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On 31st March, 2012, I with my wife left home for Ghumakkari with no plans. We just wanted to be in hills of Uttarakhand, our favourite state. My wife loves Haridwar, so she wished to start from there. That day, early morning we started our journey and reached Hariwar with no halt.
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First glimpse of holy river Ganga at Haridwar.
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We can’t take bath in holy river Ganga, as there is a ritual or puja which had to be performed for us in first year of our marraige, which couldn’t take place. It will be done this year. So we had to find something else so we decided on Crystal world (a water park). I called my brother-in-law, when I was on my way, explained my plan and by the time we reached Crystal world, he was there with his newly wedded wife. We all four had fun there.
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papa to band bajaye........principle khud bann jaye, keep quite rule banaye
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This was my second in any water park, before this I had been at Fun city, which is located on the way to Rishikesh from Haridwar. The ticket was for Rs 250 per person, I think. It had all the rides for free exept two or three, like Boating and Train, in which we were not interested. We changed our clothes, had swimming contumes provided on rent. Had 4 hours fun there. Some of the rides were breath-taking, like one ride took us at the height of almost 40 feet and then slided from there to downward into the water…truly amazing. My wife is very fond of such rides as she is very much strong-hearted, but I can’t. I am not afraid of heights, but at times I feel that there could be malfunctioning.
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This ride was not that easy, that I thought.
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There was a restaurant, which had above average food on reasonable prices. We had chhole bhaturey, dosa, chole chawal and rajma rice in our lunch. Post rides and all fun, we took bath and left the park for Har ki Podi. Plan was to see evening Aarti. We were there around 5 PM. It was great Aarti darshan. So many times I had been there, but could never be the witness of Gangaji Aarti. I was lucky this time.
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Har ki Pauri, Haridwar
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Har Har Gangey....Ganga ji ki Aarti.
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You may take Aarti now...Please no donation. Everything is free on Ghumakkar.
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After this divine religious ceremony, we had a glass of Lassi, which is famous over there, and spent more than one and half hour in narrow streets of the local market. We hadn’t planned our next day yet, so discussed that, and made Mussoorie final on our wishlist.
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Next morning, we two (me with wife) were on our way to Mussoorie, had left Rishikesh and Dehradun behind. When we crossed Dehradun and was on the road to Mussoorie, we saw Mansi Deer Park’s entrance gate, and had our first break there. This spot at the foot hill of shivalik is situated about 10 kms from dehradun, on mussoorie road.
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A leopard in cage. Sher ab pinjro mein hote hain, ya circus mein, ya......Amit bhai ke post mein.
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Quak Quak, Ducks are saying.
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A peacock. I requested him to dance, he said that he will dance only in Amit bhai's post. (Just kidding)
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An Eagle with a broken wing.
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Home...Happy home.
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A mini-zoo with a children’s park and lovely natural surrounding make it an ideal sightseeing. I fould it well maintained and saw two horned deer, Tiger, Neelgai, Peacock and many other animals. With a wholesome weather, natural environs and the lush greenery makes the zoological park an ideal spot for picnic and excursion.
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A passage to explore more in park, We found some couples there, exploring something else. Shhhhh
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We were there to explore only the park.
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We spent one hour there and then left for Mussoorie. Very soon, we were on the way to Mussoorie.
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On our way to Mussoorie...Yeh haseen wadiyaan, yeh khula aasmaan
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Having Maggie at Maggie Point was a great way to unwind, just drive along Dehradun Mussoorie road until after shiv mandir. And there were a few road side hawker sheds popularly known as the “Maggie Point”, here you can ask them to prepare a hot spicy Maggie (your own style). We bought some chips packets and had pics of that panoramic sight and flew away upwards to Mussoorie.
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Our car at Maggie point
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Now we two at Maggie point.
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Roads were full of curves. I was told that the way to Mussoorie was very complicated to drive, but I didn’t find so. I could manage to drive over there easily, what I had to do was just follow the rules of driving in hills, which are
- Keep the car on your side of road.
- Blow horn on every turn. Dipper when dark.
- While going upwards, give way to down-comers.
- On returning downwards, keep car in gear, never off the ignition while driving.
- Speed thrills but kills.
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Correct me if I am wrong and add more points if they exist.
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After leaving Maggie behind, on the way to Mussoorei. Mussoorie! here we come.
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Road to Dhanaulti was on our way to Mussoorie, we wished to visit there next time. Mussoorie was 4 km and 32 km was Dhanaulti.
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We choosed Mussoorie over Dhanaulti.
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Thank you, Mussoorie.
