Trip members: Karthik, Sathish Raja, Tirthankar Pal
Trip date: 21 - 25 Dec 2018
Trip Plan : Chennai - New Delhi - Haridwar - Rishikesh - Mussoorie - Dehradun - New Delhi - Chennai
We started from Chennai by a flight on Friday night by 9:30 PM - Spicejet - delayed by 1 hour. Having reached New Delhi by mid-night, Sathish had booked a room at Jama Masjid in New Delhi, we relaxed for sometime before starting to Haridwar by Shatabdi in the morning. The most exciting thing was the varieties of food available through early morning in the locality. My non-veg friends enjoyed the kebabs and grills in the chilly night of Delhi while I enjoyed the hot Bread Halwa with Rabdi from Shahi Tukda followed by hot tea. Wow, great place for food lovers here! We stayed at Hotel Bombay Orient - quite ok rooms in the locality with respect to cleanliness and to access quickly. Location is very comfortable for non-veg food lovers who love to explore the area by food.
Day-1
Our train (Dehradun Shatabdi) to Haridwar was by 6:45. We had hot puri bhaji near the hotel we stayed overnight by 5:30 AM and got into the train. The winter weather of New Delhi was really cold for guys from Chennai! We reached Haridwar by 12:30 and for a town located near to the foothills of Himalayas; no wonder how winter could be. The plan was to visit Har ki Pauri and couple of temples in Haridwar before we goto Rishikesh for overnight stay. We had lunch - rotis, sabji and dhall near to railway station and took an autorickshaw to the most important place in Haridwar - Har Ki Pauri.
Har Ki Pauri is the famous place by Ganges where it is believed that Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu visited together. This place is very auspicious in Hindu mythology - Haridwar is one for the fours places along with Ujjain, Nashik and Allahabad (Prayag) where drops of Amritham, the elixir of immortality, spilled while being carried. We took bath here in the freezing cold breeze and water! It really required mental preparedness to get into this water and we did it in our own pace. We spent less than 5 minutes in the flowing water. The water runs so fast that anyone can be washed away, There are iron chains put across and once needs to hold it as one gets into water. After spending an hour around the place, walking around, feeling the flow of the mighty Ganges from several spots, we planned to visit 2 temples - Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi temple.
Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi temples are very popular among tourists and are on top of steep mountains. Both have rope car facilities. Mansa Devi temple is quite near to Har Ki Pauri while Chandi Devi temple is around 4 kms from Har Ki Pauri. We bought a combo ticket for Rs.333 per person which included the rope car rides 2-ways for both temples and the transportation between both temples. Mansa Devi temple is dedicated to a form of Lord Sakthi and devotees visit here to fulfill their wishes. It is also connected to Goddess Naga. This temple is also one of the Siddh Peetha temples. The view from this temple of the mighty Ganges and town of Haridwar is amazing. The views can be relished even during the rope car rides.
We were transported to Chandi Devi temple through a tempo traveller. We had difficulty in locating lockers near the temple and had to give over to a small petty shop keeper for 100 bucks! This temple is located higher than Mansa Devi temple and the rope car ride gives excellent views of the town. The temple was not crowded and we came out in few minutes. This temple is also one of the Siddh Peetha temples. Goddess Chandi originated to kill the demons - Chanda and Munda sent by Shumbhan and Nishumbhan after they captured Indralogam. Goddess Chandi is said to have rested in this spot and hence the temple.
It was 5:30 in the evening by this time and we tried to go back to Har Ki Pauri to see the Ganga Aarti. Unfortunately, the aarti just got over by the time we reached. Then, we spent we minutes to enjoy the night view of Ganges as it became dark instantaneously. We then took a share auto - Rs.50 per person to reach Rishikesh.
Rishikesh is known as the Yoga capital of the world and filled with Ashrams. Rishikesh identity also comes with 2 hanging bridges - Ram Jhula and Laxman Jhula. When someone in local says Rishikesh, it relates to Ram Jhula and the place near Laxman Jhula is called Tapovan. We had booked our rooms at Hotel Ananta Inn (OYO) rooms near Laxman Jhula. The main reason was that it was closer to all adventure sport offices. The rooms in Hotel Ananta Inn were spacious, clean and good. No complaints. The hotel is just close to the main road and they have room service. The winter was bitter for us and we ordered for starters in the hotel. The food was ok. We took an night walk to Laxman Jhula and had dinner at Hotel Dev Ganga Bhojnalaya - a small outlet; the food was ok. Parathas, rotis, sabji and dhall. The night view of Laxman Jhula on the chilly dark night was beautiful. We spent around 15-20 minutes and walked back to the room. We also spent time to visit few adventure sport offices to inquire for rafting and made our mind to go with whomsoever helped us with wet suits.
