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In 19th Century India the life expectancy of an Englishman was just 38 years, such was the havoc reeked upon the colonialists’ bodies by tropical disease. No wonder, then, that the British took to the hills for refuge in an altogether more European climate. Though not curative, the resulting hill stations were at least restorative, and in the testing environment of the wildly overpopulated and maniacal India of today these temperate, peaceful sanctuaries could hardly be more inviting.

 

Nowhere is this more true than in the economic capital, and mercifully, from the incredible affront on the senses that is Mumbai, from the heat and the incessant noise of 20 million people and their horn bashing transportation coughing fumes into your lungs, escape is only 3 hours away.

 

Just 100km due east, Matheran is Mumbai’s nearest hill station, and was first discovered by Hugh Malet in May 1850: a jagged, heavily wooded plateau nestled 785m high amid the Western Ghats, it provides not only pleasant walks through its welcome shade, but also incredible views of the labyrinth of ancient and massive granite folds from its many rocky protrusions.

 

The trip up to the plateau begins in Neral (2 hours by train from Mumbai) from where began what was surely the most stunning railway journey in Maharashtra, a narrow guage toy train that slowly climbed the steep ascent to the summit, taking in the spectacular views as it did so. Unfortunately the track was badly damaged in the 2005 monsoon, but repair work is well under way and hopefully it will be completed by May 2007.

 

Until then, unless you want to brave the 11km trek, a Rs.250 taxi ride is the only option. Wonderfully, though, motor vehicles are banned from the town and are only permitted as far as the car park on the north-east edge of the plateau, whence a pleasant half hour walk or horse ride will take you into the pollution and noise-free town.

 

The banning of all motor vehicles is what really sets Matheran apart, not only from the great dirty megalopolis that is Mumbai, but also from its other lofty counterparts. Mahabaleshwar provides stunning vistas for example, but the constant traffic and noisy trip from one point to the next can almost ruin the experience. In contrast the only way to move around Matheran is on horse back, or, most rewardingly, on foot. It is an entirely natural experience, and on the quieter weekdays one can easily spend hours wandering without a care beneath the canopy of the trees without seeing another soul.

 

The majority of the lookout points are on the western ridge, all of which are equally fantastic, but of particular note is the dramatic Ceilia Pt. This is where the river from Lake Charlotte flows over the cliff edge and cascades to the plain below during the monsoon, but in the dry season no water flows here, and there is an unrivalled sensation of being thrust into the vista itself as it suddenly emerges from the walls of the dry riverbed.

 

However I thoroughly recommend heading due south along the east ridge first, for while at the other points you are guided by signposts and the unfortunate detritus of the lazy tourist to a spot where you can enjoy a drink and have echo competitions from behind the safety of a barrier, at the these southerly points there is a veritable feeling of discovery as in the age of old.

 

Without warning the paths to points like Chouk and Little Chouk erupt from the enclosure of the woods and into a scene so different and of such beauty and magnitude that there is truly a feeling of having stumbled onto another world. Here the very landscape envelops and surrounds you; the pinnacles and peaks and impossible spires of the serpentine ridges fill your entire horizon; the sheer and vertical drops to the plain below - with its rivers belted with greenery feeding the dark sapphire of a shimmering lake that sits in sharp contrast to the dusty ochre of the mountains - and the infinite hazy blue of the sky above propel you to the edge of the precipice where the breeze makes you feel almost weightless; all this witnessed in absolute solitude. 

 

For those willing to wake before sunrise, a horse back ride to the northerly Panorama Pt. is definitely worthwhile, but for most a magnificent sunset will suffice. Porcupine Pt is justly hailed as the place to go as dusk gathers, but a more peaceful rival for the name of Sunset Pt. is that of Louisa. Sitting here on the dusty grass-covered headland while the earth turns away from the sun which duly sets behind a silhouetted ridge in a hazy shroud of oranges and reds, there is an empowering sense of enormous insignificance.

 

If you consider the history of the rock that you are sitting on as you watch this majestic show that feeling is made even more compelling, for in geological terms these gigantic creases in the earth’s bedrock represent the very creation of India herself: they are the result of a violent split in the earth’s crust when India tore away from the super-continent Pangaea - and what is now Madagascar - over 60 million years ago. So while the Himalayas at India’s new frontier are the venerable wrinkles of age, the Western Ghats are the sub-continents birthmarks.

 

It is doubtful that the British were aware of this historical significance when they settled here, but surely they couldn’t have chosen a better place to rest and recuperate before heading back into the mayhem of the civilised world, rejuvenated and reborn.

 

Top Tips

• Book accommodation in advance to avoid wasting time while you’re there
  
• Stay at least one night to make the most of this trip
  
• Pick up a map from any of the hotels or kiosks
  
• Set an example and carry your litter to a bin
  
• Allow 1 hour to walk from the town to Sunset Pt.
  
• Bargain heavily when negotiating a price for a horse ride
  
• Allow 1 hour 30 mins to get from the town down to Neral station
  
• The last train back to Mumbai from Neral is 11pm.
  

 

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