Lancedowne, evertytime I think about this place I get nostalgic. This virgin forests, the cantonment area, simple people and extraodinary land.
Lancedowne is said to be the nearest hill station to delhi. Its hardly a 5 hrs drive and once you reach kotdwar, the hills start thereafter. The whole hilly drive is accompanied by river khoh which at times you feel its just so close to you and a moment later its damn far. The whole route is so spectacular that cannnot move your eyes for a second off the windows.
Lancedowne is said to be the nearest hill station to delhi. Its hardly a 5 hrs drive and once you reach kotdwar, the hills start thereafter. The whole hilly drive is accompanied by river khoh which at times you feel its just so close to you and a moment later its damn far. The whole route is so spectacular that cannnot move your eyes for a second off the windows.
I visited lancedowne in the month of August and that was the monsoon season and hece the journey of 5 hrs turned into a journey of around 15 hrs.
We left delhi around 7 am in the morning and had planned to have our lunch in lancedowne only. Around 9 we stopped in a highway dhaba for our breakfasts and keeping in mind that hilly journey could be bit difficult if we had heavy breakfast so we just had sandwiches and started moving further. We wanted to reach there as early as possible. But just after crossing the kotdwar the hilly terrain started and we saw a huge jam on highway, after few seconds we got to know that there has been a landslide and the road is blocked. After a chit chat with localites we got to know that this whole thing will take atleast 2-3 hrs. But the strange part was that we were happy to hear that as we could see a river flowing nearby and explore the jungle. And we knew that doing this 2-3 will fly like anything. Immediately we left our luggage in the car and asked our driver to call us back as soon as road gets cleared and we left for the riiver fun.
The river was huge and full and because of monsoon season the flow was very high also the way to reach reiver was not an easy one but were so detrmined that we didn’t mind trekking that long. The sound of river was loud and if felt as if the hushes & gushes of river is inviting us. It was so green everywhere and the rain has made it more greener. It felt as if all the treeshad just taken a bath and all are smiling & enjoying and happy about this wonderful weather. The sky was blue with lovely patterns of white clouds over it. The whole scenery was damn colorful with lush green trees, blue sky and white clouds. I had never seen suh bright colors of nature before and the sound of river was making it more nostalgic.
We all had a good time playing there in river and after sometime it started drizzling again and by than we were tired and all our clothes were dripping and we had sand all over us.
In between we were calling our driver again and again to know the status. Though we realy didn’t wanted to leave this place but than we also wanted to reach lansedowne asap. By than it was 3 O’clock and still the road was nowhere close to clear. Driver told us that I might take another 2-3 hours, so we decided to not to go back to car and we lie there on big stones next to river. The rain had also stopped by than and the sun was shining bright. We aly therer and dried our clothes and had a chit chat and few of our friends took a nap as they were damn tired and had came from a night shift that morning only.
The road got clear around 6 in the eveing and by that we were starving and there was nothing close by to eat something. Thankfully we had kept few packets of wafers and cookies etc. when we left our houses in the morning.
By the time traffic got clear it was 6:30 and it had started growing dark and due to monsoon season it was misty also, so we asked driver to drive slow as roads were wet, visibility was also very low and its not safe to drive in such bad weather conditions on hills but despite all this it was spectacular and looked like a scene of some hindi horror movie.
We must have drove around 30 kms when we got to know that there was another landslide and the raod was closed. It was quite dark by then and they were suppose to clear the road by next morning only. We asked localites if there was any other way to reach lancedowne? We were told that there is other way but a long one in comparison to this one, as we didn’t had any option so we took that one which was approx 70 kms instead of this 20 kms. Most of us were damn tired and were starving badly. Also we were shivering because of our semi wet clothes and bad weather condition.