Day-2
We checked out by 8 AM, and had breakfast at Hotel Ganga Ambience - Aloo parathas. The parathas were ok and regular stuff. We then went to India Trekt office - offered rafting for maximum distance of 23 kms from the spot called Marine drive. They charged us Rs.1500 per person - quite high than rest of the clubs which offered us for Rs.1100 and Rs.1200. However, Trekt India provided wet suites for our weather protection and a person on kayak to help out in the event of need when the raft topples. Little did we know that we are going to enjoy a lot with them. We deposited our bags and changed to wet suit in their office and were dropped around 27 kms upstream in Ganges by their vehicle. We went bare foot as adviced by the group and we had our mobiles and camera on to their dry bag. They offered to shoot using GoPro for Rs.1500 but we declined.
The whole ride was planned to take 3-4 hours across 20 kms of the nipping-glacial water on Ganges. The ride begun with 11 rapids awaiting us - Hugs/Kisses, TBM -1,2,3, Black money, Cross fire, Shivpuri, Return to Sender, Roller coaster, Golf course, Club house, Cash flow, Initiation and Double trouble. The whole team who came with us - 3 of them were so informative, helpful and made our trip very enjoyable. The rapids - Cross fire, Roller coaster, Golf course and Double trouble were outstanding in the raft experience. The most important part of the rafting happened when we did Body surfing. Body surfing is the art and sport of riding a wave without the assistance of any buoyant device such as a surfboard or bodyboard. YES ! We did body surfing on the Ganges for more than 2 kms - and What a time in life ! Winter - Ganges - laps of Himalayas - wrenched in water ! OMG moments realised .... and thanks to the team of Trekt India to help us do it!
There was also a place called "Maggi point" where the rafts stopped and hot maggi was available to eat. One of us also did a dive into sea from a small cliff and ticked off one of the items on wish list. We were back to the land at Nim Beach - rafting finished here. WOW - what an experience in life time !
We started to Mussoorie through a car we booked through the rafting guys. Mussoorie is around 79 kms from Rishikesh via Dehradun and takes around 3 hours. When we started from Rishikesh, we also visited Laxman Jhula (daylight), a Shiva temple near Laxman Jhula and Ram Jhula. During daylight, both Ram Jhula and Laxman Jhula was very crowded and took time to cross. Taking photographs amidst the crowd was also a challenge. But, the green coloured Ganges flowing beneath makes it most pleasant to see from a height. We spent around 10 minutes in Laxman Jhula.
At Ram Jhula, we walked across the the Ghat side - Ramjhola Ganga Ghat and spent 5-10 minutes.
The driver was so knowledge about routes and drived so well like silk. He dropped us for Hotel 5 states for lunch - one of had rasam rice while the other 2 had Gharwali native meals - lentils and greens being predominant with ragi roti. The meal was very homely and so full.
We started to Mussoorie via Dehradun - nice smooth roads and reached Mussoorie by 7:30 PM. We checked in to Hotel Samrat. Hotel Samrat is almost on the mall road and closer to drop point at Picture house (Kulri chowk). The rooms were spacious, clean, warm and had geyser fitted in bathroom. The bathrooms were also clean and spacious. The hotel has been renovating. We did not have any room service during our stay.
We spent the night on the Mall road - eating momos, chats and much more. The chilly night went to zero and then to sub-zero temperatures as we enjoyed every bit of it with spicy and hot foods.
Day-3
The day started around 8:30 AM with no restaurants open, but for a small shop near Kulri chowk with great spicy samosas and sweets. We had samosas and tea for early breakfast and the plan was to cover Kempty falls, Company garden and Dhanaulti.
Kempty falls is around 20 kms from Mall road, Mussoorie. Kempty falls is a multi-layered water fall near Mussoorie. One can walk around 300 steps down or take a rope car for Rs.120 per person. We opted to walk as the counter could open 1 hour from when we reached there. Getting down was good as we could see all levels as we traversed by foot, stop, enjoy and then move on. The steps are well laid to the bottom most level while others are sort of dilapidated. The falls is very picturesque and is a time killer for people with cameras. We spent close to 1 hour in the water falls and reached back to parking area by 10:45 AM. We had some Chole Bhatura and tea at one of the hotels at Kempty and started to Company Garden.
