Matheran Magic

Matheran is our favorite nearby destination which we have been visiting regularly from July to February each year since 2007. It is a small mountain plateau of the Western Ghats range, 100km south east of Mumbai.

Matheran was developed as a hill station by the British after its so-called “discovery” circa 1850 by the then Collector Sir Hugh Poyntz Mallet. Needless to say, the local Adivasi tribals have been living here from time immemorial!

At an altitude of 700m AMSL, this hill station does not claim to be “Himalayan” by any stretch of the imagination; nonetheless with the total ban on motor vehicles since its notification as an eco sensitive zone in 2003, Matheran exudes its own unique charm.

The Bollywood superhit Jodha Akbar with Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai was shot in the backdrop of Matheran. The sets still remain at the ND Studios at the foothills.

We do mostly day trips on traffic free Sundays, when the journey from Mumbai is a mere hour and a half, enabling us to enjoy a decent hike through our favourite patch of forest and be back home by 5pm. Once in a while, we stay there for a few days and venture further afield. On one of these occasions, we met a family from Kolkata, also staying in our hotel. They had travelled all that distance, especially to visit Matheran. I wondered why when they had the high Himalayas so much closer to home. The Bengali lady said that may be so, but Matheran is something special!

Matheran’s well preserved forest cover hosts several species of Western Ghats endemic flora.

The ban on vehicles does not imply that Matheran is pollution free as is obvious from the B & L tourist trail – Bisleri & Lays. The locals do not lag behind, every trail leading to their villages is marked by G & G – Gluco and Gutkha. The horses contribute with abundant droppings, though it could be argued that this organic manure contributes to the ‘fertility’ of the forest. Horses also leave a haze of red mud particulate matter permanently suspended in the air during tourist season along the main bridle paths. Despite all this, Matheran is lovely.

A scenic mountain road winds from Neral upto Dasturi Naka, where visitors may park their cars. Share taxis and public mini buses also ply frequently from Neral and Karjat to Dasturi. From Dasturi, one may walk, engage a horse or a hand pulled rickshaw to go further. Porters both male and female, are available at Dasturi to help with luggage. Most hotels are located around the Matheran Station, which is a 3km uphill climb from Dasturi. Many visitors prefer the 2 hour scenic train ride between Neral and Matheran on the Matheran Light Railway’s Toy Train. Trekkers can hike up to Matheran through a series of cliff hugging pathways, or more easily along the winding ghat road. During the monsoons, this is delightful with a multitude of waterfalls and wildflowers to enjoy along the way.

Horses and hikers walking up the mountain road from Neral to Dasturi

As with most hill stations, sightseeing at Matheran revolves around various Points from where assorted views unfold of mountains, sunset, sunrise and everything in between. The mandatory lake, the Charlotte Lake, is another must on the visitors circuit. In the monsoons, an impressive waterfall develops from the overflow. Another smaller lake is Simpsons Lake or Ghoda Talao as it is locally known – because the ghodawallas wash their horses there!

The monsoons are magical, misty and refreshingly cool. Heavy downpours every afternoon are the norm. Umbrellas are pretty useless, it is better to buy the standard local raingear – a large plastic bag with cutouts for head and arms as a raincoat and a wide brimmed plastic hat. Both are very cheap and very effective!

By mid August, thousands of cute teeny little frogs suddenly emerge – on the pathways, in the forests, in the grasslands, in your hotel room, everywhere!

Monkeys abound at every nook and corner. Most will boldly seize every opportunity to deprive unsuspecting tourists of their eatables. You will not need an alarm clock in Matheran for you will surely be woken up by monkeys sliding down the sloping roof of your hotel room at the crack of dawn. Whenever we stay overnight, we look forward to this. They will then wait outside your door pretending to be cute, in the hope that you may offer them some breakfast. If you do not, they will help themselves anyway. We usually carry dual purpose bamboo sticks with us, to climb the uphill paths and to keep rascal monkeys at bay! Having said that, who can resist the beguiling charms of a darling baby monkey?

