Family Trip to Mussoorie and Rishikesh (Part II)

Day 2:

I started my second day by waking up at 5:30 AM. I went out for a walk while my wife and daughters were sleeping. After 40-45 minutes of walk on launder market road I returned to the room and before moving to room ordered two cup of tea. Till then my wife had also waken up. After finishing tea we got ready to explore Mussoorie. At around 0845 hrs we started from Hotel and moved towards The Mall road. On the way we saw a small but neat and clean Punjabi Dhaba.  Pithee of Aaloo (Boil Potato’s stuff) was ready at Dhaba so we decided to have breakfast there. Being a Punjabi, I prefer stuff Paranthas with curd rather than bred toast or other fried/dry items in the breakfast. Food was delicious and after having the breakfast we proceed to Jhula Ghar through Mall Road market. Cycle rickshaws for Kempty bus stand are available only from that point. When we were passing through market, many photographers started coming to us and asking for the photos in traditional dress.

Generally these photographers are well versed in convincing the tourists for the photographs. They always keep a photo album with them to show their talent and are very good in marketing without any marketing course. One such photographer came to us and starts convincing us to have photographs in traditional dresses. We refused politely but he was very ‘chipkoo’ and asked us to at least have photos of kids. After his long pursuance we became ready to get clicked my both daughters in local dresses. I captured their photos from my mobile also.

Elder daughter- Jiya

Younger daughter – Shagun

My Love Triangle

My betterhalf

After this photo session we reached Jhula Ghar and hired one cycle rickshaw for Kempty bus stand. Within 15-20 minutes we reached Kempty bus stand. From this taxi stand one can get shared/solo taxi to visit Kempty fall and Company Garden. We were looking for some another couple to share taxi with us as we did not want to hire whole taxi to save some bucks. Soon we found a young couple who were also looking for shared taxi.

We all share a single Taxi and moved ahead. After reaching Kempty fall, Taxi driver asked us to return in 1 hr. The parking area is not very big and as it is the common practice in hill area, parking is at both sides of the road.

Timber trail

Limited fall due to Civil work

Kempty waterfall – “The stunningly beautiful Kempty Falls is situated at a distance of 15 KM from Mussoorie town on the Hilly tracks of Uttarakhand. This place is located nearly 1364 Meter above the sea level. The Kempty Falls, surrounded by High Mountain ranges, good place for picnic or for spending a couple of hours listening to the music of water in the midst of the Greenery which cover the surroundings. This waterfall attracts many tourists. Kempty Falls were developed as a tourist destination by a British officer John Mekinan, around 1835. The name Kempty is probably derived from the word ‘camp-tea’, as the British, during the colonial rule, would organize their tea parties here.”

Kempty fall is far below from the road and to reach there are sloppy pathway as well as rope way. We choose pathway. There are many eatery/gift shops along the pathway. After 5 minutes of descend walk we reached Kempty fall. It was full of tourists. There were many shops near the falls selling swimming costumes, float and lockers on rent. Some civil work was going on there so the flow of fall was restricted but even then the people were taking bath and enjoying under the fall. I took the bath under the Kempty fall and enjoyed while during that period my wife captured some snaps. After taking bath I changed my clothes .

Artificial Lakes

Nearby area of fall has been developed and 4 artificial lakes are made there to attract more tourists. One such lake in Mountain View resort has boating facilities and we went there for boating. All the boats were pedal boat we hired one such pedal boat for 20 minutes. We enjoyed the boating in that mini lake and after that we started to return as already one hour had passed. We took some snacks we came back to the top of waterfall and reached at parking place. The driver and love birds were waiting for us. We all sat in the taxi and left for Kempty bus stand. In short journey of 30 minutes we reached our destination.

Top View of Lakes

Lake

Boating with family

Picture perfect

From Kempty bus stand we moved to Library chowk and took lunch there in one restaurant. After that we kept roaming and enjoying in that area. Around 4 o’clock we took one cycle rickshaw for the Mall road. He dropped us at Jhula Ghar from where we went walking to our Hotel. On the way I collected the photographs of my daughters from that photographer’s shop. On reaching hotel room, we were very tired and soon we fell asleep. After one hour rest, I get up and ordered two cup of Tea from room service. After the rest and a cup of tea we were feeling some refreshed. As per initial plan we have decided to stay one night at Mussoorie town and another at Rishikesh but now we changed it and decided to stay second night also at Mussoorie and to leave for Rishikesh in the early morning. So in the evening I asked my wife to have a final round of Mall Road but she refused as she was feeling tired. I welcomed her decision and happily went alone on the Mall road. It was different pleasure to roam now. One and half hour passed in few minutes and when finally I got tired I returned to hotel. While returning I took packed dinner from the same Punjabi Dhaba from where we have the breakfast. After reaching hotel we took the dinner and have rest and that finishes our day 2.