Company Garden - Company Bagh is a garden located 3 kms from Mussoorie towards Kempty falls. This is a garden outside the city for relaxed time for family. It has got couple of glass houses, a small pond like structure for boating, an artificial falls and flowers. This was lesser than average place and we moved out fast. One thing was that we saw some ice - late night snow in here in the garden. It has an entry fee of Rs.25 per person.
Our next destination was Dhanauti. Dhanauti is around 26 kms from Mussoorie and takes little more than 1 hour to reach. The whole route to Dhanauti from Mussoorie was scenic with lesser Himalayas all around. Dhanauti is a place in outskirts offering beautiful views of the Himalayas. There is a high possibility of snow in Dhanauti. We stopped inbetween wherever we got beautiful views of the Himalayas. Enroute, we stopped in a place where we got some enthralling views - The view of Yamunotri, Gangothri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. The snowclad mountains were such a beauty to watch and we spent enough time to see them and enjoy every bit of it.
We visited the Eco park of Dhanauti. With an entrance fee of Rs.25, the place has steps to walk up to different levels for views of Himalayas. The tall pine trees and the grass around make it lively for photographs and inspire to walk up. However, we felt walking up and the views we had were pretty much mediocre to what we saw all along the route. There was some settled snow here as well making it up for climbing all the way up. Probably, more snow would have been made it very interesting and lively. We spent close to 45 minutes up here and had lunch.
We had lunch at Hotel Hillview restaurant - on the balcony overlooking the sprawling Himalayas. The food was very spicy to enjoy the chilly afternoon and was made fresh. The masala papad, paneer, parathas and rotis - all were very good.
We returned back to hotel room - witnessing the basking yellow colour liting up the valleys and hills around. The sunset had begun by 4 PM and the golden charm was all over. We reached the rooms by sunset - 17:15 and spent the Xmas night on the mall road for all types of food and ice cream. The dinner at Hotel Tavern, an upscale place with live music (very average) and food was soothing, just to say! :) The food served non-veg - was good and veg was average. The ambiance of the place is quite good so as the warmth of the place !
Day-4
After lot of walk previous day and night, we started the day at 8:30. We had breakfast at Hotel Agarwala - Tandoori parathas and sandwiches - they were very yummy and absolutely melting in mouth. One of the best Aloo parathas I had. We then checked out and started the trip towards Deharadun. Enroute, we stopped by view points - thanks to our drive who was patient enough with us. One view point - had the whole of Mussorie behind us and one had Dehradun all below us! Nice view points !
We stopped by a temple - where no donations are taken - Shree Prakasheswar Mahadev Mandir. The temple has big lingas made of Spatika and offers food and tea for all pilgrims. We spent around 10 minutes at the temple and shops within.
We then reached Dehradun. The first place to see in Dehradun was Sahastradhara. Sahastradhara is a cascading water fall around 14 kms from Dehradun. They are open from 8 AM to 5 PM and no entry tickets. Sahastradhara also offers a rope car ride to the top at Rs.150 per person and one gets to use the play area, view point, park, temple and shops they offer. Basically, Sahastradhara cascade water fall is a collection of multiple fresh water pools - for enjoyment in summer! This a great time killer and time-off for people during summer with no danger in flowing water. There are man-made boundaries making the flow look pool-like and more like private pools. The place did not amuse as greatly and we walked all the way up in an excitement to see something natural. It was not a great view for us and we returned back fast. There is also a sulphur spring down the stream, which people throng to take bath and cure skin diseases. We just witnessed a small spring with grey and brown coloured stones all around, which was suppose to be high on sulphur.
We then entered the city and cited a Buddha temple near the Tibetian market. The temple is more of local significance for the Tibetian market people. We drove next to Mindrolling Monastery.
The Mindrolling Monastery is located around 9 kms from Dehradun city in a place called Clement Town. The monastery hosts a main Stupa with a place for prayers, and several icons on Buddha and Buddhism all around. We spent close to 1 hour in this place. A good place to spend time as a pilgrim, as a tourist and as a photo lover.
We than had lunch at Doon Darbar near the railway station. The food was quite spicy and good. The food was served at quick pace and fresh. We also had Fire pan - fire lighted pan at a local shop close to Doon Dharbar. Boarded Shatabdi to New Delhi by evening and reached back Chennai by early morning next day!
A great and memorable experience on the mighty Ganges and elegant Himalayas in the Winter !
