Friday, 15th Jan 2010
This was the day. The Matheran trip was finally happening, although not all was going well. We were going to Matheran minus sister and aunt. Hence as expected, i was depressed. We woke up early in the morning since we had to take the 8am local from Kurla to Neral. However, we were too early and arrived at the Kurla station at 7.15 itself. So, we caught the immediate local to Ambernath and decided to wait there. This leg of the journey was pretty good since it being morning, we had the entire compartment to ourselves. However, there was trouble ahead from Ambernath to Neral. This was bad. Very bad. We somehow managed to jam into an already overflowing compartment, with 3 pieces of luggage in hand. After that, there was the half hour wait at the neral station.
The TRIP
The toy train we took from Neral to Matheran, was well… just that, a TOY!! Thats because it was pretty small and light. (http://twitpic.com/y54y3)
The journey however, was amazing. All because of the breath-taking view… (http://twitpic.com/z1aq0)
Now, enter Matheran… (http://twitpic.com/z19sa)
The 2 and a half days that we spent there were simply amazing. Although at several points of time, we all missed the little angel.
On day 1, we travelled on foot and checked out 6 points out of the 18 that Matheran has to offer. One of these was the Sunset point. (http://twitpic.com/z1b0a)
On day 2, in the morning we went to Charlotte Lake and Lords Point, on foot. After lunch at the hotel, we started off on a 7 point journey riding on a horse. Believe it or not, the horses there have official names. Mine was named “Jackson”. (http://twitpic.com/z1bfx)
After these tiring 2 days, we spent the Sunday just lounging around in the hotel, enjoying its facilities. From thereon, we started towards the station at 1230. The train back to Mumbai was at 1340.
The trip was a refreshing one, although it could’ve been much better with sister around…
At the end, i’d sure like to mention the hotel where we stayed…
Gujarat Bhavan Hotel (www.gujaratbhavan.net)
Hotel rating: 3.5/5 (the minus 1.5 is only due to its distance from the station)
Facilities Available: Swimming Pool(also for kids), Swings, Table Tennis, Carrom, Special Saturday Night Programs, and much more…
PEACE!
