My FIRST SOLO TRIP to Mussoorie!!!

On arriving at the bus stand which is quite near to my college gate I completely forgot about the Kanwar season. This a brief reminder to everyone that there is a Kanwar yatra that happens in the monsoon season near Haridwar which is an annual pilgrimage of devotees of lord Shiva in which these people fetch holy water of river Ganga and travel to their native places on foot in order to offer the holy water to the local Shiva temples.

Currently, this religious yatra has become quite unsafe for other pedestrians and travelers because of many reasons that I cannot discuss here. So, I saw everywhere these Kanwar people looking suspiciously at me and I was really worried about how will I get on the bus to Dehradun alone. But I gathered courage and went on with my general inquiry for the bus. See here I would like to say if the God's wish matches with your wish then no matter what you will complete the task and your wish will be fulfilled. These lines are put here because the moment I stepped near the inquiry counter I found my two juniors waiting for the same bus. Oh! what a relief I got after seeing them.

The journey to Dehradun in a bus that costed me around 81 Indian rupees went really good. We chatted a lot throughout the journey and I found out that these people were going to a place called Chamba on bikes which they were going to hire from Dehradun.

On arriving at Dehradun ISBT, I took a blue sharing tempo which is called ' Vikram' in this area to Mussoorie bus stand. The ride cost me 10 rupees. I reached the Mussoorie bus stand and took my ticket to Mussoorie of about 56 rupees. The beautiful bus journey to Mussoorie made my small attempt fruitful. The moment I saw the mountains my heart jumped with excitement.

"It is always the same with mountains. Once you have lived with them for any length of time, you belong to them. There is no escape" – Ruskin Bond. These beautiful lines came to my mind on the journey.

I was getting a bit sleepy and dizziness was what I was experiencing probably due to the hills and no breakfast in the morning. A huge mistake. I learned this lesson that whenever one is leaving for a journey morning breakfast is a must. Because this thought dawned upon me that who will take care of me if I fall ill here. I don't have any companion. But thankfully on arriving at the hill station all the dizziness and sleep just faded. It was raining at moderate scale and I had a task in front of me to search for my hotel Basera.

Upon inquiry, I found out the directional signage and followed the trail. Honestly in the middle, I felt as if whether I have committed another mistake of booking a shady hotel or not. The thought that sometimes what is shown on the not is not what is, in reality, came inside my tiny brain. I prepared a mental countermeasure to it that is to leave Mussoorie by afternoon. But surprisingly the hotel was very good and safe beyond my expectation. It was an off-season for tourists but still there was a lot of crowd in the hill station and also in the hotel that I booked. I found my room very cosy , neat, clean and safe.

I left my hotel around 12: 30 pm towards the Mall Road. I decided to have my lunch at a good cafe or restaurant. The definition of ' good' was something well appreciated on the app called ' TripAdvisor'. So, I searched on this app and found a place called ' Momos- Tibetan Restaurant'.

By the time I realized it was at the opposite end of the mall road it started raining heavily. I was forced to take a rickshaw towards the other end. I was carrying my polka dotted purple and white umbrella in one hand and my camera bag along with a sling bag around my neck.

Upon asking one shopkeeper I found my restaurant which looked quite average from outside. On stepping inside it, the interiors were well crafted and done in traditional Tibetan architecture and culture. It was a small restaurant but will good ambiance. The service was quick and very polite. The food was delicious. While having my food my eyes got stuck on a wall which had this smoking guy's face painted on it that looked like the face of Bob Marley. I still doubt upon my prediction. But the wall was quite vibrant and attractive to me.

While again roaming the streets of Kulri Bazaar I landed to this famous place – The Cambridge Book Shop. It is the bookshop where the famous writer and my personal favourite too arrives - Mr. Ruskin Bond on every Saturday afternoon to sign the books and meet his fans personally. And guess what it was the Saturday afternoon! I was pretty excited. But soon I realized and overheard the conversation of the bookshop owner that the weather is very bad today- raining heavily since morning and he is too old to come today.