Trip date: 21 - 25 Dec 2018
Trip Plan : Chennai - New Delhi - Haridwar - Rishikesh - Mussoorie - Dehradun - New Delhi - Chennai
We started from Chennai by a flight on Friday night by 9:30 PM - Spicejet - delayed by 1 hour. Having reached New Delhi by mid-night, Sathish had booked a room at Jama Masjid in New Delhi, we relaxed for sometime before starting to Haridwar by Shatabdi in the morning. The most exciting thing was the varieties of food available through early morning in the locality. My non-veg friends enjoyed the kebabs and grills in the chilly night of Delhi while I enjoyed the hot Bread Halwa with Rabdi from Shahi Tukda followed by hot tea. Wow, great place for food lovers here! We stayed at Hotel Bombay Orient - quite ok rooms in the locality with respect to cleanliness and to access quickly. Location is very comfortable for non-veg food lovers who love to explore the area by food.
Day-1
Our train (Dehradun Shatabdi) to Haridwar was by 6:45. We had hot puri bhaji near the hotel we stayed overnight by 5:30 AM and got into the train. The winter weather of New Delhi was really cold for guys from Chennai! We reached Haridwar by 12:30 and for a town located near to the foothills of Himalayas; no wonder how winter could be. The plan was to visit Har ki Pauri and couple of temples in Haridwar before we goto Rishikesh for overnight stay. We had lunch - rotis, sabji and dhall near to railway station and took an autorickshaw to the most important place in Haridwar - Har Ki Pauri.
Har Ki Pauri is the famous place by Ganges where it is believed that Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu visited together. This place is very auspicious in Hindu mythology - Haridwar is one for the fours places along with Ujjain, Nashik and Allahabad (Prayag) where drops of Amritham, the elixir of immortality, spilled while being carried. We took bath here in the freezing cold breeze and water! It really required mental preparedness to get into this water and we did it in our own pace. We spent less than 5 minutes in the flowing water. The water runs so fast that anyone can be washed away, There are iron chains put across and once needs to hold it as one gets into water. After spending an hour around the place, walking around, feeling the flow of the mighty Ganges from several spots, we planned to visit 2 temples - Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi temple.
Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi temples are very popular among tourists and are on top of steep mountains. Both have rope car facilities. Mansa Devi temple is quite near to Har Ki Pauri while Chandi Devi temple is around 4 kms from Har Ki Pauri. We bought a combo ticket for Rs.333 per person which included the rope car rides 2-ways for both temples and the transportation between both temples. Mansa Devi temple is dedicated to a form of Lord Sakthi and devotees visit here to fulfill their wishes. It is also connected to Goddess Naga. This temple is also one of the Siddh Peetha temples. The view from this temple of the mighty Ganges and town of Haridwar is amazing. The views can be relished even during the rope car rides.
We were transported to Chandi Devi temple through a tempo traveller. We had difficulty in locating lockers near the temple and had to give over to a small petty shop keeper for 100 bucks! This temple is located higher than Mansa Devi temple and the rope car ride gives excellent views of the town. The temple was not crowded and we came out in few minutes. This temple is also one of the Siddh Peetha temples. Goddess Chandi originated to kill the demons - Chanda and Munda sent by Shumbhan and Nishumbhan after they captured Indralogam. Goddess Chandi is said to have rested in this spot and hence the temple.
It was 5:30 in the evening by this time and we tried to go back to Har Ki Pauri to see the Ganga Aarti. Unfortunately, the aarti just got over by the time we reached. Then, we spent we minutes to enjoy the night view of Ganges as it became dark instantaneously. We then took a share auto - Rs.50 per person to reach Rishikesh.
Rishikesh is known as the Yoga capital of the world and filled with Ashrams. Rishikesh identity also comes with 2 hanging bridges - Ram Jhula and Laxman Jhula. When someone in local says Rishikesh, it relates to Ram Jhula and the place near Laxman Jhula is called Tapovan. We had booked our rooms at Hotel Ananta Inn (OYO) rooms near Laxman Jhula. The main reason was that it was closer to all adventure sport offices. The rooms in Hotel Ananta Inn were spacious, clean and good. No complaints. The hotel is just close to the main road and they have room service. The winter was bitter for us and we ordered for starters in the hotel. The food was ok. We took an night walk to Laxman Jhula and had dinner at Hotel Dev Ganga Bhojnalaya - a small outlet; the food was ok. Parathas, rotis, sabji and dhall. The night view of Laxman Jhula on the chilly dark night was beautiful. We spent around 15-20 minutes and walked back to the room. We also spent time to visit few adventure sport offices to inquire for rafting and made our mind to go with whomsoever helped us with wet suits.
