Friday, September 10, 2010

Travelogue Part 3 : Mussoorie

Okay, I know I haven't been writing lately. I've been busy with a lot of things. I better finish this travelogue before it's too late and I get too lazy!


Continued from here.


So, on the 28th of July, we left for Mussoorie from Haridwar on the tour bus we had booked a day before. The entire bus ride from Haridwar to Mussoorie and back plus the tour fee cost us only INR 150! We were supposed to come back the same day. We left at around 8:45 am and our bus was packed with tourists. We got the front seats though! :) Reason being there were a lot of honeymoon couples who obviously preferred being at the back! ;)


Our first halt was at this amusement park called Fun Valley just outside Haridwar which was like a small version of Esselworld. We had to pay 70 INR for a ticket which was actually worth 280 INR. Some discount for the tour bus people! My cousin told me the people (tour organisers) who take us there are paid a commission for every ticket we buy. The rides were all the same and we sat in every one of them- except the water rides of course since we just had one hour there and we hadn't carried any costumes for it.  It was enjoyable nonetheless.We befriended a sweet Delhi family there who was also on the bus with us. They spoke with a strong accent and you could easily tell where they've come from.


My all-time favourite ride




From there, we carried on our way to Mussoorie. It was all getting beautiful as our bus climbed up the ghats. It was getting cooler too. Our next halt was at this Shiva temple on the hill- the only temple where you couldn't donate money. You got plenty of grams and tea as prasad! There were shops outside the temple though where one could buy gemstones and there was a great variety of them! Also, I figured that's where they must be getting the funds from considering the temple is so well maintained, and the idols are adorned beautifully! There were also two shiva-lings made of a special stone called sphatik which looks like a mixture of marble and plastic.


The temple


Shiva-lings made of sphatik



The beautifully adorned idol



Next was Mussoorie city. As we climbed higher, it felt as if we were going to touch the clouds any moment now but the higher we went, we felt the same. The clouds never seemed to come. And before we knew it, we were going THROUGH the clouds!!! That's when I tweeted about literally being on cloud 9 :D A board that read "Pahado ki rani Mussoorie mein aapka swagat hai" welcomed us soon after. As soon as we reached the city, it was a whole different world out there. On our way there, we hardly saw any people and here, there was an entire township! We saw school going children wearing sweaters and going back home. It was a whole different world out there- people, climate everything!


The welcome board. It looked more beautiful from the front angle- amidst the clouds and all that. Captured it a bit late :(

And through the clouds!


We even saw the Himalayas from there and our tour guide told us that China was on the other side. Then the part that I was waiting for finally arrived. I had been tweeting about wearing the Garhwali dress ever since I planned this trip and I got to wear it here:


Me in the Garhwali dress

And that's my cousin Rohini! The dress suits her more, no? :)


The Himalayas - China on the other side! :)


After goofing around some more in the dress, we went exploring the city. White roads, cute chinese-eyed locals and beautiful wooden articles kept for sale everywhere is how I'd sum up those twenty minutes. We then stopped at a dhaba for lunch and got back into the bus soon after.


Our next destination was Kempty falls on our way down the hill between the Dehradun-Mussoorie path. 


Me at Kempty Falls




It was originally called "Camp-Tea"; they say the Britishers used to organise tea parties here. Over the years, it became "Kempty" :D (I just noticed, this is the second place that I visited in the same day that was associated with tea and a tea addict like me should be able to connect with this place soooo well :D). The place was peaceful, there were different levels to the falls and we could use steps to climb higher. They had built a small pond at each level. 





As we went up though, there were people using the ponds like a swimming pool with floating tubes and the like. It looked almost like a mini water park. Thank God they didn't build any water rides there! 




We bought two bhuttas  (maize) and searched for a quiet pond. We finally found one and munched on the bhuttas whilst dipping our bare feet in cold water. After a while though, I spotted a black faced monkey there who was running away after having *just* snatched someone's bhutta and right then, I threw my own bhutta into the pond out of fear! My cousin had finished hers. I really need to learn to start eating early. So anyway, we fled from there and found a safe little corner to video-shoot that naughty bhutta thief:








The video shows the falls and the surrounding area too.








We then hopped into our bus again and resumed our journey. The tour guy asked us if we wanted to stop at this small pond where you could paddle boats. All of us were tired though and just wanted to return to Haridwar. We finally returned to our room at 9:30 pm. A day fruitfully spent!

13 comments:

Lan said...

The video is really good.. and so is the picture of Himalayas and China :)

Seems like you enjoyed the trip very much .. :)

Poonam said...

I have had to go to Mussoorie couple of more times to be there at Kempty falls. Why? First time around, none of batch mates would get out of our hotel And it was beautiful, luxurious one. It was uphill, someone had to go quite some kms down to fetch our bus so that we could visit the falls. Every one was lazy to do that. And you did all places in one go. :)

Nicely written, and the dress suits you too. :)

Bluraykabaap said...

Nice Anu...Reading this I had a ride to Mussoorie :P....I want to visit Mussoorie too :(

Bluraykabaap said...

Lol @ 1:13 in the video...cute anu xD

Alisha said...

hey nice post...and nice video as well

Anubha said...

@LAN
Yes I had a real good time here :) Thanks!

@Poonam
Hehe the tour I went on was really worth it- I could see all places properly :) And thanks for the compliments!

@Ravi
You should visit the place once! :)
And why "lol"? :P

@Alisha
Thanks girl :)

callezee said...

car dash is my favourite,have a nice day :)

Reema said...

u r looking so pretty!!

Anonymous said...

looks like u had a wonderful trip .. .nice pics :) ...

Abhang said...

nice pics and nice post..

Er.Pradeep UK'Heart(Uk Live 24 Hrs With Me) said...

hello..owner..i come 2 knw ur blog through google serching 4 beutiful garhwali girl i found ur sis rohini pic in garhwali attire..u also awesome bt u lost to your sis..its cnt be any better intro of garhwali dress than your sis..ur effort is mindblowing to broadcast beuty f uk..me also frm uk_bageshwar so lovs evry bit..hey i wil tke ur sis pic f my blog/site www.uttarakhandevents.com so plz thx in advance..keep smiling jai uttarakhand

pharmacy said...

It's a lovely place to find peace and quit moments. I've been there twice (The temple was my favorite place and I took 100 pictures... it was simply awesome.) and there are to many cities that you can find throughout Mussoorie!

pharmacy reviews said...

This is is good getting a trip like that specially when are not accustomed to to those things, it's good to see how the people reaction is.