Before the long weekend took throngs of travellers to popular getaways around Mumbai, it was imperative to find some quietness. The easiest option would have been to stay at home, but the travelling shoes were calling out and the heart was desirous of some old colonial style pampering. This trip was also to show off to a cousin, about the delights of the multiple holiday destinations outside the city that never sleeps. So there wasn’t much to deliberate. Matheran was what we agreed upon in an instant, based upon my friend Shohini’s recommendation in her blog here.
The morning of the journey, we pushed off to Neral, which is accessible by the local trains from any point in Mumbai. At Neral, queues of shared cabs wait outside the railway station to take people to Dasturi, the outer limits of Matheran, beyond which automobiles are not allowed. Yes. Matheran is Asia’s only automobile-free hill station. This simple rule has preserved Matheran beautifully and has prevented crass commercial invasions that would have snatched away the simple charm of this eco-sensitive region recognised by the Government of India.
Barely 600 meters from Dasturi car park is the Aman Lodge railway station, which has scheduled toy trains running on metre-gauge tracks all the way up to the main town, some twenty-five minutes away. There are errant monkeys at Aman Lodge, hoping to flick away a fruit or a packet of potato wafers from the passengers waiting for the train to move. It is so unfortunate that these animals which generally mind their own business have been driven to performing mischief because of the way tourists feed them anything and everything. Used to being fed, they have almost forgotten how to procure food suiting their own diet, and have begun playfully tormenting humans.
At a vintage looking railway station with only one platform, people milled out of the train, into the main street and scattered about to their predetermined destinations. As for us, we sought the general direction of the place we had booked and we began our chatter-filled trek along the upward slope. Barely thirty minutes later, after following the signage and having left the main town far behind, we arrived at what I can only describe as a beautiful colonial bungalow cocooned in greenery. It is so nicely hidden away it feels like you’ve accidentally chanced upon wonderland.
The 150-year old Barr Cottage, built by Colonel Barr, was the only second dwelling place on the Western Ghats. Now acquired by Neemarana Hotels, it hosts tourists and treats them to an experience, nothing less. The place is now known as Verandah in the Forest, quite clearly because of the beautiful wide Verandah along the length of its front overlooking the valley. All day long guests sit at the Verandah to eat their meals, read, chat or just gaze at the surrounding beauty. The rooms are full of artifacts and furniture that belonged to the era this bungalow was built in, if not to the original owner. The hospitality staff is friendly and polite but accords you enough privacy to not feel awkward. They stand discreetly around the corners of the Verandah with slingshots to scare the monkeys away.
Worthy of mention is the grand dining experience, where all the guests sit together at a long table and enjoy a four-course Continental meal in candlelight. This bit is nothing short of affluent English luxury. The common den area has lots of board games, magazines and books, and a wide variety of music DVDs to feel engaged with. It is a boon that one does not receive mobile phone signal here or that the property has no TV to stay glued to. The front yard has hammocks, swings and chairs for reading. There is a small cabin atop a tree too It is truly a place to be enjoyed minus technology that has so successfully disrupted our everyday life.
We came back the next day because the long weekend was about to begin and we wanted to avoid the crowd. We took the toy train all the way back to Neral this time and the two hours in it were full of beautiful sights. The heart longs to go back and we can only console ourselves by planning a trip there again during the monsoons when the Ghats will be bathed in greenery and the rains will have freshened everything up.
Amen!
-Shibangi
P.S. – To see more pictures of the Matheran and Verandah in the Forest, go to Journey in Pictures
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