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We wanted to see the Kempty Fall but we didn’t have much time as we had to return on same day, so choosed Company garden over Kempty Fall, which was on the way to Kempty Fall. Kempty Fall is 15 more kilometers away from Mussoorie. I will definitely go there soon.
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Kempty fall? Unquestionably next time.
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Although I gave Rs 50 for parking, still I had no space to park my car at Company Garden. I am pretty good at parking so made space for myself. Company Garden is popular tourist destination. During season, the Company Garden has beautiful collection of flowers and plants. The artificial lake and garden enables people enjoying Boating and Nature Walk, respectively.
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At Company Garden, seeking parking space.
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At entryway of Company Garden.
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It was so beautifully decorated that we could spend our whole day there. An aritificial lake in which kids were boating, along side two artificial water-falls, which were surrounded by the people taking pics with them. One can see the panoramic view of nearby hills from there. There were plenty of variety of flowers which were beautifully decorated in small pots, many of them were new to me. There was also a food court, where I didn’t try food as there was lack of time, we had to explore the Mall Road yet.
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Artificial waterfall in background.
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Queues of beautifully decorated flower pots.
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Mini lake for boating at Company Garden.
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Many colorful small fishes could be seen in this water pond.
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At food court of Company Garden.
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We left Company garden by 4 PM, decided to have lunch at Mall Road. We were on our way to mall road, admiring beautiful hill, thanking God for making earth so beautiful.
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We spent great time at Company Garden, this was time to move on.
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We faced traffic jams on the way to Mall road as the road was narrow and trucks/buses were on them. Well, no probs, as it was great to be in hills, we were stuck in jam, inhaling fresh air of hills, watching out from window, staring beautiful people walking, dreaming for second visit and last running out of money.
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A view of Mussoorie.
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In Mussoorie, terraces are used as parking space like other hilly areas.
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Hues of hills were changing as their farawayness from sight.
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As I reached Mall road’s entryway, soon I reminded that once I read in Manu bhai’s Mussoorie story about the Rs 100 entry fee for Mall road. But it was late, as I was backed by few cars by that time. I paid Rs 100 parking and parked my car. Well it was not bad, as car should be safely parked, which could only be done at Mall road.
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Mall Road of Mussoorie, Beautifully located on hills.
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Almost every brand shop was on this Mall Road.
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Wow! the beautiful Mall road, we liked it. First I found an ATM, got some money. I bought Reebok shoes as there was discount of 40%, which was not even available on my favourite shopping site Yebhi.com. It was 5:30, we had chowmeen and a dosa near the place from where people get cable cars for Gun Hill, the second highest peak of Mussoorie. We desperately wanted to spend more time there but I had to drive downhill so by 6:30 PM we left Mussoorie for back home to Faridabad. Around 8:30 we had crossed Dehradun.
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Bye Bye Hills! I will come back soon.
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We had very beautiful time there. It is worth to call Mussoorie, the Queen of Hills. On very that day, We promissed to Mussoorie to visit soon, as there was Kempty Fall left to explore, and also I want to be at Gun Hill via rope way.
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HOW TO REACH
Jolly grant airport of Dehradun is the nearest airport, which is just 58 km from Mussoorie, which is almost two hour drive. Dehradun railway station (34 km) is the nearest railhead of Mussoorie. Dehradun is well connected with railways to the major cities of India. Shatabdi Express and Mussoorie Express are the two major trains connecting Dehradun with major cities of India.
Buses to Dehradun are easily available from ISBT Kashmiri Gate, Delhi and other major destinations of Uttarakhand state.
The Road route from Delhi to Mussoorie:-
Delhi >> Ghaziabad >> Modi Nagar >> Khatauli >> Purkaji >> Roorkee >> Hardwar >> Rishikesh >> Dehradun >> Mussoorie
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I will be back soon with new destination till than keep doing Ghumakkari.
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???? ???? ?? ??????? ???…….?? ???? ??? ?? ?? ?? ?…..? excelent post along with awesome & beautiful click…!
Keep in writting….I’m waiting for your next post…..
Thanks
Ritesh.Gupta
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Two stories on Mussoorie in a week and two completely different experiences, this is what the beauty of Ghumakkar is. I liked the narrative especially the ‘photo captions’ and the photos too are very good. I am sure Mansi Deer Park must have been a pleasant discovery on the trip, such surprises really add flavour to the trips and make them memorable.
Like you, i also love to explore the enchanting hills, but most of the time lesser known and peaceful………away from crowd and commercialization (it is difficult to escape it however all the times)………..look forward to hearing more on your hilly wanderings…….
Lesser known and peaceful place are always on top of the list. But hills are hills, I would love to be anywhere in hills at anytime.
Thanks for liking the post, comments on posts are always important.
