Destination: Mussoorie, Nainital, Jim Corbett National Park
Purpose: Get outta Mumbai! Bye bye mundanity!
Days: 7
How to get there: Airplane, bus, car, van, jeep, cable cars (you name it!)
The trip was long overdue. A quick getaway was what we needed to escape from the confines of our mundane, city-slicker-lives. So, after procuring the necessary clearances from our respective bosses and parents (the latter being a formidable task!), Deeps and I set off for a 7-day sojourn to the northern terrains of India, to Nainital-Mussoorie-Corbett, nestled at the foothills of the mighty Himalayas. Excitement was on the top of the agenda in the run-up to the start of the journey! No nagging parents, no tag-along siblings..... only the Himalayas for our company!
On the morning of 13th, with groggy eyes and a thousand instructions ringing in our ears (Moms will be moms!); we boarded the 5.50 am flight to Delhi. We needed to be on time at Delhi's Nizamuddin station in order to be collected by our tour leader. As luck would have it, the plane developed a snag and was delayed for over an hour. Some nail-biting ensued, however the problem was solved and the flight resumed. I had the misfortune of having a chatty-yuppie-thing for a neighbour who desperately tried to strike a conversation with me. I am at my unfriendliest-best in the mornings and the last thing I needed was an irritating chap next to me, trying to discuss the condition of my being, where I was headed to, blah blah blah. So I shut my eyes and pretended to sleep, shutting the guy out from any further conversations. Rude, I know. But this minor annoyance had to be dealt with a firm hand. Delhi beckoned and out we stepped into a surprisingly pleasant weather. Hailing a cab to Nizamuddin was the immediate task and we couldn't have got a more colourful chap as our driver. Slow-to-understand, muttering incomprehensibles under the breath and his cab's dashboard dotted with pictures of lingerie models, we had a tough time controlling our giggles at the man's utterly honest flamboyance of a typical UPite (no offense meant to anyone, we all have our own peculiarities). But reach us he did, and that too on time. Full marks to him for that.
Now the hunt for our tour leader from amongst the swarm of passengers at Nizamuddin began. No sign of him. But then, we see a flash of gold. Then a black mass appears. No it isn't another taxi. That's Chetan (aka Rajnikanth aka Pappu) for you. Our tour leader and a man on a mission. Also a man with a terrible tan and in desperate need of a stylist.
We begin the long 12 hour trip to Mussorie, on route halting at Haridwar for a quick aarti-darshan on the banks of the Ganges. Needless to say, the place teems with devotees and fervour of the faithful. My second visit to the place was as enjoyable as the first. Only this time, I took more pictures than the first.
Welcome to Delhi
Directions please?
God alone: Abandoned statues on the banks of the Ganges, Haridwar
A mighty statue of Lord Shiva at Haridwar
A hawker with her wares, Haridwar
Hawking Mirrors (Notice Lord Shiva's reflection on the top-right mirror)
Aarti at Haridwar
The first thing that strikes you about the highways of Uttarakhand is the number of people on it. Lined up along the roadside, all gawking at you as if you were a shady alien from an equally-shady Bhojpuri film set. A few even manage to stand agape with their jaws slightly open for added effect. The counter-effect on your part is that of extreme amusement. Another feature of this strange place is the number of blatant advertisments of 'gupt-rog clinics' that dot EVERY wall. Painted in bold-white and promising a cure for 'jawaani ki niraasha', these ads are in your face and make you wonder if Dr. Samrat, Dr. Sagar, Dr. Hakim, Dr. Saif, Dr. Rakesh Agrawal (real names I've read off the walls) and other luminaries are indeed responsible for the mounting population problem of this country.
Not so 'gupt' about their ailments: Roadside Graffiti, NH72, Uttarakhand
Mussoorie soon arrives. The sight of our hotel leaves us breathless. Beautiful, luxurious rooms and a wonderful view from them. But we are exhasted owing to the arduous 12-hour journey and fall asleep as soon as we hit the bed.
Days 2 and 3 were spent in a cool, mesmerising Mussoorie. Pictures below:
The magnificent view from our hotel, Mussoorie
With Deeps and Khushi
At Kempty Falls
Cable Cars, Kempty Falls
The majestic Kempty Falls
Mussoorie in its green splendour
Green Breeze Resorts, Mussoorie
Lavender flowers: a rarity!
Cyclewaale Chacha smiled a toothy smile when I showed him this pic on the camera
Not a bad shot (I'm pretty good with guns, only missed 2 shots out of 15!)
Khushi - the little dahling of our group
Royalty, huh?
Against Murals
The Londonesque Streets of Mussoorie
U.K.? : Not the United Kingdom.... but Uttara Khand (dum-dums!)
Who's the stud now?
Monkeying around with the backdrop
4 comments:
Pic of Hawker, another one of mirrors in which shivji's reflection is visible and that Gupt rog wala(Humorous).....Was very nice...Nice photography.
Shooting balloons...reminds e of Mela during my childhood.
Thank u Akash.. I've learnt to click offbeat pics... Not the usual scenery snaps. A greater challenge is to click pics of humans, capturing their various emotions. Also roadside graffiti interests me. It exposes various psyches of ppl staying in that place.
hey, i stubled across this when i was looking for options to go to same tour as yours. COuld please tell me which tours comp or adventure group did u travel with ?.
hi Pooja, it really depends on where you live.... since I live in Mumbai there were many options for me... but I went with Kesari since I have traveled with them before :)
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