Mussorie, The Queen of Hills

Yes Mussorie is also known as the queen of hills for its immense beauty. Mussorie is situated in the state of Uttarakhand and in Garhwal hills. It is only 35 kilometers away from the capital of Uttarakhand, Dehradun. Its beauty attracts a large number of tourists from the whole country. It is a lovely place not only for short vacations but also for romantic honeymoon spots. It is also a best weekend getaway destination. This place is famous for Hotels, Restaurants, Mall road, Company Garden, Schools etc. The best time to visit Mussorie is through out the year.

The Route

It was around 3:30 pm when we headed to Mussorie from our home. We were two families. Our journey started from our city Jagadhri. There are two routes from Jagadhri to Mussorie one is via Saharanpur and other is via Ponta. I always prefer to go via Ponta. The way to Mussorie via Ponta is very beautiful. After leaving Jagadhri the first city will come on the way is Ponta, which is situated in Himachal Pardesh. On the way of Ponta you will see a forest by the name of Kalesar. There are plenty of animals in this forest. If you start your journey early in the morning, you may see some wild animals on the road. This forest is very big. You can't enter in this forest without permission. After passing this place, we reached to toll barrier where we paid 30 rupees as an entry tax to Himachal Pardesh. Ponta is situated on the border of Uttrakhand. When you are in Ponta, Don't miss an opportunity to view Gurudwara Ponta Sahib. Is pretty much out of the Gurudwara is more than that in. After Ponta we reached to second city Dehradun which is capital of the Uttarakhand state. Inspite of capital, roads of Dehradun are narrow and highly crowded. Traffic near Clock Tower moves very slowly. But food of this city is very delicious. If you are non-vegetarian and you don't have a problem with halal

meat, go for chicken biryani. You can find it in Ghosi Gali near Clock Tower. There are about 12 to 15 points where you can have it but best is Jahid Chicken Biryani point in my views. When we reached there to taste it, we did not had a foggiest idea about Ramadan so we couldn't had a single bite of chicken biryani this time. They don't prepare chicken biryani in Ramadan. We headed back to Mussorie. Because it was rainy season we saw small waterfalls in short distances on Dehradun-Mussorie road. While driving we faced some problemdue to clouds. Just before Mussorie there is one more toll barrier where we paid 200 rupees to enter in Mussorie. At 7:30 pm we reached to Mussorie. Heavy rain welcomed us in Mussorie. We had already decided to take a hotel on Mall Road. There are two ways from where you can enter into the Mall Road, One is from Library Chowk and other is from Picture Palace. Entry fees for four wheeler to enter in Mall Road is 100 rupees which you have to pay on the barrier. If you arrive here before 5:00 pm then it is alright otherwise they will not allow you to enter before 10:00 pm at any cost. But you can go by walk at any time. The hotel we chose was near to the barrier.

The Mall Road

Next morning the weather was clear and pleasant. We went out for a stroll to Mall Road. The Mall is the heart of the Mussorie. The Mall road stretches from Picture Palace to Public Library. It is exciting to see it. You can see a lot of tourists in and around this area. Walking on Mall road is not easy because this is way too high, low. We had a breakfast at Aggarwal vegetarian restaurant. We ordered Cholle Bhature and some Aloo Paranthas. It was very good in taste. Aloo Paranthas were made in clay oven. Enjoy the Aloo pranthas in mountains is different. There are so many restaurants where you can have breakfast, choice is yours. On Mall road, you will see many branded showrooms of garments which you will find in big cities. The greatest thing, these showrooms are engaged in full-year sales. I bought Puma shoes and T-shirts as there was discount of 40%, which was not even available in my city. You can find all kind of eatables at road side. If you did not eat roasted or boiled corn on Mall road, you ate nothing. In our city we eat corn in summers but here you can enjoy it in little cold. While walking we arrived at the shop was named Chic Chocolate which was on opposite of hotel Clark's. It is a must visit place. This is one of the oldest shops on Mall road have home made chocolates, ice cream, Kathies, pizzas...you name it they have it. At the Mall road time goes very quickly. We did not realize that when one afternoon. 

Now the time was 1:30 pm. We moved ahead for cable car to go to Gun Hill point. Don't go by the name, it has no gun. This is the second highest point in Mussorie. When we reached there we saw a large and open ground. As soon as we got-off, photographers forced us to get a photograph in traditional Kashmiri dress so be prepared for it. This is good place for children also. They can enjoy by playing games like Ring game, Archery, Shooting etc. You will see some eatable shops also. On Gun hill point, There is lot of fun to eat Maggie. If you like to drink alcohol, you can also have it on this place, so you don't need to carry your own. You just have to ask somebody, like I asked. Price of tin pack beer was 150 rupees for one. Having a fun of two hours we headed back to Mall road. View of the evening was something else. Now there was more gaiety than before on Mall road. We were very hungry by pedestrian walking and it was dinner time also. Although there are many good restaurant but two famous restaurants are Nirulas and Dominos which do not need to write about. When I came here, was always eat in "its my shop" restaurant which is famous for its non-veg food. But now there was one more restaurant have opened by the name of Bar-Be-Q-Nation. This is not a chain of that Barbeque Nation which you are aware of. Restaurant is small, only six people can sit at a time but food is good as comparatively to its my shop. You may have to wait for 30 minutes for your food so place your order in advance. We ordered to pack chicken seekh kebab, 

Afghani chicken, daal makhni, mixed veg with breads. We brought our food in the hotel ate it and went to sleep.

