Drive out of the city as quickly as possible to get to Lonavala Hill Station for a wonderful overnight in nature. Nice and relaxing after a couple days (and weeks?) of chaos and busyness.
Photo Gallery: https://pics.mattichan.com/-uwc146/gallery
Mumbai / Bombay
Got off the ship and met up with our guide Priya from ToursByLocals bright and early in the morning. Did a quick little half of a city tour on the way out of Mumbai. We started at the Zero Point, and then maade our way out of the city with a few stops as we went along.
St Thomas Cathedral
Quick stop and look at St Thomas Cathedral before the cruise ship buses came along with the very loud crowds of people (which we promptly left and moved on).
Beautiful cathedral that was walked around admiring.
My favorite part of the trip, I thought that this tile on quick glance said “BEAR ADMIRAL” and I was like…how do I become a BEAR admiral, I want that title…only to be amused and let down when I realized it was just a little bit of the marbling that was throwing me off. I might just start calling myself the bear admiral anyway.
Starbucks Reserve
Saw a Starbucks across the street so we ducked in real quick to check for a mug and found that there were a ton of alphonso mango seasonal products (apparently we were in season), so of course had to try some.
Fish Markets
Quick drive through the fish markets as we started toward exiting the city. Really interesting to see all the fish and all the workers. Was also really interesting to see the ice delivery people. Felt like something out of Frozen, but in a super hot climate.
Train Station and Square
Stopped real quick to see the train station as well with some fascinating architecture. Got some nice photos of the city before we left as well.
Train Station and Government Building
Some really nice architecture as well, even though I generally don’t know how to take photos of cities.
Drive to Lonavala Hill Station
On the way for Lonava, we saw a TON of flamingos, but also this billboard for a Data Resort, which gave me quite a chuckle as a data professional.
The Machan
We got to the Machan after a couple hours driving up and down through the hills. Nice to not have to drive ourselves, and we mostly rested and caught up on some sleep. Interspersed with our naps we got to learn about the city and surrounding area from our guide.
We were greeted at The Machan (“the lookout treetop”) and were greeted by some awesome views as we checked in.
Lunch
Had a quick lunch after check in. They had freshly made breads in a stone oven thing, and they were ALL delicious. We may have gone back for multiple trips and dishes to share them. I can eat naan all day long.
On the way out from the lunch venue, we noticed some of the stray cats that the signs had warned us about. They are very cute, but apparently not great for the environment they’ve set up there.
We stopped at the spa next door to double check the venue for Mom and Nate on the way back, then split up as we wandered back to the treehouse to settle in.
Walking Through the Resort
Just around the resort on the way back to our machan, saw a whole bunch of stuff just in the main area.
Saw a lot of flower life.
There was also a relaxing area with some table tennis, hammocks, and a fantastically large table with swing seats instead of chairs. Feel like we need one of those for home.
Some tiny (and not-so-tiny) insects along the way as well.
All sorts of birdlife as well. Lots of bulbuls which were very active and very visible with their rosy cheeks.
Lots of sunbirds as well which look different colors in different angles of the sunlight.
Of course, some regular squirrels (not the gigantic ones).
Around the main lake area there was a couple large birds doing their thing, just chilling, drinking and fishing.
Some lovely bee-eaters as well made an appearance (a lot less of them though).
Finally, on the long staircase (about 50 yards up hill) I almost ran straight into this big red lizard on a branch, so naturally stopped to snag a couple photos.
Information
Finally got to the room, and cooled off a little bit. Found also that there was a bunch of information waiting for us including a kind of janky map, which was kind of fun (almost like a treasure map) — definitely not to scale. We then set out to enjoy the resort a little bit. Nate and Mom scheduled some massages, and I went searching for wildlife and for a walk in the woods.
Took some first shots of the treehouse, which was really neat. It was two floors built literally around a big tree, which had branches going through the multiple floors. We had an inside bathroom and an outside bathroom as well, and Priya had her own room on the bottom floor of the treehouse (3 floors in total).
The views from both porches were amazing. Sat there for a bit to just enjoy the view and shade, just listening to the birds and watching them for a bit as well.
Afternoon Hike
Headed out after an hour of chilling in the room by myself while Nate and Mom were at the spa. Cooled off, and edited a bunch of photos from the side trip to Agra. As I headed out to my scheduled “guided hike” I got to the meeting point early and asked the guide what we were waiting for. Turns out that the guided hike was a group activity with other people at the resort that wanted to go, but it was just a hike down the trail loop.
As I waited, I headed out to the porch by the reception center and in the lake I heard a lot of commotion and found a TON of fish swimming up (I assume they wanted food), but it was kinda crazy to see them all jockeying for position to get up in search for food….fish brains…
Ended up just not wanting to wait for the whole group (and hiking with a group since large groups are usually really loud and scare off wildlife), so after consulting the guide, I headed out on the loop by myself.
The hike itself was pretty fun. I was searching for the gigantic squirrels that they apparently have here, but didn’t end up finding any, but I did find a ton of peaceful scenes, and just enjoyed myself on the trail by myself. I didn’t run into any people until the very end. Just to got to be in nature, slow down and just enjoy.
There was a tiny bit of life around, which I found on the trail :).
Sunset Point
Finished the hike and stumbled on the sunset point, and saw Mom walking up toward that way, so headed there for a bit to watch the sunset. It really was nice and spectacular. As the sun set over the horizon a couple families were there enjoying the peace and quiet (kind of the whole point of the resort and spa areas), and this other family came running up and yelling, and they started walking in front of people blocking their views, etc. It was really obnoxious and annoying and a few of us just side-eyed each other and then left the area. Headed back for a quick shower and to get ready to meet back up with the family and Priya to get ready for dinner.
Dinner
Went to dinner with the fam and we had a truly splendid time eating all the foods. More importantly, we snagged the swing table and I (for one) really enjoyed eating and swinging, and I would love a table like that back home…for board games, for food, for really anything…
Stargazing
We had one last activity booked with the staff, and they took us stargazing. There was not a ton of light pollution from the city (although we could still see the two cities in each direction from the hill station, but we had a TON of light from the resort below us. Still, we were able to see and explore a bunch of the stars. Mostly Nate likes interacting with guides, so was talking back to the guide and answering / asking questions with the rest of the group while I wandered a bit to take photos.
At one point, he used the laser pointer to point out some constellations and ruined my long(ish) exposures, but they make for some interesting photos…
Got back to the room, and Nate and Mom went to bed while I processed some photos and keep chipping away at getting caught up.
Vibe Check
5 parts joy – love nature…
Feedback
Leave a comment or question if you have any thoughts! Anything you want to know about as we go around the world? Any things you want to share as feedback, or any images that particularly spoke to you. I’ll try to read all of them as time permits!
Matti 
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