Day 3:
We wanted to start the day with visiting the most-written-about place in Mussoorie – The Mall Road. Every website I checked had a mention of a walk on Mall Road as a must-do activity in Mussoorie. On enquiry at the resort, we came to know that a taxi to Mall Road from the resort would cost a hundred bucks, which was too high considering the fact that it was only about 1 km from there! So we decided to walk to The Mall Road itself and from that moment on, walking turned out to be the main mode of commuting for us.
Rickshaws and horses happen to be the main means of transportation for visiting places within Mussoorie. Seeing the effort involved for the rickshaw driver to pull his rickshaw in the uphill parts of the roads, we didn’t want to go by rickshaws.
There are a lot of monkeys and langurs in Mussoorie! You are sure to encounter them everywhere.
The Mall Road was nothing but a road full of all sorts of shops.
View from Mall Road:
Our first stop in that road was the aquarium.
I have never been a big fan of seeing fish even in a small fish tank. So unless you like seeing colourful fishes, that too in a place where there are not more than 15-20 breeds, you can give this a miss.
The next stop was Gun Hill. We took the ropeway/cable car to reach the top of the hill which offers views of the Himalayas. You can also reach Gun Hill by walk.
The moment you reach Gun Hill, be prepared to be pestered by ‘photographers’ asking you to get yourself photographed in traditional, colourful Kashmiri costumes. Seeing the photos being shoved at us, I got reminded of the photo of Aravind Samy and Madhubala in Kashmiri costumes in Roja 🙂
It was hot and sunny on top! There were petty shops selling snacks and tea.
View from Gun Hill:
I got my first glimpse of snow-capped Himalayas from there!
The sight of the Himalayan snow-capped peaks, though very faraway and appearing as only tiny specks, is the main attraction of Gun Hill. You can also see a close-up of it as well as some 4-5 places in and around Mussoorie like Lal Tibba, Yamunotri, etc. through telescopes by paying 20 bucks. It was only later that we came to know that men with telescopes and Kashmiri costume photographers were to be found everywhere in Mussoorie.
Parvati temple at Gun Hill:
We started walking back towards Mussoorie Library which is on one end of Mall Road, from where our resort was a kilometre away. It is near the library that Mussoorie bus stand is also there.
Mussoorie Library:
As we were nearing the library, we entered a restaurant called Uphaar on a whim and we found the food there so yummy that from then on, we ended up having our breakfast and lunch there everyday. There tasty Dosas and Idlis were available too!
Resort to Mall Road had been a completely downhill walk, which meant that after a heavy lunch, I had to have a tough climb back to the resort! 🙁
The road to Mall Road from Dalmia Resort:
As we were just strolling around our resort in the evening, we came across a path with very beautiful scenery of pine and other trees on both sides. The pleasing greenery and the pleasant evening air were really rejuvenating!
We couldn’t see even a single person in the vicinity. So we came back without knowing where the road would lead. It was only later that we came to know that the road would take us to Company/Municipal Garden.
Evenings in Mussoorie were really very cold!
To be contd…
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Hi aparna,
Your blog on Mussoorie was excellent. Recently I was there in Mussoorie for a 10 day long training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. We stayed in their Indira Bhavan Complex which is around a km from Mussoorrie Library. The climate in Mussoorie was excellent during our stay from 8th july to 17th july. Since I am a fitness freak I used to go on early morning walks. The first day i went for a walk towards mall road and upto Nirankari Bhawan on Camel Back Road. The road is so called because the mountains opposite will look like a camel sitting. This road is a beautiful concrete road and is very calm without the din and bustle of traffic. The next day we went through the entire stretch of camel back road and joined the mall road near the SBI Mussoorie. The total distance from our Indira Bhavan complex back was around 6 km. One day we crossed the entire mall road end to end. Mussorie the Queen of Hills is very interesting with around 35 heritage buildings which are more than 100 years old. We also made a trip to clouds end where we can have touch the enchanting clouds. One day we went to the Highest point in mussoorie called the Lal Tibba from where we can see the snow clad peaks of Himalayas. It was a heavenly experience. Our stay in Mussoorie was an enchanting experience.
I have studied in Dehradun and mussoorie was the place where we went when we had to bunk classes..there was this place in mussoorie near hathipaon that we found best as it was quite. A camp site has been constructed there for weekend getaway from delhi check out the link for more details on the property