We were planning for an overnight bike trip to Shekhawati region of Rajasthan in February, however due to unavailability of leaves most of my friends had to cancel the trip. As the traveling bug had caught us, the remaining who could get leave, could not have let go the opportunity. That’s when we decided to drive to Chakrata.
The route decided was to drive from Delhi - Dehradun - Mussorie - Chakrata and back to Delhi. The distance from Delhi to Chakrata is approx 350 km or little more. Our group consisted of Manmohan, Rajeev, DJ, and me.
Above the vehicle we used for the trip
We planned to start from Delhi at 7 am however as usual we were delayed and could only start from Delhi by 9 am. By the time we crossed Ghaziabad it was 11 am. The day was bright and sunny and we all started with high spirits. The road took us through Ghaziabad, Meerut, then to Roorkie. from there we took a diversion towards Saharanpur to Dehradun.After leaving the hustle and bustle of Dehradun, we started towards Mussorie. The winding roads reminded me of my hometown, Darjeeling. On the way we halted at the roadside shop for tea. The roads were clear and we could see the sun making its way behind the far hills, bringing night unto us. The sun set was a magical view from the roads. We got off the car to enjoy the last burst of color thrown by
the descending sun. We took some photographs as a reminding memory of the magical moment we spent on the roads.
Sunset view before reaching Mussorie..on the road
We started uphill towards our first destination, Mussorie. Mussorie is a very famous hill station established by the britishers, and frequented by the North Indians every summer. It is a quite hill station with the mall starting from picture palace in the east to the public library in the west. We reached around 7.30 pm, landed in Everest hotel in the mall. We took a stroll in the mall and hopped in almost all the shops. The mall is dotted with shops, eateries and hotels.
View from the mall-Mussorie
Next morning we will be heading towards Lakhmandal and then to Chakrata. Lakhmandal lies 75 km on the Mussorie-Yamunotri road. Lakhmandal according to legends, was the shelter made of Lac, by Kauravas, who conspired to burn the Pandavas alive here. Lakhmandal is a quaint village on the banks of Yamuna.The temple is situated in the middle of a small village.
Yamuna pul and dip at the yamuna
By the time we started from Mussorie it was 11 am. We had planned to start latest by 9 am, but got delayed coz my travel partners liked to sleep late. The morning sunrise gave enough warmth to open the window of the car and experience the fresh air hitting our face with vengeance. The winding road took us to Kempty falls. There was nothing much to see, as the falls had dried up and some construction work was going on. It was not a pretty picture as I had expected
Four of us at Kempty,next pic-Kempty falls
After a few photographs we headed towards Yamunapul. We happened to miss the mark towards Lakhmandal and reached the Yamunapul only to realize we had to retrace our path back to the diversion and follow the Yamunotri road to Lakhmandal. As soon as we saw the clean and clear Yamuna, we could not hold back. Like children all excited over a candy, we dashed towards the river to soothe the heat accumulated from the far plains below. After spending an hour or two we realized we had spent more time than we had for the day. We hurriedly retraced the road up to the diversion and then followed the Yamunotri road.
The roads were clear of traffic as well as habitation. Few clumps of houses were visible on the way where we stopped for a cup of tea. The landscape was not very captivating, on and on we went looking for Lakhmandal. After an hour or two of driving we finally found the diversion towards the left to Lakhmandal village. The roads were quite bad but the scenery got better and finally we reached the village of Mahabharata fame.
Lakhmandal- temple courtyard
The temple is situated in the middle of the village, it is an ASI protected site. The temple is made of stone and you get to see a lot of shivling around. It’s believed there are around one lakh shivling.
Behind the temple excavation is still going on. The temple itself sets a pretty picture amongst the village houses and the hills around. The quiet village looks lovely with a grayish tone displayed by the slate roofs.
The temple
A quick mention of a shivling which is located a little away from the main temple. While pouring water you can actually see the reflection on the shivling . We reached during late afternoon so the light was not that great to get the reflection.
The site which is in progress-excavation going /shivling -catch the reflection
A group of devotees from Uttarkashi had come to pay homage to Lord Shiva, their distinctive attire and jewellery caught my attention. Their friendly smile was like a warm embrace to transport me to a different world of love and simplicity. The women were gracious enough to entertain us with a folk song and dance. The few minute spent were so magical that it will always remain as a cherished memory.