We reached lancedowne cantonment gate by 10 PM and proceeded to main market as we were told that market is about to close and after that we wont get anything to eat . After having our dinner in Karims (don’t confuse it with the karims we have in delhi) but yeah it was pretty gud we decided to search for the hotel we had booked. We must have reached our hotel by 11 and after banging the door for 10 mins a hotel boy and came n told us that there is no booking in our name and there is no room free. So we finally got back to karims and took the two rooms. The rooms were pretty gud and clean. The tariff was around Rs 500.
Once we settled down our luggage and everything we went out for a walk around 1 at night, though we were badly tired but there was something which was pulling our attention. We must have slept around 3 in the morning.
Next morning I got up early around 6 and again went for a walk, the scene was totally different than the one we expereinced it in night. It was damn neat n clean town. Well maintained by the army people. The roads were washed well by the rain last evening and the whole area was green with the fressh pine smell. By the time we came back from morning walk it was 8 AM, few were already ready to go and few were still sleeping. After having breafast the moment we were about to leave the hotel for the days excursion it again started raining and we cudnt go anywhere and decided to stay in hotel n enjoy the weather.
Rain stopped around 3PM and we left our rooms for Bhulla tal. It’s a man made lake made by the army men. It’s a must visit place as u can enjoy boating there after that u can explore the jungle nearby. We did boating for around 1hr and further went to jungle. By 6 it was again dark and misty and the whole ambience was foggy and the jungle silence was a unforgettable expereince for lifetime. We sat there for a long long time and all of us for the first time in this whole trip sat silent for sooooooooooo long. The whole feeling was mesmerising.
That evening our hotel wala asked us that wud we like to have a terrace top dinner and the moment we hear this, we were thrilled to have dinner in open terrace in such a lovely weather and we all instantly said yes. And than he lead us to a terrace of other building and we were thinking that he must have had a great set up there, but the moment we reached there, it was nothing close to our expectation and all he had was a cemented table n cemented sitting space and he gave us few candles to set up on the table and meanwhile took our order. We had to struggle a lot to keep that candle burning in this windy weather. Though the setup was not gud atall but the cold breeze of well moistured air, moon and the music from the army mess made it a night to remember for a long long time.
Next day we got up early in the morning as it was our last day and we went to tiffin top. We thought it would be a simple picnic spot but the moment we reached there is was much much above than our expectations, we felt as if we are on highest peak as everything we could see from there was much low. The clouds were very low and we were damn above the clouds the whole scene was a mix of white clouds, snowy peaks of himalayas and fog. It seemed like a different layers of white surrounding us. This place was named tiffin top because it was the favourite place for the britishers for having their lunch as it was so picturesque. Their wives used to get their tiffin here so that they can sit together and have thr lunch in such beautiful world of clouds.
After this went to lovers lane, it was again a beautiful place and as the name says it was a perfect place for lovers. Lonely, green, in midst of jungle like a nomans land with beauty all around. We had planned to visit army museum after this but we had been told bcos of independece day its closed for the public so we had to come back without visiting it .
While we started moving back to delhi we had planned that we will once again go to that river for last dip and thruout the way kept on looking for a place where river is closest as this time we were in no mood to trekk that much.
