Musssoorie and Kempty falls

Mussoorie 15-17 May

Kempty Falls 18-21 May

Waiting on the main road for the bus

I was heading to Mussoorie next, the neighbouring town to Dehradun.  Should be easy to get there, I thought.  The host at the homestay explained that I should just be able to wait on the main road, and catch the public bus as it goes past, on the way to Mussoorie.  They go past every 20 minutes or so. Otherwise, if it didn’t stop (why would it not stop?), I could walk to the traffic circle, to catch one.  Strange?  So, do I wait at the main road, or go to the circle?  No, he was confident that I could catch it on the main road.  So, I waited on the main road, and after 10 minutes, the bus came.  And the bus went straight past.


Ok, that didn’t work, so I walked 30 minutes, with all my bags, down to the traffic circle, standing on the main road leading up to Mussoorie. 

It’s ok, one mistake, one missed bus.  Not the worst start to the day.  After another 15 minutes, another bus came.  And another bus passed.  I tried to ask a local, and they explained that, that was indeed the Mussoorie bus, and I was on the right road.  I couldn’t therefore understand why it wouldn’t stop.  Ok, maybe the driver was just terrible human.  Maybe he didn’t see me.  I resolved to wait for the next bus and make sure the driver sees me.  Another bus arrives after 15 more minutes.  And this bus also passes by.  Hold on, there cannot be two sons of satan, both driving busses to Mussoorie, on the same day.  

On the next quarter of the traffic circle, though, I note that people are getting on a bus (I’m talking about 10 metres away from me).  Let me go stand there?  That shouldn’t make a difference.  A few minutes later, a bus comes, stops, the door opens, are you going to Mussoorie the driver asks?  Yes, thanks, and I get on.  Just another day in India.

Arriving in Mussoorie,
nearly 2000m above sea level

45 minutes later, I’m in Mussoorie, and I need to find a place to stay.  What I had searched online all seemed to expensive, to I decided to try my luck just arriving and searching.  As I step off the bus, an old man asks if I need a hotel.  I confirm so, and ask how much?  100 rupees, he exclaims.  Now, I know this is way too low, and my gut says, don’t follow him, you definitely going to get murdered.  But I am intrigued, and he is old, I can probably take him.  Also, I have travel insurance

We reach the hotel, and I meet the owner.  He mentions the room is 1000 rupees.  Oh, I see what’s happened here (the old man got confused in the little English he knows).  I explain to the owner what I was promised, and after some haggling, and lots of them laughing at the old man’s mistake, we managed to agree on a more reasonable price.

Room for 100, I mean 1000 rupees.
We agreed on 700 :)

Yay, I have a room.  Let’s go explore.  I look online at what is close, and all the sites list Gun hill as an attraction, and a 'must see' viewpoint of the city.   A long, steep climb up, and whoah – what a hole.  The ‘view’ is of the town of course, but said view is obstructed by buildings, electricity cables, and clouds.  The courtyard at the top of the hill has been converted into a kitch, night carnival, which I can only imagine ages 7 and down would be excited by.  Not a good start Mussoorie. 

View of Mussoorie (not from Gun Hill, because that was crap)

Views from Mussoorie terrace (also not from Gun Hill)

People LOVE Maggi here 

The next attraction was a Buddhist temple on a place called Happy valley.  This sounds good.  So, I walked to Happy valley, missed the turn off to Happy valley, and ended up at the Company gardens.  A great mistake however, as these are beautifully manicured gardens, set out 2 km from the busy city.  Although full with people, there is enough place to sit down, and enjoy the surroundings.

Little waterfall, Company Bagh

Gardens, gardens, gardens

The nursery, I think

Plants, plants, plants

There were more roses, but this was the nicest one

Look, a goose.  I mean a donkey?  Skillful nonetheless

Artistic garden shot :)

Having a chill in the gardens

The reason for coming to Mussoorie was to meet with a friend from volunteering at Kanatal, who was playing guitar at one of the hotels here.  The next few days were spent hanging with him, exploring the rest of Mussoorie – there are some nice walks to do – and listening to him play at night.  I also did eventually make it to Happy valley, to see the Buddist temple: Shedup Choephelling - the first Tibetan temple built in India.

My first beer in India, at the hotel

Prayer wheels,
Shedup Choephelling temple

Happiness in Happy Valley

View from outside
Shedup Choephelling temple

Inside Prayer Shedup Choephelling temple

However, Mussoorie is one of the most popular tourist destinations for local Indians trying to escape the intense heat that summer brings to the centre of India.  As the temperatures in Delhi peaked to over 40, and as it was the middle of schools’ summer break, the cooler hill stations like Mussoorie were becoming overcrowded, and bogged down by traffic.  So, three days was enough for me, and I wanted to spend the last few days I had, relaxing, before volunteering started.

Busy, busy Mussoorie.  Time to leave

About 15km from Mussoorie, is a popular grouping of waterfalls, called Kempty falls.  I figured that there was more chance of me finding some calm and peace out that way, than in the city, and boarded a bus.  When I got there, as expected, the immediate area around the waterfalls was crowded, full of tourists, and shops, and rooms.  However, this is a few 100 metres in either direction, and when one peers out, one can see a mountainside with very little going on.  I decided to walk down the hill (because up was back towards town), and after about 500m, I found a hotel (I say found, but it was the only building, standing alone.  You could not really miss it).  It was far enough to be unable to hear the noise and bustle around Kempty, and the room the offered me had a beautiful view of the valley.  A perfect place to go exploring, or read on the balcony, and just chill out for the next few days.

View from the balcony

Trek to the valley

The stream in the valley

A little waterfall in the valley

One of the higher pools,
Kempty falls

Away from the tourists,
Kempty falls

Kempty was a great choice, to get out of the city.  The next few days were spent hiking down to the stream in the valley, reading, and interacting with the locals there.  I even went to the Kempty falls, and once you get past the initial first few pools that are crowded with people, you get to some really beautiful pools, and hiking, with almost no one there.  The highlight however, was fulfilling a bucket list dream, to play cricket in the streets of India, with the locals, which the hotel staff did every evening, until sunset, or until the ball was hit down the mountain.

Waiting for the first ball