India: Landour’s Infectious Solitude

Being an Indian, I don’t see anything great about this country. I fail to understand why people from foreign lands are crazy about India. All I see is the same old madness on streets, half finished cities, erratic crowd, roads with potholes and loud noise everywhere. Yet, while walking on the streets of Landour, I think ‘Every belief has its days of survival till it completely flips’.

In spite of my already existing perception, my explorer instinct is keeping me at the edge of my seat at all times. We find some beautiful roads on the way which make driving a pleasure.

Landour is a small cantonment town approximately 300 km from New Delhi. The British used it as a summer getaway and as a resting place for their tired soldiers. The town still houses a number of Anglo-Indians who speak fluent Hindi. Landour boasts of some of its very famous Anglo-Indians like the author ‘Ruskin Bond’, the thespians ‘Victor Banerjee’ and ‘Tom Alter’.

There are two ways to reach: Delhi – Landour (via Roorkee or via Deoband)

The route via Deoband has some very bad patches of road for about 15 km, so I strongly suggest the other route via Roorkee.

There are numerous ‘Dhabas’ (small shops) along the highway. We stop at one of them early morning at 6 am. Although it is summers, but a cup of steaming hot ‘Dhaba tea’ fails all other preparations anytime. We roll our fingers around the mud pots and let the warmth sink into our chilly hands.

“We let the warmth from mud pots sink into our chilly hands”

The ‘Grand Bakery’ on Rajpur Road, Dehradun is worth checking out. It sells freshly baked biscuits, breads, cakes which I haven’t found in any bakery before. There are two small dogs outside the bakery which I wish don’t grow up but unfortunately they will by the time you read this article and go there.

We take a hairpin ‘U-Turn’ up the hill about 15 kms before Mussoorie towards Landour. The roads now are less busy, there are huge deodar trees all around and the climb is deathly steep. I am sure our driver has lost a couple of pounds driving uphill. The tires are no good, the car is slipping backwards, the roads are narrow, pedestrians are walking everywhere and to top it up we are constantly giving unwanted advice to the driver. He survives the pressure cooker situation without a heart fail and so do we.

All the grueling pain gives way to a very pleasant experience once we reach our resort, Rokeby Manor. The moment I get down from the car, I notice a stark contrast between the noise inside my head and the sound of silence outside. The sun is shining bright, but doesn’t have any effect on the gentle cold wind blowing. ‘Wow, is this India?’ I say to myself.

Our resort, Rokeby Manor is straight out of a Harry Potter film. There is a mystic aura about the whole place. The only things missing are a full moonlit night; a horse drawn cart and a distant burning oil lamp playing hide and seek with the mist. There is a fireplace, stone walls, original wooden floor from the times of the British and narrow alleys leading to our two Rustic cabins. I feel that after a long drive I am home.

I haven’t experienced such silence in years and I just want to crash and sleep for hours, but we only have one day and I choose to explore the surroundings and take a walk in the woods. The streets are spiky clean as I walk towards the ‘Sister Bazaar’ where I’ve heard they sell really good home-made Jam, peanut butter, cinnamon and fruit breads at ‘Prakash’s Store’. I can smell the aroma of freshly baked bread as I am writing this, no kidding.

“I can smell the aroma of freshly baked bread…”

On the way to Sister Bazaar, I can see a clear view of the Himalayas on my left and the China border beyond. The Himalayas sit peacefully with all their grandeur basking in the evening sun right where they have been for the last ten million years.

I have walked for almost three kilometers but I haven’t come across a single vehicle. What would I not give away to spend a week in such a place – In the Woods. All I can see are some children playing around, some tourists apparently Spanish on a unicycle and small huts scattered on the mountain. I can hear sounds of insects from the trees, sound of my feet and that of my own breath.

The sun is setting now and all the mountains are painted orange. I find a sweet little spot to capture some photos. The sky is so clear and the sun’s rays are emitting some interesting pattern of rays through the trees.

We walk to the small market called ‘Char Dukan’, which literally means ‘Four Shops’ in Hindi. Vipin’s Tip-Top tea shop, Anil’s coffee joint, a bank and Surbir’s cyber café. They sell some mouth watering fruit pies, waffles, pizzas, omlette and food that tastes home made. I can see tourists from various countries who have come not to see the place and bail off but to live here for some time and experience it.

The breakfast next day at Rokebys is more of a feast with a million options available. From authentic English breakfast with sausage, bacon, eggs, tomatoes and black tea to toasts, home made jam, peanut butter, orange juice and even vermicelli. I want to sit here and taste everything but I am conscious of the waiter who might start giving us scornful looks soon.

“The breakfast at Rokebys is a feast”

There are numerous nature trails that start from Landour to neighboring areas. I wish I could go on at least one of them as they take you from one mountain to the other through some Buddhist monasteries and remote Himalayan villages.

Nature trails:

1. Suakholi – An easy and pleasant walk eastward on ‘Tehri road’. The ripple effect caused by sedimentary formations is actually an ancient ocean bed that has been thrown skyward millions of years ago.

2. Winter Line – From mid October to January, when the sun sets, the western horizon turns a myriad combination of yellow, red, orange and mauve. The winter line can be experienced along the ‘Chakkar walk’. This phenomenon can only be seen in two places in the world – ‘Landour’ and ‘Switzerland’

Trekking:

1. Himalayan Village life (8 hours) – Take a walk to a typical small village of Uttarakhand. Khandajhak is located across the valley and a scenic day trek across the Aglar river.

2. Khatling Glacier (4-5 days) – The Khatling glacier is situated in the Tehri district and is the source of river Bhilangna. One has to trek about 45 kms and pass through remote villages with thick kharsao forest and wide open beautiful lush green meadows. The entry to Bhilangna valley provides excellent spots for camping.

Our two days in Landour end with steaming cups of ginger tea at ‘Char Dukan’ with apple pie and waffles with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Next time I am going to come for a week. There may not be any tourist spots in Landour but it is a place to just relax, sit back and commune with the nature.

Oh! And how can i forget the very special Maggi that a gentleman at one of the shops at Char Dukan made for us. I asked him the recipe but could never recreate the taste at home.