[t18]

I and my friend were hatching a plan for a weekend getaway. But since we already had been to Alibaug many times in 2012 we decided to do something else than a beach.
I remembered doing Matheran two years back. That was an unusual way of seeing Matheran by foot. So Matheran was it. You can know more about Matheran here.
It was only a day picnic, so this is a photologue of that Saturday.
Hope you all enjoy.

Starting at 7.30 in the morning from Ambernath our Home.


Road widening in progress.


Dark clouds all through the way but no rain.


Is that the sun so high so early in the morning?



Some more scenery on the way.







So after negotiationg through the narrow lanes leading to Neral Railway Station. We park our bike at a Hotel near the Taxi stand.
Parking Charges 24 hours:
Bike Rs. 60
Car Rs. 100

We start on foot. On the way have delicious cakes and pastries at a Bangalore Iyengay Bakery. Yum .

On our way Up.






Still no rain, we start sweating. This was not we were expecting.




An abandoned Horse.




A little waterfall on our way.


And what have we here a baby snake. Its trying to go into a very narrow hole besides the road. I gingerly take my phone near to take a photo. I am shaking nervously.


Another angle.


Feel something strange the snake is not moving. With great courage I try to see whats wrong with the poor thing. I use my BIG umbrella's tip to touch it, still no reaction. Then I lift it. Poor thing is dead. Felt very bad.

[honeybee]

Nice photos. I doubt if that snake was a 'baby'. It's pretty big.

I hope you are going to write the rest of the travelogue. I have done Matheran thrice, but always drove/rode there.

[saket77]

Nice pictures man. Though, I am not a weak-heart, but seriously I would not have had the courage to lift that snake with my umbrella! And certainly, its not a baby!

Waiting for more pics & the rest of the story.

Regards,
Saket

[t18]

Originally Posted by honeybee

I hope you are going to write the rest of the travelogue.

Yes, I would be writing the complete log. Actually I had to submit the thread in a hurry. As my day came to an end at office, I thought to submit it rather than loose the write-up. Later it came to my mind that I should have used the Assembly Line.

[amitwlele]

Nice snaps and a good start to the TL. Its been a long time since i visited Matheran. I hope it has not lost any of its charm. Last went there in the year 2003.

By the way you went walking on the road which the vehicles use. I guess that would be a long route. I am told that there is a shorter path to reach the top. Though i have no experience of it.

[t18]

After the tryst with the snake we move on a little further and had this view.








Another waterfall.


A 360 Panorama.


To err is human and to Litter is Being Human.




Some more greenery.






A tree on the edge of the mountain side.




Now we deviate from the road to the tracks. Though the scenery was awesome and the silence was eerie and no sighting of any human all the way was scary we moved on. What a mistake we did taking to the tracks we would find out later.














At last someone we found along the way. He was hiding underneath the track behind a leaf.




Some formation in the mud, probably by ants.




We find another one. He was the last alive one we found. Afterwards all through the way most of them we found were dead.




Some red for a change.


This was a bit like Jurassic Park.




A Macro shot.


And I reach the 30 file limit.

[t18]

Originally Posted by amitwlele

By the way you went walking on the road which the vehicles use. I guess that would be a long route. I am told that there is a shorter path to reach the top. Though i have no experience of it.

Two years back I had gone there by foot and we only used the road used by vehicles. And someone told me that using the railway line was much faster. After this episode I feel the road is much faster.

I am not aware of any other shorter path.

[heman_369]

Walking up the railway line is a disaster as everyone finds out by own experience. The railway track goes around lots of hills as it has a gradual slope for the train to negotiate. The road climbs up fast and is a lot more steep. The best method is to take shortcuts through the bushes when a hair pin bend approaches. Serious trekkers also reach the 'One tree hill' point in Matheran from a village near Panvel

[KALSANKRPAI]

Nice pictures indeed I understand Matheran is a favourite location for film producers so many films have been shot here is it true?

[honeybee]

I am not sure many films (or even any films) have been shot here, as the local guides never mentioned it.

The train route is more circuitous than the road because the train cannot climb steep slopes, so it would always be a longer route. But then again you don't see crabs by the roadside, so I think it did give you an experience you wouldn't otherwise have had.

[t18]

Some videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIFoA6B_cmU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taXUIq8qZX0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuFC_dXce5Q

[t18]

Something went wrong with my uploaded videos. Till the time I figure out the proper way to upload videos, I will try complete the remainder photos of the trip.

A down stream. There is a Langoor in this photo. The zoom was maxed out. Reason for the blurred photo .








We started walking at 8:15AM and it is 11:30AM and we are still walking.




As we were walking we came across these green boards with numbers. As being on Team-BHP all day and reading NM as the torque figure of a vehicle we assumed these to be indication to the Train driver of the torque he needs to apply at that particular stage. But these figures were continuously increasing, maybe our assumption was wrong and this is something else. Can anyone help me out with what are these numbers?


Some thing like star fruit.




Something like mangoes.












Looks like a Banana tree.










And we reach One Kiss Tunnel.


I have a video of this tunnel. But I am unable to upload it. I will do it later.

This is after I come out of the tunnel.


Waterfall.






And it is 1:15PM we are exhausted.
We decide as soon as we come across the road we take the taxi and go back to where our bike was parked. As we had no strength left to go all the way to Matheran. And anyways going all the way to Matheran was not our aim. We had decided going till where our legs could take us.
And little later when our hopes of finding the road were fading. We hear the vehicles and see the road. What a relief it was OMG!
A little ahead of the fog is the road. We sit here and relax, soak in the silence and try to gain some lost strength.


And this is the scene from where we were waiting for a Taxi.




Now we were having trouble getting a taxi. All the taxi's coming down were full. We spent another half an hour or so. And at last a Mahindra goods carrier which had down loaded its cattle feed in Matheran gave us a lift.
WOW! It was like a roller coaster coming down in that vehicle hanging for our lives in the luggage bay. Our hearts in our mouth, we reached safely to Neral. What a relief that was.
We head back home.
My friend who is more than 150 Kgs. doesn't have a hint of exhaustion.
And me I end up with high fever and sleep the whole of Sunday.

And I can't believe I put all these on my first ever log.
Thank you all for reading.