After driving few kms we heard that river was damn close and we could see some water trembling down the road towards the jungle. Though we were not able to see the river but we were sure that if we will follow this stream of water, it will lead us to river only so we asked our driver to wait and we left hurriedly towards the river. But after following that stream for a while that stream kind of disappeared and all we were left with swampy land and nothing to follow and we were already in midst of jungle. Now the only option was to either go back and give the idea of river or follow ur instinct for river search as we could still hear it but cant see. So we decided to follow our instinct and go for the river search. It was all swampy and there were bushes around. After a while we saw a fencing in the middle of jungle, and we were wondering who would be so fool to do fencing here, it was not atall required there and we very smartly lift op those fences and moved further. After a while we saw the river and after that we didn’t mind going over the trees and jump from there just to reach the river. We had a gud time in river and left after playing for an hour. The way back was same and this time it was more difficult as our clothes were all wet which made every move more difficult. And the moment we got back on road two men came on bike and asked us weather we are going towards jungle and we hesitantly said no, so they say we better not as this whole area is on high alert for junglly elephants and its quite risky to stay here for long. And we assured them that we are just moving. But after they left we actually realized what we have just done. It could have been very risky. But by gods grace it was over. And we again started our journey back to delhi. We reached delhi around 10 Pm and we all were in full spirits
We left delhi around 7 am in the morning and had planned to have our lunch in lancedowne only. Around 9 we stopped in a highway dhaba for our breakfasts and keeping in mind that hilly journey could be bit difficult if we had heavy breakfast so we just had sandwiches and started moving further. We wanted to reach there as early as possible. But just after crossing the kotdwar the hilly terrain started and we saw a huge jam on highway, after few seconds we got to know that there has been a landslide and the road is blocked. After a chit chat with localites we got to know that this whole thing will take atleast 2-3 hrs. But the strange part was that we were happy to hear that as we could see a river flowing nearby and explore the jungle. And we knew that doing this 2-3 will fly like anything. Immediately we left our luggage in the car and asked our driver to call us back as soon as road gets cleared and we left for the riiver fun.
The river was huge and full and because of monsoon season the flow was very high also the way to reach reiver was not an easy one but were so detrmined that we didn’t mind trekking that long. The sound of river was loud and if felt as if the hushes & gushes of river is inviting us. It was so green everywhere and the rain has made it more greener. It felt as if all the treeshad just taken a bath and all are smiling & enjoying and happy about this wonderful weather. The sky was blue with lovely patterns of white clouds over it. The whole scenery was damn colorful with lush green trees, blue sky and white clouds. I had never seen suh bright colors of nature before and the sound of river was making it more nostalgic.
We all had a good time playing there in river and after sometime it started drizzling again and by than we were tired and all our clothes were dripping and we had sand all over us.
In between we were calling our driver again and again to know the status. Though we realy didn’t wanted to leave this place but than we also wanted to reach lansedowne asap. By than it was 3 O’clock and still the road was nowhere close to clear. Driver told us that I might take another 2-3 hours, so we decided to not to go back to car and we lie there on big stones next to river. The rain had also stopped by than and the sun was shining bright. We aly therer and dried our clothes and had a chit chat and few of our friends took a nap as they were damn tired and had came from a night shift that morning only.
The road got clear around 6 in the eveing and by that we were starving and there was nothing close by to eat something. Thankfully we had kept few packets of wafers and cookies etc. when we left our houses in the morning.
By the time traffic got clear it was 6:30 and it had started growing dark and due to monsoon season it was misty also, so we asked driver to drive slow as roads were wet, visibility was also very low and its not safe to drive in such bad weather conditions on hills but despite all this it was spectacular and looked like a scene of some hindi horror movie.
We must have drove around 30 kms when we got to know that there was another landslide and the raod was closed. It was quite dark by then and they were suppose to clear the road by next morning only. We asked localites if there was any other way to reach lancedowne? We were told that there is other way but a long one in comparison to this one, as we didn’t had any option so we took that one which was approx 70 kms instead of this 20 kms. Most of us were damn tired and were starving badly. Also we were shivering because of our semi wet clothes and bad weather condition.
We reached lancedowne cantonment gate by 10 PM and proceeded to main market as we were told that market is about to close and after that we wont get anything to eat . After having our dinner in Karims (don’t confuse it with the karims we have in delhi) but yeah it was pretty gud we decided to search for the hotel we had booked. We must have reached our hotel by 11 and after banging the door for 10 mins a hotel boy and came n told us that there is no booking in our name and there is no room free. So we finally got back to karims and took the two rooms. The rooms were pretty gud and clean. The tariff was around Rs 500.
Once we settled down our luggage and everything we went out for a walk around 1 at night, though we were badly tired but there was something which was pulling our attention. We must have slept around 3 in the morning.
