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Magnificent view from Shivaji Ladder
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We had plans to trek to Matheran but nothing looked sure till the day before. Miraculously everything did fit in and me and my wife were on our way to Matheran finally. We had planned to climb via one tree hill point. This route is amazing during rains, July to September. Route is quite safe and easy. It can be done by anyone with average fitness. Now it was winter but I had earlier visited during monsoon so we did not need any guide. Guides are available at base village 'Ambewadi'. You have to remember this name because many in Karjat have not heard about this route and can confuse you with their guesswork.
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Breathtaking
view of Morbe dam lake from the route.
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General plan would be like this:
1. From any where in Mumbai, travel to Karjat by local train. This is the best part. Traveling by local train gives you total freedom. Just pack bag and leave. No bookings nothing.
2. From Karjat take a rick to base village 'Ambewadi'. These are big ricks available outside Karjat station. After alighting from train walk on platform to overhead bridge and then get down on right side of Karjat station. Rickshaw stand is 2, 3 minutes walk. These are 7seater ricks. They charge 400 rs per rickshaw. Quite affordable if you are a group of 7,8 people. For 2 of us it was quite costly. Travel takes almost 45 minutes due to bad roads. On the way there are breath taking views of Morbe dam area. Ambewadi is a simple village nestled in the laps of Matheran hills. Some of the villagers work in Matheran and trek up and down everyday. They gladly work as guides. Rates can vary from 250 to 750 Rs.
3. Walk by the side of a well close to hills. Route is quite clear and without many diversions which is so rare in Sahyadri (or western ghats as they are generally called by outsiders). Walk is steep in places. Midway on route there is a route going to left. This route is easier and through shade. Route going ahead is steep and exposed but you will see some magnificent views on way. Both routes meet at a well in the hills. Water is safe for drinking. You can replenish your stock of water here. It takes 1.5 to 2 hours to reach this well.
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Path
on left (mentioned above) through forest
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One good thing about this trek is that you reach Matheran. So now you can
relax and enjoy trappings of luxury if you wish to.
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Path through forest. Lot of shade compared to other path.
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View
on the way
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After enjoying our stay in Matheran that evening and next morning, we next got ready to trek down by another route.We had earlier trekked down from Sunset point to Dhodhani village so we felt confident. but as it happens we forgot the name of point from where we had got down. Someone told us that the route to Dhodhani goes via Monkey point. So we reached monkey point. We understood our mistake when we reached there. But getting to sunset point would have taken time. so we decided to try this new route.
As it turned out this was a tougher route and therefore it was less frequented by villagers and trekkers. We met 4, 5 villagers at start of trek but then both of us were alone on the route for next 2 and half hours. It was kind of wilderness just below crowded and commercial Matheran.
Route was steep and through boulders. Panorama point was always seen at top. We also saw once the Matheran toy train chugging along below Panorama point.
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Boulder
strewn path
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Panorama
point looming overhead most of the time
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When we found a little open space we had our lunch of 'Kanda Poha' that we had carried from Matheran. After this there were some bit difficult rock patches but small steps of concrete are made to aid travelers. Midway through trek there is a small temple. Here we offered our sincere prayers to the deity of that route.
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Rock
in the center has a small temple at its base
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The
temple in nowhere land
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From
here onward route eased out a little bit but was steep. Finally
we reached a place where two women were working in the fields. We
rested under a tree, had remaining lunch some biscuits and remaining
water. We enjoyed the view around one last time before getting ready
to reach village. It still took us almost an hour to reach the village
that looked so close. But we reached on time to catch 4:30 bus to
Panvel.
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A
really big rock on the way
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Praying Mantis. It was camouflaged so well that
my wife could not locate it even after I pointed to it. Thanks Vivek for identifying the species. |
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Sweeping view of the mountain range
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Enjoying that mesmerizing view one last time before joining back the civilized world. Funnily it took us almost an hour to reach the village 'Dhodhani' below.
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Just as Thoreau said after Walden stay, at present we are once again sojourners in the civilized world. Planning for the next trek.
P.S. 'Next trek' did not happen for few years. And then I was diagnosed with hear problem had angioplasty and trekking is over for me for now at-least. Seize the moment friends!!