Day 3:

We get up early in the morning and get ready for Dehradun. We checked out at 07:30 AM and took breakfast again at the same Dhaba and proceed to Picture Place bus stand. Two taxies were standing there and we were the first passengers to reach there. One taxi driver was looking desperately for passengers as he had to drop one officer, already sitting in his car, to his office in time. He offered us for Dehradun in just Rs. 150. We happily obliged.  We told the driver that we are going to Rishikesh and asked him to drop us at some appropriate place from where we can get the Buses. He told us that Dehradun ISBT and bypass for Rishikesh are in opposite direction and buses take around 30 minute to reach bypass from ISBT. As the road to Mussoorie lies approximately between these points, he advised us to go at bypass rather than ISBT. He dropped us at one point in Dehradun from where the autos were available for Rishikesh bypass. We took one auto and after 15 minutes of drive through the streets of Dehradun we reached at Rishikesh bypass.

It was a very hot in Dehradun. The Sun was shining with its power.  There was no proper shed at Bypass for waiting and it became difficult to stand in direct sunshine. A lot of peoples were waiting there for buses .We were standing under a nearby tree to save us from sunshine. Soon bus arrived and we caught the bus and got the seats. The journey to Rishikesh was uneventful and we reached at Rishikesh Bus stand at 10:30 AM. We took one auto and reached Ram Jhula.

Ram Jhula

“Ram Jhula is an iron suspension bridge situated at Muni Ki Reti in Rishikesh. Built in the 1980s, over river Ganges to cross the river and is a landmark of Rishikesh. Ram Jhula is located 3 kilometers north of Rishikesh at Muni Ki Reti. There are some of the Hindu ashrams and religious centers like “The Gita Bhawan”, and “Swarg Ashram” located here. It is also a connecting bridge between Swargadham, Gita Bhawan and other temples with Sivananda Ashram. It is the replica or mirror image of Lakshman Jhula. Made of iron, this suspension bridge is bigger than Lakshman Jhula. Looking down at river Ganges from this swing is picturesque. Ram Jhula connects Sivananda Ashram on the west bank with Swarg Ashram on the east, and hence also got another popular name – Shivananda Jhula. One can see lot of monkeys on the bridge as the area lies in the vicinity of reserve forest. Visitors are advised to beware of them while carrying any edible items.”

Ganga Ji

After reaching Ram Jhula we went to Ghat of Ganga Ji. There were many motor boats ferrying passengers from one end to another. We also took tickets for a round trip in boat. These tickets were valid for one hour for return journey. It means we had sufficient time to bath and roam at another side of Ganga Ji. The boat took us to another bank in just few minutes. As it was Baisakhi day, a lot of people were taking bath on Eastern Ghats. We also took bath in Holy Ganga ji. Water was cold but not very deep so we enjoyed bathing. My elder daughter Jiya was so happy in water that she was reluctant to come out.

After taking bath we went to market area. There were many shops of Puja/Gift items, Religious books and famous Chotiwalas restaurants. I was surprised to see 2-3 Chotiwalas restaurants there and each one claiming to be original one. One person having the long choti was sitting on one chair at high platform to attract customers outside of each restaurant. We did not took lunch there due to heavy rush. We return to river bank after ‘Little’ shopping by my wife. As we were having the return tickets, we sat in one boat and came to western side of Ganga ji.

One Chotiwala

Another Chotiwala

Look at his Choti

There we had lunch in one restaurant. After spending some more time in that area we hired one auto for Rishikesh railway station. Our seats were confirmed in AC-III coach in Hemkund Express. As Rishikesh is the originating railway station for Hemkund Express, the train came on the platform 30 minutes before its departure time. We took our seats and relaxed. The train departed on time and soon both children fell asleep in the pleasant cool air. The train reached at Ambala Cantt at 9:10 PM. This finishes my family trip to Mussoorie and Rishikesh with lots and lots of good and beautiful memories.

(All the pictures has been taken from mobile camera)