Wonderland Lansdowne

The alarm on my phone started ringing digitally accurately at 05:45am, disturbing the sound sleep I was indulged in my air-conditioned cradle! Hung from my upper berth I tried to peep out of the window. We were there! The train stopped at Kotdwar digitally accurately at 05:55am. (Never expected a train to be so bang on schedule!)

KOTDWAR! I had heard the name of this place from my lovable tenants, long time back. They were Garhwalis and the place was supposed to be a home to them. The railway station had just one platform and as far as I remember just two tracks. The platform led to broad stairs (like ones to a temple!) leading up to the exit to the station and entry to the land of Garhwal.

Jappa (aka Jai Prakash Soni) and Kedia (aka Rahul Kedia) were my 2 companions in this short trip to destination Lansdowne, more precisely Jaiharikhal. The plan initially kicked off with 6 of us, friends from IIT-KGP, showing enthusiasm for an outing. But the worldly constraints made 3 of them to back-out. Undoubtedly, nothing could stop the remaining 3 to have a ball!

Lansdowne is further 40km up on road from Kotdwar, and we were already guided by our ‘warm hosts’ on how-to-reach. So we hopped in one of these shared vehicles (mostly Boleros) at the station. The driver took 20 minutes taking rounds in the town, until the total travellers he had picked (all locals except us) reached 10 (4+4+2) in that strong 4-wheeled Bolero. Even though we sat comfortably, in my mind, I thanked them for not going the Gurgaon auto-drivers way, who seat 15 (4+4+4+3) in their 3-wheeled rickety iron-case.

Criss-crossing narrow but busy lanes of Kotdwar we soon started to leave the population behind. The road started to tilt, the land on the side started to fall, the trees became longer and longer, and there we were rising up above the sea-level. One of my Garhwali co-passengers sitting in front of me had a Hindi newspaper in his hand. What caught my eye was a big picture of a revealing Pamela Anderson. The headline over it read “aaykar ke bhaar mein” (“under the weight of tax”). That’s when a naughty thought crossed my mind, “Did the writer actually mean ‘aaykar/tax’?”

In a short while, the roads became curvy and then a little too much. I was pukish and looked forward to reaching our destination even more. But there were some beauties to enjoy. There were mountains all around us, and to add to the mesmerisation, they were all full of pines and deodars. In the valley down below there was a thin river flowing. Beauty! Amidst all the gifts of nature what I did not see was houses or villages, but even then my co-passengers kept dropping on and off on the silent roads. I did try to figure out their destination; but the roads were too curvy for me to track them for long. One turn, and the whole scene would change.

Thankfully, I saw the first sign of human habitation after an hour or so. It was a welcome gate by Garhwal Rifles. We were entering Lansdowne, or if I may say a cantonment area. Lansdowne has been beautifully maintained by the army and that’s all what it has, nature and the brave men of the nation. When I stepped out of the vehicle, what amused me was the appearance of that tiny market-place where we were dropped. It so looked like an artificial set from a movie (like a film-city). There was a small park in the middle, which was nothing more than a green roundabout, but it still read ‘Gandhi Park’. There were shops, stalls and some hotels around that park, all low in height with people walking, chit-chatting. It was all in one circle and that’s it.

Taking another shared vehicle from Lansdowne we covered a distance of 5km to reach Jaiharikhal. With a curfew-like atmosphere, we struggled to locate our Inn. There was a loud silence all around us; only a few tiny houses on the road-side and a few men crouched in a corner. Taking their help we headed on a road discovering a few more signs of habitation. Even while we were guessing if the red-shed house was what we were looking for, we saw our ‘warm hosts’ wave at us from down below.

Oak Grove Inn was the only place to stay outside Lansdowne, but by far the best of all. After some internet research I had got in touch with Col. Vikram Rawat, the owner, over phone. The Inn had 3 floors with 4 rooms each on the top 2 floors. The lowest floor had a small cosy dining hall. The top floor levelled the road passing by; that’s how it is in hilly areas, you probably never need stairs to your terraces, you always have a road/path next to it. There was a wooden shade very prettily decorated which overlooked the hills and the valley; undoubtedly, the best place for coffees and conversations; the board hung above it read ‘how about a hangout’. Why I have been calling Col. Rawat and his wife as ‘warm hosts’ is simply because, in just a few minutes we got so connected to them, that it felt as if we were visiting an uncle-aunt after a long time.

We took a couple of hours to freshen up and hogged up a heavy breakfast of hot and delicious aloo paranthas. Hiking-trekking was the plan and Col. Rawat guided us a route which included short-cuts off the road covering all the so-called tourist spots Lansdowne had to offer. We started our journey on foot on the main road. But I think the hills on the sides were just too tempting to be walking on a metalled path. I climbed off the road even though Kedia resisted. He was correct in suggesting that we did not know where the jungle would lead us to. But then that was the exciting part. I and Jappa forced a half-hearted Kedia to take that detour. Believe me, the experience was rewarding. The surface was completely covered by dry pine needles which made it slippery and difficult to walk. And I was awe-struck by the views from the top. It was like a ‘Qayamat se Qayamat tak’ setting for ‘Gazab ka hai din’ song. Tall trees, pine-needles covered surface, no dirt, no filth, just serenity at its best. But Kedia soon got worried, because he felt it was impossible for him to climb down back, if we did not find a way forward from here. But luckily enough we did. We came across a trail which took us to the metalled road again.

