Lansdowne - a fun trip. Review on Lansdowne

Just back from a 3-day trip to Lansdowne in Uttarakhand(20th May 2010). From 46 degrees to 18 degrees in 6 hours – it is the closest heaven you can escape to from Delhi in this hot & humid summer. From Delhi to Lansdowne, via Ghaziabad-Muradnagar-Modinagar-Meerut-Meeranpur-Bijnor-Kiratpur-Najibabad-Kotdwa
r, is a 240-260 km(depending on detours) ride over the best roads that I have seen anywhere. One wonderful thing – no toll plazas to fleece you(after paying life tax on the car, I don’t see why every 50 km one has to pay to use the roads).

We started early to avoid the traffic and made good time, reaching speeds up to 100 kmph easily. After crossing Meeranpur via bypass, the highway takes a sharp right turn for Bijnor. There is a cluster of dhabas here, where we stopped for our breakfast. Nothing much to recommend here. Halfway to Lansdowne is Bijnor, where one can have a cool dip in the Ganges or stop for breakfast/lunch at the many restaurants it has. Bijnor to Kotdwar is again a good run with well-laid roads and not much traffic. At the end of Kotdwar there is the famous temple of Hanuman, called Sidhabali, which is reached by crossing the Sidhbali Pull(bridge) over the river Khoh(which, by the way, gives the town its name – Khohdwara or Kotdwar). The temple is situated atop a small hillock and gives a nice view of the surroundings. You can even go down to the river for a dip.

Kotdwar is where the plains end and the climb to Lansdowne(41 kms) begins. The first 20 kms is soft, gentle climb with long stretches and smooth curves. At a place after 20 kms, you can see trucks and vans filling up water at the river with pumps. I suggest a brief stop here for guys/gals driving their own vehicle, as the fun part begins from this point onwards. The next 21 kms is third-gear steep climb with short stretches and hairpin bends.

Two words of caution though. One - Get your petrol tank filled at Kotdwar, as there are no petrol pumps in Lansdowne. You have a drive of 160 kms(80 kms to and from Lansdowne plus another 80 kms if you go to Tadkeshwar Temple from Lansdowne) over hilly terrain and it pays to be safe. Two – Airtel & Vodafone do not work in Lansdowne. The only reliable service is BSNL.

Lansdowne is a quaint, picture-postcard hillstation which is basically a contonment of Garhwal Rifles, way back from the British era. Everything is controlled here by the army, including the water supply and the building bylaws. The cantonment area is where most of the scenic spots are located and, as expected, the whole place is spic and span. The hillstation was named after a Viceroy of India(1888-1894), Lord Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice – the 5th Marquess(nobleman) of Lansdowne in United Kingdom. Locals told us that it had snowed two seasons back and rains are abundant.

There are three hotels in the town square(if you can call it that) – Lans View Hotel, Mayur Hotel & Restaurant and Zaika. Mayur is the bigger and better of the three(accommodation vs. price) and you can book it from anywhere by depositing an advance in their SBI account. It has its share of musty smells and unclean bedsheets, but then its a budget hotel at Rs 1000/- per day! Then there are other hotels and resorts away from the hustle and bustle of the town square, like Fairy Dale, Blue Pine Resort, GMVN Tourist Bunglow, Retreat Anand, Oak Grove Inn etc.

Lansdowne has few ‘touristy’ spots(thank God for that) and hence the ‘lets-jump-into-the-waterfall’ or ‘eat-tikki-on-the-mallroad’ type of crowd is missing. It is a place best suited for lazing around, taking a leisure walk up to Bhulla Lake(an artificial pond with boats & ducks and a children’s play area) or a longer walk to Tip-n-Top(a view point from where you can see mountain ranges and sunrise on clear days). We took a goat-path down into the jungle and had a fun time(poor legs and lungs) climbing the steep forest slops back up to the resort. The forest floor is quite slippery with pine needles and you need good shoes for trekking.

St Mary's Church, on the way to Tip-n-Top, is a quaint little building dating back to 1895. It fell into disuse after 1947 and was renovated by the Garhwal Rifles Regiment Centre who have a photo museum and a presentation on Regimental history. The other church is St. John’s Church, also enroute to Tip-n-Top. We couldn’t visit the Garhwal Rifles Regimental War Memorial as they had a visiting General and the area was out of bounds for tourists.

Two kilometers below Lansdowne, a fork in the road leads to the famous Shiva temple – Tarkeshwar Mahadev, which is 38 kms from this point.  The road is not very wide and, in fact, is narrow in some places – with adequate warning signs. The road surface was very good except for a 2-km stretch where it was being relaid. Very little traffic and only 4-5 small villages on this stretch. Remember the tip about petrol and also load up on eats & drinks, as there is no shop/eatery at Tarkeshwar Mahadev except a lonely shop selling prashad. This temple is one of the Siddhapeeths and a huge festival is held during Shivaratri at this Dham. Legend has it that yogis have been meditating here for the past 600 years or so and the name Tarkeshwar means ‘The God who is watching(for wrong deeds)’. The whole temple is ringed with huge Cedar trees nestled in a dip between hillocks and is very picturesque. The temple in comparison is quite small, with a black stone Shivling and another smaller temple dedicated to Devi Ma in the same premises.

Good roads, great car, nice weather, good food, family and the company of great friends who are always ready with a nice laugh and a naughty joke – what more can one demand of a holiday?

The return was painful to say the least. The heat welcomed us as soon we reached Kotdwar and after having our lunch at Meerut(Vyanjan Vatika, beside Palm Green Hotel), we took on the traffic chaos which started from the outskirts of Meerut and never left us till we reached home(three hours from Meerut to Delhi!).