Sunday 24 July 2016

Perfect Mumbai Weekend - Matheran

As the people in Mumbai rejoice over the rains after a long sweaty summer, it won’t be long before they start cribbing over the water-logging and traffic mess that the rains in Mumbai usually brings along with it. To escape from that, we have a list of places awesome places to visit near Mumbai in monsoon. They are just outside of Mumbai, which makes them perfect weekend getaways.



When you think of a weekend monsoon getaway, the first thing you think about is quiet and calm. Then what better than Matheran, which has rule of no vehicles allowed within the town!  Just the journey to Matheran is exciting, a train ride in a heritage railway and travel around the town on horseback or hand pulled rickshaws. The hills themselves have much to offer as the clouds practically descends over it in the monsoon and  with an adjoining valley it has over 30 lookout points, the beautiful Charlotte Lake and the ancient Pisarnath Mahadev Temple.



Matheran is a hill station and a municipal council in the Raigad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a hill station in Karjat Tahsil and is also the smallest hill station in India. It is located on the Western Ghats range at an elevation of around 800 m (2,625 feet) above sea level. It is located around 90 km from Mumbai, and 120 km from Pune. Matheran's proximity to many metropolitan cities makes it a popular weekend getaway for urban residents. Matheran, which means "forest on the forehead" (of the mountains) is an eco-sensitive region, declared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India. It is Asia's only automobile-free hill station.



There are around 38 designated look-out points in Matheran, including the Panorama Point that provides a 360 degree view of the surrounding area and also the Neral town. From this point, the view of sunset and sunrise is dramatic. The Louisa Point offers crystal clear view of the Prabal Fort. The other points are the One Tree Hill Point, Heart Point, Monkey Point, Porcupine Point, Rambagh Point, and more. To stay there, there are plenty of hotels.There are a lot of Parsi bungalows. Beautiful old British-style architecture is preserved in Matheran. The roads are not metalled and are made of red laterite earth. There are many "points" (viewpoints) in Matheran which give a panoramic view of the plains below.

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