Day-2
We checked out by 8 AM, and had breakfast at Hotel Ganga Ambience - Aloo parathas. The parathas were ok and regular stuff. We then went to India Trekt office - offered rafting for maximum distance of 23 kms from the spot called Marine drive. They charged us Rs.1500 per person - quite high than rest of the clubs which offered us for Rs.1100 and Rs.1200. However, Trekt India provided wet suites for our weather protection and a person on kayak to help out in the event of need when the raft topples. Little did we know that we are going to enjoy a lot with them. We deposited our bags and changed to wet suit in their office and were dropped around 27 kms upstream in Ganges by their vehicle. We went bare foot as adviced by the group and we had our mobiles and camera on to their dry bag. They offered to shoot using GoPro for Rs.1500 but we declined.
The whole ride was planned to take 3-4 hours across 20 kms of the nipping-glacial water on Ganges. The ride begun with 11 rapids awaiting us - Hugs/Kisses, TBM -1,2,3, Black money, Cross fire, Shivpuri, Return to Sender, Roller coaster, Golf course, Club house, Cash flow, Initiation and Double trouble. The whole team who came with us - 3 of them were so informative, helpful and made our trip very enjoyable. The rapids - Cross fire, Roller coaster, Golf course and Double trouble were outstanding in the raft experience. The most important part of the rafting happened when we did Body surfing. Body surfing is the art and sport of riding a wave without the assistance of any buoyant device such as a surfboard or bodyboard. YES ! We did body surfing on the Ganges for more than 2 kms - and What a time in life ! Winter - Ganges - laps of Himalayas - wrenched in water ! OMG moments realised .... and thanks to the team of Trekt India to help us do it!
There was also a place called "Maggi point" where the rafts stopped and hot maggi was available to eat. One of us also did a dive into sea from a small cliff and ticked off one of the items on wish list. We were back to the land at Nim Beach - rafting finished here. WOW - what an experience in life time !
We started to Mussoorie through a car we booked through the rafting guys. Mussoorie is around 79 kms from Rishikesh via Dehradun and takes around 3 hours. When we started from Rishikesh, we also visited Laxman Jhula (daylight), a Shiva temple near Laxman Jhula and Ram Jhula. During daylight, both Ram Jhula and Laxman Jhula was very crowded and took time to cross. Taking photographs amidst the crowd was also a challenge. But, the green coloured Ganges flowing beneath makes it most pleasant to see from a height. We spent around 10 minutes in Laxman Jhula.
At Ram Jhula, we walked across the the Ghat side - Ramjhola Ganga Ghat and spent 5-10 minutes.
The driver was so knowledge about routes and drived so well like silk. He dropped us for Hotel 5 states for lunch - one of had rasam rice while the other 2 had Gharwali native meals - lentils and greens being predominant with ragi roti. The meal was very homely and so full.
We started to Mussoorie via Dehradun - nice smooth roads and reached Mussoorie by 7:30 PM. We checked in to Hotel Samrat. Hotel Samrat is almost on the mall road and closer to drop point at Picture house (Kulri chowk). The rooms were spacious, clean, warm and had geyser fitted in bathroom. The bathrooms were also clean and spacious. The hotel has been renovating. We did not have any room service during our stay.
We spent the night on the Mall road - eating momos, chats and much more. The chilly night went to zero and then to sub-zero temperatures as we enjoyed every bit of it with spicy and hot foods.
Day-3
The day started around 8:30 AM with no restaurants open, but for a small shop near Kulri chowk with great spicy samosas and sweets. We had samosas and tea for early breakfast and the plan was to cover Kempty falls, Company garden and Dhanaulti.
Kempty falls is around 20 kms from Mall road, Mussoorie. Kempty falls is a multi-layered water fall near Mussoorie. One can walk around 300 steps down or take a rope car for Rs.120 per person. We opted to walk as the counter could open 1 hour from when we reached there. Getting down was good as we could see all levels as we traversed by foot, stop, enjoy and then move on. The steps are well laid to the bottom most level while others are sort of dilapidated. The falls is very picturesque and is a time killer for people with cameras. We spent close to 1 hour in the water falls and reached back to parking area by 10:45 AM. We had some Chole Bhatura and tea at one of the hotels at Kempty and started to Company Garden.