Next morning I got up early around 6 and again went for a walk, the scene was totally different than the one we expereinced it in night. It was damn neat n clean town. Well maintained by the army people. The roads were washed well by the rain last evening and the whole area was green with the fressh pine smell. By the time we came back from morning walk it was 8 AM, few were already ready to go and few were still sleeping. After having breafast the moment we were about to leave the hotel for the days excursion it again started raining and we cudnt go anywhere and decided to stay in hotel n enjoy the weather.
Rain stopped around 3PM and we left our rooms for Bhulla tal. It’s a man made lake made by the army men. It’s a must visit place as u can enjoy boating there after that u can explore the jungle nearby. We did boating for around 1hr and further went to jungle. By 6 it was again dark and misty and the whole ambience was foggy and the jungle silence was a unforgettable expereince for lifetime. We sat there for a long long time and all of us for the first time in this whole trip sat silent for sooooooooooo long. The whole feeling was mesmerising.
That evening our hotel wala asked us that wud we like to have a terrace top dinner and the moment we hear this, we were thrilled to have dinner in open terrace in such a lovely weather and we all instantly said yes. And than he lead us to a terrace of other building and we were thinking that he must have had a great set up there, but the moment we reached there, it was nothing close to our expectation and all he had was a cemented table n cemented sitting space and he gave us few candles to set up on the table and meanwhile took our order. We had to struggle a lot to keep that candle burning in this windy weather. Though the setup was not gud atall but the cold breeze of well moistured air, moon and the music from the army mess made it a night to remember for a long long time.
Next day we got up early in the morning as it was our last day and we went to tiffin top. We thought it would be a simple picnic spot but the moment we reached there is was much much above than our expectations, we felt as if we are on highest peak as everything we could see from there was much low. The clouds were very low and we were damn above the clouds the whole scene was a mix of white clouds, snowy peaks of himalayas and fog. It seemed like a different layers of white surrounding us. This place was named tiffin top because it was the favourite place for the britishers for having their lunch as it was so picturesque. Their wives used to get their tiffin here so that they can sit together and have thr lunch in such beautiful world of clouds.
After this went to lovers lane, it was again a beautiful place and as the name says it was a perfect place for lovers. Lonely, green, in midst of jungle like a nomans land with beauty all around. We had planned to visit army museum after this but we had been told bcos of independece day its closed for the public so we had to come back without visiting it .
While we started moving back to delhi we had planned that we will once again go to that river for last dip and thruout the way kept on looking for a place where river is closest as this time we were in no mood to trekk that much.
After driving few kms we heard that river was damn close and we could see some water trembling down the road towards the jungle. Though we were not able to see the river but we were sure that if we will follow this stream of water, it will lead us to river only so we asked our driver to wait and we left hurriedly towards the river. But after following that stream for a while that stream kind of disappeared and all we were left with swampy land and nothing to follow and we were already in midst of jungle. Now the only option was to either go back and give the idea of river or follow ur instinct for river search as we could still hear it but cant see. So we decided to follow our instinct and go for the river search. It was all swampy and there were bushes around. After a while we saw a fencing in the middle of jungle, and we were wondering who would be so fool to do fencing here, it was not atall required there and we very smartly lift op those fences and moved further. After a while we saw the river and after that we didn’t mind going over the trees and jump from there just to reach the river. We had a gud time in river and left after playing for an hour. The way back was same and this time it was more difficult as our clothes were all wet which made every move more difficult. And the moment we got back on road two men came on bike and asked us weather we are going towards jungle and we hesitantly said no, so they say we better not as this whole area is on high alert for junglly elephants and its quite risky to stay here for long. And we assured them that we are just moving. But after they left we actually realized what we have just done. It could have been very risky. But by gods grace it was over. And we again started our journey back to delhi. We reached delhi around 10 Pm and we all were in full spirits