But I didn't dissapoint myself and spent next 30 minutes inside the bookshop; ending with a tiny purchase of Ruskin Bond's book called ' A little book of Love and Companionship'- just as a sweet reminder of my visit to this place.

It was a 100 rupee ticket to this place which quite surpried me because it was not worth that amount at all. Nevertheless I sat inside the cable car with two families accompanied by 2 or 3 year old kids and a young lovey-dovey couple who were not letting a single moment go by without touching each other! well no judging here because I was quite enjoying my company inside that little car.

Yes, I was feeling scary again but upon landing at the Hill point I felt really dissapointed. I had a faint memory about this place but not so boring and dull that it has become presently. All four sides have being occupied by a number of useless shops- ranging from handicraft shops to food and photo shops which were taking double the money with the tourists just because of its high altitude location.

The play activity was arranged in the middle of the area for kids which too was mundane and out of order. I found a telescope viewing point whose location and the route was kind of hidden from general public it seemed. At least they could have put up a directional signage for this point was what I suggested the owner.

There were clouds all around-due to which there was zero visibility to the view below the point. After few minutes the cloud started moving and then I realized the beauty of this point. It was a spectacular view of the tiny colourful houses below and the moving cable car. I have no words to describe my feeling at that moment. I got some stunning clicks which was sufficient for me to get down back to the mall road.

Yes, it was expensive but by this time I realized solo trips are expensive (I might be wrong - This analysis might change with my more future solo trips- who knows..:P). This company garden had a 18 rupees entry ticket with the ticket to this so-called wax museum -rupees 100. When i entered inside this wax museum I realized the attempt is appreciated but then the entry ticket price is not appreciated at all. There were wax statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Princess Diana, Pit-bull, Jawaharalal Nehru, Parveen Bobby, Benazir Bhutto, Michael Jackson and the one of Jack and Rose too from the movie 'Titanic'.

The rain has stopped and the weather was really mesmerizing. I found out this amazing place called ' Cafe de Tavren'. It has a formal dining space on first floor and a romantic cozy space on ground floor with a balcony like view towards the street. The exterior facade was itself quite inviting with cobble cladding on wall, a small steel railing and a chic signage.

The place seemed friendly and a perfect space for a lone traveler like me. I chose a secluded yet brightly lit space for myself from where I could see all the happenings inside the cafe as well as on the street. The food was marvellous and very well presented. I could not try a lot of cuisines from their menu since I decided by this time that I will be going to all other cafes and restaurants trying one dish at each place just for the sake of enjoying and living the ambiance. The food accompanied by soul stirring music of Sona Mohapatra and Indian ocean was enough for me to sit inside the cafe a little longer than I thought.

This was followed by my visit to another comfy and small cafe called ' Cafe by the way' which was situated on the first floor and offers some nice coffee, shakes and munching stuff. The good thing in all of these places was the availability of a book rack. Lone travelers can spend their time enjoying their delicacies while reading books. For a person like me- a book and a coffee lover; such places are like heaven. I stayed for another half an hour or so since I grabbed an interesting book called ' Life is what you make it' . Oh! such an apt title for me that day..:P. Before leaving I asked one fellow to click my picture who turned out to be a professional photographer! I assumed it was my lucky day indeed!

So, it was getting dark and I had to visit this last place which was recommended to me a number of times by one of my close friend; and of course when I checked its review on the TripAdvisor -it was on number one position for must visit places in Mussoorie. The place was - 'Kalsang'- an authentic Chinese restaurant. I was full up to the brim but I had to visit this place.

Upon entry I realized there was no other place left except a six seater table on the first floor. I occupied that table and ordered a Thupka - a Tibetan noodle soup. The wait for my order was quite pleasant. Since the entire ambiance inside the restaurant was an intro to the Tibetan world- low dim red lights, Chinese lanterns, Chinese or Tibetan music (I could not recognize) and my happy mood..:).

I started scribbling short notes in my pad and other stuff. The thupka came out to be wonderful as expected. I noticed people who have visited this place have written some words or sentences on a piece of a napkin which was kept on the table covered with a glass sheet. So, in honour of this tradition I too wrote some lines and handed to the waiter before leaving this wonderful place.