Mussoorie - The queen of hills

Sometimes you visit a place for the first time, but you feel that you have already visited this place. Then you try to recall and got to know either you have read about the beauty of the place or you have seen in the movies. That was the case with Mussoorie, the queen of hills. One of the most popular hill station in India, Mussoorie attracts more than 2 million tourists annually. So during the season, it would be over crowded and even off season also renting a room here is expensive. So I decided to stay in Dehradun and visit Mussoorie. 

Though while planning I added Nainital, Jim Corbett National park to my itineraries, I have to remove it once I had detailed plan because of the time constraints. I always believed in slow travel and hence decided to travel and learn.

I had only one day to cover some places in Mussoorie. But I got to know the public transport is not good. I had 5-6 places to cover So I decided to take a taxi. Sometimes I take certain decisions, that remains one of the best decision of the trip. Otherwise I would have not met this gentleman Salim uncle who took me to Mussoorie. When you have lost trust on humans you should travel. He was very much generous and gave lot of inputs on the places to visit.

When we started from the guest house, I thought Mussoorie will be like Dehradun but it turned out be much better than the latter. This is the kind of hill station I always dreamt of visiting. Dehradun is at 437 meters ( 1433 feet) altitude. Even Bengaluru is at an altitude of 930 meters. But Mussoorie is at an altitude of about 2006 meters.Imagine a drive of  34 km from 437 meters to 2006 meters altitude. It would be like climbing a hill with some elevation. I had the same experience. The hills and greenery has made this one of the much beautiful route to travel in India. Though commercial, it was much different from the other places I have visited.

The Mahatma Gandhi statue which welcomes us to the Mussoorie town, the small shops in the Gandhi chowk and the hot tea in the monsoon was a refreshing experience for me. That was the beginning of the coolest experience

Kempty waterfall

This beautiful waterfall is one of the popular destination for love birds. 13 km away from the town, it attracts lot of tourists. But when I went it was bit off season. Since maximum water level is up to chest, people who can't swim also can get into water. There is a locker available where you can keep your personal belongings. I must say this is one of the safest waterfall I have jumped into.  I met a couple from Delhi who were on vacation here who accompanied us in most of the places.

With Salim uncle explaining each and every part on the way, it was an interesting journey. He explained about the struggle he is undergoing to make his son study. His voice was low when he told how the humans of mussoorie have turned into money minded. Our next stop was Dhanaulti where we visited the eco park which has become main attraction in this region.   

60 km away from Mussoorie town, this place has the medicine to calm your nerves and make you think. This is the place where you have to sit and relax and think about your dreams. Somewhere I was lost in the ambition of gigantic trees, innocence of little kids, love and affection of mother nature. It was telling the secret of life. Dream big, work hard, keep innocence, spread love and live with humility.

I covered each and every corner of the park. Since it was off season, there was no one to organize the games like rope walk and other games.

Lal Tibba

After covering eco park, we went to Lal tibba one of the highest point in Mussoorie, from where we can see the beautiful snow capped himalayan ranges via Binocular. The delhi couples decided to skip this place because of the elevation of the road.  When we reached we couldn't see the mountains since it was cloudy and I was not disappointed since I have been to Himalayas. There are two busy restaurants who serve tea and snacks. Lot of people come here to have momos with tea. It was very calm place. So I decided to have a walk for few minutes. Avoid this place during monsoon if you want to see the beautiful view otherwise it is a cool place to visit.

Mussoorie lake :

From Lakshya to RHTDM many movies have chosen Mussoorie as one of the location, because of the beautiful surrounding , waterfalls, viewpoints and lakes. It also has military academies , boarding schools, adventure training centres and different kinds of  picnic spots. One such picnic spot is Mussoorie lake. During summer you can find boating and different water sports here. Surrounded by green bushes and away from road makes it one of the peaceful place to visit on weekdays.

Bhatta falls

Having said that Mussoorie is a place with lot of cool waterfalls , don't miss Bhatta waterfalls. You have to walk down a little to reach this waterfall. If Kempty falls is over crowded, you can skip it and visit this falls. You have to cross a old british canal to reach here. After getting into water you can climb and can have a clear view from top of the waterfall. With the beautiful surrounding on the way and history behind the english canal, it should be the first place to visit in Mussoorie. I enjoyed this place more than the Kempty falls.

Though I couldn't cover cloud's end, I was very happy to cover few places in a day. I was totally hungry and wanted to have a tasty food. Most of the time during my travel driver has taken me to expensive hotels, but salim uncle took me to one of the cheapest punjabi Daba. That was the best I had in 16 days. Roti, daal and bindi fry was awesome.

Next day I had a flight and Salim uncle told me that he will drop me to airport. I wanted his company and told him to come 3 hours before the flight timings. He dropped me to airport and didn't even taken a single penny for dropping me to airport. Instead he asked me to visit Mussoorie after marriage. He was a happy man with whatever he has earned. I sent him photos which I took during the trip. He asked me lot of suggestions about his son's education. I was happy to help such a great guy. If I look back people like him makes this journey more meaningful.

For a traveller, it's not just a place, it's people , nature , and the memories make his journey complete. You just have to be curious to understand the importance of this life.

One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.  - Henry Miller

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