Dehradun has lots of places to be visited, and I have seen only Mansi Deer Park and Tibet tample. I have a long long list of beautiful places to be visited.
Great post, you should definitely checkout Dhanaulti and if time permits, go further till Kanatal. I have the same on my list.
Tell me one thing Vinay bhai (anyone else can also answer), how did you find the weather when you visited? It is because the real beauty of the hills seem to be in post monsoon time and during winters and pre monsoon, the greenery seems to be subdued, so it doesnt seem that charming…
Thanks for your kind words and suggestions.
You are right , post monsoon hills seem charming. But when I was there in start of this month, I enjoyed rain there, it was pleasure to see green hills when rain stopped. Hills are uncertain for rain.
One should avoid well known hills in May & June because of rush there., Otherwise hills can be visited anytime.
Yes, we can visit them anytime, but the bare and dull hills kinda leave me wanting a lot more. Took my friends to Corbett and then Nainital in Nov 2010 and although Corbett was awesome, I was surprised by Nainital. I have been there many times but my friends were visiting for the first time and it seemed so dull in Nov and it was totally not what I remembered it as. Later, I visited Nainital again in March 2011 and went on to Mukteshwar, and on the day we went to Mukteshwar, it was cloudy, which made the day awesome. I hope I find decent weather in May end …
In May end, you should visit at Manali. Manali offers plenty of beautiful locations like Naggar, Kullu river for river rafting, Suhangnala valley for paragliding, Manikaran sahib, Hidimba temple for sight seeing and last but not least Rohtang Pass for snow sports.
If plan this, must eat local food thali at Naggar Village’s fort.
I was there at same time ( may end), 2 years back.
My travelogue:-
https://www.ghumakkar.com/2011/04/26/shimla-manali-rohtang-pass-part-1/
kafi kuch explore kiya chote se hill station me.
Kafi kucch bach bhi gaya
Thanks, Musafirbhai, for the virtual safar of Mussorie.
Lovely pictures too. I was amazed to see a cycle rickshaw in Mussorie. With its steep and undulating roads, I wonder how the poor rickshawallahs cope with the streets of Mussorie.
Your tips for driving on ghat roads are spot on and very useful for people who have never driven on such roads. I would like to add some more, mainly petaining to driving at night:
1. Avoid driving at night because these roads are usually poorly lit and one might be caught unawares by pedestrians, animals and vehicles without lights
2. When blinded by incoming lights, stop. Yes, do not move even an inch forward.
3. Usually these routes are dusty and the windshield tends to get dirty often. If visibility is even slightly bad, stop the car and clean the windshield thoroughly. When it is dark, there is a massive difference in visibility between a clean windshield and a dirty one.
You are absolutely right and all the points are valid and useful. This was the first time, I drove in hills in the dark, but most of the hilly part was covered in twilight before dense dark. The night also had moon light.
But still I will add these important points to my list.
Thanks once again.
Nice post Vinay… I agree with Deepak that you should defiantly try Dhanaulti. The road further goes to Kanatal, chamba and then the road leads to Rishikesh. The rout is longer but it it worth it… Pictures are nice… Thanks for sharing…
Dhanaulti is the place where I am going soon. Chakrata is also on the list, don’t know much about Kanatal.
Thanks for liking the the pics.
I like the tongue-in-cheek comment in one of the photographs.”we were there to explore the park.
Some other couples were exploring something else”Good sense of humor!
Thanks. There were dozen of couples, enjoying the beauty of nature, as love is also a beautiful natural act.
They were so much busy in themselves that our presence were not even affecting them.
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Beautiful Mussorie, amaing pictures, maza aa gaya
Thanx for enjoying the post. Mussoorie is really a heavenly place. have you ever been there?
Excellent post, Vishal. Thanks for a guided trip of Mussorie.
Thanks Venkatt. I hope you enjoy the post. I have gone through all of your posts. because of you, I came to know that even south India is so beautiful. Thanks for being the part of Ghumakkar. I have a huge list of destinations in South to be seen.
Vinay,
The pictures are very nice and what makes them better are the captions! Truly entertaining I must say :)
Mussoorie is not a new topic discussed at Ghumakkar. What makes each post different is the perception and narration that each traveler gives. This post makes its difference with its pictures and captions along with ofcourse, the write-up.
Great job! Keep it coming :)
Cheers.
Thanks for liking the post. This was first time i used captions. Beacause of my laziness, I thought using caption would increase the work, but Mr. Silent soul (from Ghumakkar, his real name is unknown) advised me to use once. And I am happy that the result is good.
This week this is the second post on Mussoorie, the first one was equally great.
Another fun-filled action packed post, that too in a single day.
I was convinced that this will be quite a ride/post, when you said in first line that you guys left for ghumakkari without any plans.
