kinshuk sunilit aint no, dessert if therez no caek

This has been pending for so long. So Sorry avid readers! (erm.. who are they?) Anyhow.. here goes…

26th August to 29th August, I was on a trip to Dehradoon, the capital of Uttaranchal – a northern, hilly state of India. So I talk of my trip here, what I saw and what i observed.

Note: Quality of Pics is regretted; all pics captured from a Nokia 6630.

August 26th 2007

I started at 6am from New Delhi Railway station, boarded the New Delhi – Dehradoon Shatabdi Express. The journey was uneventful, though I enjoyed two things the most: (1) The scenic views throughout the journey, (2) every edible item on menu in Shatabdi (:D)

Reached Dehradoon at about 1pm. As I exited the station I saw a big board at the Railway Station: Dehradoon (1899)… the station was a 108 years old station.

From there we went to my father’s friends home who played the host. After a quick lunch and some rest, we commenced on our journey to Mussorie – the Queen of Hill Stations.

The journey was wonderful… in a Qualis… with the Shivalik Mountains on one hand and the Doon Valley on the other. What was most wonderful was to see the clouds being obstructed by Shivalik on their westward movement and yielding to rain. See some pics:

Finally we reached the home of the same friend in Mussorie, where we were to spend the night and rest. The place was closer to forest and we learned of our little tidbit about Mussorie – Leopard Sightings are very common at this place, and people are used to them as a common site of life.

August 27th 2007

After a night where I couldn’t sleep ’cause I have been expecting a leopard knocking at my door in night, but obviously that wasn’t meant to be. Lucky Night!

The day started with a cloud-ridden morning – we were actually inside the clouds… or well.. the clouds were around us. The Clouds Are US B-)

We then started at around 11 to go around the Mussorie Mall Road, then board the Cable Car to Gunhill.. after which we will go to Cloud’s End for lunch. From there to Kempty Falls. Well, that was the plan anyway.

So we started for Mall Road. Enjoyed a lot – the scenic views. Shopped a lot. Ironically, I bought a wallet (which, i needed badly) imported from Delhi. So after all the shopping (:D) we made our way to the Cinema Place (I hope, I have the name correct with me.. correct me if I am wrong). From there we boarded the cable car to Gunhill… arrived at Gunhill, had a coffee.. some photography sessions and then poof.. time was 1.30 PM already.

I learned that Gunhill is actually a water storage point from where water is supplied to the whole.. and it is all below your feet when you are standing at Gunhill… some 280,000 Litres capacity (If I remember correctly).

We then took the Cable back to the Cinema Place. Then drove to Cloud’s end.

Cloud’s End was basically the residence of one Major Sweetenham from the British Army, who was also the zamindar of Mussorie. He once heard a native girl sing in the jungle, while on a hunting trip and fell in love with this lady. Married her and settled at Cloud’s End. This was around 1837. Later the property was purchased by an Indian and converted into a luxury resort. Cloud’s End is the place to be if you want to have a quality meal. Also the place is rich with historical pics of how Mussorie and Dehradoon used to be and also a lot of hunting trophies.

From Cloud’s End.. on our way back, i sighted a Barking Deer. Since I was inside a moving Qualis couldn’t take a snap of the Barking Deer, but he looked awesome. Take my word for it (:P). We visited the Company Bagh (= East India Company’s Gardens). Britishers were so unimaginative with names. Every cit they built had a Mall Road, a Town Hall, a Company Bagh… Places serving the same purposes don’t need to be named the same, right? Beautiful place, the Company Bagh – a sight to see.

Form the Company Bagh, we returned to Kempty via the Library Square of Mussorie. We lodged at a Guest House for the night, Kempty had to wait one night for us.

August 28th 2007

The plan was to visit Kempty then return back to Dehradoon while visiting a Shiv Temple (I have forgotten the name) on way to Dehradoon. But nature had it otherwise. It kept raining for half of the day and so we had to cancel the plans of going to Kempty. The guest house allowed us a scenic view of Kempty and that was all I had to be content with. Drat!

On our way back to Dehradoon, we also visited the shrine of Bulle Shah and paid our homage to the Sufi saint. The place also provides a vintage view of St. George’s College. At the shrine I also saw the world’s smallest apple. Well, its not the smallest apple. Its a berry from the apple family.

The journey back from Kempty to Dehradoon was awesome. The scenic beauty i witnessed can never be forgotten.

After visiting the Shiva temple we made our way back to Dehradoon. A splendid sight of Dehradoon city is available from the Shiv temple. A view to behold.

We spent the night at my father’s friend’s home. The plan was to visit the Forest Research Institute next day and then board the afternoon Shatabdi back to New Delhi.

August 29th Day

The Forest Research Institute (FRI) is a government institute to research ad study the flora and fauna available throughout the nation. The institute also houses the training institutes for Indian Forest Service and the State Forest Service. It is a recommended place to visit.

I was almost bored though, ’cause I have no interest in tree cross-sections, insects and other aspects of Flora, Fauna and its preservations. However, the campus is huge, classic Georgian architecture, and wonderful. So let me talk in pictures.

After the FRI visit, we went to a local restaurant to have lunch. The lunch wasn’t any special – similar to what is available in Delhi and the rates were similar too. After the lunch we went to the railway station and boarded our train back to New Delhi.

The Aftermath

The Dehradoon-Mussorie visit was fun and a very reprehending trip, one I hadn’t had in a long time. but somehow i couldn’t stop thinking of home all the while and what I had left behind for three days. but the place is wonderful and is a recommended visit. And Mussorie is loads better than Shimla, any day. All throughout my journey i was also reading “Jesus lived In India” whenever I had free time and the book is wonderful, must read stuff.

This blog post is the longest I have ever written (if you discount my “literary” pieces). The quality of pics is regretting but i will soon upload a lot of images, retouched… not that it improves the quality, but the heck!… and you can see all those pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/kinshuksunil

More will follow.. please leave a comment.

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