I have been longing for a small yet perfect vacation. I am glad that I had a oppurtunity to enjoy one. Living in northern part of India always gives you an advantage of reaching all the beautiful places by car.
We decided that we will go to Mussoorie, It took hardly few minutes to decide the place but took a week’s time to decide how long the vacation is going to be.
Vasanth (a.k.a Workaholic) says it’s hardly 300 km from here so a weekend is enough.
Me: It’s not called vacation ,Its called week-end getaway .
After having long heated argument of why 2 not 3 or 4 or 5 days. We dropped the conversation as it was going nowhere.
Friday evening Vasanth asks me again – Are we going??
Me: You answer me whether its going to be a week-end getaway or small vacation.
Finally he gave in to my request and agreed to extend his leave for a ‘Day’ Yes .. ONE DAY..PHew!!!!! This was all I could do and all I could get.
Accompanied by our cousin,we started our trip by 5:30 am. I didn’t pack any food for us this time so we stopped at a local dhaba near Meerut ,An old lady looked at me for some time and told me that I am going to have son ,It was weird but I was happy as its so common to experience these things at villages.We were driving past the fields ,water pumps,hand pumps and local places..The drive was just beautiful but cherry on the cake -My sweet angel slept through the entire travel (luckily).
There are ups and downs in any road trip so did in ours. In and around Deoband – a famous historic place ,started our famous bumby roads..It was fun watching our cousin banging the UP road transport about how well they have been maintaining the roads..He said “If pregnant women travels on this road she need not goto hospital at all.. She will delivering the baby half way ” .Hilarious!!!
Car with low ground clearance + U.P Roads = Lots of hits under the car. Our poor car bared it all like a warrior..The roads were bad even in ghat area before Dehradun
This was Vasanth’s First Ghat road drive.. We were able to witness a remarkable difference in road as soon as we reached Dehradun. It was smooth like butter.Hats off to Uttarakhand Tourism
The drive from Dehradun to Mussoorrie was Just breath-taking. There was a little dryness in the beginning but every 1000 feet brought different vegetation and different colors of green. I couldn’t believe the temperature difference. We turned off the AC and started enjoying the natural air.. For all those bumpy roads It was all worth it. The bad roads ate 4 hrs of our trip. At Mussoorie every hotel is either at a 80 degree gradient down/above the main road. Requires quiet a driving skill.
We were really hungry and out of patience by the time we reached Mussoorie. It took an hour for us to find the Hotel 😦
After hell of traffic when we reach there ,we get the same old reply-Room not available. I was shocked as I had been calling the owner for a long time regarding the rooms .Vasanth enquired in nearby hotels and got a hit. We got more than we bargained for. “Himalayan Castle” – a beautiful vintage place with a good people and food. We were damn tired and I couldn’t imagine how tired Vasanth might be after driving for 8 hrs .
This picture was taken when british were ruling this place… This hotel was built in 1820. You can see that there is not much change other than rooms interior.
But He was relaxed on seeing the place where we stayed.. I think it eased out the pressure. We had a marvelous view of sunset. Everything was walking distance from this place. We had a good uphill/downhill walk around the market.. witnessing the freshness of fruits ,shops with loads of tourists bargaining ,was fun to watch. While taking the stroll my gal snatched a balloon from Balloonwala (boy selling balloons).The most surprising thing was there were kids( of 10 to 15 age) offering a stroller ride for small kids like Jaanu. I agree that it was heartening to see such small kids doing it but very surprising that Indians can make business out of anything .You get to see this happening only in India.
We came back ,had a peaceful dinner and a very very relaxing sleep. Vasanth and myself woke up at 5:45 am ,asked Krishna to baby sit Jaanu and went out to have a hot tea. It was after such a long time I had a tea early in morning with Vasanth. We walked around the hotels and took some pictures and laughed at the monkeys who used Tv cables as ropes to hop over the buildings. Todays agenda was goto falls, a walk on roads,and shopping.
As soon as we got into the car Jaanu was very restless and as we guessed it She threw up. I am not a travel sick kinda person and I get reminded of times I used to make lots of fun about my sister who would throw up within 20 minutes of beginning of our journey. I have been bragging to Vasanth that I never puke on winding roads and have miserably failed to prove this since our marriage. Yes! I threw up with in minutes of ‘Jaanu Fiasco’. I am pregnant and this happens !!
Vasanth and Krishna had a fun time at the Kempty falls. The water was damn cold .I couldn’t let Jaanu into the water though I was prepared for it. Jaanu was so excited to see her father dipping under the water. She kept pestering me ,I couldn’t stop myself and despite of Vasanth’s ‘No’ I just let her sit on steps with her feets touching the water. She pulled off her leg herself. It was very cold water. We took some pictures of our angel dressed in ‘Gharwal’ costume 🙂 . It reminded me of a picture of me n my sis wearing a rajasthani dress. Mano( my sister) looked so sweet just like Jaanu.
Had hot maggi and came back to our room for a little rest and go for S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G.
I was surprised that I still had all the energy to go for a walk down the street. There was a IPL Finals by 8:00 pm and I gave vasanth a look – “Are you not taking me out for shopping?? ” He took me for a walk and I also told myself that I should finish everything before the match. The best thing was Vasanth overheard a girl talking to her man “I know ,You want to go n watch IPL”. He was laughing that the same thing might happen to him too.. We had hot jalebi’s,chaats,got to do lots of shopping and no ‘Let’s Go’ from Vasanth. He didn’t complain about my 20 minutes delay -I was not able to walk fast. We reached home and I let him all by himself. Myself and my angel had our food and to bed by 11 :00
Next day was a back home journey, It took less time but seemed a long one. I slept from door to door. my gal gave a very good company. Said ‘Hello’ to that scorching heat… and cooked lunch,slept,Vasanth prepared dinner and In bed by 10 :00 pm. I had the most of it from this vacation than any one and All credit goes to Vasanth and Jaanu for making it happen for me 🙂
Thank you!!!!
Love you Guys!!!
SANJEEVANI 