Walking along the road we came across a small temple covered with small pink roses. There was a tiny stream of water flowing from a pipe at the temple which we hopefully correctly guessed as from natural spring. The water was chilled and tasted so great that we were soon like sparrows on a bird-bath. Further ahead we walked roads, trails, pavements. We visited famous view-points, churches, temples. We have been walking since 12 noon, but we did not stop until 6 in the evening. We were in the Lansdowne town shopping and had plans to either walk back to Jaiharikhal or take a shared vehicle. It was getting darker, but we were unwary of the problems coming by. One of the shopkeepers casually asked us for where we were staying, and it seems Col. Rawat is famous around these circles. He then immediately asked us if we had a vehicle with us. We then came to know that the shared vehicles stop after 5pm, and it is not really safe to walk back a 5km of deserted stretch, also because of danger of leopards. Oops! That ran a chill down our spine!

Now we almost felt stranded with no idea of what to do. The shopkeeper was very helpful in this regard. He made a few phone calls to check if a taxi could be arranged for us. Many of them turned him down. After an hour of waiting, finally one of them answered positively, but even he was cautious of the passengers he was about to carry. I could hear the shopkeeper say over phone, “Don’t worry they are all nice guys. No, they are not drunk; I take full guarantee of them.” Either the hilly-people are too innocent and sweet, or the Delhiites have a pretty bad impression in such regions. The taxi arrived in 20mins, and we thanked the shopkeeper guy for all his help. The shopkeeper instructed the driver to show us any leopard that comes across. That was another shot of high! While I enquired the same from the driver, he suggested that even walking was not that bad an option. “Leopards don’t attack us, they wait for you to go and only then they appear. Moreover, only once in a while have people reported being confronted by them.” That was in no way making our decision to walk look less stupid.

We were so relieved and happy to reach our Inn safe and sound. We spent rest of the night feeling the chill in the breeze, lazing in a candle-lit room, with music from the small speakers I had carried, and munching away an awesome fried bhindi prepared by the Inn cooks. It was dark everywhere else. Frankly speaking, I also had an eye on the open door, for my leopard hangover was yet to get over.

Next morning we were to trek our way to Bhairavikhal. Rawat aunty had suggested the same, as it was a steep one-hour climb to reach a temple at the top. And this was on an opposite direction from our last day’s trip, towards Pauri. Our ‘warm hosts’ gave us a lift in their car to Gumkhal from where we took a shared jeep to the base of Bhairavikhal. All of these places that you hear were nothing more than a cluster of 10-11 houses. But the terrain on this side had changed, it was higher but drier. The mountains appeared barren and naked. The climb to the top was enthralling. Land kept falling on our sides, while I kept warning my friends to walk carefully and not lose balance. On reaching the top, we got what we were promised, a mind-blowing 360 degree view!

Even though I had expected to experience the local Garhwali way of life, there were some culture shocks coming my way. In the barren surroundings, I would have expected locals to be struggling for their living. Interestingly atop each and every house there was compulsorily a dish antenna, even in the remotest areas. The music playing on our return jeep was none other than ‘dupatta tera sat rang da, soniye!'  and other similar sounding tunes. Oh man, Punjab is everywhere! While we ordered for a samosa-chhole combo at a tea-stall which tasted really good, a villager lady sat on a chair next to us. She ordered a samosa and tea. It couldn’t have been more amusing than to see that lady eat a dry samosa with a spoon! And that’s why my friend, never stereotype; world is way different than your expectations.

Before leaving back for Delhi, we spent some time with our ‘warm hosts’ at ‘how about a hangout’. There were some interested comments that came from Rawats. They complimented us on being their second guests who showed enthusiasm to climb up to Bhairavikhal. Mrs. Rawat also commented that 3 of us reminded her of a famous movie and after some guess-game she disclosed ‘3 Idiots’. While we talked with Col. Rawat, she brought us some hot samosas and cheese balls that she had prepared for us. I think I just cleaned-chit the plates for they were one of the best on this earth.

On our way towards Kotdwar station, it had gone dark and there was a big bright ring of jungle fire that I could see. After driving down for some time, our driver pointed towards Lansdowne and Jaiharikhal somewhere in the hills, which was not visible to my eyes at least. I was just glad to be able to spot the same jungle fire. It brought me a feeling that I was still in touch and not very far from the place and the people of the wonderland. I hate that turn after which I lost it.

Glimpses captured in the camera can be seen in the following link.
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/siddartha.sherpa/WonderlandLansdowne#