Wood Side Hotel Matheran

... short due to torrential, incessant rain. More from Mt Barry and Governors Hill grasslands and Panorama Point on 8 October, 17th and 24th October. On the last 3 trips, it was dry, the grasses slowly turning from green to gold and eventually they will be a russet red in November before they dry out completely.

... the hotel and it was about 35km. The hotel is downtown although I didn't see anywhere near the hotel that I would like to walk to.

The next day we went to a Jain Temple with a few woman cleaning the temple, praying, sitting, and repeating this process. They also had made a brownish-yellow paste from a vegetable that they squished onto their forehead for purity. It was very beautiful inside with a large model of an elephant, murals ...

... us to our hotel. Having asked the taxi driver what the fare would be, he replied a very reasonable 400 rupees (a fiver) for ½ an hour ride. This is the point that Tina decided it was time to exercise her bartering skills and knock him down to 350 rupees, a massive reduction of 75p. The cabbie was then reluctant to take us, citing time of night/human rights and if you don't like it, you can **** off. We decided to accept his offer.

... at their optimal best, headily fragranced, with millions of butterflies, bees, beetles, grasshoppers, dragonflies and other non-biting buchees flitting in and out, in and out, in continuous motion. It was impossible to photograph the ever moving Blue mormons and Red Helens, but we did get fairly decent shots of the smaller butterflies and insects. The senecio daisies were now drying out, replaced by ...

... with sticks of sugar cane; a total load of less than 10 tons. All the same the engine seemed tired and deserted its load at the entrance to the yard, retiring to the loco siding while all further shunting was carried out by hand. The train back to Neral - three coaches and an NIM - gave a pleasant ride back down the hill, enlivened by the callings of the brakemen as they sat on their levers, applying more or less brake. A suburban train turned up at Neral and carried me onward ..."

... dining area upstairs and into the "private dining room". The staff, standing at every corner, nodded and greeted him and didn't stop him from wandering where he liked. There wasn't a great deal to see there, it was just walking around a restaurant really. He explained that he was "slumming it" later that evening, that he was going to meet some friends, and together they would head to the Muslim district of Mumbai. It was Ramadam, and the streets were ...

... a couple of rooms as a home stay. We will be sure to stay at least a week when they do. The place has such a warm, welcoming aura. One could happily sit on the cliffs edge for hours, doing nothing. I liked Kuriakose, his sincerity and his love for his land came through with so much feeling. He accepted just Rs 50, which is nothing compared to other plantations who charge between Rs 100 to Rs 150 for a visit, and he put in so much more effort ...

... extra in some Bollywood films. I can't hide my mix of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt attributes. This would have been good fun but it takes all day and I have better things to do. I just hope I'll be asked again next Tuesday or Wednesday when I'll have nothing else to do. It really feels like one week of holidays within my travels and I think I even put on weight. I'm really grateful that they come to see me here and this nice break gives me ...

... close by 1:30. Now, as I saw in Delhi, India isn't a place where people tend to listen to rules very much. Except in this instance. So it's about ten pm. Stephan and I have eaten (twice) and had a couple of beers and are ready to find the famed nightlife of Mumbai. We ended up at one of Mumbai's trendiest nightspots where the doorman (a smartly dressed guy, about fifty years old) acknowledged that his establishment may be lacking a little energy this evening and directed us ...

... goes down when you're out walking gives a bit of an eerie feel. There are no cars allowed in the village so the common modes of transport here are feet, horse or hand drawn rickshaw. We walked the last two kilometres up from the taxi park but wouldn't recommend it with full backpacks! On the way down we took the rickshaw option and it was well worth it.