Monday, December 2, 2013

Lansdowne

It's been a while since I last updated anything apart from poetry. There are many things which I had on my mind. One of them was about my short visit to Lansdowne, this year in end September.

Lansdowne is a small, cantonment hill station located in Uttarakhand. The fact that it is a cantonment area makes this place even more clean, fresh and peaceful, unlike other hill stations. It is covered with unending alpine forests and picturesque view of majestic mountains.

As mentioned above, I visited this place in late September and the weather was nearly perfect. We (which refers to me and my cousins) chose our personal car as the mode of travelling. Started in the early hours, we managed to touch the town around 2 in the afternoon with the help of reliable GPS and kind people all over India.

en route... just a few kms before the destination.
And that's my brother's hand.

The hotel where we stayed was 'Fairydale', situated near the main market. Like many other residences of military colonels, it is a huge bungalow converted to a hotel which kept the homely ambiance intact. The food was good, the staff was courteous, oh, and they had an adorable Labrador who, unlike Frodo, spent his time meditating nonchalantly and basking in the sunlight instead of drooling over everyone's lunch table. Clearly, he was on another level.

What I loved the most about Fairydale were its rooms. We had one master bed on ground floor and the other one went upstairs and ended in an extremely cozy haven like compound. I remember how I was left with the widest smile that day, the moment I climbed upstairs and snuggled deep inside the thick blanket.
After all, this is what one craves for, after a looong hectic travelling.

And so the holiday began.

You see her? The girl in  pink track pants? Yes, that's my little cousin Mishti.


cozy cocoon.
Poser!

The mornings we witnessed were wrapped in dense fog and absolute silence. Perhaps this is the reason why Lansdowne to me is a perfect harborage of quietude.

Earlier I had thought that taking our car wouldn't be a good idea because of the exhaustion it would cause. But honestly, it was the best decision. We had independence and privacy in a new city where one is usually dependent on the cab or bus driver. I thoroughly enjoyed our long walks in dense morning fog, through the alpine forests and then chilling for a while in the middle of nowhere while we knew we had no reason to rush. It was fun. Not the usual kind, but I did enjoy those happy moments.


This moment, right there, it was scary and calm at the same time.

A very famous church and utterly gorgeous too.
Let me share a little secret. I had never ever been to a church before. No wait. I did, once, in Goa. But the problem was that it wasn't structured in a traditional manner. It was hemispherical in design while I always wanted to visit the one where there is a narrow aisle and two paralleled seating arrangement on both the sides, the usual movies wala church. So my silly desire was finally fulfilled in Lansdowne.
Eeeeep.

After the church visit, we went up to the highest point, referred to as Tip-in-Top. It was drizzling and we were cold so we could't stay out in the open for long. But we did enjoy tea, pakoras and played carom.

Tip-in-Top point.
Aren't we adorable?!!!

Tea and pakora time. And yes, it was elaichi wali chaai. ^.^
By the way, most of these pictures are clicked by Mishti.
Not me!
Don't judge by his concentration. I won the queen. Wuhooo!
By the time it was evening, we retired to our beds and started the best part of the journey..a never ending game...Monopoly!!! To say that it was the charm of our trip, is and would always be an understatement. Period.

The next day was lazy. We started off late. It was just too hard to leave that beguilingly warm bed, okay! And also because there isn't much to visit in Lansdowne. Apart from a couple of churches and tip-in-top point, there is a picnic spot, highlights of which are boating in an artificial lake and a small children's park. Lansdowne is ideal for those who want a weekend getaway from Delhi or some nearby area. You don't need more than two to three days to devour the beauty of this place.


A family of definitely more than 10 people hopped onto this poor bridge 'together', while we were crossing it. Gosh!
  

And the entire trip, in a nutshell.
________

P.S: Did I ever mention how dearly I wish to be a travel blogger? And that I've had dreams of travelling to far off lands and breath-taking places, with a small pretty diary in hand and a camera hanging around my neck? Like literally.
It's normal, right?

27 comments:

  1. It's really a nice read. Loved the photos of breathtaking places. :)

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  2. Very very normal, that wish. If it's not then you have me for company :)

    Sounds like a beautiful place..... and that bed, the cornerwala, sigh <3<3

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  3. I visited the place many years ago and all the memories came back after seeing the lovely pics n write up> Did you visit the Garwhal Regiment Training Centre located in the midst. It has an interesting museum:)

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    1. Oh! No we didn't. :|
      Actually Monopoly took most of our time there.. we were so engrossed in the game that we barely managed to roam around the town.

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  4. HELLO! :)

    Was checking the posts on my blog today (Visited it after 155 days :P ), where I saw your comment. Checked your blog and it seems there has been some issue in the email subscription. I haven't received an email notification from your blog for quite a decent amount of time now! It seems that now I have a lot of new posts to go through! :)

    Lansdowne has been on my wishlist for quite some time now. Don't know when I'll get the opportunity to go there now.

    You've written this photo-story brilliantly! The day I had started my blog, I had planned to document my travel experiences there. Unfortunately, that never happened. I hope this post of yours inspires me! ^_^

    PS: I can see new images in the page header. Quite different from the other two images that you had earlier!

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    1. Ohooo...this blogger! I don't know what is wrong with it. Some of my readers don't get news feed of my blog and now there is a technical glitch in email subscriptions too. >.<

      Anyway, I am so glad you took some time out to visit Mirage. Yes, you should definitely share your travel experiences. Not many people get a chance to travel a lot.. hmph!

      I gave a makeover to this place in September. It's good na..rejuvenating type!

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  5. Mujhe yeh padh ke anjaani si ek khushi mili. :) Pretty pictures and lovely description - Especially the Church one! :D

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  6. well, Vinati, i am most impressed by Mishti, and that certainly must be because you were impressed by her, which you communicated without saying...

    i see her as bright, impish, and probably a lot like you when you were her age...you are undoubtedly blessed that she let you see her...

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    1. It was a delight to read your feedback. :)

      My family too says that I share many of my idiosyncrasies with her. But honestly, she is way more adorable and lively. We had a lovely time only because of her.

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  7. Well it almost looks like a dream getaway for me..the picturesque places...the church looks beautiful..and your stay was definitely a highlight.. I loved this post..and it's nice to know you had a good time :D

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  8. You captured the place beautifully :-)

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  9. This looks like a perfect place for a getaway. Great shots, I felt like I was there with you as I read this post. And I hope that your wish to become a travel blogger would be fulfilled! :-)

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    1. This is the sweetest thing one could hope for me. Thanks a bunch!

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  10. I love foggy mornings like that, there aren't enough of them here.

    /Avy

    http://mymotherfuckedmickjagger.blogspot.com

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