Matheran - Why is it a collection of Landscapes?

Chugging away happily the little blue toy train will carry you up the emerald Western Ghats. Sighing occasionally as it laboriously makes some difficult manoeuvrings along the mountainous curves and whistling away in joy the moment it crosses it, your journey becomes one with that of the train. Clinging to the bosom of the mountains the train will spiral higher and higher taking you to one of the smallest hill stations in India, Matheran.

It is nearly impossible to think that so close to the bustling city of Mumbai, there lies a place where nature explodes like a thousand colours of a painter’s palette. With the rugged rocks reaching up to touch the skies above on one side and the vast chasm of the valley on the other all your eyes can do is drink in the view. It is as if strokes from a painter’s brush have painted everything around in shades of blues, greens, ochre and browns just for you.

On reaching Matheran you can either choose to trek along the meandering hilly road under the canopy of an evergreen forest or take a pony ride up to your hotel. Hidden amongst the forest are cottages which are like fairy houses, secluded and magical. All you need to do is probably sit with a cup of coffee or your favourite drink alone and gaze deep into the forest, entangling your thought and spinning them into a more sorted manner.

But hey! Beware, your thoughts may be broken by the chirping of the birds, grunting of the monkeys and buzzing of various insects as the place is nothing but a continuous orchestra of nature, be it day or night.

Soon you will realise that Matheran is like an oasis for all the city dwellers like us who come not to escape but to find themselves back to who they really are. A day or two spent here will revive your soul giving it a new lease on life.

While you are in Matheran, you can easily explore the place on foot. There are various sightseeing spots like Louisa Point, Monkey Point, Echo Point, etc. Each point is distinct and gives you a different angle of the same yet very different panoramic view. With an endless sea of mountains fading away into the horizon in their own glory, Matheran is like browsing through a picture book full of landscapes.