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Mussoorie

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Mussoorie
shashank chauhan@blueguitar
Jul 02, 2002 06:04 PM, 5748 Views
(Updated Apr 21, 2003)
The Himalayan Journey : Dhanolti Phase (Part 1

This isn’t about Mussoorie. The summer capital of the British has for sure lost its immense natural beauty and peaceful environment, which gave it the title of The Queen Of The Himalayas. A visit to Himalayas is often inspired by the quest for peace and search for eternal bliss. However constant commercialization of hill stations like Mussoorie results in the loss of the very charm for which they are famous. But then men, who love the Himalayas truly, who always look forward to discovering the myths and mysteries of the great Himalayas do find some place or the other to satisfy them.


New Year was coming and this was our last year of great College life. In a few days we were all supposed to enter the new phase of life and of course all the friends were to be separated from each other. Nostalgic at heart, we decided to spend a few days at some cool, serene, peaceful place whereby we could relive all our college memories before finally saying goodbye. And so came up the idea of celebrating the New Year at Dhanolti some 25 Km away from Mussoorie.


Booking at the GMVN guesthouse was already done and so we reached Dhanolti on 31st afternoon. There were still no snowfalls in the region and we were disappointed a bit. However the beautiful surroundings of Dhanolti were good enough to soar our spirits. The great Himalayan countryside, nice and loving folks and beautiful sceneries of snow clad mountain peaks; Dhanolti was a perfect place, just the kind of place we were looking for. After exploring the place a bit we thought of venturing into the countryside surrounding it. There was a road which the shopkeeper told lead to some village in the valley. Interaction with the village folks was a great experience and though they did not have much to offer but a cup of tea with a smile on face was more than enough to show their gentle attitude towards us. ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (Treat Your Guest As Your God) is what our religious books say and there couldn’t have been a better example than this. As evening paved the way for the night we took our way back to the guesthouse. At the dinner table the cook told us of a way to experience the snowfall. Actually the whole theory was that due to low temperatures at night the dew that had fallen used to get frozen and so gave the impression of snow. According to our cook such phenomenon happened in places receiving less sunlight and one such place was some 2-3 km away at the Mussoorie-Tehri highway. So 11:00 pm in the night was decided as the time for the nightly adventure. Since people usually does not halt at Dhanolti (Mussoorie being the better place specially if one is having a family) by the time the night started to fall the place dropped into heavenly silence. We started our adventure a little earlier than decided. The sky was clear, moon was shining brightly and it was dead chilling outside. There was enough light for us to see the nearby surroundings and the road ahead.


Nights at the Himalayas are very mysterious. The only sound you hear is that of crippling leaves or that of some distant stream or the chilly wind that blows. The only light is that of the moon and the stars and of course there’s no one but you and yourself. We had not gone far when we felt the mysterious atmosphere overtaking us. All ideas of adventure soon evaporated and a strange kind of uneasiness gripped us. Wonder how Jim Corbett undertook all those deadly adventures killing one man-eater then another in the darkness of the night. We quickly retraced back and decided to continue the adventure in early hours of morning.


Next day we all wake up early in a hope that we can still get a glimpse of snow if we start early. 6:30 am we started for SURKUNDA DEVI temple (7 km from Dhanolti) and soon our dreams were realized. Some 2-3 km ahead of Dhanolti there was a section of road fully covered with snow. All of us were thrilled cos’ we had never seen snow ever in our life except in the movies. In a way one goal of the journey was already achieved but there was more to come.


TO BE CONTD………


PLS NOTE:




  1. Dhanolti is not easily accessible. There are only two buses a day from Mussoorie. Its better to have your vehicle or a hired Jeep.




  2. Apart from GMVN guesthouse there are few other hotels and a resort too.




  3. Booking for GMVN guesthouse can be done from GMVN Offices at Haridwar and Delhi (For more info on this contact Ministry of tourism, state of Uttaranchal).




  4. Winters in Himalayas are very cold so don’t forget to take your full woolen clothing.




  5. Food at GMVN is good though slightly costly.






GMVN -> Gharwal Mandal Vikas Nigam


We were a group of five persons and undertook this journey on 31st of dec., 2001.

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