The Jones' Go To India

This weekend was a great adventure! We visited the hill station of Matheran, approximately 2 hours out of Mumbai. We went spur of the moment and arrived around 9:30 pm on a Saturday night. Upon arriving, we found out that the horses which take you to the top of the mountain and the resorts were already "put to bed" for the night, and the only option was to walk the 5 kilometer trek to the top. We left our driver to sleep overnight in the car, acquired the service of a walking guide and set out on the journey, overnight bags secured to our backs. The walk was uphill, naturally, and along an intermittantly lit road deep in iron ore dust.

We soon arrived in a village with a market place, similar to those in Mumbai. Small shops, restaurants and some hotels lined the street. Our destination of choice was The Barr House, an 1850's retreat built by the British Captain Barr as a respite from the Mumbai heat, which sets alone on the edge of the mountain and overlooks the valley below. Passing the market place, and making our way through the jungle, the road narrowed and we acquired a second guide besides Sandeep - a somewhat bony, stray dog with kind eyes, who began to lead the way. Soon, you could hear music floating through the air, and I envisioned that scene in "Romancing the Stone" where they come upon the villagers and join in their dance around the fire at night. I couldn't wait to get there and live that moment! As we came closer to the music, it changed and I began to recognize that wild disco-techno beat that blares from every rickshaw, car radio, television and night club in Mumbai. We came upon the Brightlands Resort, and there, in the middle of no where, on the side of a mountain in a 2.5 world country, there were enough lights strung to rival an amusement park and an outdoor disco rocking the ancient stones of this otherwise peaceful setting. Go figure! My dream of dancing with the natives around the fire faded fast. What a strange mixture of old and new in this country - even in the middle of no where, on a mountain top, in a 2.5 world country.

After walking about 1 1/2 hours, we arrived at the beautiful Barr House, also known as Veranda in the Forest. Although I'd had a conversation with our guide upon embarking on this trip about availability at the the inn, much to our disappointment, all rooms were booked full.

Nothing left to do, but turn around and head back. We did stop to inquire at a couple of other hotels in the market area, but the only one with a room was 6500 rupees ($162.50) for the night, and the room resembled the ones you'd find on Hwy 80 in Longview. In addition, the bath was truly Eastern, and featured a room of marble with hoses from the wall to shower with, a potty with hoses to spray down with, and a sink. And, alas, I forgot to pack the toilet paper! We decided to make our way back down the mountain and return to Mumbai.

On the way down the mountain, the guide Sandeep offered to show us the station for the mini-railway that goes around the mountain. It was built in the early 1900's, and the tracks periodically wash down the mountainside in monsoon season. Then, he offered to take us on a shortcut down the mountain. We left the main road and followed the railroad tracks through the jungle, with the mountain's edge just to our right, and plummeting to the valley below. The monkeys were alive all around us, and it sounded like something from an old Tarzan movie. As we looked over the edge, the canyons reaching to the valley below were floating in an eerie mist, and you could see the lights of the surrounding towns in the distance. What an adventure!

We arrived back at the car around 1:00 am, covered in sweat that was caked in iron ore. Our driver had fallen asleep in the car to the beat of that wild disco-gone-wrong music, and was quite startled when we tapped on the window to announce we were going back to Mumbai. We arrived back at the Ramee (which I had previously classified as a Motel 4, but now looked like the Ritz Carlton!) around 3:00 am. It took some doing to scrub the red dirt off, and we finally fell asleep around 5:00 am. It really was an adventure!

Vikki Jones