If you want to get away from the maddening crowds then Vakratund Cottage is the best place to stay.
We travelled from Nerul ( Navi

Mumbai ), left home at around 7 am on 18th morning, reached Neral by the Karjat Train via Thane, at about 11am. From there we hired a cab and reached Matheran at about 10:30am. It takes you about 20 minutes by cab, rather than the toy train which is pretty slow, crowded,noisy, and takes around 2 hours to reach the same destination.
From there upto the cottage is another half an hours walk , so we reached the cottage by noon, just in time for lunch.
If you leave early in the morning by 5,you will be able to reach on time by 8am, and its not too crowded also at that time.

We were a bit apprehensive since we only read the reviews of Vakratund Cottage but we appreciate the service provided to us by Mr & Mrs. Rane the owners of the Guest House, who saw  to each and every detail.The stay was value for money, the owners are hospitable people, and make you feel at home.The food is quite good,home cooked food, better than eating at the hotels, in fact I would wait to go back to the guest house to relish the yummy meal cooked at the cottage.

          

If you are at Matheran, you have to do some trekking, sight seeing, shopping - the place is famous for honey, juices, chikki, and fudge.
Mode of travel is by horse or by hand pulled rickshaw, both of which are expensive!!
A horse ride is a different experience & adventure by itself, and should be experienced if you have come for the first time to this place.
There’s always a thrill if you do things for the first time and Matheran is a place for people who love adventure basically.
The weather was cool & pleasant we could manage without the fan.

We left on the 20th at around 3pm and reached home by 645pm.
The approximate time of travel depends upon train schedule as well.

On the whole it was a lovely trip & we would definitely want to explore the place again if we get an oppurtunity to do so.

A suggestion to first time travellers is to carry a torch - lot of power cuts in the night,sunglasses, no mosquitos, lot of fleas during the day, carry a big kerchief to keep them away, take the road as far as possible not the tracks, and wear sneakers to be prepared to walk a lot !! That reminds me carry an extra pair of socks and a cloth to clean your shoes as they could get dirty due to the red mud.The socks should be thick to protect your feet from getting sore.
And carry a cap / scarf if possible comes in handy in the mornings while going for trekking.
Since we did not eat anything from out,there was no question of food poisoning, though we did carry medicines as a precaution.
The owner had warned us regarding eating stuff from road side stalls, so its a complete no no since you do not know what water they use for lime juice etc... take care of these things !
Eating raw mango & cucumber is fine.
Not forgetting the monkeys,( be careful of keeping ur rooms open & eatables in the open), they can be a real nuisance!
They serve only veg food at Vakratund guest house you will have to pay extra for non veg food, but the veg food is quite tasty and no regrets at all for ordering veg stuff ! In fact though we eat non veg we relished the vegetarian home cooked food which is healthy also in the long run.


THANKS FOR YOUR FEED BACK GUYS !!
WELL THE OWNERS NAME IS MR RAJAN RANE
HIS CONTACT NO IS 9869947122 / 25040751
My husband & I love travelling will keep you posted with other places we have visited.

We paid Rs. 2700/- for a 2 night 3 day stay inclusive of food which we felt was economical & food was good !!

Regards

Avina

Type of Travel:	Weekend Getaway
Duration of Stay:	2 days only
Average Expenditure:	Budget (less than Rs.1000/day)
Group Size:	Ten to twenty
Best Suited For:	Friends
Best Time to Travel:	Mar - May