After planning for almost four months we decided to go to
We caught Udyan Express from
Till these two arrived, Sneha, Suhas and I discussed about other travels and travel plans. In the train I made myself comfortable by putting slippers, using the dirty train toilet and locking the baggage with chain to a hinge. I was boasting about my chain lock system security just to realize the next day morning that the hinge was broken. We slept that night in the fear of “Bunty and Bubbly” who were traveling with us, they looked weird and we felt that they were thieves.
The next day in the train we had the usual tea, lousy train food, and fake mineral water. The best part about the journey was the eunuchs torturing Suhas and Sharath by touching them and asking them for money. The two guys were so scared that they covered their private parts with luggage and gave around 40-50 rupees to the eunuchs throughout the journey. I still remember the way Sharath would make a face and give away 10 rupees each time the eunuchs approached him.
We reached Lonavala after extending our ticket from Pune. The station was filthy. We took two autos to reach the MTDC resort in Karla which was clean and decent. After the usual food and drinks we all slept.
The day two of our trip began early. We decided that a fine would be imparted on people who delayed and surprisingly all of us were on time. The fear of loosing money seemed to have worked and no one was ever late in the trip again. Walking across the early morning mist covered river and grass we reached a filthy shop to have “Vada Pavs” for breakfast. The taste of the dish made us forget the filth so we packed some for the trek along with the tasty chilly pickle and not to mention the “Lonavala Chikki” packets. I wanted to tell Sneha not to buy the “Chikki” packets from this shop but she did not listen and blasted me just to realize later that she had wasted money on stale “Chikki” packets.
We continued our walk via “Mallvali” over the Pune-Mumbai express way on an over bridge. The express way had cars zipping past at speeds of more that 100 kmph and it felt as though we were in a foreign country. We trekked up the “Lohagad” fort by taking a diversion from the usual route and climbed a steep hill and saw a deep gorge. Along the way we had “Nimbu Paani”, ate energy bars and spoke in “Shivajinagar Urdu Baa”. The view from the fort was beautiful and we clicked lots of snaps. On our way down we called and wished Siri on her birthday.
After reaching Karla we moved to Lonavala and ate like pigs. We ordered more than 10 butter milk glasses to keep ourselves cool as the trek was tough under the surprisingly hot winter sun. Suhas and I spent about an hour planning the travel to Matheran after getting a hundred different advices from one single Sardarji who didn’t want us to take a taxi for reasons known only to him. . In the meanwhile, KC bought around 20 “Chikkis” packets which all of us wanted to secretly throw because we already had excess luggage.
Finally, we took a taxi to Matheran for 1500 instead of 1200 rupees. We were ‘Penny wise Pound foolish” as we earlier discarded a taxi for 1200 rupees thinking we would get a better deal. The drive was comfortable and the experience on the Mumbai-Pune express way is one of my favorite memories during the trip.
From the foothill of Matheran the Taxi union makes sure that you travel by their vehicle and we could not avoid that. Matheran is a very commercial place which smells of horse shit. The MTDC rooms were in a dilapidated state and one room had unclean toilet. The girls naturally took the better room by pushing the boys to use the dirty toilets. The first night at Matheran was a shock for all of us with the monkeys jumping, the gloomy rooms, dirty conditions, etc. We were dead tired after the trek and the travel to Matheran, so we felt more miserable about the rooms. Sneha had a muscle pull and KC’s body ached but the girls & Sharath in his bright yellow jersey (Shining Sun) did a remarkable job by trekking/walking around 22 kms in a day without major hassles. We ate in the MTDC stinky restaurant and slept very well. Our spirits (not to mention the Spirit without Sprite) were back the next day.
On Day three Matheran looked good. We were accustomed to the rooms and horse shit smell. It was KC’s turn to dress this time, she wore a whitey white (The dress had a belt and looked good for a Hindi song around trees) dress amidst muddy horse shit filled path which took us to the market. Her dress was ruined. In the market we bought small items, tried our luck at throwing ping pong balls to win a prize and shooting balloons with an air gun. Sharath wanted to buy an air gun but kept quiet after hearing the price. We ate Gujrati food and took a toy train ride towards the “Panoramic view” spot.
