We had our ticket booked on Mussoorie Express scheduled to depart at 10:15pm on Saturday, 5th July, 2008. We planned on going by car from our home in Ghaziabad to the Old Delhi railway station. We left by 9pm, only to be stuck in a bad traffic jam near the Delhi border for precious 30 minutes. I was running against time and was not too sure of the precise directions I had to follow. Just to feel more alert, I switched off the car AC and turned off the music. Exactly at 10:12pm, I had managed to park my car in the station’s parking area. With three minutes to go, I had low hopes of catching the train, but I had made up my mind that in case I miss the train, I would drive down in the car to Lansdowne. Nevertheless, someone told us the way to the entrance about 200mts away. I put the briefcase on my head like a coolie, and took all the bags, and walked quickly towards the entrance. Pooja, my wife, followed me with Pari in her arms. We got to the station, climbed the stairs and walked on a bit to find the platform. Time now was 10:18pm. We literally flew down the stairs to see trains still there on both sides of the platform. I asked loudly, “ Bhaisaheb, ye Mussoorie express kaun si hai?” (Please picture me here, a guy looking worried and hassled, with a briefcase on his head and a couple of bags around his shoulders with a wife with a baby in pursuit… Funny, isn’t it?) Someone pointed to the correct one and told me in a nonchalant manner that I am going to miss it. I walked on and shouted that I was looking for B2, my coach. Luckily I found it quickly, boarded it and ran to occupy seats booked for me and Pooja on the coach. Whew!!!! What a knockout adventure this was….a race against time! Finally, we settled in, and the train left at 10:20pm. Thank God it was running 5 minutes late!!!
We reached Kotdwar a little after 6am on 6th July. It’s a small station with just one platform. We walked out and saw a couple of cabbies shouting and inviting people for Lansdowne and Pauri. We got in and the cab left at 7am after it had about 10 passengers including me and Pooja. From the humid weather in Kotdwar, me and Pooja were not sure if Lansdowne would be any better. Anyways, we started anticipating while looking outside the cab window. The route from Kotdwar to Lansdowne is really eye catching since you tend to go round and round the hills and keep ascending in altitude. You see lots of greenery and trees and start to feel fresh. It seems like you had made the right choice to come here. On the way, you hear a stream running beside the road and feel great. The mobile signal goes off which is again a bliss in disguise.A gentleman in the cab, who was a Lansdowne veteran told us that this Cantonment hill station is the cleanest and most peaceful. He told us that we were going ”above the clouds”. He also told us that we could stay with him in case we were not able to find a place to stay. (I found out here that people here are nice, warm and friendly) Someone at Lansdowne’s entrance charged us a rupee per head for entrance to Lansdowne. Well!! We drove on and halted at the market area next to Gandhi park. The fare was 40 bucks per head. Well, not bad!
The weather was nice and pleasant with an overcast sky and a striking contrast to Kotdwar. We finalized our room with the Mayur Hotel owner, in one of his properties a stone’s throw from the market. We ate paranthas with butter, had pakoras and tea at Mayur and waited for our room to be vacated and cleaned. We finally got in the room at 11am or so.
The first day after resting for a while, we went for a trip to Bhulla Lake, the manmade lake in Lansdowne. Well, what I can say here is that the journey was better than the destination. It was pure bliss trekking down the crests and troughs on our path. The roads are well built and clean. No garbage was to be seen anywhere. We saw beautiful green trees, even their trunks were embalmed with green leaves. Most of the trees we saw as we walked by had placards with the name of the tree on them. I can recall that “Pangar” tree was the most common. Stairs and walls of houses on the way were covered with green fungus, pleasing and soothing to the eye. You could hear birds chirping in the distance. There was not a soul in sight. You could just walk on and on, lost in your thoughts, which could range from anything to nothing. Finally we reached the lake which was a small, non descript lake. Nothing great about it. What was nice, however, was the lovely weather, the cool breeze and the clouds that seemed to be at the same level as us. We did some boating, and got a bit tired due to the paddling and came out. On our way back, we saw a couple of cute rabbits in an enclosure there who kept coming towards where I stood. We trekked back to the hotel enjoying every bit of the walk. In the evening, while we were standing in the market circle, we saw clouds approaching. In a minute everything was covered in a white blanket. There was a slight nip the air, but the experience was heavenly. This was a scene we would remember for many nights. We went back and rested. I had already got my soda and royal stag in place along with the snacks. (The Shop for booze is close to Mayur) After a good dinner and a couple of drinks, I slept like a baby.
