At its core, Diwali is the celebration of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and love and forgiveness over all. Families come together to share meals, new clothes are bought, and lights are lit in the form of candles or lanterns around the house. It's also full of idiots in the street, drunk, shooting off home made fireworks with no concern for anyone else's safety, let alone their own.
So, we decided to take this Diwali break and head for the hills outside of Mumbai. We booked ourselves at the Hilton Shillim Estate Retreat and Spa in the Sahyadri mountain range of the Western Ghats. It's an all villa 'hotel' that's just under two years old and only two hours outside of Mumbai.
I picked up my colleague at 7am and with Google Maps in hand, we were off. That early there is very little traffic so we were out of Mumbai and on the freeway in no time. The first real traffic we encountered was when the road begins to ascend the mountains. Apparently, most of the other drivers had never heard, or mastered, the down shift. Seriously, it was ridiculous - zig zagging around cars and trucks coming to a near halt on the road, in all lanes, rather than down shifting.
Soon, though, we were off the highway and on the local 'road' to the Hotel Estate. Field of rice patties and wheat for miles, very few people, and gorgeous view were all we saw until we suddenly came upon the gate where we were quickly met by the valet attendant and whisked inside the reception villa.
Check in was smooth and we were taken to our villa by mini-car. It was lovely, and our stay was lovely, and it was the perfect escape. We walked everywhere we could and barely saw any other people. We did, however see a mongoose!
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