Day 1 – Gurgaon to Lansdowne
The wedding season is on and I was invited to attend one of my friend’s friend wedding in Rishikesh. So, we planned to make it a small trip to the hills along with.
A small, less-crowded, beautiful hill station surrounded by Shivalik range in Kotdwar district of Uttrakhand. Those who want to get away from city hustle-bustle and crowdy tourist places should get-away there. I must warn you beforehand that there are not many places to visit so don’t expect too much and enjoy the stay in traveler style.
Lansdowne is a small hill station and cantonment area of Garhwal Rifles regiment. It was founded during British ruling and is still maintained by army. So, you can enjoy the mix of army and Garhwali style.
We started midnight from Gurgaon, and it took us 6 hours to reach Lansdowne. At the first ray of dawn, we were there to witness the magnificent sunrise amidst the hills. The orange lining along the black mountains were a mesmerising view to hold in your eyes. And missing to capture it would have been a resentful mistake. So, we clicked some beautiful pictures to keep in our gallery and share with you too.
With the day start, the hotel-hunt also started. As this was not peak season and not weekend so we did not opt for pre-booking of hotels. Reaching at Lansdowne, you can easily look for a comfortable stay near Gandhi Park that’s the center of market. We found a hotel and checked-in at around 8 in the morning. We had our breakfast at nearby restaurant named Mayur Hotel and Restaurant relishing on special chai and parathas. Since, everyone was too tired, so we agreed to take some rest before heading out. After getting up and ready, we started to explore the attractions nearby.
Our first place to visit was Bhulla Tal that is an artificial lake maintained very beautifully. There is a café, tuck shop, free parking, and beautiful surroundings. We had tea, momos, and chowmein at café and then bought tickets to enter to lake. It’s very clean lake with some birds and rabbits in a big cage, photographic views and swans in water. We clicked pictures and spent around an hour there.
Our next stop was Tip-in-Top point to view sunset and wide view of Shivalik range. So, we headed towards the top. In 10 minutes, we reached there, and it was definitely true to the words. It can be described as a big landscape painted with vivid colors. While you are looking at the whole Shivalik range, do wait till sunset as that time beauty is enhanced to the highest degree.
There are some cafes there where you can sip coffee and enjoy the chilled evening. Some reviews say there is local food available there but it’s not true.
I’m a huge fan of local food and believe that one should definitely try the food cooked local style. They say, Local and regional food systems are about opportunity. And I didn’t want to miss the taste of Garhwali food.
When back to main market of Lansdowne after sunset, we first agreed to go to Gurudwara. This Gurudwara too is maintained by Indian army. We offered our prayers and relaxed our minds there for some time.
When exiting, we were pulled by a delectable fragrance of fresh buns baked nearby in the bakery named Cantt Bakery Lansdowne. And to our surprise, it was so pocket-friendly that we ended up buying a lot of baked items. The attendant at bakery was a girl and she was so sweet and hospitable. They bake mostly items containing egg, but we were lucky enough to place an order for pure veg baked cream buns (must have it when you go there) available next morning.
Search for local food was still on, although it’s a small town but still not many people are aware of where you can get the Garhwali cuisine. To our luck, we asked an army personnel and found a local shop serving Garhwali food nearby Gurudwara and bakery itself.
The name of the restaurant cum lodge is Hotel Mandakini. Its built old-style from wood and soil. Its operated by retired army man and locals call him ‘Pandit Ji’ We had a talk with him and he told us that the food is made on order and we can have it only the next day as it takes time to cook. We were excited enough to have it so agreed to have it the next day before leaving Lansdowne.
The dinner was again preferred at Hotel Mayur and then we explored around the sadar bazaar of Lansdowne. There is NO “fancy Mall Road” like other hill stations and we were happy with that.
Now, it was time to go back to beds before starting the next leg of our journey.
DAY 2 – Lansdowne to Rishikesh
We were up and had cream buns from Cantt Bakery as first thing in the morning. Got ready, packed our bags, had chai-pakoras-samosa at nearby chai shop and then headed to relish the local food we placed order for.
The food was still cooking so we waited outside to enjoy sunny day of winters. And then the call for food was made. It was Mandwa Roti (made of locally grown grain), Gaith ki daal (Garhwal special) and Aaloo-Mooli ki sabzi. Pandit Ji already warned us that the roti is very heavy and filling. So, we had only 1 roti each to avoid overflowing tummies as we had to travel a long way that day.