The next day we decided to cover Tip and Top. Me, Pooja and Pari (in the carry bag) trekked all the way. I kept shooting on my handycam and kept clicking pictures. The first stop was at Saint John’s church, and although it was closed, we asked for it to be opened, sat for a couple of minutes and went on after a while. We waited a bit since it started to rain which stopped suddenly after a while. We walked on to Saint Mary church, which was closed but had a great view point. Sitting there on benches, you could see green mountains, a lovely valley and clouds below and in front of you. Pari was crying, so she had to be fed from the view point. We rested for a while and walked on towards Tip and Top. It started to get cloudy once we reached there. We had tea there from a single vendor and enjoyed the expanse of the valley from there. The sight was so awesome and peaceful that I cannot explain it in words. Suddenly, things changed. Slowly, we saw an avalanche of white cover the valley and us completely and it became cold. It then started to rain. We took shelter in GMVN guest house shed where another family joined us later. After the rain ceased, we clicked pictures, shot some more video and walked back. (Worth pointing out here that we had just one umbrella and got drenched on our way back. Our clothes had to be dried only in Delhi after our return!!)
The next day we covered Kaleshwar temple and Durga Temple. This was a trek which went down from the marked and then went uphill. Views again were nice and lovely. On our way we heard the Army band at practice and an army class in progress in the open air. Wow, what a place to learn! We went in a circle from Market to Kaleshwar to Durga temple to Lansdowne main road to back to Lansdowne market. The temple was a nice location overlooking the lovely valley. Both temples were built and maintained by Army personnel.
Last day in Lansdowne, we covered Tip and Top and Santoshi Mata temple by Jeep. He charged us 150 bucks to cover these two places. The weather was clear and we enjoyed the views much better. The expanse of the valley could be seen clearly. Me and Pooja enjoyed a lot. We came back, rested for a while and then left Lansdowne by the same cab. We reached Kotdwar early at around 6:30, and waited there in the AC waiting room till 9 before boarding the train. Kotdwar does not have a cloak room so we were not able to venture around.
The train left at around 10pm and we reached back Delhi at 8am on 10th July. We took our car, paid 440 bucks for the parking (what!) and came back home. I wrote this blog the same day.
What I loved about Lansdowne was the peace and beauty it had to offer. It has only a couple of hotels (army doesn’t allow more to be built), so you would not have a horde of tourists rushing towards its view points. It’s a clean and well maintained cantonment, and polythene plastic bags are banned. You keep walking into clouds or running into them! The people there are friendly and warm and willing to guide you on what to do and where to go in Lansdowne. You feel like eating a lot here, and then you burn off the calories by trekking! You tend to sleep well here, free of all worries. No mobile signals here except BSNL, so you can avoid all those calls from office and the real world. The real disconnect from the world. You just tend to gape awestruck at the beauty of nature here, the valley, the hills are a treat for sore eyes.
A place good enough to go and say to yourself, "Ok, when am I coming here next!!!!"
Varun
6pm, Thursday, 10th July 2008
We reached Kotdwar a little after 6am on 6th July. It’s a small station with just one platform. We walked out and saw a couple of cabbies shouting and inviting people for Lansdowne and Pauri. We got in and the cab left at 7am after it had about 10 passengers including me and Pooja. From the humid weather in Kotdwar, me and Pooja were not sure if Lansdowne would be any better. Anyways, we started anticipating while looking outside the cab window. The route from Kotdwar to Lansdowne is really eye catching since you tend to go round and round the hills and keep ascending in altitude. You see lots of greenery and trees and start to feel fresh. It seems like you had made the right choice to come here. On the way, you hear a stream running beside the road and feel great. The mobile signal goes off which is again a bliss in disguise.A gentleman in the cab, who was a Lansdowne veteran told us that this Cantonment hill station is the cleanest and most peaceful. He told us that we were going ”above the clouds”. He also told us that we could stay with him in case we were not able to find a place to stay. (I found out here that people here are nice, warm and friendly) Someone at Lansdowne’s entrance charged us a rupee per head for entrance to Lansdowne. Well!! We drove on and halted at the market area next to Gandhi park. The fare was 40 bucks per head. Well, not bad!
The weather was nice and pleasant with an overcast sky and a striking contrast to Kotdwar. We finalized our room with the Mayur Hotel owner, in one of his properties a stone’s throw from the market. We ate paranthas with butter, had pakoras and tea at Mayur and waited for our room to be vacated and cleaned. We finally got in the room at 11am or so.
