Scenic beauty locked between four countries

Recently I had been to a hill station located between four countries. Yes you have guessed it right. I‘m talking about the world famous hill station Darjeeling. It lies in northern West Bengal, between Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Comprising mainly of mountain terrain, Darjeeling stands at a height of 2134m (7053 ft) at the base of the almighty Himalayan mountain range. The name Darjeeling is a composition of ‘dorje‘ meaning ‘thunderbolt‘ and ‘ling‘ meaning ‘place‘ … ‘the Land of Thunderbolt‘. Darjeeling is often referred to as the ‘Queen of hill stations‘. There are countless things (both natural and man made) that make Darjeeling what it is today.

Being introduced to a place on such a high note, everyone would be eager to visit this heaven on earth. Darjeeling is a living example of how tourism can screw up a place. I was very disappointed with the zillion humans and the mess they created out of Darjeeling. Most of the beautiful forests have been replaced with tea plantations and houses. And if you think on the same lines, then certainly Darjeeling is not a place to visit. Instead try out this small hill station called Mirik, which is located mid way between Siliguri and Darjeeling.

Being promoted as a new hill station, Mirik is just a small valley in the Sing-lila hills region, about 50 Km from both Siliguri and Darjeeling; at an altitude of 1767 m. Weather is very pleasant here. The town is centered around the Sumendu Lake. The lake is the main attraction here and there is a 3.5 Km. path around it. You can go boating and house riding here. The dense forest of pine, cardamom and the orange will definitely captivate your heart. Another attraction of Mirik is Pashupatinagar market at the border of India and Nepal.

Accommodation in Mirik is good and cheap with hotels concentrated near the Mirik Lake. Jagjeet hotel is the most famous hotel in this place. Sadly this place does not have a school and most of the kids from this place have to go to Siliguri or Darjeeling in the search of good schools. There are no discos, pubs, theaters or any other means of entertainment in this place apart from Mother Nature.

While I might be changing a lot of people‘s mind, I hope you would take care of the place and make sure this does not become the next Darjeeling.

Last weekend I was off to Matheran. Matheran is a small hill station on the way to Pune from Mumbai. It‘s approximately 90 Kms from Mumbai central. There is something special about this place which I have not seen in any other hill station. They do not allow any kind of vehicles to this place. About 3 Kms before Matheran, there is a place called Dasturi, which is the last point where one can drive up to. People have to park their vehicles at Dasturi and from there either hike up, take a horse ride or sit in one of the man pulled cart. I wonder if they allow an ambulance. Anyway it‘s good to see a place free from vehicle pollution. Living in India, this is a blessing.

About the place: Located on a narrow north-south ridge, 800m up in the Sahyadri Range, sidetracked plateau of the Western Ghats that overhang the Konkan. The name is a Marathi term, denoting the “Mother Nature”. It was discovered by a British, Mr. Huge Mallet, the then Collector of Thane, in 1850.

Varied types of plants and herbs, having medicinal value are found in abundance in the mountain jungles of Matheran. Probably the number of monkeys in these hills outnumbers the human population, and both the red-faced breed, as well as the black-faced ones are found here.

How to get there:
Road Map: Mumbai Central to Vashi (30 KM) to Panvel (20 KM) to Chowk Phata, Karjat (20 KM) to Neral (10 KM) to Dasturi (7 KM).
From Mumbai take the Pune highway. After Vashi/Panvel catch the old Pune highway. Do not take the express way to Pune.

Train route: It is well connected by rail both, from Mumbai and Pune upto Neral Junction Station, a station at the bottom of the hill. From Neral a small Toy Train (Narrow gauge) takes you through a zigzag route of about 21 kms. to Matheran in 2 hours time. Some marvelous valley scenes can be observed during this journey. Three small stations called Jumma Patti, Water Pipe and Aman Lodge are on the way to Matheran.
This is recommended for people who are not used to the crazy Indian roads and traffic. The ghat section from Neral to Dasturi is really amazing. It must be at least 75 year old road. And will guarantee you a rollercoaster ride, with some real adventurous moments. Why not give it a shot?

What did I do?
I left Mumbai at around 5:00 AM in the morning, drove up to this place. Reached Dasturi at about 7:15 AM. Parked the car there and took a horse ride till Matheran. Its amazing to see the number and kind of people waiting to welcome you and become your guide. It gets quite irritating after a while, so the best policy is to keep quite. Behave as if you were deaf and dumb. It took me about 30 mins to reach Byke, the hotel where I had my booking. I must say, Byke is a good place to stay. Quite expense, but worth the experience. They have quite good facilities and amazing food.

Saturday was mostly relaxing time. They have a health club where they give you an hour‘s massage. It‘s quite different from the massages I have had so far. The massage is followed by sauna bath and steam bath. After all this relaxation, I can bet you would want to hit the bed.

Sunday morning I decided to go for a small trek. I walked towards the Charlotte Lake. From there I turned towards the Lord point and started following a thin foot trail. As I was walking on the edge of the mountain, it was a beautiful view. Without knowing where I‘m headed to, I just kept following the path. The path was getting narrower and narrower. I could sense that this was an off-beat track; it had a lot of spider web. The forest was getting thicker and the whole atmosphere was just sucking me in. On the way I could see a lot of broken houses. It was getting a bit scary as there was not trace of humans. I saw some beautiful birds on the way. Finally I reached a point called Belvedere point where there were some signs of civilization. This is motivating enough for me to continue. I followed the same path and reached one tree hill point. This had a very beautiful view. At this point I decide to head back. Now I decide to take a different route back. After searching for sometime, I found a huge track going back. Just followed it and reached Byke. The whole exercise too me about 4 hours.

Reenergized, I reached the resort and pounced on the breakfast, like I had rediscovered food. Towards the afternoon I took a stroll down to the market. It was fascinating to watch the economics of this place.

In the evening I headed back to the concrete jungles of Mumbai. Mission accomplished.