Off the Rails in Matheran

Hi All,

I'm gonna jump ahead to my excursion to Matheran. Matheran is about 45 miles east of Mumbai (Bombay, to you geographically challenged folks). In the old days before air conditioning, the Brits sought out nice sites on top of the taller mountains of India upon which to build their bungalows in order to escape the searing heat of the plains. They called them "hill stations". Matheran is one such place. Eventually, some of the more popular hill stations built narrow gauge railroads to make the climb. They called these "toy trains". The Matheran toy train was my main interest in visiting there.

Well, my driver was way late picking me up and I had to be at the train station at 9:00 or I'd miss the toy train, so you could imagine my angst when 9:00 rolled around and we were still a half hour away from the station. I was wondering what the penalty was for murder here in India and calculating whether or not I could get away with it, when we pulled into the train station. As it turns out, last year's monsoon caused a couple landslides which took parts of the railroad down the mountain. Bummer. At least the driver got a reprieve.

So, we drove to the parking lot that sits about two miles from the town and he let me off there. After paying my 25 rupee "capitation tax", I was bombarded with offers for horseback rides and rickshaw rides to the top of the hill. Turns out that no automobiles or bicycles are permitted on the hill! I'm still wondering what the hell possesed me to strap on my backpack and go it by foot. My foot, at that! About a mile into this Everest-like endevour, I was really thinking those rickshaws looked kinda fine. Funny thing though, I noticed that the higher I climbed, the cooler and shadier it got. I stuck it out and eventually made it to my destination- Lord's Central Hotel. I got checked in, had lunch, washed it down with one of those huge bottles of beer the Indians are so fond of, and promptly passed out for an hour or so.

After I got up, I took another walk. (Yes, folks, this is me talking about walking!!) I went out and explored the town and found it to be the most charming little 'berg so far encountered in this sub-continent. I love it. Its like the old west on curry. The streets are all dirt (red dirt) and everyone is tooling around on horseback. True, there were no monkeys in Deadwood. More's the pity for Deadwood.

Matheran is on top of a 2400' high hilltop and its kind of long and narrow. Its covered with what they call a jungle, but it looks like a forest to me. Its quiet and cool and clean. Lotts of birds singing. India is not a clean place. There's tons of trash everywhere I've been, but not up here. Clean as a whistle. There's around 4500 people living here full time plus probably more tourists than that at any one time during season.

Since the RR washed out, everything has to be packed in my horse or cart. Oddly, they use people, not horses to pull the carts. I saw around ten guys fighting a cart laden with dozens of cartons of water bottles up the hill. Must have weighed thousands of pounds. They look like wirey, skinny people, but I wouldn't want to play tug-of-war with them! My God, they have to be stronger than weight lifters, pound for pound! BTW, while I was staggering up the hill with a 30 pound pack on my back, little OLD ladies with 4 or 5 suitcases balanced on their heads were blowing my doors off. I couldn't help notice the good-natured little grins on their faces when they blazed past me. At least they didn't offer to help me.

Along the main thoroughfare in town is a wonderful little bazzar where you can get all sorts of little yummy things and lots of hand made things. Especially shoes. The local folks are so friendly- you can't go 25' without someone greeting you with the customary 'allo. I like to surprise them with a 'namaskar' reply, which really cracks them up. And they love to have their pictures taken- especially when you show them the picture you just took. They laugh at their image and then everyone else wants their picture taken. Before you know it, there's a crowd of laughing smiling people around you. It's really heart-warming.

Mrs. Lord, my hostess is a very charming and hospitable lady of mature years. She and her staff will do anything they can for the comfort of their guests. The hotel itself is a little run-down at the heels, but full of the sort of charm you won't find at some fancy place. Just the kind of place I love. The grounds are jammed full of beautiful plants and kept in perfect order. There is one older fella who's job, as far as I can tell, is to keep the monkeys at bay. They are all over the place, but they don't belong where the guests are, as they can be aggressive at times.

Mrs. Lord told me delightful stories about life in Matheran. Makes me want to move there. She also told me what the monsoons are like and that they're something to experience! This last one brought a record 36" of rain in one day! A little girl she knows told her that God must have fallen asleep with the tap left on.

Next day, I lost my head again and decided to take another walk. I went out to Echo Point. Lame echo, but beautiful views! On the way, I met several troops of monkeys who graciously allowed me to pass. From there I decided to take the long way back. Longer than I expected, too, 'cause I missed a turn in the path and went around twice before I realized I was going in circles. Doh! I just love it when I do stupid things like that. 2 1/2 hours I walked- all uphill it seemed like. I started getting real nervous after a while because it was getting toward lunchtime and I didn't want to miss one of Mrs. Lord's four-course gourmet meals. Rest easy, Dear Reader, I made it in time.

After lunch, I took a little snooze (don't nag me, Jamie) and packed my bags for the trip down the mountain. I chose to go by rickshaw and give my achin' dogs a break. Talk about feeling a little conspicuous, but what the hey- you only live once (at a time).

So, even though I didn't get to ride the toy train, I did discover my most favorite place in India. So far, that is. Just goes to show ya, there's a reason for everything.