The queen of mountains - Mussorie

Yep, this wasn't my first trip.. Mussorie has been a destination for summers since childhood, but this time it was with a new friend called husband.. While descending from Lansdowne, we decided to explore Uttarakhand more and hence drove to the old crowded favourite. The drive uphill is easy and hence going to mussorie is safe and quick as compared to what it used to be few years back. We decided to stay in Padmini Palace hotel in there. This is a well constructed, old victorian style hotel and has a room which is constructed on top of the valley with 3 way view from the room. The hotel has pleasing ambience and good service, the location is accessible to all the key visiting points. Some of the points i noticed about the city were, that it was too crowded and commercialised as compared to what it used to be. Positive side is that it is a place where you can spend more time as life is comfortable and you have many options to explore and spend time. Like some of the places to try good food apart from the usual street side food :P, The meeting Point - this is a very small and old roadside Tibetian eating joint. The meeting point is very tastefully decorated with wall writing, graffitti and offers limited but tasty range of tibetian food. Do try the honey- ginger tea if you happen to visit the same. A bit farther on mall is lovely omlette shop, i dont eat eggs, but my husband found it impressive. It is more about the way the small shop has evolved to be hot favourite of so many people; what really touched me was the humiltiy of the owner and his motto to make the best and purest; just like me, he dsnt eat eggs; so he really does not what what the world drools over tastes like. :)

Apart from this, mussorie has many walking trails like, camel back, kempty falls, usual walk on the mall and various restaurants including the Nirulas', Dominos and CCDs of the world. What you can not miss is the corn cob, the roadside pakodas and momos when you need a quick bite. All in all, a comfortable hill station with more than enough to do and many options for foodies. Dont look for simplicity in people and keep your eyes and ears open..

The Untouched Beauty of Uttarakhand - Lansdowne

Ever wondered what is untouched mountain beauty ?? Whats so special about simple people and not having many luxuries to indulge in.. Here is a place to explore.. Lansdowne in Uttarakhand is a millatary training area, amidst pristine hills and a very small market square with limited material life.. My husband and me decided to visit the place and booked a stay in Blue Pine resort around 5 kms before Lansdowne. We drove for around 6-7 hours from delhi and reached at the day settled in for evening. Our first reaction to the place was silent and dull, not many luxuries.. We negotiated our way to the room on hill top, initially the ascend up looked very difficult to us but we braved it and the view from room's terrace more than covered up for it.. We were amidst mountains.. We asked a question to attendant, "Surendra, yaha koi ata hai?".. "haan sahab, subah chidiya ata hai.. ".. :D He wasn't joking, he meant what he said, his simplicity touched us and we settled into the peace and purity that the place had to offfer, what added the experience was the brilliant food that came our way, neatly so, one of the best food served; not many options, but what was in menu was prepared by the recipie every bit.. Our terrace had brilliant view of the balcony and at few meters ascend one could see the snow tip. We managed to sneak out to the city, visited the market square to taste the momos and local food. We managed to make a visit to the view point, which wasnt greatly hyped about, a very small and beautiful lake where one could spend some time walking up and experiencing the city. Manage a few walking trails to view the mountain life and visit a few temples. All in all, a place to get away from city hassle, but make sure you visit it during the weekday, weekends might be different with resorts all full as the stories had it.. :)