Tour of Mahabaleswar: Saturday June 18

Don’t get me wrong, traveling alone has many advantages but at times it can get pretty lonely especially when you are not in a tour group where there are also fellow travelers. Going to Mahabaleswar during off-season could also be a recipe for disaster. The guidebook said that I should be able to take a local bus that charges a very small fee and will take me to most of the important drop points where I can see breathtaking scenery of Mahabaleswar. Unfortunately, there were no buses running the tour during off-season and so I was stuck paying a thousand rupees for 4-5 hours in a private cab. Really it’s quite a bargain...for western standards but still a lot of money nonetheless. I tried to force the driver to find me another group of ppl so that I only have to pay half...but he kinda laughed at the idea. Mahabaleswar during the monsoon is known to be a place where newly wed couples go for their honeymoon and it is close to nearly impossible to find anyone to share a cab with. And so I was stuck paying 1000 rupees if I wanted a tour of the place.

This kinda reminded me of the mixed-experience I had in Mumbai when the tour bus drove us around to see mediocre science museums and 3D theaters. I realized that I didn’t go to India to see these things but to be with the ppl and to learn from them. For me, it’s very much about cultural learning than anything else. The private tour was pretty cool...although rushed, b/c I can understand that he wanted to maximize his running time in one day. He drove very fast as we zoom down curve ridges that were probably at least 1000 feet up...and sometimes it would get so misty that visibility was reduced to nil. He’s a very good driver but I sometimes wonder whether he got into any life-threatening accidents.

 There were many small waterfalls on the way to Pratapgadh fort...we stopped at a decent size one for me to take a few pics. I wonder where all the water go...because I see this tunnel that channels all the water...probably down into the valley. We got to the fort...in less than no time and the driver informed me that I had about an hour to see this place. I was a little frustrated when I found out later that we could have spent at least 2 more hours here in the fort. The fort is really nice and would have offered some breathtaking views but unfortunately it is so misty in June that it felt like we were up somewhere above the clouds. As I walked up the hundreds of steps to the very walls of the fort, there were small settlements of ppl setting up their shops. I think that they probably also live in the fort. I’m a little jealous at how they have all these beautiful scenery all to themselves...but it must be a very hard life for the locals who stay here. The wind and cold can be a little too much at times.

I think the family also lives where they work...These steps led me to the fort

This is the wall of the fort and over it is at least a 50 foot drop.

The view over the fort...the landscape was completely covered by mist...it reminded me of the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon at the end when the girl jumped off the cliff and floated in the clouds.

 Next we drove to old Mahabaleswar to see a couple of temples. The darnest thing about India is that you cannot take pictures inside temples. So I didn’t want to risk the wrath of the priest who were on the lookout for any transgressor. But the temple was probably the most natural temple that I saw...simple but a very nice concept. There was cold natural water from 5 rivers that merged together entering the temple and the water comes out of a bull’s mouth. The locals would drink and wash their faces and heads; they also dip their feet in the pool too. I also stopped at another temple and you know what was really cool was actually talking to some of the locals there who were born in Mahabaleswar and have lived there for their entire lives. I wish I knew Hindi...our conservation would have been a lot better.

One of the important points: Kate's Point.

From there we went to a famous point that was a sheer 100 foot drop. Lots of greenery and little monkeys too. And believe it or not...my tour was over just like that. I was hella disappointed when they dropped me off at the lake when it was hardly even 1 in the afternoon. They told me that to get back to the main bazaar in town, I could walk the 2 km which takes roughly about 15 minutes. So I decided that it was probably best instead having them drop me directly into town.

I chilled at the lake for about half an hour before I decided to trek the main road back to town. I walked for about 20 minutes before I saw these steps that led me away from the main road. It didn’t take me long for me to make up mind to get away from the main road b/c there were still a lot of cars and traffic.
 

Main road leading back to town...but I decided to take a detour.

I walked up the steps and saw another side of Mahabaleswar...a more village and less traffic side. Locals were all studying me...I walked back and forth to see what was going on...and then continued to walk in the direction back to my hotel. Then I saw a sign that said if I wanted to go to Wilson Point...one of the 11 important points that one must see here in Mahabaleswar... I must go left. It didn’t take me long either to decide whether I want to walk back to the hotel or to the point. It was about 2 pm by now...and I checked with the guide book that said that Wilson Point is actually a good short hike and that one should get there before dusk if hiking. I walked in the direction of the point but also asking the locals if I’m going in the right direction. The whole experience felt like I was in some kinda fantasy video game or something.

Wilson Point...I think it's more of a plateau once I'm at the top

 I was probably the only one walking to the point. It was somewhat spooky and eery...since there was really no one around. One car passed me and was going in the opposite direction. There were so many times on this trip that I just wanted to turn back and walk straight back to the hotel b/c who knows what I was getting myself into...but again I thought a chance like this was not going to come again if I miss this opportunity. I guess there was a part in myself that just wanted to get lost in Mahabaleswar. And I’m glad I didn’t give in to my crazy and mindless fears. After trekking uphill for about 10 minutes, I finally got up to this flat plateau...It must be some kind of a plateau or something otherwise how the hell is it so flat...and it was wide and large too. There was this huge radio tower that reminds me of the one in SF. There...thank god I saw some ppl. It was encouraging because it was quite desolate for a very big beautiful place like Wilson Point.

Wilson Point is really quite a magical place. There I saw a farmer tending his oxens; he was all clad in a hoodie and shorts sitting on a rock looking all lonesome but happy. I thought about hanging around for about an hour before I head back but since I didn’t have a jacket with me...enduring the blistering wind can be quite something. I was there for about half an hour before I ran into a group of 11-12 IT workers who were from Mumbai and were spending their weekend exploring the different points in Mahabaleswar and the fort that I went to earlier in the morning. They were nice enough to actually take me along with them...when they figured that I was traveling all by myself and that I didn’t see all the points that I wanted to see in Mahabaleswar.

We hung out together for about 5 hours; had lunch and went to most of the important points but really having a really great time with people who were about my age. Really, all the important points were all fogged up. I like to tell ppl that the weather was so nice in Mahabaleswar that you could hardly see anything. The temperature was fantastic...while Delhi and the rest of India are suffering in the stifling heat of 100 to 110 degrees everyday...Mahabaleswar is really like a magical landscape where everything was so green and damp. The temperature hovers in the high 60s to low 70s. But everything was so misty that it really was impossible to see anything other than the clouds and fog.