Hotel
Thu 05/01/08 (day 1)
Day1
We left for Matheran around 11:30 odd. The drive till the foothills of Matheran was a breeze. It took about 2 hrs odd. The climb into Matheran was weird, - it is as vertical as they get. Thank God, I took the automatic geared city! It still took a little getting used to.
But, after some nervous driving for about 30 odd min, we reached this place called 'Dasturi Naka' which is as far as where the cars can go. Matheran is perhaps the only hill station in India where no automotives are allowed in the city! The only modes of transportation are a pony/horse or hand driven rickshaws. Given the novelty of the horse ride, against Prisha's sever protests, we paid 200 each for 2 horses and 80 bucks for someone to carry our bags to the hotel.
Hotel:
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The ride was a good 45 min odd. Reached the hotel by around 2:15 or so. On the way we realized that most every hotel on the way looked a dilapidated mess! Once there, even before we got the room, hit the restaurant to go and grab some lunch. This was good, - Parsi dansuk & chicken curry.
Got to the room and realized that while it is decent sized, the walls were an ugly pink, the bed sheets, not crisp and they were torn, the balcony is off limits because of the monkey menace. In summary, for the 4500 bucks a day we paid, this was a wreck!!!
Evening
--------------
After resting a little while went down to the market area. walked around a little bit. Pranav by then was acting up wanting to go back to the room and to the play area at the hotel. Had to give him a stern warning before he calmed down moderately! One thing was clear though, - nothing much to see! Paami was interested in a few footwear and she started looking for some bargains.
Pollution Free???
--------------------
Its interesting most folks go to Matheran because it is supposedly pollution free and relatively untouched by human excesses! But, this also meant there were no tar roads and in its place is this red sand which is so ubiquitous that before long you are covered with this patina of red sand. So much so that if you are planning on going there, make sure you dont take expensive clothes or footwear. This will be a waste. The eateries around the market area did not make sense because whatever you ate had this red cover. It would've helped if they had created at least brick roads so the pollution from the sand could be reduced.
Dinner
--------------
For dinner, we chose to go to the veg section, which was bigger than the non veg section. Food was good! After dinner got the kids to go and dance a little bit at the open air discotheque. Pranav was too tired and so we headed back to the room in 30 min.
But, after some nervous driving for about 30 odd min, we reached this place called 'Dasturi Naka' which is as far as where the cars can go. Matheran is perhaps the only hill station in India where no automotives are allowed in the city! The only modes of transportation are a pony/horse or hand driven rickshaws. Given the novelty of the horse ride, against Prisha's sever protests, we paid 200 each for 2 horses and 80 bucks for someone to carry our bags to the hotel.
Hotel:
--------------
The ride was a good 45 min odd. Reached the hotel by around 2:15 or so. On the way we realized that most every hotel on the way looked a dilapidated mess! Once there, even before we got the room, hit the restaurant to go and grab some lunch. This was good, - Parsi dansuk & chicken curry.
Got to the room and realized that while it is decent sized, the walls were an ugly pink, the bed sheets, not crisp and they were torn, the balcony is off limits because of the monkey menace. In summary, for the 4500 bucks a day we paid, this was a wreck!!!
Evening
--------------
After resting a little while went down to the market area. walked around a little bit. Pranav by then was acting up wanting to go back to the room and to the play area at the hotel. Had to give him a stern warning before he calmed down moderately! One thing was clear though, - nothing much to see! Paami was interested in a few footwear and she started looking for some bargains.
Pollution Free???
--------------------
Its interesting most folks go to Matheran because it is supposedly pollution free and relatively untouched by human excesses! But, this also meant there were no tar roads and in its place is this red sand which is so ubiquitous that before long you are covered with this patina of red sand. So much so that if you are planning on going there, make sure you dont take expensive clothes or footwear. This will be a waste. The eateries around the market area did not make sense because whatever you ate had this red cover. It would've helped if they had created at least brick roads so the pollution from the sand could be reduced.
Dinner
--------------
For dinner, we chose to go to the veg section, which was bigger than the non veg section. Food was good! After dinner got the kids to go and dance a little bit at the open air discotheque. Pranav was too tired and so we headed back to the room in 30 min.
Planned Activities
Thu 05/01/08 (day 1) - Matheran
Unscheduled
City