Moussorie - A Trip our way

In spite of people telling me that 2 days are enough for Mussoorie sight-seeing, I went ahead and booked a 5 days and 4 night’s tour. I had my reservations about this trip as many said that you will be bored and you should have done Rishikesh and other spots too. But all said we had a blast on this trip. And now people are so mesmerized by my trip videos and photos that they are bombarding my phone with messages as how I planned my trip, which all places I visited, where did I stay etc etc.

So here is a small gist of my amazing trip…

Day 1

We took an 2 hour flight and landed at 4.00 pm at Dehradun airport. I and my friend were famished, so we request our cab driver Mr. Shanti Prasad to take us some place where we can have lunch. He dropped us at a small Dhaba like place which had amazing authentic local thali which served nachni roti (which were soo soft and tasty). After lunch we proceeded towards our Lodge (Seegreen Lodge) and there we met our guide Sagar (who is as cool as this trip). Sagar then informed us that the sun sets between 6 to 6.30 pm and told us to dump our bags and follow him for a small walk. We were tired but didn’t want to miss anything so without complaining we obliged. It was an half an hour trek to a mountain top and the view from there was something which we could only experience and not describe. Here we saw our first sun set of the many from the hills of Moussorie. My friend told me ‘Yaar Mera trip safal hogaya’.

We had booked cab for first and last day and we travelled by scooty for rest of the trip. The second day, we first visited Dalai Hills Buddhist temple but not the old school travelers way. We did it the localite way. Sagar took us from the other side through the rough mountain terrains overseeing the LBSNAA. The view was breathtaking. It was such an experience!

We climbed down the old school tourist way to the place where our scooty was parked and next we visited Kempty falls. It was not what we expected. It must have been nice but the sad reality was that it’s not well maintained and was overcrowded. We didn’t stay for long here.

Then to cheer us up Sagar told us that he would take us to a small stream in Corn Village which only locals know of.  We parked our scooty at the end of corn village and started a downhill trek to this village stream. Believe me it was one of a kind experience. He took us through an abandoned local trail amid thick foliage. He literately was making way while trekking downhill as the villagers usually wouldn't go to the stream during monsoon and forest had covered the local foot path. Anyhow by falling once or twice, I and my friend managed to reach the stream. Now imagine it’s just the three of you amid a forest in a water stream. It was so quiet, peaceful with only birds and water gushing sound. It was surreal. We insisted Sagar that we stay for long. We clicked endless pics. We bid our farewell to this amazing place and headed to corn village were we had usual meal at a café in the village. Sagar told us the proceeds of the café would go to the education of children in that village. It made me think, this place has so much to give us… beauty, peace, life lessons…

Next Sagar dropped us at our lodge and told us that he would pick us at 7 pm to take us to shopping at Mall road. It’s a happening place in Mussoorie. It has all the things... food, glitter, perfect ambience, antique shops, local shops etc. We had pahadi style maggi, momos and kulhad wala milk. It felt like a most amazing day had come to an end unless we experienced the next day.

