Before leaving Canada, one activity on my list of things I absolutely had to do was to take a 20 hour train ride, either from Mumbai to Delhi, or perhaps Delhi to Jaisalmer. This is still something I would like to do, however after my first train experience this weekend, I am definitely adding an asterix next to it. I will be making sure to get a sleeper for traveling long distances.
To get out of the craziness of the city and the sound of the honking horns we all decided to take a trip out to Matheran, a tiny hill station in between Mumbai and Pune which has banned vehicles from entering, creating a very unique and rare setting. To reach Matheran, the quickest way is to take the train to Neral which is a small town just below Matheran.
Everything started out quite nicely, we boarded the train after buying our tickets at 7am, and although we bought general boarding tickets and there was nowhere to sit, I was quite happy being able to stand at the door and watch the world go by. It was so quiet I even gave Erin a quick call just as we were leaving Shivajinagar station in Pune. I was pretty naive to think the whole ride would be this peaceful. Not even 20 minutes later we reached the next stop and the pandemonium commenced.
I was standing at the door with my backpack when the mob of people started fighting in front of the door to try and get on the train, Babies were getting hit and elderly people were mauled by the group of aggressive people fighting to get on the train. I held on to me small corner near the door with my bag raised above my head and held on for dear life while everyone fought to get on the train. I had seen this happen before on various videos of people riding the train in Mumbai, but witnessing it first hand was something else. For the next 3 hours I stood hugging the wall with my bag, with two small children sitting on my feet and sleeping on my leg not being able to move. If I was claustrophobic I might have jumped out through the open doors!
Once we arrived in Neral however, the train ride was quickly forgotten as we hiked up to Matheran following the toy train tracks. We were hoping to take the toy train up however it is closed during the monsoon. We spent the weekend relaxing, reading, and we spent one day hiking on many of the trails. The rain was relentless all weekend, a real first taste of the force of the monsoons, as Pune is quite sheltered from them because of the location of the city being in a valley. Despite the heavy rain, the scenery was amazing, with some of the nicest views I have every seen, it was a shame the clouds blocked many of the views, but when they were visible it was amazing. I will definitely be returning in November or December once the monsoons have left.
One nice surprise was that the town was overflowing with monkeys, they were everywhere. One even came into our room out of nowhere one morning and stole a bag of candy, I may have screamed a little and ran for the bathroom. It was huge!
One of the highlights of the weekend was coming home on the train, it was much quieter and I was able to hang out the door for most of the trip taking in the amazing views in the distance as the train chugged down the side of the mountain. Because of the monsoon, there were waterfalls everywhere, it was a wonderful few hours, something I will never forget!
Hiking down a part of the cliff at Alexander's Point
The calm before the storm
To get out of the craziness of the city and the sound of the honking horns we all decided to take a trip out to Matheran, a tiny hill station in between Mumbai and Pune which has banned vehicles from entering, creating a very unique and rare setting. To reach Matheran, the quickest way is to take the train to Neral which is a small town just below Matheran.
Everything started out quite nicely, we boarded the train after buying our tickets at 7am, and although we bought general boarding tickets and there was nowhere to sit, I was quite happy being able to stand at the door and watch the world go by. It was so quiet I even gave Erin a quick call just as we were leaving Shivajinagar station in Pune. I was pretty naive to think the whole ride would be this peaceful. Not even 20 minutes later we reached the next stop and the pandemonium commenced.
I was standing at the door with my backpack when the mob of people started fighting in front of the door to try and get on the train, Babies were getting hit and elderly people were mauled by the group of aggressive people fighting to get on the train. I held on to me small corner near the door with my bag raised above my head and held on for dear life while everyone fought to get on the train. I had seen this happen before on various videos of people riding the train in Mumbai, but witnessing it first hand was something else. For the next 3 hours I stood hugging the wall with my bag, with two small children sitting on my feet and sleeping on my leg not being able to move. If I was claustrophobic I might have jumped out through the open doors!
Once we arrived in Neral however, the train ride was quickly forgotten as we hiked up to Matheran following the toy train tracks. We were hoping to take the toy train up however it is closed during the monsoon. We spent the weekend relaxing, reading, and we spent one day hiking on many of the trails. The rain was relentless all weekend, a real first taste of the force of the monsoons, as Pune is quite sheltered from them because of the location of the city being in a valley. Despite the heavy rain, the scenery was amazing, with some of the nicest views I have every seen, it was a shame the clouds blocked many of the views, but when they were visible it was amazing. I will definitely be returning in November or December once the monsoons have left.
One nice surprise was that the town was overflowing with monkeys, they were everywhere. One even came into our room out of nowhere one morning and stole a bag of candy, I may have screamed a little and ran for the bathroom. It was huge!
One of the highlights of the weekend was coming home on the train, it was much quieter and I was able to hang out the door for most of the trip taking in the amazing views in the distance as the train chugged down the side of the mountain. Because of the monsoon, there were waterfalls everywhere, it was a wonderful few hours, something I will never forget!
Hiking down a part of the cliff at Alexander's Point
The calm before the storm
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