When we went to Landour...

The third experience during our trip to Uttarakhand, and the last one was our stay in Landour. Yes, a two day stay in a place located above Mussoorie was actually more of an experience!
        Mr Singh, our driver, drove for 5 hours, from Dhanolti to Landour. We stopped only once mid-way. Landour is a cantonment town located at about 7000 feet above sea level. This gives you an idea of the temperatures in Landour. But apart from the temperature, the other factor that should be noted is the view from Landour. You see, at this height, there are no obstructions, apart from trees and mountains. And the atmosphere is clear. The skies are bluer than what we see in our cities. But we were living in perhaps one of the highest points in Landour. From our point of stay, the view was somewhat magical...
        Let me first give you a description of the place we were staying in. It wasn't a hotel. Landour mostly contains private properties. Very few hotels are there. We had booked a guest home: Prospect Point. Bill Kinzie's blog post about Prospect point here gives you a wonderful description: 

        http://garumchai321.blogspot.in/2007/01/prospect-point.html

Here are some pictures of the property:

This was THE most luxurious place where we had stayed during the entire trip!

        The best part was that the scenery was equally luxurious!

Layers of mountains...

When the peaks became visible after a series of foggy days...

This was the one of those times when I was thankful that God had gifted me five sensory organs. Everything was a treat for my senses! In each of the four directions, a different type of view was present. On one side there were mountains (and snow peaks), on another side the entire cities of Mussoorie and Dehradun! 

        It was like the scenic beauty had been a cumulative element throughout the trip. Ultimately, all that we had seen or expected to see was here. A few hours before, we had even seen a waterfall in Mussoorie - Kempty Falls

Something I had learnt before coming to this trip, from a friend - how to take silky smooth waterfall pictures!

The splash effect!

But this was not all. As I said before...this location was a treat for all our senses. There was a maple tree just outside the bungalow, and the rustling sound that was produced by its leaves was filled with an eternal pureness!
We were simply humbled by nature's magnificence...

The sky above us was darker than 'sky blue'!

        Mr. Bhandari, the person who took care of the whole property then showed us around. There was another house adjacent to the bungalow we were living in. When we went up to the first floor, he told us that at night, the entire city of Dehradun and Mussoorie that was currently invisible due to our height and the bright sunlight, would light up.

        As the sun slowly dimmed, something else slowly appeared on the horizon.

Now let me tell you something...we were (for the first time in our lives) really above the horizon! What was gradually appearing was a distinctive orange line...

        As the sun gradually turned orange and was dimming, we saw something spectacular...

The above phenomenon is termed 'winterline', and according to Mr. Bhandari, this is visible only from Landour (Mussoorie) and from Switzerland. I later found out that to watch this, you need to be at a place from where an extremely wide angle of the sky (and the horizon) can be observed. I couldn't get this properly inside a picture. This needs to be seen from the actual location...

        On the right side, the orange sun was visible and a 'horizontal rainbow' stretched from the sun along the horizon towards the left...

My mother rightly quoted Sound of Music...

'So somewhere in my youth or childhood. I must have done, something good.'

This is what we felt, from the core of our hearts.

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A journey into the jungle

I'll be listing the three extraordinary memories of our trip to Uttarakhand.

The first one was a jungle safari...

However, let me first give you a description of the places we visited before the jungle safari.

Our trip started from Rishikesh, a place near Haridwar. 

From Rishikesh, we went to Chilla. Rajaji National Park is located in Chilla, and we stayed in GMVN resorts all along, so getting a jeep for the jungle safari was not a problem at all. However, the problem was the time. The core area remains closed  till the 15th of November. So, there was no way we could actually see wild animals. We were only taken to the buffer zone.

This was the first time I would be riding an open jeep. I was pretty excited when the jeep arrived...

...and so were the others!

Then the journey started. The jeep blazed through the road beside the canal that was created by trapping water from the Chandrabhaga. As the jeep blazed through the road and the wind gushed past my face, it felt refreshing! I tried to take several photos but most got blurred. However, I like this particular photo...the blur brings out the motion!

After a while, we spotted the first animal...

...on the other side of the canal. 

Anyway, after that, the jeep journey continued. After a few minutes, I was starting to think the whole road was actually the buffer-zone. We then diverted into a muddy path that led into the forest!

This was thrilling, especially when we arrived at a certain point, that was surrounded by forests on three side, and a hill slope on one side. There was silence. Complete silence. And the occasional sounds of certain insects. But, sometimes, we could hear some low rumbling noises. The silence was deafening...

We could go back only by the way we had came.

When we reached the main road again, it was slightly darker. We then progressed through the road until we came to another muddy road that led into the jungle. We first went through a village and then moved deeper. The path was slightly uphill. 

        We saw two peahens on the way.

That was the last animal we saw. Usually, if one goes to the core area, an elephant is ALWAYS visible.

        We simply traveled deeper. After a certain point, it was getting really dark. We had to turn back. The driver drove a bit faster than before. This journey was amazing!

        It was mystical! The cool, moist air, filled with oxygen traveled into our lungs and rejuvenated us...

        Apart from that, as we moved on, a certain central area would become visible from time to time. This is something that has been etched in my mind. It was simply a collection of trees that formed a canopy at the top, but whose lower portions could not be seen. In other words, from a moving vehicle, we could never realise the depth of that region! And the trees continued on and on. I tried to capture this, but we were moving fast, and it was really dark. Still, I got this, but one can't realise what we saw from this picture:

As we progressed towards our resort by the main road, I plugged in my earphones and played a few songs that would match the atmosphere. The air was extremely cold, but the journey made me feel limitless...

        We stopped at a small tea shop before going to our hotel. The tea shop was located adjacent to the core area, and the walls were filled with paintings of the forest. Snacks, and even some forest-gear was on sale!

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