Next day Sagar told us if we were okay with trekking then he would take us to Benog wildlife sanctuary. Man, What a Day it was! This day has marked a special place in my heart and all because of Sagar. We started our trek at 10.30 am. Sagar had told us to load our bag with munchies and water. And whenever we would try to pass on some things too him to carry in his backpack, he would say we should carry our own things, it’s a mountain rule. He would make up some mountain random rules every now and then. Anyways, we parked our scooty and started our trek. It was first down-hill and then uphill. We covered more than half of the ground by 12 noon. Sagar then spotted a cool shady spot and told us that we could rest there for some time. And then he did the second most amazing gesture (most amazing gesture will come later). He pulled out three plastic cups, three paper boat juice packs and a plastic bag in which he had bought ice. Can you imagine… I and my friend were dumbstruck. We were so taken away by his sweet gesture. And believe me it was the most amazing drink I had in a very long time with that view. We rested for some time and resumed our trek again. We some-how reached the top as the mountain top is mostly barren with no shades and it wasn’t a cloudy day. There is a Jwala devi Temple on the top and beside that there was a small structure wherein there was an idol of Bhairav Baba. We offered our prayers plus it was Navratri, so it felt so pleasant. Then we started towards the clock tower which is only 10 to 15 mins from the temple. Sagar told us we will stay there for an hour and my reaction was what will we do for an hour here. But believe me we stayed there for 1.5 hours and still didn't want to leave. It was then that Sagar opened his backpack again and did the most amazing thing. He pulled out 2 patilas, 1 gas, 3 cups, 3 packs of maggi, one capsicum, 1 onion, 1 tomato, 1 amul milk small tetra pack, 1 small packet of elachi, sugar, tea powder, salt…. It was as if it wasn’t his backpack but Aladdin ka chirag. I and my friend awed together so loudly that Sagar blushed. It was the sweetest thing anyone could do for you. We made maggi and tea at a mountain top. It was like I ticked an amazing experience out of my bucket list. God! I can’t express the feeling and experience. We didn’t want the experience to pass by. We just wanted to stay there and take it all in for as long as we could. I don’t know what was it, whether it was the view (we could see clouds end resort) or the hot maggi and tea combination or Sagar’s sweet gesture or the peace and purity of that place.. that etched my heart permanently. We also sat on the clock tower for some time but soon it was time to re-track our way back. We weren’t ready, how someone could bid farewell to such an amazing experience. With heavy heart we started down-hill. Down-hill was an easy part but the up-hill to where our scooty was parked ne mujhe meri nani yaad diladi.
Next we reached a small shop were we devoured parathas like mad people as we were so hungry. Sagar told us that not to fill our stomach too much as he would take us to an aunt’s shop were we will get amazing momos and we can also watch sunset.

After our quick meal, we headed to Clouds End Point. Sagar told us we could go in or he would take us to a point from where we will get the same view and a different feel. We opted for the second option of course. He literally made us park our scooty in the middle of the road and took us to cliff’s end. I for some reason taught that it was my end. I am not usually afraid of heights but that time I preferred not to linger much towards the cliff’s end.

Then he took us to the aunt’s shops where we had momos with Limka and saw the sun set from an amazing mountain top which was apparently an restricted and private property.

This was an end of a most amazing and cool day of my life.

Early morning before breakfast I and my friend went to a point which Sagar had shown us (5 mins from our Lodge) beside Leopard Lodge, from where we can view white peaks (Yamunotri and Gangotri). It wasn’t a clear day, we ventured a little and came back to our lodge. Yamunotri and Gangotri could also be seen through our lodge Sagar told us later that day.

Next we headed to an Adventure Camp as my friend was keen on doing some adventure sports. On our way there we spotted a cool clamping sight. We did skywalk and superman flying as it sounded different from the usualy zip lining and wall climbing. It was an okay experience.

Next Sagar took us to Landour. This is a town straight from the British Empire. The feel and the ambience still carries that era with it. We had our fill of amazing bake treats from the Landour Bakehouse. The Almond Rose Cake is something that you shouldn’t miss out on. It is a beautiful place to walk and even senior citizens can easily walk here. We had a peaceful experience here.

In the evening Sagar again left us at mall road as we wanted to do some shopping. We had an amazing simple dinner at a diner 'Sandoz'. The ambience is cool and the food is too good.

Sagar dropped us at our lodge and with a heavy heart we bid farewell to Sagar.

This was the last day of our trip. I woke up and saw white peaks from our lodge. I and my friend then went to our spot near leopard logde and sat on a bench to observe leopard logde property on one side and white peaks on other side of the bench. It was a blissful experience. It had become my happy place.

We had already done and experienced soo much from this trip that I and my friend were like it’s okay if won’t get much more out of it. But we were in for another treat. This was a place I wanted to visit even though it was an detour from Mussoorie. After seeing its pics, I fell in love with this place. From outside it looks like a normal amusement park but inside it’s a different experience. The Robbers Cave in Guchhu Pani is a place straight out of the magazine. You get to walk in waist deep water in between narrow open cave like mountains. It has a soul of its own. Its crowed but you still feel good about this place.

All in all Mussoorie for me was not just a trip but is a most cherished experience. And we wouldn't have experienced Mussoorie the way we did without Sagar. The trip was so eventful and beyond imagination because of him. Thank you loads Sagar.

Lastly i would add we were two girls on a trip to an unknown place but this trip made us believe choriya choro se kam nahi.

Guys who want to experience Moussorie like we did can contact Sagar at 078955 54279 (his Insta handle is: mussoorie_i_know).

Note: This trip involves trekking of minium 3-4 kms, so people comfortable with trekking should opt for it.