Langurs and Giant Squirrels are often seen in the forest. It is amazing how shy the forest monkeys are compared to their oversmart tourist area cousins. Giant Squirrels are arboreal, emitting their distinctive clickety clack sound. The Matheran variety – Ratufa indica Elphinstonii – has a creamy white tail, distinguishing it from the orange tailed Malabar squirrel. They are indeed very cute. On a rare occasion, a deer or two may also pass by. In all our trips, we have seen a barking deer there just once. Pretty hill birds are aplenty though easier heard than seen through the dense foliage. Butterflies are abundant. India’s second largest butterfly the impressive Blue Mormon, and the Red Helen are common sights.

Walks through the forest paths to the various points are most rewarding from end August onward when wildflowers of every hue paint the green landscape along with their attendant butterflies, bees and beetles.

From mid October, the grasses slowly change from green to gold to a glorious russet red. In the year 2008, the purple karvy flowers [Strobilanthus callosus] came into their once in 7 years mass bloom, an amazing sight which we were privileged to enjoy on repeated visits. As there are several different stretches of Karvy shrubs all over Matheran, one is sure to see at least some of these flowers in bloom every year in the month of September.

Walking is the best way to enjoy Matheran. A particularly enjoyable walk in the monsoons when the train does not run, is along the winding railway track. The views from the track at the cliff hugging loop below Panorama Point, are spectacular.

Those less inclined to walk, can go on horseback on “Point to Point Tours” which the local Ghodawallas offer at negotiable rates. Some of the points are Sunset Point, Echo Point, Monkey Point, Big Chowk Point, One Tree Hill, Luisa Point, Garbut Point, Panorama Point and so forth.

Curiously, there is not a single female horse in Matheran. For some obscure reasons, the Matheran Ghodawalla’s Association allow only male horses to ply. By and large the horses here are pathetic, hapless creatures. The ban on motor vehicles forces pack animals to trudge the uphill rubble strewn path from Dasturi to the Matheran market, several times a day, heavily overloaded with goods. One cannot help but feel very sorry for these abused beasts. There ought to be at least one daily freight service by rail.

March sees the locally abundant Anjani trees [Memecylon umbellatum] burst into bloom with clusters of purple flower growing in cauliflory habit from the branches itself. Truly, the Pride of Matheran.

No one should leave Matheran without buying the local Chikki sweets available in several varieties, the most popular being the old fashioned crushed groundnut. Traditionally, chikki was made with jaggery and nuts, nowadays due to the preference for everything crispy, glucose replaces the jaggery. Forest Honey collected by the local Adivasi tribals, is also a good buy. Matheran is also known for its hand crafted leather footwear, available in the shops in the main market. All types of popular cuisines are on offer in and around the market area. Diwadkars opposite the railway station, offers a scrumptious Maharashtrian thali in both veg and non veg.

In holiday season, the market area and the main path leading there from Dasturi, get very crowded. However there are plenty of places away from the main Points where you can enjoy Matheran all to yourself. Matheran is very safe even for the single traveler. The local adivasis are mostly all engaged in the tourism industry and are a helpful and friendly lot.

Travel:

By road from Mumbai via Expressway to Shedung, then NH4 to Chowk Phata, or all the way on NH4 to Chowk Phata, then left turn passing ND Studio of Jodha Akbar fame, to Neral from where a climbing ghat road goes upto Dasturi.

By local train from Mumbai to Neral on the Karjat line. Mountain train from Neral to Matheran station.

The toy train does not ply in the monsoons due to high incidence of landslides.

Share Taxi, private taxi or ST bus available from Neral or Karjat to Dasturi.

Hotels available at all budgets, with substantial discounts for week days and off season.

Weather: Pleasant to cool year round. Blankets required at night though Matheran is not cold per se. Exceedingly damp during the monsoons. Afternoons can be uncomfortably warm in open clearings in summer.

Tips: Thick soled footwear is a must to walk comfortably on rubbly bridle paths. As with the rest of Maharashtra excepting Mumbai, Matheran is also prone to prolongued load shedding. A torch or rechargeable lantern comes in handy.

Sunrise over Irshalgad enroute to Matheran

Matheran Toy Train coming through the forest

Peb Fort and view towards Kalyan