Two for Two in Dhanaulti..
Soon often we come across terms like “solo trips” or “family trips”. Have you ever been to “siblings trip”? If yes, then you can very well connect to my story but in case not, then stop right here to call up your siblings and plan a trip.
This is a story about two crazy sisters[Mikku: Me and Nikki: Sis]who went for an unplanned trip to Dhanaulti. Before every bright morning comes a dark night and so it was dark night for us before we enter the Day 1 of this trip. Our bus was scheduled to Dehradun from Kashmiri gate. Running to collect as many jerseys as we could possibly fit into our bags, we booked a cab to bus stop. We reached the bus stop with empty pockets navigating for the nearest ATM [*Always carry cash when you go for trips]. After struggling a bit we managed to get a cash from the GODLY shopkeeper. A sigh of relief as we could board the bus on time.
Day 1, 5:00 AM in Dehradun: We woke with a sight of one tall guy banging on our window. He asked us to vacate the bus as we reached the destination. How does it feel when you are thrown out of cosy blanket in the freezing COLD AT 5 AM? Anyways we started enquiring people for the fastest way to reach Mussoorie. The only motivation was warm blanket in the hotel room we booked. We reached hotel 4 hours before check-in time with no room available for early check-in. Boom! we are on road wondering what to do. But mesmerising Mussoorie was beautiful enough to grab our attention. We spent those hours basking in the golden sunshine.
Cold mountain air filtered by tall hanging trees gave us chills. We wandered through the famous Mall road enjoying our kind of music. The moment we got our room, like few animals who succumb to snooze, we ran to grab a quick nap. Somehow convinced, we woke up to get ready and started to work on our the Mussoorie exploration plan. Food served here is comparable to famous restaurants in any metro. One can find many maggi and tea stalls round the corner. Here are some delicious roasted veg momos.
We visited “Kempty falls” but unfortunately it is very crowded and not well maintained. We stole some time to explore George everest’s place. There we had to walk for around 1.5 kms to reach the peak. We were so lost in dancing and singing that this walk turned out to be the shortest one.
During sunset we visited a place called “lal tibba”. This is a restaurant on the local hill top with an open roof. They serve fabulous Italian and Chinese cuisine. I was never a fan of pasta until I visited here. I captured the most beautiful sunset ever in the below snap.
Cold winds mercilessly hit us very hard. Sun-rays who were at our rescue were lost in the dark.. We returned our hotel room least bothered about night life. Nor were we interested to discover local arctic in the middle of melting ice.
Day 2, 10:00 AM in Dhanaulti: Sparsely populated, Majestic Dhanaulti is at the elevation of 2286 m from average mean sea level. The journey to Dhanaulti was loaded with picturesque sceneries. Two wheeler was skidding on ice as if bikes were put on skates with damaged brakes. Meanwhile me and Nikki, when the road was jammed at one middle point as they were covered with ice.
The time spent during travelling was well spent with some tea breaks and snow fights in between.
Finally with the pace of slithering bear, we managed to reach Surkanda devi. This is a beautiful temple situated at local hilltop. It is 3 kms away from the vehicle parking. The way to this temple was fun as we covered it by sliding on ice.
We returned from temple and headed towards eco park. It is an adventure park with an eye pleasing greenery situated in the middle of snow white. Before we get late, we packed ourselves in the cab to head towards the bus stop.
A little more focus on journey over destination, tranquillity over haste, Laughs over adventure, sanctified bond over mean friendships made this trip a memorable one.
PS: So, how about next siblings trip to Sikkim? :)
Thank you.
