Journey to Matheran in my Wish-list and I wish many more of these journeys would come in the future😇.

Ciao🌝😃🙂