Keep traveling, keep sharing!!
Thanks for appreciating the post. To be a true Nomad, you should have no plan.
Gr8 description and equally great photos… so you started liking black color ?? LOL
papa to band bajaye photo was very funny. Haridwar aarti photos were mind blowing and both of you make one of the most beautiful couple. May you both live long happily !!
Thanks for liking the post and your blessings.
This time, I used captions to make you laugh. thanks for your previous suggestion, I feel captions are needful as they make the photograph readable, I think this black should be turn to grey. :)
I took Haridwar aarti wala second photo from wikipedia, you may see the courtesy at the bottom.
Thanks for your kind words.
Hi Vinay ……………………..
An ultimate post . Mussourie is very beautiful , Planning this November . Lets see whether it works or not…………
Very beautiful pics ……………..I liked the first one ,where did u take . Ganga Maiyaa looks quite clear and refreshing . wanting to have a dip at this place ????????????????????
keep posting………….
Thanks Vishal ji,
Mussoorie is really a beautiful place. if you go there then give some time to Dhanaulti and kanatal also.
I am away from my usual good internet connection so commenting late. :-) I am writing this comment from ‘Kolkata Rajdhani’ express , returning back to Delhi
Quite a ride Vinay, always on the move. Great post and brilliant pics. Enough has already been said about captions. Regarding the cost, I guess to each his own. 10 years back, my trips to Corbett park were under INR 1K (including self drive vehicle, safari etc) because we would always be resourceful and brave enough to pick the most in-expensive options but now with a young kid, things are entirely different. So to each his own.
For the road part, just one correction that you always give way to the vehicle which is climbing-up. The other rule which I suggest is that ‘Go Slow’. First it makes the life better for fellow travelers and if someone is suffering from ‘Motion Sickness’ then going slow helps you to avoid the ‘Swerves’ which you often get in these winding roads.
Mansi park is a great place to be. We also discovered it, just like that and my little one enjoyed it thoroughly. We did get to see the Peacock dance. :-)
Leaving a link here – https://www.ghumakkar.com/2008/07/12/a-quiet-weekend-at-dehradun/
Wishing both of you many more travels and a happy life.
In addition to what Nandan said about giving preference to vehicles that are climbing, I would like to share one piece of information. It is not a rule but more like a helpful tip for anyone who would like to adopt it.
The driver never gets motion sick because – a) he knows when he is going to turn the vehicle and hence he is prepared for the turn, so his body and his cerebellum fluid are not as disturbed as that of the passengers because of the body roll of the car and b) he has the steering in his hand which provides grate stability, which again the passengers do not have. However, a lot of passengers get motion sick and the beautiful vistas of the hills are frequently accompanied with nausea and vomiting etc. Therefore in order to avoid the discomfort for the passengers and make their journey more pleasurable, we should “turn slowly”. And by that I mean, we should brake and reduce the vehicle speed in a straight line, Before the turn, and then turn in a slow but steady speed. This little trick is quite effective and I have seen many many drivers braking (reducing speed) and turning at the same time. Even at the speed of 40-50 (when you enter a turn) and combined this with innumerable turn that we take on the hills, it adds up to a lot of discomfort for the passengers, whereas, if we slow down in straight line and then turn slowly (say around 20-30 kmph), you would notice that your passengers do not notice anything :) …
@ Nandan.Thanks for linking the post. And thanks for making me correct, I was confused with this point, thats why I wrote to make me correct. And the new point you added is equally important.
I have seen this post of yours, some really great pics it had.
@ Deepak. This is very valuable tip you have given. While driving in hills, it should be kept in mind. Thanks for updating me.
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Apko pasand aaya jaan kar khushi huyi, dhanyawaad!
I think this is awesome post, for those people who wants to go there for the 1st time.
I appreciate your effort Mr. Vinay Rajput..
thanks buddy, abhi 6 June ko Vaishno Devi jaa raha hoon.
I may be an exception amongst positive thinkers but please take the comments constructively.
Many have written about this place so you let the pictures talk which is good. However, some snaps are avoidable as they do not add to the value of the post or nothing worth noticeable in them. e.g signages, some of the zoo pics.
I hate it when people make it a family album but yours is an exception; you two together make a perfect picture. Won’t mind more of it!
Finally, its good to get the text edited by someone.
Thanks for your words. You are right, so much has been said about Mussoorie, so I covered some more areas and choosed these pics out of 75 pics, which was not easy.
And sorry, I have no one to edit my text.
Hi, Mr vinay, Ur snaps are really very beautiful.. i am also very fond of travelling , love to see that.. Thanks for the beautiful posts…
can u tell me how can i join u on this page..