Kempty Fall

Next Morning we woke up at 7:00 am. At 9:00 am we were ready to go to Kemty Fall. Well, I come in Mussorie 3 or 4 times in a year but never got a chance to see Kemty Fall. It is 13 kilo meters away from Mussorie. Just before Kemty Fall there was a police barrier where they were checking the documents of vehicles. If you hired a taxi then ok but if you are driving your own vehicle, make sure all the documents are complete. They check licence, registration of vehicle, insurance and pollution certificate. We reached there in 25 minutes. Earlier everyone had to walk downward from the road, it was very tiring. This was one reason  that I did not come here earlier but now the rope way has started. When we were standing a short distance in front of the waterfall, spray of water kept falling on our face. Due to off season the crowed was very low. At first we thought we would not go into the water. But watching people enjoying in water, we couldn't stop ourselves. We did not bring shorts with us to go into the water but there were a few shops where you can have clothes on rent. We and our children did much enjoy in the water. While enjoying if you feel hungry then there are many things that you can eat.


At 2:00 pm we came back to Mall road where we met our friend "Gaurav Gupta". He had also come with family. At first he had to come with us but for some reason he arrived two days later. But this is his greatness that he arrived for us. he is very fond of food. He suggested us to Taste Momos at "Kalsang" restaurant. The cuisine of this restaurant is combination of Chinese and Thai food. The decoration and atmosphere of the restaurant is having a glimpse of China. We ordered Chilly Chicken Momos. Really it was scrumptious, while eating we were remembering our friend. At that day we enjoyed so much on Mall road. Our children did horse riding also. On the side of Picture Palace there is a 5 D theater and Scary House, both are together in one building. It  is must visit place. But your heart must be strong to enter in Scary House because it is too scary. At dinner time we decided to have dinner in "Tavern" restaurant which is the best restaurant on Mall road in my views. If you want to eat here, you should book a table in advance otherwise you may have to wait until the table is empty. It is multi cuisine restaurant. There is a man who sings with guitar on people's choice. There is a bar also which has different types of drinks. You must try Majito drink in Bacardi. After having the best food in Mussorie we went to sleep at our hotel.

Lal Tibba and Landour Bazaar

Some mysteries of nature are very near to us. Far away from the highly crowded areas and noisy places there are  places by the name of "Lal Tibba" and "Landour Bazaar". If you are fond of nature's beautiful sight to see, you must visit here. Landour is Situated on the way of Lal Tibba. The famous writer "Ruskin Bond" lives in Landour. Lal Tibba is the highest place of Mussorie. Road is narrow. This is a bit tricky to drive on the road of Lal Tibba. You should have good experience of driving. The way is too high that car moves in first gear. We couldn't reach at the Lal Tibba because the road was under construction. We headed back to Landour. We stopped at Char Dukaan. This is also a good place to visit. We decided to visit Hotel Devdaar Woods about which I had only heard yet. This hotel is located in Landour Area. After reaching there we found out why they call it Devdaar Woods because here is a big Cedar tree, which we had never seen before. The weather was very cold as comparatively to Mussorie. The hotel has a very beautiful view. After coming here, I realized that I was missing something and that was peace of mind, which I got here. We then greeted by a man whose name was "sukhwinder Singh" and his beautiful fiancee "Sofia" who is from Finland. He takes care of this place. He is very friendly, well educated, a good chef, a good manager and having a very good knowledge. We can say him all rounder. He told us few things of this place and surrounding areas. After a short conversation he left us alone for sometime. Coming to the food part. The style of the menu card was quite different, all things were written by hand in a big  font. You must have eaten pizza from Dominos or Pizza Hut, but get a taste of pizza here. Its taste is not less than other branded pizza. When we were ordering for the lunch Sukhwinder came back to us again and helped us to order for the food. He was sweet enough to prepare a special dish for us as a complimentary, it was "Butter Chicken". He said it is his specialty.
Really it was mouth watering taste. I had never eaten such tasty butter chicken before. It was so much flavor that I have not eaten anything. He shared its recipe with me but I'll not share in my blog. If I share it here, you will miss the pleasure of eating there. I was very happy with the gastronomy and hospitality of Sukhwinder. This was our best day in Mussorie. With the sweet memories of Devdaar Woods we headed back to our home. I promised to the beautiful meadows of Landour to come back and stay for 2-3 nights