Winter Getaway to Dehradun and Mussoorie

 

In the chilly winters of December last year, I decided to make a small trip to Dehradun, nested amongst the foothills of the Himalayan range to the north and the Shivalik ranges to its southern borders. It was an unusual time to visit the place as the usual season to visit is summers and on top of it, I hate winters. But this time I wanted to feel the chills and more importantly, did not want to spend the Christmas vacations alone in Delhi. Unlike most of my other trips, this was an impromptu plan which happened as I was listening to my colleagues’ vacation plans and cursing myself for not having any plans. Something had to be done and without any further delay, I called up my friend who stays in Dehradun, and “the plan” was made.

I started my journey to Dehradun on the same night from Delhi in an overnight bus. It was an AC bus and I was so tired that I slept throughout the entire bus journey, only to be woken up when the bus reached Dehradun and the conductor started yelling. The week had been so tiring that a five hours sleep in a bus wasn’t enough and I was  regretting my decision to not stay at home during the vacations. Somehow, I dragged myself out of my seat. As soon as I got out of the bus, I felt the cold winds on my face. The air had a pleasant smell and it was at this moment that I knew I had made the right decision to take this trip, despite all the apprehensions. My friend was already waiting at the bus station to pick me up and seeing a friend after such a long time was a cherry on the cake. My friend’s place was located in the main city. After a few hours of catching up and having a delicious brunch at his place, we set out to roam in the narrow lanes and the elevated roads of the old city. 

Ghanta Ghar (Clock Tower)

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One of the first things that we saw was the “Ghanta Ghar” (also known as the clock tower), which stands right in the heart of the city. This is one of the prominent landmarks of Dehradun and was buzzing with tourists. The Greco-Roman architecture and its unique hexagon shape makes it one of a kind clock tower in the whole of Asia. The monument is of historic as well as military significance with name of commandants engraved in the gold plates. The brick colour walls speaks of the bygone era and the architecture reflects the colonial past.

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The next stop was the very old and bustling Paltan Bazaar. It is famous for clothes, handicrafts, woollens and what not! There were two types of items- the so called imported items, which were listed at a high price (one needs to be skilled negotiator to bargain a decent price) and the other type of items was of basic wears which were being sold at a cheap but fixed rate. Being a shopaholic, I spent a quite a lot of time there. It was a perfect time to do some winter shopping and voila I bought some really nice warmers and stole at a budget price! Alongside, it is important to keep your tummy happy, so we grabbed some tit-bits from Sunrise Bakers – a must try food joint of the city famous for unique delicacies like milk-rusk, pastries and badam (almond) biscuits. As the sun left our side and the night fell, the temperature dipped below 5 ⁰C and we went back to home. With this, my first day in Dehradun ended leaving me excited for the next day as we had plans of stepping out of the city and explore the sights outside of the commotion of the main city.

The next day, started with us visiting the Clement Town Monastery – Mindrolling Monastery in the outskirts of the city. While we went there on my friend’s two-wheeler, one can easily find various modes of transport from Dehradun to reach the monastery. Locally known as the Tibet Monastery, Mindrolling Monastery was built by 50 artists who took about 3 years to build the structure. Mindrolling in Tibet means – place of perfect emancipation. 

The Great Stupa

The surrounding of the monastery made me feel that as if I’m visiting a city in Tibet owing to the huge Tibetan settlement in the area. The vibes around the monastery was distinctly different than any other typical place in India. It houses India’s largest Buddhist centre with the spotlight being The Great Peace Stupa which was inaugurated in 2002. The Stupa is surrounded by a lush green garden which further adds to its serene and calm environment.

After this, we started for Mussoorie, a hill station in the foothills of Garhwal Himalayas. This is also known as the queen of hills and is a captivating paradise for leisure travellers. The distance of Mussoorie from the monastery was around 35 kms and it took us around one and half hour to reach the entry point of the hill station. The hill station is full of famous tourist spots but we were not there for the usual sight-seeing. Our main agenda was to enjoy the two-wheeler ride. The freezing wind hitting our faces as we rode up the hills made the experience even more worthwhile. The temperature was somewhere between 3-5 ⁰C even in the day time. 

Enroute to Mussoorie

As we kept riding up-hill, I could feel the change of weather on my skin. The temperature was dropping and I could smell the mistiness of the cloud. Also known as the honeymoon capital, Mussoorie truly has an unavoidable romance in the air. On the way we had roasted sweet corn (also known as Makai). This hot delicacy along with the cold weather was an unparalleled feeling in itself. After that, we visited the Mussoorie Lake to spend some time there and watch the sunset. It had been snowing there in Mussoorie for the past two nights and although I would have loved to stay back a while and wait for the snowfall, it was time for us to start our return journey. We could see the sky turning magenta and mauve in colour, the woods around – the pine, the cedar, the oak and the deodar trees turning darker sap green. We parked the scooty on the edges of the road and felt the air and breathed in the vastness one last time before we rode down.

 

Mussoorie Lake

As we rode down, I had one incomplete task in mind which had to be finished. So, I have a theory, a trip to the mountains remain incomplete if you don’t have Momos and cheese Maggi. I was in luck and I spotted a restaurant on our way back which were serving these. As we had our evening snacks on a cliff restaurant, all I could think of was the clichéd saying - ‘It is not about the destination, it is always about the journey.’ Sometimes the journeys are far more beautiful and memorable than the end point.

As we returned to Dehradun, the atmosphere had completely become foggy and misty and we could barely see anything and driving the two-wheeler became extremely difficult. But I had a bus to catch (to take me back to Delhi). We somehow struggled and after crossing many obstacles we finally reached the bus stand on time. When I was boarding the bus, I was as cold as ice. Who could have imagined that a girl who even hates to take Uber rides in Delhi after 8 pm due to the freezing cold, roamed around a hill station on a two-wheeler at sub 5⁰C temperature. As they say, there is magic in the hills.