Its ‘sultry hot & humid’ winter days here in Mumbai & I wanted to write something.. so I just switched on the AC & as the room got chilled, my mind took me back to Mussoorie, & as the temptation grew, I just couldn’t wait to write all of my short, yet f-a-n-t-a-b-u-l-o-u-s visit to this lucullan destination.
“ High up above in the world, in the extreme north of Uttaranchal( formerly U.P), the clouds swirl down to touch the Himalayas, smattering them with affectionate layers of fresh snow.” This famous quote from Binoy Gupta’s write up served as an inspiration to me to start my review as I found it the most convenient to express whatever I wanted to.
Mussoorie, famous for its scenic beauty, heartwarming views & a ‘spicy’ cold climate, makes it the most fascinating of all hill resorts in India & also that the Britishers rightfully named it, ” the Queen of the hills.” It commands a near supreme view of the extensive Himalayan snow ranges in the north-west & the mind boggling picturesque view of the Doon valley, Roorkee & Haridwar in the south. My visit to Mussorie was for 2 days, through a package tour & 2 to 3 days at this place are more than enough for a tourist. Mussoorie is located at an altitude of 2003 mtrs & the temperatures are quite cozy at around 16-24 degrees. Mussoorie is well connected by road as Dehradun ie, 61 kms, which serves as the gateway to Mussoorie, is the nearest rail & road head & is very well linked with all the major cities in the country. Mussoorie boasts of some very good accommodation suiting everyone’s pockets.
Among a few hotels, I would recommend are Jaypee Residency Manor, Shiva Continental & Green Castle. There are also many others as the Garhwal Vikas Mandal Nigam( GMVN) offers hotel & dorm facilities( around 1300-1600 bucks for deluxe). My stay was at Shiva Continental & its also a nice hotel as the room which I got provided a superb view of the snow clad mountain ranges. The fact that the hotel lifts take people down to their rooms surprised me, as we normally we have lifts going up to the rooms!! Evenings are very fast & it turns dark by almost 6 pm. I really made a mess of my stay as I purposely didn’t carry along any woolen wear. But for a change for we urbanites, this cold & chilly climate is really a damn good break, as I freaked around the mall in shorts( a sight rare to see in such chilly places!!). So heavy woolen wear is STRICTLY RECOMMENDED for u all. The nights are the best part of Mussoorie as the entire hill station looks as if a mountain is studded with priceless gems at its peak & rightly so…I decided to take a walk around at night through the mall road & I would recommend a few things from that: the food esp. the non veg varieties which are available in the local restaurants along the mall, is just too good, & very reasonably priced as compared to the food one would get in his/her hotels. Do shop for woolen items & handicrafts & try to bargain as much as possible. Being a foodie, I had a blast as I enjoyed egg omlettes & local stuff like hot kachoris etc, because once you are at home, you don’t eat out. The food was of real good quality, as browsing through the menus, who would expect Butter chicken for 50 bucks!!...No way & also keeping the quantity in mind.
Carrying on…the region becomes intensely cold in winter & the recommended seasons to visit are between April to July or September to November. There are lots-n-lots of interesting around Mussoorie & Mussoorie itself has umpteen tourist spots where you can have real peace, away from the chatter of the city. By the way…this is a very interesting thing that happened to me & is a caution for you all, so read along…
Nearly all hotels, more or less are located in hill slopes & are very usually frequented by our great ancestors…yes…monkeys & that too, not alone, but with their entire families..( Bin bulaye mehmaan padhare!!).So hotel authorities strictly advise tourists to close their windows & sleep. But I had a problem…if I closed the windows the room would get choked up, and as I really couldn’t resist the suffocation, I opened up all the windows at night, covered them with the curtains & saying, ’ jo bhi hoga dekha jaayega.’ But I didn’t realize the horror awaiting me in the morning. Mornings come very fast at around 6 odd & I came out of my lovely dream to find someone waking me up & that too by my side. First few stances I dodnt budge to wake up, but the moment I opened my eyes…it was the most terrifying moment, as……. A gang of our ancestors, big & small, were all over my room, feasting upon my snacks, wearing my hat!!! & drinking water. It was indeed a warm welcome to the morning, but I couldn’t believe my eyes as I raced out of the room. I tried to shoo them away but, as it’s a custom in our country that u shouldn’t shoo away uninvited guests, I tried as little as possible as all my attempts with the blanket, mat & my shoes were futile, as ‘bade papa’ started to get furious!! To make matters worse he had my hat on his head & this reminded me of the childhood tale of the capseller & the monkeys!! My mind wasn’t clicking, so I hurried to the reception upstairs, got a few waiters & sticks & within moments, the ‘guests’ were shooed away. Luckily, ’ bade papa’ forgot to take the hat along & this would have been a cool photograph, but I missed it out of fear. Good thing that in the morning Lord Hanuman paid a visit & bad thing that all my snacks including chivdas, cream biscuits, & mentos were finished. It was a good karma as I fed my gr888 ancestors, unintentionally!!! So, plzzz beware of monkeys here & whenever they come to u, don’t try to shoo them away, instead, give them li’l tit-bits of food & they’ll go off. This is also the greatest lesson I learnt in dealing with animals. So, that morning as our group gathered for breakfast, I was in the center of laughs around as my mates couldn’t hold their stomachs laughing loudly!!!
We proceeded to visit Kempty falls which is 15 kms away. The roads wind through lush green vegetation as u get see pines, oaks & mighty deodars all around u. Keep the camera with u always as u shall find endless no. of shots to be shot, as one view always gets better than the other & dont forget to take in lungfuls of the clean, clear & pristine air. For people not having private vehicles, the GMVN undertakes half day tours to Kempty falls, departures at 0900 & 1300 hrs( check local listings) for Rs.80 & full day tour of Mussoorie for Rs.150. Do try out local fruits like Kafal, which are available at very very nominal rates. Kempty falls are the biggest & perhaps the prettiest of all the waterfalls, in Mussoories vicinity. The best thing about this falls is that they are located in a picturesque valley, surrounded by high mountains. The falls almost seem like as if milk is falling on the rocks & not water. One more feature that these falls have water, throughout the year. Don’t at all forget to take a dip( its really very chiillllyy), some snaps & an early morning visit is suggested as eventually the place becomes crowded. Next up is the place called Gun hill, which is the 2nd highest in the point in the city it offers a panoramic view of the surroundings of the snow clad mountains in the north. Do take a visit to Sir George Everest’s( the 1st surveyor general of India) house, for some very special nostalgia.
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