We
decided to head out to Mussorie for the weekend as we had already visited
McLoedganj, Nainital. Choosing the hotel was not a tough job as we booked HotelMall Palace from GoIbibo. It costed INR 2000 but after applying the discount
code and paying partly by GoCash, we ultimately only spent INR 952 for a Deluxe
Room with Terrace.
We
booked our onward journey through DTS (Daily Transport Service) via GoIbibo.
BIG MISTAKE. The boarding was scheduled at 9PM from RK Ashram Metro Station,
but the bus arrived at around 10:30 PM.As there was no mention of pick up bus
between RK and Anand Vihar, when we were told to board a common bus which would
be changed at Anand Vihar was a big shocker.
After
reaching Anand Vihar they put us in a 25 seater TATA AC Seater bus where the
conductor allotted seats as per his convenience irrespective to the seat
numbers we had booked. What actually happens is that irrespective of the Tour
Operator you book with, they ultimately place you in one bus heading to the destination,
leading to frustration of the passengers as that was not what they had booked.
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| The Halt |
The
ride was very bumpy throughout and the cooling was very uncomfortable. They
dint even provide blankets knowing that the cooling may become uncomfortable
for passengers.
We reached Library Bus Stand, Mussorie at around 7:30 in the morning the next day ie 9th April 2016. Our hotel was at a distance of 1 km+ from the Library Bus Stand, so we thought that the location will be a problem and we booked the wrong hotel.
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| View of the hills in the morning from Mall Road |
Once we
reached the hotel(Hotel Mall Palace), the staff kept us waiting and asked for Early Check-in Fees
which he didn’t inform on the phone when we requested to keep the room ready by
8 AM as we were coming from Delhi. After talking to the manager, he finally let
us check in without any extra fees but with a condition that we check out the
next day by 10AM instead of 12PM. We happily agreed and proceeded to the room.
As we
stepped inside the room, all our fears vanished and we realized that we did
book the right hotel at the right place. The rooms were very spacious with a
good terrace view overlooking the valley and the cable car station. I was
further relieved after going to the washroom and seeing a working electric
geyser and running water in the taps and shower.
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| The King Sized Bed |
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| View from the room |
We slept for some time and then ordered a Stuffed Omlet and Gobi parantha from the hotel itself for breakfast. The Omlet was a bit weird as they had put Aaloo Zeera sabzi on the bread slice and then overlapped it with egg. The parantha was good and tasty.
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| Chicken Hot & Sour Soup |
After
resting for some time we left the room at around 11:30 or so and started
walking towards the market place. We did some shopping as well on the way. We
walked all the way to the bus stop to enquire about the bus frequency from
Mussorie to Dehradun and finally ended up in Momo’s for lunch.
Lunch
was mouthwatering and delectable. We ordered Chicken Hot & Sour Soup, Veg
Manchow Soup, Pad Thai Noodles and Strawberry Mojito. The pad Thai noodles was
a big letdown as it could have been better. After a hearty lunch we started
walking back towards the hotel and rested for some time.
We were
able to capture the sunset from our room terrace and it was a beauty to watch.
We headed out of the room at around 7 PM and started walking towards the CamelBack Road.
What we
did not anticipate was the distance. It was a long walk of more than 3km from
one end of the road to another. Definitely a Walk to Remember on The Road Less
Travelled as there were hardly any people on the road. At places there was no
light and we could hear some strange noises of the birds and animals along with
the noise of trees swaying by the wind. Even though we were not able to enjoy
the scenic beauty as it was dark, it will still be “A Walk to Remember” as for
an hour or so, we were walking peacefully away from the city chaos.
We hit back on the mall road near Library end at around 8PM or so and decided to enjoy street food rather than dining in a restaurant. We tried Omlet, Momo’s, American Corn, Maggi and we ended the food trail by having a good hearty Chocolate Milkshake from Nirulas. A perfect dish to end the day with. After this we retired back to our room in the hotel to rest.
Next
day we woke up and got ready to check out at 10 AM. We decided to go up Gun
Hill and have food there only. Luckily there was no queue to board the cable
car as we were early .The ticket costs INR 100 per person. We reached the top
and were welcomed by the over commercialized place with stalls everywhere.
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| Sunset as viewed from the room terrace |
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| Chicken Devil Momo's |
As we
had eaten only Maggi we headed to Kalsang Friends Corner opposite
to State Bank on Mall Road. The internal décor was Tibetan with Quotes of Dalai
Lama hung on the walls. What fascinated me was that there were napkins placed
under a glass top on all the tables. These napkins had reviews written by the
people who went there for a meal.
We were
amazed by looking into the menu and finding so many unheard flavors and tastes
for Momo’s and other dishes. Tried the Chicken Devils Momo’s and Veg Mix Momo’s
along with a Blueberry Banana Honey Milkshake.
The
serving was more than generous for the dishes. There were 7-8 big pieces of
Momo’s in a bowl in a spicy gravy topped with melted cheese. It was deliciously
mouthwatering and with that serving size, it was enough to fill 1 stomach.
Rates were very economical with INR 150 for the Momo’s and INR 130 or so for
the milkshake. By 12:30 we had a hearty meal, paid the bill and headed towards
the bus stop.
We were just in time for the 1 PM bus to Dehradun with ticket costing INR 56 per head.There are buses running every half an hour and they usually take an hour or an hour and a half to reach Dehradun Railway Station.
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| Dalai Lama Quotes |
Finally
we boarded Shatabdi at 4:45 PM and our trip to Mussorie came to an end. Indeed
a weekend well spent in the hills.