The first day after resting for a while, we went for a trip to Bhulla Lake, the manmade lake in Lansdowne. Well, what I can say here is that the journey was better than the destination. It was pure bliss trekking down the crests and troughs on our path. The roads are well built and clean. No garbage was to be seen anywhere. We saw beautiful green trees, even their trunks were embalmed with green leaves. Most of the trees we saw as we walked by had placards with the name of the tree on them. I can recall that “Pangar” tree was the most common. Stairs and walls of houses on the way were covered with green fungus, pleasing and soothing to the eye. You could hear birds chirping in the distance. There was not a soul in sight. You could just walk on and on, lost in your thoughts, which could range from anything to nothing. Finally we reached the lake which was a small, non descript lake. Nothing great about it. What was nice, however, was the lovely weather, the cool breeze and the clouds that seemed to be at the same level as us. We did some boating, and got a bit tired due to the paddling and came out. On our way back, we saw a couple of cute rabbits in an enclosure there who kept coming towards where I stood. We trekked back to the hotel enjoying every bit of the walk. In the evening, while we were standing in the market circle, we saw clouds approaching. In a minute everything was covered in a white blanket. There was a slight nip the air, but the experience was heavenly. This was a scene we would remember for many nights. We went back and rested. I had already got my soda and royal stag in place along with the snacks. (The Shop for booze is close to Mayur) After a good dinner and a couple of drinks, I slept like a baby.
The next day we decided to cover Tip and Top. Me, Pooja and Pari (in the carry bag) trekked all the way. I kept shooting on my handycam and kept clicking pictures. The first stop was at Saint John’s church, and although it was closed, we asked for it to be opened, sat for a couple of minutes and went on after a while. We waited a bit since it started to rain which stopped suddenly after a while. We walked on to Saint Mary church, which was closed but had a great view point. Sitting there on benches, you could see green mountains, a lovely valley and clouds below and in front of you. Pari was crying, so she had to be fed from the view point. We rested for a while and walked on towards Tip and Top. It started to get cloudy once we reached there. We had tea there from a single vendor and enjoyed the expanse of the valley from there. The sight was so awesome and peaceful that I cannot explain it in words. Suddenly, things changed. Slowly, we saw an avalanche of white cover the valley and us completely and it became cold. It then started to rain. We took shelter in GMVN guest house shed where another family joined us later. After the rain ceased, we clicked pictures, shot some more video and walked back. (Worth pointing out here that we had just one umbrella and got drenched on our way back. Our clothes had to be dried only in Delhi after our return!!)
The next day we covered Kaleshwar temple and Durga Temple. This was a trek which went down from the marked and then went uphill. Views again were nice and lovely. On our way we heard the Army band at practice and an army class in progress in the open air. Wow, what a place to learn! We went in a circle from Market to Kaleshwar to Durga temple to Lansdowne main road to back to Lansdowne market. The temple was a nice location overlooking the lovely valley. Both temples were built and maintained by Army personnel.
Last day in Lansdowne, we covered Tip and Top and Santoshi Mata temple by Jeep. He charged us 150 bucks to cover these two places. The weather was clear and we enjoyed the views much better. The expanse of the valley could be seen clearly. Me and Pooja enjoyed a lot. We came back, rested for a while and then left Lansdowne by the same cab. We reached Kotdwar early at around 6:30, and waited there in the AC waiting room till 9 before boarding the train. Kotdwar does not have a cloak room so we were not able to venture around.
The train left at around 10pm and we reached back Delhi at 8am on 10th July. We took our car, paid 440 bucks for the parking (what!) and came back home. I wrote this blog the same day.
What I loved about Lansdowne was the peace and beauty it had to offer. It has only a couple of hotels (army doesn’t allow more to be built), so you would not have a horde of tourists rushing towards its view points. It’s a clean and well maintained cantonment, and polythene plastic bags are banned. You keep walking into clouds or running into them! The people there are friendly and warm and willing to guide you on what to do and where to go in Lansdowne. You feel like eating a lot here, and then you burn off the calories by trekking! You tend to sleep well here, free of all worries. No mobile signals here except BSNL, so you can avoid all those calls from office and the real world. The real disconnect from the world. You just tend to gape awestruck at the beauty of nature here, the valley, the hills are a treat for sore eyes.
A place good enough to go and say to yourself, "Ok, when am I coming here next!!!!"
Varun
6pm, Thursday, 10th July 2008
i just love that top picture with the trees and fog. it's so eerie.
ReplyDelete(Please picture me here, a guy looking worried and hassled, with a briefcase on his head and a couple of bags around his shoulders with a wife with a baby in pursuit… Funny, isn’t it?) actually .. i felt a connection here .. difference is that i am still single [:p]
ReplyDeletehi, I'm currently living in Noida.
ReplyDeletecan you pls give me some idea about how to reach Lansdowne from Delhi?