We reached Mussoorie and checked in to our hostel. Yes you read it right ‘Hostel’, i personally don’t like hotels because they are very expensive. We found a hostel online called ‘Bunkotel’, they basically provide you rooms with bunk beds. They are very cheap and suits your budget. We took rest for a while and then later that evening we went to mall road, it is located at the center of the city. The Mall Road in Mussoorie is the main shopping area of this delightful hill station. One can explore the shops ranging from big to small, selling everything from colorful fabrics to electronic goods. You can showcase your bargaining skills here. ????
We checked out at around 10 AM and left for Dhanaulti. For people who don’t know about this place, google it and i am sure it will immediately be a part of your bucket list. If you need a place away from hustle bustle, this is the one. It is around 30 km from Mussoorie, you can easily get bus or taxi. Since we were on tight budget trip we decided to take lift. The road towards Dhanaulti from Mussoorie is splendid. You will witness beautiful landscape throughout your journey.
In Dhanaulti we decided to stay in a camp (Dhanaulti Camp Homes). Again found it online at a very reasonable price. The host Mr.Amit and his wife were super awesome. One thing we didn’t expected was that the camps will be surrounded by big ass mountains from all side, which was totally awesome BTW. To reach the campsite you have to descend for at least 2 km on a rough terrain. As soon as you reach the campsite you will literally feel like you are in the quietest place on earth. It was so damn quite and peaceful. We had ‘Diwan Bhai’ who was suppose to look after our food and other arrangements. We kept our bags inside the tent and started exploring the place.
DAY 7:
This was the last day of our trip. We checked out in the morning and left for Delhi by Bus. Bus are available at regular interval. It took us around 7 hrs to reach Delhi.
That’s it. This is how it all end. A week full of adventures, thrills and fun.
Thanks a lot for reading. If you have any other queries regarding the trip you can E-mail me on vishal.ujjain516@gmail.com . For pictures kindly visit my Facebook page.
You can watch rafting videos here:
Travelling should not be about covering long distances…It should be about exploring each and every place you go and experiencing the history and culture of that place. That’s what i did this time. After my trekking trip to Rupin Pass got cancelled due to bad weather, i decided to do something what i haven’t done before, backpacking to random places with my friends ‘Sunny’ & ‘Abhishek’.
We reached Delhi on 11th May’18 and boarded a train to Dehradun (Nanda Devi Express 11:50 PM). It reached Dehradun at 5:40 A.M. After that we took a bus to Mussoorie which is about 35 km and the cost per ticket is Rs.60. Buses are easily available outside railway station. Cabs are also available but they are expensive AF.
DAY 1:
We left Dhanaulti at around 10 AM. It took us around 45 minutes to climb back up towards the road. We took lift in a car and went to Chamba. From Chamba we took a bus to Rishikesh. Bus took around 3 hrs to cover 80 km because of bad roads. We reached Rishikesh at around 3 PM. From bus stand we took an auto to Tapovan, where we had planned to stay.
In Rishikesh we booked a hostel (The Hosteller) which was super awesome. It was Rs. 420 per head for a night. It too had bunk beds. In that hostel we three were the only Indians. It was full of foreigners. These foreigners come to Rishikesh to learn yoga, as Rishikesh is the yoga capital of our country. Some of these foreigners work there part time for earning extra bucks. In evening we explored the place, went to couple of Yoga Ashrams.
DAY 2:
We hired 3 bicycles and began our journey. It costed around 500 per cycle for full day, trust me that’s the cheapest deal you can get there. Being the main center of attraction everything is a bit pricey. Anyways, our first stop was George Everest. It was around 8 Km ride from our hostel. You can witness mountains all around you while riding towards George Everest. Since it has an elevation of 2,290m with a rough terrain, you need basic fitness and stamina to ride a bicycle. It took us around 3hrs to reach the top. Believe me the view you get from there is worth all the efforts you put in. Also you can hire a taxi for 5k and reach there.
Colonel Sir George Everest was a British surveyor and geographer who served as Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843(wiki link). He is best known for having Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth, named in his honor. Basically Sir George Everest lived there and had his laboratory there.
We stayed there for couple of hours, shot some pics and started our descend. It took us around 1.5 hrs to descend. After that we headed towards Kempty Fall. It is located around 13 km from Mussoorie. Kempty Falls is a waterfall in Ram Gaon and at the south of Kempty, in the Tehri Garhwal District of Uttarakhand. The name Kempty is derived from the word ‘camp-tea’. A stream of water running throughout the year starting from the southwest of village ‘Banglow ki kandi’ moves northwest and falls from 4,500 ft. It took us around 2.5 hrs to reach there. We stayed there for an hour. After that we started heading back to Mussoorie. We reached Mussoorie at 6:30 PM.
DAY 3:
In the evening we went to the forest to get woods for the camp fire. On our way we crossed a small village where we met a family who stayed there. We talked to them about their daily life and day to day activities. The smile they had on their face made me realize that you don’t have to be in a hi-tech city to enjoy life. After having tea at their house we headed back towards our camp. It was dark and very cold. When everyone was burning in summer we were wearing 3 layers of cloth. It was 4°C.
We lit the campfire and had our dinner. It was getting colder every second, so we decided to go back to our tent.
DAY 4:
We woke up at around 6 AM to witness the most amazing sunrise. After that we had our breakfast and decided to go for a hike. Our first stop was at a school where there were around 20 kids and 2 teachers. They all greeted us with a very sweet ‘Namastey’. We stayed there for a while talked to the kids and teachers. After that we started our descend to a very dense forest which was the only way of commute. Crossing lots of alpine trees and bushes we reached another small village. We stayed there for a while and talked to the residents. They told us how they survive the unbearable cold weather in winters when the whole place is covered with snow. Moving on, we went to some other villages and then returned back to our camp.
After couple of hours we had our lunch and then slept. In evening again we went to the forest for woods and later lit the campfire.
DAY 5:
DAY 6:
This was the day we all were waiting for, ‘River Rafting Day’. We booked our slots with ‘Red Chilli Adventures’ for Rs.900 per person, little bit pricey than other operators. But it was worth it, they had the best crew in Rishikesh.
We booked a stretch of 16 km which was expected to take 4 hours to complete. We were taken to Shivpuri by car from where our expedition was suppose to start. It took 25 minutes to reach there. At the starting point we were introduced to the crew and two other people who were to join us on the raft. After the briefing we started our raft.
We were all terrified and excited at the same time but after the first rapid all our fear disappeared. After that it was so f#****g awesome ???? . Within seconds water started flowing through us. It was a heart pounding activity in the Holy Ganges.
Also where the current is less they allow you to jump into the water and swim around. What is more thrilling than swimming in a river which is 50ft deep. Since you always have your life vest on its safe to jump. Few of the boats turned upside down due to fast rapids throwing everyone in water. It was so awesome to watch that. ???? Thank god our boat didn’t turned upside down.
After 4 hrs of rowing, we were tired AF. We came back to our hostel and slept. In the evening we went to ‘Parmarth Niketan’. It is a true spiritual haven, lying on the holy banks of Ganga in the lap of the lush Himalayas. It is the largest ashram in Rishikesh, providing its thousands of pilgrims who come from all corners of the Earth. Pilgrims become part of number of activities like morning universal prayers, daily yoga and meditation classes, daily satsang ,lecture programs, kirtan and the world-renowned Ganga Aarti at sunset, as well as Nature Cure and Ayurvedic treatment.
We sat there for an hour and then headed back to our hostel.
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