I love to travel and explore new places. Finding one reason or the other or sometimes travel because there’s no other reason. This time the reason was – How can I be away from mountains for so long??? Well, I thought to myself, this is a good enough reason to escape the so called fast city life and explore a new place. It was around 6.00 pm on Friday when this thought crossed my mind. I had this small place called Lansdowne on my mind for quite a long time but always been in two minds about going to the place. But this time I thought of giving it a shot as I had only 2 days at my hand. Finalized a property called Prem Sadan. Wrapped up my work quickly and headed straight for home. Packed a few things, the most important of which is my camera and the music dock. Had two glasses of wine before retiring to bed. I was as excited as a kid who has studied everything for his exam the next day but still has some butterflies in the stomach.
It was 3.30 am in the morning when the alarm rang. Hate waking up to the sound of the alarm clock but this was different. I was on my feet the first time the alarm rang , usually alarm is snoozed a couple of times and its only after a few curses that I get up. Picked up the stuff and I was on my way. It was 4 .30 am when I cranked my beast. The route that I decided to follow was GURGAON- MEERUT-BIJNOR-KOTDHWAR-LANSDOWNE. It’s about 270 kms from Gurgaon. Drive was smooth with no traffic jams thru out the journey, thanks to my habit of leaving early specially for long drives. Cool morning breeze outside and Better Together playing by Jack Johnson was the perfect combination for a good long drive.
It was time for my bed tea. 7.30 am by my watch and I was standing by the side of River Ganga just before Bijnor. The Tea vendor had just started putting up his stall. Started for onwards journey after enjoying my tea and by this time road was starting to get busy. Crossed Bijnor, Kiratpur, Nijababad and Kotdwar following NH119 thru out. Road was good thru out apart from few kilometers of rough patches here and there. It is after Kotdwar when you feel that all the effort of waking up at 3.30 was actually worthwhile. Lansdowne is around 40 Kms from Kotdwar. The hill road starts and landscape changes. There a river running with you and clouds play hide n seek. Took a small break and parked my car near to river. With Mohit Chauhan singing BABAJI HUMKO DEDO PARVATI SE JO LAYE HO.. it was a feeling which is hard to be put into words, a feeling which you have to be there to feel it, soak it. It was all cloudy with a little drizzle. After stopping there for almost half an hour, I decided to move on to the destination. Situated at an altitude of 1700 mts above sea level, Lansdowne is headquarters for Garwal Rifles. It was founded way back in 1887 by British and named after the Viceroy Lord Lansdowne. Presently around 1500 new recruits are churned out every six months from this small hill station. There are somewhere around 200 rooms in and around Lansdowne. So in peak season it’s always better to pre book and come. I stayed in Prem Sadan Lodge. Prem Sadan literally means A House Where Love Resides !!!! And believe me it lives upto it’s name. A beautiful 100 years old bunglow right in Lansdowne but still away from the crowded market. As it is said that home is made beautiful and peaceful by the people who live in it, this holds true for Prem Sadan. Prem Sadan is home of an amazing couple Rajeev Anand and Neera Anand. They have taken retirement from their fast paced lives from metros and settled in this ancestral property. Don’t expect luxury but expect Unlimited Love. Rajeev knows the place like the back of his hand and will help you with all the queries you have. He and Neera both are actively involved in the social service in the area. I stayed with them for just a night in August this year and I’m ready to be with them for New Year celebrations too!!!! You can checkout the photos in my blog
https://karantraveller.blogspot.in/2012/12/home-stay-in-true-sense-prem-sadan.html