Company Garden - Company Bagh is a garden located 3 kms from Mussoorie towards Kempty falls. This is a garden outside the city for relaxed time for family. It has got couple of glass houses, a small pond like structure for boating, an artificial falls and flowers. This was lesser than average place and we moved out fast. One thing was that we saw some ice - late night snow in here in the garden. It has an entry fee of Rs.25 per person.
Our next destination was Dhanauti. Dhanauti is around 26 kms from Mussoorie and takes little more than 1 hour to reach. The whole route to Dhanauti from Mussoorie was scenic with lesser Himalayas all around. Dhanauti is a place in outskirts offering beautiful views of the Himalayas. There is a high possibility of snow in Dhanauti. We stopped inbetween wherever we got beautiful views of the Himalayas. Enroute, we stopped in a place where we got some enthralling views - The view of Yamunotri, Gangothri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. The snowclad mountains were such a beauty to watch and we spent enough time to see them and enjoy every bit of it.
We visited the Eco park of Dhanauti. With an entrance fee of Rs.25, the place has steps to walk up to different levels for views of Himalayas. The tall pine trees and the grass around make it lively for photographs and inspire to walk up. However, we felt walking up and the views we had were pretty much mediocre to what we saw all along the route. There was some settled snow here as well making it up for climbing all the way up. Probably, more snow would have been made it very interesting and lively. We spent close to 45 minutes up here and had lunch.
We had lunch at Hotel Hillview restaurant - on the balcony overlooking the sprawling Himalayas. The food was very spicy to enjoy the chilly afternoon and was made fresh. The masala papad, paneer, parathas and rotis - all were very good.
We returned back to hotel room - witnessing the basking yellow colour liting up the valleys and hills around. The sunset had begun by 4 PM and the golden charm was all over. We reached the rooms by sunset - 17:15 and spent the Xmas night on the mall road for all types of food and ice cream. The dinner at Hotel Tavern, an upscale place with live music (very average) and food was soothing, just to say! :) The food served non-veg - was good and veg was average. The ambiance of the place is quite good so as the warmth of the place !
Day-4
After lot of walk previous day and night, we started the day at 8:30. We had breakfast at Hotel Agarwala - Tandoori parathas and sandwiches - they were very yummy and absolutely melting in mouth. One of the best Aloo parathas I had. We then checked out and started the trip towards Deharadun. Enroute, we stopped by view points - thanks to our drive who was patient enough with us. One view point - had the whole of Mussorie behind us and one had Dehradun all below us! Nice view points !
 |
| Sunrise at Mussoorie |
 |
| Mussoorie view from view point |
 |
| Doon valley - Dehradun |
 |
| Doon valley - Dehradun |
We stopped by a temple - where no donations are taken - Shree Prakasheswar Mahadev Mandir. The temple has big lingas made of Spatika and offers food and tea for all pilgrims. We spent around 10 minutes at the temple and shops within.
We then reached Dehradun. The first place to see in Dehradun was Sahastradhara. Sahastradhara is a cascading water fall around 14 kms from Dehradun. They are open from 8 AM to 5 PM and no entry tickets. Sahastradhara also offers a rope car ride to the top at Rs.150 per person and one gets to use the play area, view point, park, temple and shops they offer. Basically, Sahastradhara cascade water fall is a collection of multiple fresh water pools - for enjoyment in summer! This a great time killer and time-off for people during summer with no danger in flowing water. There are man-made boundaries making the flow look pool-like and more like private pools. The place did not amuse as greatly and we walked all the way up in an excitement to see something natural. It was not a great view for us and we returned back fast. There is also a sulphur spring down the stream, which people throng to take bath and cure skin diseases. We just witnessed a small spring with grey and brown coloured stones all around, which was suppose to be high on sulphur.
We then entered the city and cited a Buddha temple near the Tibetian market. The temple is more of local significance for the Tibetian market people. We drove next to Mindrolling Monastery.
The Mindrolling Monastery is located around 9 kms from Dehradun city in a place called Clement Town. The monastery hosts a main Stupa with a place for prayers, and several icons on Buddha and Buddhism all around. We spent close to 1 hour in this place. A good place to spend time as a pilgrim, as a tourist and as a photo lover.
We than had lunch at Doon Darbar near the railway station. The food was quite spicy and good. The food was served at quick pace and fresh. We also had Fire pan - fire lighted pan at a local shop close to Doon Dharbar. Boarded Shatabdi to New Delhi by evening and reached back Chennai by early morning next day!
A great and memorable experience on the mighty Ganges and elegant Himalayas in the Winter !
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