The spot was a good 30 minute walk into the jungle covered with trees. Luckily the place was not crowded and the view from the spot was spectacular. Suhas missed his girlfriend and was reminded of her every time he would see a good location for a snap. Sneha and I took this opportunity to behave like married couples and took snaps. By the time we started returning from the spot it was getting darker and darker and we stared walking faster and faster. I took this chance to fantasize about me being in Kargil war with a stick which represented a sword. The walk back was spooky but we wanted to take some snaps of the path covered with trees. Suhas, the camera expert struggled with the camera but could not take a snap in the dark. Later, when we reached civilization he shouted out loud and cursed himself for not opening the lens cover earlier. KC and Sneha whacked Suhas and he accepted the punishment like a man. Matheran was not so bad after all. Once again we ate, drank and slept. We ate 420 Pan. I got a kick out of it but the others seemed unaffected. KC suggested that we get her 840 Pan instead but the next day she learnt a bitter lesson.
It was day four, Sharath had to part ways with us and get back to work. The morning was exciting as the monkey tried snatching away our food. I fought bravely with the same sword from the previous evening and saved our luggage. Heart in heart we all hoped that the monkeys would take away KC’s “Chikki” packets. After smelling the horse shit place for one last time we bid adieu to the place and reached Bandhardhara. The route was an experience of a lifetime for all of us. We took a cab (Fiat) from Matheran to Neral and on our way KC learnt her bitter lesson by vomiting near the litter station. From Neral Sharath took a train to Pune and we took a train to Kalyan and then to Kasara. We got a dose of Mumbai Local trains. These trains were jam packed and we didn’t have place for our legs. We had baggage and KC’s “Chikkis” just to add to the fun. I was stuck near the train door with one bag on my back and one on my stomach. At every station I had to get out and get in. Eventually, I pushed myself into a safe zone. Suhas however was not so lucky he got stuck at the wrong place – between a Muslim lady’s legs. She was wearing a synthetic burkha and the dress material rubbed against his bare legs as he was wearing shorts. All of us were over dressed and looked like hippies.
Once the train crossed the suburban areas the crowd lessened and we got a chance to eat Khakras and Dhoklas which we bought from Kalyan. In the train we saw a man with the whole world in his mouth (Like Lord Krishna’s mouth). His mouth was full of pan and was shining in red.
From Kasara we took an express train (Chapra Express) to Igatpuri. We stood near the toilets but enjoyed the tunnels and the hills we saw during the short journey. From Igatpuri we took an ambassador taxi ride to Bandhardhara in Mr. Salim Salahuddin’s taxi via small lanes of Ghoti which Salim sahib took to avoid the traffic. KC was bitten by bed bugs in the taxi. We reached the MTDC resort and again feasted on the butter milk and food. The MTDC resort was right beside the lake on a small hill.
We did some sight seeing in the evening in Mahesh’s taxi and were happy that we decided against climbing the so called highest peak in
The dogs kept barking continuously to keep the wild animals at bay and suddenly when the barking became loud the girls decided to call it a night. Sneha did not allow me to even douse the camp fire and KC did not even dare to come out of the room. We were tired and slept comfortably that night.
The next day we went for a boat ride on the picturesque lake. It was an 8 km ride one way and it took us around an hour and a half to reach the other end where an old temple built by Pandavas awaited us. Now, one can rubbish off such myths but it is these folklores that make a trip exciting. On our way back, Sneha and I kept talking about religion, spirituality and speculated mythology.
Later, Suhas ran behind a chameleon for a snap which left the security man in total awe. We then proceeded to
Four of us got into an auto and reached the secluded Sula Vineyards. The auto had an USP of having no headlights which we realized on our way back. A tour was conducted in the vineyard about wine making and tasting. The bar opens to the vineyard and we decided to relax and pretend to be connoisseurs of wine for a couple of hours. It was a perfect way of ending the last evening of the trip.
At dinner we met VT (Sneha’s friend) and discussed about cars, treks and trips. In the night we packed our luggage and were all geared up for the journey next day to Mumbai. The ride to Mumbai was fast as the driver broke all possible rules and gave us a rollercoaster ride. After reaching Mumbai CST we had one last adventure – We did not have confirmed train tickets. While the girls decided to visit the “
After reaching
