Matheran!

Odo: 44245

1200: Bah! Major Bah!
Had to struggle so much to get a room here.
Apparently people don't like giving guys who are alone a room.
This old man tells me "I'd have given you a room if you were with friends or with a girl, but you are alone."
It seems there've been three cases of suicide here in Matheran. What kind of a stupid fart would come to a beautiful place like this and kill himself with Baygon! Anyone that stupid deserves to die a worse death. Eat up his own head or something. Like whatshisname? Criss Angel? David Blaine! Ah, yes! Southpark. lol.
So one lady said she'll take Two Thousand Rupees for a room. And then even before I could say bugger off, she changed her mind and said she couldn't give it to me because someone else had already booked it.

And here I am now, finally, in a room. Sitting on a bed that has been used countless times for sex and thinking of the sort of idiots who come to this place. Lousy horny perverts and fucking suicidal losers.
Can't people travel just for the love of seeing new places? Craziness!

Anyway, I paid this guy 550 for this room. Which is way way more than I thought I would spend. Just one day here in Matheran for sure. And I'm not coming back unless I'm very rich and have company!
I just hope this place is worth all this trouble.(I had to explain to this dude about why I'm on holiday, and had to convince him that I'm generally very happy with my life and definitely not suicidal!(unless of course he denies me a room too))
Oh well, now that I've changed and washed up, its time to go sightseeing and get dusty!

1240: Talk about daylight robbery and forest bandits.
This is getting ridiculous. Alright, it's a forest! Doesn't mean you cheat the poor tourist out of all his money! The prices on this menu would have been plain funny if only someone else was paying.
This is turning out to be a bad idea. Should've known the damn people would have commercialized everything they could!
God, I'm hungry!
There's a toy train here. I hope I get a ticket. It should be pretty good. Hopefully it won't be too crowded.
No vehicles allowed here in Matheran. Wish they'd turn off the damn radio.
Anyway, the effect was slightly weird while I was walking up from the parking lot(3 Km away) Until I heard a plane overhead. Maybe they should make the airspace over here pollution free too!
Some nutcase just asked me if I'm writing "notes". I shook my head No, and he says "Writing a diary is not bad. It is good"
Now what can I say to that? I just nodded! The next time someone asks, I'm going to say I'm writing my memoirs.
Dammit! So hungry! I want my food!!

1340: No tickets for today's train. Will try early tomorrow. Very crowded anyway.
Sitting at a place called Madhavji point. Niceish place until you stand close to the edge. That's when it becomes garbage-dump point.
This is one of the few places I've seen where people can make out without being chastized by older(or even younger) moral police. But that's because all the would-be moral police are busy making money off the make-outers.
Bleh. Hate crowds. Especially noisy ones. Hate people in general actually. Wish I was a dog.
Oh well. Time for a few pics and then I'm off to the next place.

1440: I walked down a small village path where I finally got away from all the people.
I guessed everyone was on a guided tour of the place. So they'd only go on the main paths and lookout points. But as I neared a lake, I heard voices and decided to take the closest exit route. Through the forest. Found myself a nice little stick and trekked through about 3Km of forest. Ended up near this ancient and abandoned bunglow.
Windows boarded up and all, but it must've been a very nice place once upon a time. What a view from the verandah! Overlooks a valley. Simply amazing.

I tried getting down to the edge, but ended up slipping too much. Found another way down and ended up here.
The most stunning view ever!
One huge valley, three hills, one cliff of sorts and a lake bang in the centre. I wish I knew how to take better pictures because nothing I take can ever do justice to this.

So I was walking down the little path beside the drop, acutely aware of the fact that I could hear no human sounds. None at all. Then I see a pair of legs sticking out of the bushes about 100m from me. Sorry to sound so dramatic, but that's exactly how it was. Thought I should go check if he was in trouble or dead or something.

Saw that he was breathing, heaved a sigh of relief and went further down the path looking for a place for me to sit and write.

This is slightly eerie. The sound of the forest behind me-birds chirping and leaves rustling, the ocean-like sound of the wind through the trees on my left. And the drop-dead silence of the vast emptiness in front of me. Something I'm sure I will never forget!

I wonder where the sun'll go down. I just want to sit here until its dark, but I won't be able to find my way back. Even worse, I'll probably just walk off the drop here in the dark. It'll be a nice 20 seconds down though. Freefalling! Tom Petty had no idea what he was singing about.
Stairway to..um...somewhere
lol!
1908: Long walk back to my 550 Rupee room, tried to read a book but fell asleep. Think I'll go out for a bit now, just to see what happens here in the dark.


2100: Ate a decent dinner, not too expensive too. Well, its been a long day. Feel like I've walked almost as much as I rode.
Sleep time. Have to wake up early to catch the first train to Neral. Should be fun.
Later!