Local people at the temple
I have always treasured the moment spent with local people, the joy on their faces reflects the inner happiness which we city dwellers have forgotten in the rat race.
Time was running faster in the hill than we could calculate, and we had to travel further. Our night halt was at Chakrata, which was around 40 km of hilly roads. So with a heavy heart we had to leave those people still dancing in front the temple. The beat of the drums could be heard till we boarded the car and left the sleepy village never to return, with a mist of memory etched in a part of our brains of such simplicity and beauty that India has to offer.
Sunrise Chakrata
The drive uphill was quite slow and the roads were not in great condition, to allow us a smooth ride. We left Lakhmandal at around 5.30 pm and reached Chakrata by nightfall. We had not made reservations so had to look for hotel, which was not available though it was off season. Finally one of our friends, by chance met the brother of snow view hotel. We settled for the night, two double bedrooms for 600 rupee. It was a good bargain courtesy the guys. We were already tired from the days ride so we had dinner and settled down for the day. We had planned for deovan as well however the guys were not early risers so had to drop the plan .
Next morning I got up early enough to view the beautiful sunrise, making its way from the hills stretching its arms through the thick deodar forests to caress my cheeks with its warmth in the
cold morning.
I have always been lost, watching the sun unfold its glory amongst the sky and earth painting everything on its way with different hues of yellow and orange. Every time I view the sunrise or sunset I get so excited to capture the moment with my camera that I forget to enjoy the moment.
pics taken while morning walk-chakrataI hope a day will come when I calm down and just enjoy and live the moment ,as night gives way to day. After the sunrise I went for a short walk amongst the mighty deodars. The trees around chakrata are very big and tall. Chakrata is a cantonment town above the Yamuna valley of the Garhwal Himalayas. It is reached from Dehradun, Mussorie, from where we came and the last one from Kalsi. Chakrata is still untouched with very few hotels and lots of nature to relax and rejuvenate
Its a nature lovers paradise. We had to get back to Delhi the same day so we had to hurry up as we did not want to miss the tiger falls after Deovan. Tiger falls is around 23 km from Chakrata, there is a landmark at the start ,after that there is nothing to indicate where the falls lie. Again we went on and on it was already an hour and still no sign of tiger falls, for sometimes we thought the falls had dried up. Every bend and corner we expected the fall to appear and we had to stop at each passerby to check if we were on track. The road twisted and turned and gave way to habitation and there on the road next to a shop was a small board, signaling towards tiger falls.
Tiger falls
Ha ha Tiger falls was 1 km downhill, the shopkeeper showed us the way, we thought he was joking as we could not hear the sound nor any suitable place from where the water dropped. All we could see was a small stream flowing on the valley floor below. After driving so far we did not want to miss the falls so we walked down hill. The small path lead us to fields, still no sign of Tiger falls, rest of the guys might have felt' where this stupid girl is leading us',(as I had suggested the falls after reading about it in Indiamike and other sites) as I could read it in their faces. But I was not willing to give up, I took a path kind of small space where a nallah is built to divert the water and ended at a dead end. Feeling hopeless and not knowing what to do I was trying to locate the falls when I spotted a man on the other side .
We gave him a call and he came running towards us. He asked us to crossover the small stream and lead us towards the falls which was
hidden behind the hill. Ha ha, it was a relief to see the beautiful fall out of nowhere, as one will not be able to locate the water source from the road above, so the best way to locate is ask the locals.
The guys went mad after seeing the falls and they could not hold themselves and dived into the cold water pool. The Tiger falls is beautiful in comparison to Kempty falls.
The reflection of the sun on the water particles created a beautiful rainbow at the base of the falls, it just felt like a fairy tale spot. After getting ourselves wet, we started the uphill trek, which was torturous, brought us back to reality from the fairy tale destination. It was time for us to head back to Delhi so for the last time with heave heart we bade goodbye to the hills A short ,adventurous ,fun filled trip came to an end with us getting lost at the Delhi border Ha ha.Cheers!
