Love at first sight: The Uttarakhand Diaries

Hey there, how are you? Here I am, hoping to delight you with a new page of the Uttarakhand Diaries! Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start... Remember the Do-Re-Mi song from the musical, The Sound of Music?

Hoping that our holidays will be as pleasant as the song, we landed at Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun which indeed turned out to be a very good place to start. We were received by a jovial cabbie who quickly won our hearts with his obliging demeanor. He was to accompany us throughout our journey.  By the time we reached Dehradun, it was already 1.30 pm, so we stopped for lunch at a dhaba in the woods. It served us flavorsome dishes at very reasonable prices, quite an event for Bangalorians like us.  

As we headed towards Mussoorie, our car started meandering along the hilly roads. The quaint cottages neatly tucked into the sunbathed terraced hills appeared perfectly poised.

 The alpine Himalayan forests that followed looked so welcoming, the azure skies so serene.

The journey full of picture-postcard views kept reminding me of this song from the famous movie 'Jab We Met'

हम जो चलने लगे, चलने लगे हैं ये रास्ते

मंज़िल से बेहतर लगने लगे हैं ये रास्ते 

Adoring nature's beauty, we soon reached Mussoorie. Both Mussoorie and Dehradun lie in the foothills of Garhwal, the western part of the Himalayan ranges in Uttarakhand. The eastern part is called Kumaon. Most of the places on our itinerary belonged to the Garhwal region, owing to their proximity to Dehradun. The region consists mostly of rugged mountain ranges, separated by narrow valleys and gorges. It is home to many high mountains, stationing some of the highest Himalayan peaks like Nanda Devi, Kamet, Chaukhamba, Trishul, Dunagiri, and Kedarnath. Alaknanda river, one of the two headstreams of Ganga, flows through this region. Since the region is hilly, tourism and defense are the main occupations. Farming is restricted to the areas close to the rivers. 

We stayed at Hotel Mussoorie Gateway. It was a decent stay, with cozy rooms and a common terrace area offering stunning views of the hills. The bushes and climbers, laden with radiant flowers, counterposed the uninviting attitude of the staff.

Out of many tourist places around Mussoorie, we visited only Bhatta falls, as suggested by our cabbie. It is a typical picnic spot with a pond, a play area, and some basic fun rides. It's main attraction is the ropeway that connects the Bhatta village to this spot. But places like Auli and Surkanda Devi temple boast much longer ropeways, providing magnificent views. So, you can skip Bhatta Falls in case you plan to visit them. Here is a picture taken while riding in the ropeway's cable car.

Late in the evening, we strolled around the Library Bazaar. We were treated to luscious pastries, moreish pizzas, and coffee at Cafe Library which were so out-of-this-world, that we still cannot cease to think about them. You must visit this bakery if you love pizzas and pastries.

Only a few hours in Mussoorie were enough to raise our expectations from the rest of the places. Looking forward to more splendors and marvelous experiences, we started towards Kanatal the next morning. Visiting Kanatal was one of the best chapters of our vacation, and we will discuss the same in the next post. For now, let me take your leave, with a thought to ponder:

I think you travel to search and you come back home to find yourself there. - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigerian Writer)