Here are the pictures of food for your hungry eyes and the menu for helping in your pre-planning of trip.
Thanking him for the food and hospitality, we started for next stop – Tadkeshwar Mahadev. This is a 600 years old Shiva temple at a distance of 38 kms from Lansdowne town. It took us 1.5 hours to reach there. The roads are well-built but be careful while driving in sharp curves of mountains. Just 10 kms before the destination, we stopped at a café to take some rest. It was beautifully structured, and clean with greenery all around. An old-age couple is running this café and are very courteous too.
Reaching there at the temple, we parked our car and started stepping down towards temple. I was stunned with the beauty and pin-drop silence. It was like a meditation where you can relax the innermost chaos of city-life.
It’s a historical temple of Shiva and has a dharamshala and Gaushala too. We spent 20-30 minutes there offering prayers, sitting there in silence and clicking some pictures. Then we started climbing up to the parking, had a cup of tea at a tea-stall there and also met an old couple who was traveling to spend time with each other. It was lovely to meet them.
Now, the time to go to the next stop, Rishikesh where we were to attend the wedding. We started in the evening and reached there in approx. 4 hours. This time we already booked our stay to avoid wasting time in hunting.
Checked-into the hotel at 8 in the evening and went to the market around to have good food. Exploring and experimenting is my favorite thing to do. So, we chose to have our dinner at a Rajasthani restaurant. I must tell you that Golgappe is my weakness and that was the first item I had as soon as I entered. And let me tell you, it was so delicious and spicy as it should be.
After dinner, we also tried the hot kullad wala doodh there that helped us relieved the tiredness too. Reaching back to the hotel, we went to our rooms for taking rest.
Day 3 – Rishikesh
The next morning was very relaxing and fresh. We got fresh, packed our bags and checked-out from the hotel. The breakfast was again at the same restaurant and then we the next option was to explore nearby.
We chose to go to Neergarh Waterfall just 10 kms away from the hotel we were staying in. Soon, driving from city, we entered to hills again and bought the entry ticket to go there. Parked the car on roadside and started trekking upwards to the waterfall. It’s a very small trek of 500 meters from main road, with tea-stalls all the way up. There is a temple too at the top, but we did not make going there.
We stopped only midway of waterfall where there was a pool of natural water along with a small waterfall. We had a good time of around 2 hours clicking pictures, dipping feet in the water and relaxing. It’s always crazy fun to travel with your best friends.
After then, we stepped down and before driving back to city, it was time to have maggi as no trip in hills is complete without it. And let me tell you here, we started with 1 plate of maggi and ended up having 4 because it was too delicious. The name of the maggi stall is Negi General Store and Restaurant (the pic is here for the reference).
Being in Rishikesh, I did not want to miss the Ganga Aarti so we quickly made our way towards ghat. The way passes from the local market where you can buy handcrafted items and other stuff. We had some time before aarti, so we were buying some handcrafted jewellery.
The aarti must be witnessed at Triveni ghat but we were 20 minutes away from it. Some locals suggested that we can hire a cab to go there but when we did, the driver told us that its already late and we would definitely miss the aarti. So, with heavy hearts, we thought not to alas ourselves by ending up there when it finishes. So, we left the cab immediately.
We still had some time before going to the wedding so we stopped by at New Lucky café that gives astounding view of the Ganga and Laxman Jhula. Sipping on chilled special mocktails, we clicked many pictures of the view.
This was now time to get ready for the wedding. I must tell you the quirky thing we did, as we did not have any option of hotel, so we changed and got ready in the parking itself, making all the arrangements with car window blinds and towels. Some HAHA moments.
Well, then we attended the wedding, filled our tummies with food and then started back to Gurgaon the same night. We were back in the early morning driving the whole night. Kudos to my friend who is very strong to go to extra miles whenever needed.
Will meet you in the next journey’s stories, till then good bye and happy travelling.
PLACES to visit and FOOD to Have:
1. LANSDOWNE
Bhulla Tal
Tip-in-Top
Tadkeshwar Mahadev Mandir
Cantt Bakery for freshly baked buns and cookies
Hotel Mandakini for Garhwali food
Hotel Mayur for pure veg food
2. RISHIKESH
Shri Kanha Ji Rajasthani Restaurant
Negi General Store and Restaurant
New Lucky Cafe
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