matheran

Cute monkey

Matheran is a hill station quite close to Mumbai. It's so easy to get there, just take a train to Neral then a cab to Dastoori point then a hike up into Matheran. The best thing bout dis place is that no vehicles are allowed inside & come on Matheran is anyday better than Mahabaleshwar. The latter's so commercialised. And the other equally good thing bout Matheran is its horses. Believe me, you'll fall in love wit dem. Once u go to the stables, u'll feel like goin there everyday- in the morning to greet them from their slumber & in the night to greet them g'nite. ( and also watch the fuss the caretakers make to get the horses to pee )
It's also great to walk to all the points in Matheran. One of the famous ones is Louisa'a pt. See, it all started when the British were ruling India. There was this Brit major who used to stay out here with his daughter Louisa. It's said that Louisa fell in love with a local stable boy & when her dad got to know of this he arranged for someone to bump him off. and so the story goes that heartbroken Louisa rode her horse off a cliff & killed herself. And this cliff from where she jumped to her death is Louisa's pt. You can even see her abandoned rundown bungalow ( now a haven for monkeys ) nearby. Oh yeah, & some people claim to have seen Louisa at her point & bungalow during some nights at 3 am. So best of luck for spotting her ghost!
Anyways listed below are all the places to hike up to in Matheran-
Heart pt
Monkey pt
Porcupine or Sunset pt
Louisa pt
Echo pt
King George pt
Lake Charlotte
One Tree Hill
Chowk pt
lil Chowk pt
Rambaug pt
Alexander pt
Garbut pt
Mt Berry
Panaroma pt or Sunrise pt
Malang pt
Lord's pt
Honeymoon Hill
Paymaster's park
Artist pt
Khandala pt
panthers' caves

Also check out the Olympia Race Course
BTW there's an entry fee of Rs.25 before u step inside matheran & Matheran has red mud.


PS> Imagine this.....on a pleasant evening, cantering up to your favorite point on your favorite horse, feeling the cool breeze whip across your forehead & smelling the crisp forest air; and then enjoying a quiet sunset there with a bottle of light rum & just the perfect companion for you....this is what Matheran signifies to me <3>