8. Exploring the Garhwal Hills

Landour and Mussoorie

I remember in school a friend of mine would spend her summer vacations in Mussoorie, every year, and talk about it the rest of the year. Rajeev, too, is rather nostalgic about his childhood vacations spent there.  I on the other hand managed to see it for the first time just a few years back. I feel quite the same when I am looking at these pictures today. There is something about Mussoorie! -  maybe it is the old world charm or the scenic beauty or because of its small size it feels so cosy and homely. The lovely houses some with funny warnings to nosy tourists and popular legends and stories around everything - all tend to add to the charm and enchantment of this little hill station.

The Mussoorie hills seen from Dehradun

Don't miss the joke in "NO TRESPASSING VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED"

                   (a grammatical omission can reverse the meaning)

We were staying right at the top in Landour cantt, where you have the Doordarshan Kendra with its landmark tower. We would walk down to the little shopping centre called ‘Char Dukan’ early in the morning, the mountain air crisp and a few rays of the morning sun breaking free through the mist and pine trees, adding a sparkle to the dew drops hanging from the pine needles. 

A monkey in the cold, outside our room asking to be let in :-<

   Winding mountain road

looking for birds of course!

Contrasting colours

Sometimes I saw a Treecreeper bird creeping up this tree but the camouflage is so good I couldn't take a picture in time but Rajeev got a video

pine cones in the making

We patronised Anil’s café out of the ‘Char Dukan’ ('four shops', of course there are many more now), for our morning cuppa while our breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup (or something equally interesting) was being prepared in front of us!

Anil's Cafe in 'Char Dukan'

Over breakfast we would decide which side to walk; - yes, you can see practically the whole of Landour and Mussoorie on foot. The first day we took the 4 km Circular walk (Rajeev says it was 3 km – well, it felt like 4 to me). You see these landmark sights along the way.

The Kellog's Memorial Church

'The Parsonage', the house of Victor Banerjee "rabid thespian" (self proclaimed)

This is the Sister’s Bazaar area, called so because some nuns who worked as nurses in the British hospital lived here. The dormitory can still be seen. Many famous people have their summer homes here, like Tom Alter, Pronnoy Roy, Dev Anand and Victor Banerjee. Rajeev is posing with this interesting fiery painting on the wall outside Victor Banerjee's house, said to have been made to remove a curse on the house! Adds to the romance of the place I guess. I found the warning “Beware, Rabid Thespian Inside” outside his house quite amusing but couldn’t have taken a picture without trespassing.

Rajeev with the 'fire goddess'

Outside the old Christian Cemetry which has graves dating back to the 1830s

We befriended this punk beauty queen on the way

Saw this blue thrush too

View of the snow clad peaks from Lal Tibba

While at Sister's Bazaar a visit to Prakash Brother's Store is a must. We picked up some home made Cheddar cheese (recipe passed down by the Sisters) and really relished the cinnamon doughnuts.

The next day we walked down to the Mall Road – extending from the Library Bazaar to Palace Cinema. It was a trip down memory lane for Rajeev and he was excited like a kid seeing a lion mural on the wall, a dilapidated hotel, the band stand taken over by homeless people etc.

I could barely keep him from climbing the lion as he did in childhood.

pleased as a punch!

The Band Stand

Mimicing The Mahatma

The landmark State Bank building, built in anticipation of Queen Victoria's visit

Royal emblem on the railing

Ropeway to Gunhill 400ft above The Mall

After this long walk climbing 4km up to Landour was not too welcome so we climbed into a Maruti van which ply point to point. I can tell you it was more thrilling than an auto ride in Delhi. We decided to stick to trekking.

The third day we took a bus to Kempty Falls from the Picture Palace Bus stand.

The Falls from far

The ropeway trip to the Falls

We are not part of that crowd. Vicarious fun is all we had!

Saw the lovely Blue Mormon butterfly but even after chasing them for hours couldn't get a picture.
One person without whose mention this post looked incomplete is Mr Ruskin Bond. Our wild-life enthusiast friend, Vishal tried to get an appointment from him, but he was unfortunately sick at the time. There's always a next time.

Dehradun

Spent a few days with our friends Mr and Mrs R.S. Sharma in Dehradun and got to see some interesting places.

The Forest Research Institute in Dehradun

The rings denote the age of the tree

Sahastradhara

The Robber's Cave or Guchhu Pani

Check out the above video of the Robber's Cave, where apparently robbers would hide after waylaying people. Today you see a butterfly and people having a blast in the water.

                       Tapkeshwar Temple, Dehradun. Online Darshan!

 Chakrata and Rajaji Forest

A couple of interesting overnight trips to the Rajaji Forest and Chakrata added spice to our stay in Dehradun. Trekking up 9 km on a mountain to Chakrata, with not another soul save the 2 of us was a terrific experience. We only met a cowherd on the way, looking for his wayward cattle. But the news of our approach  reached the caretaker of the Forest Rest House at the top of the hill, much before us. Modern technology, somehow, is redundant in these places.

Take a virtual trek up this beautiful path to Chakrata, with me.

Sunrise in Chakrata

               

     Listen to Rajeev waxing eloquent about the beautiful sunrise of Chakrata in the video above.

Few animal sightings in the Rajaji National Park

There's a stag in the distance

That is Yogi an orphan baby elephant, reared by the forest officials. He had a young boy as a mahout, both of them will grow up together - forever friends!

This wonderful experience left us wanting more. The next year we were back exploring the Himalayas, on a mystical journey of Kedarnath and Badrinath. That will require to be a separate post. Till then.........