Lansdowne - escape from city life to find tranquillity at relatively high altitude

Lansdowne is a hill station you may want to visit when you have absolute time constraint and wish to escape from city life to find tranquility at relatively high altitude.

About the place:

• Lansdowne is a cantonment town in Pauri Garhwal district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand founded and named after the then Viceroy of India, Lord Lansdowne. 
• It is one of the quietest hill stations of India and is popular since Britishers came to India. Lansdowne is unlike other hill stations as it is well connected with motorable roads but remote in its own way. 
• Surrounded with thick oak and blue pine forests in the Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand state, Lansdowne is an ideal location for eco-tourism as it is well preserved by the government and the Garhwal Rifles.
• It is the nearest hill station from Delhi (250 km) and can be reached from Delhi by either road or train.

Altitude from sea level: 1,700 mts 

How to reach: Regular buses ply from Delhi ISBT and can easily be reached by road via Kotdwar. By Train Two trains run from Delhi to Kotdwara (Mussorie express and Garhwal express). From Kotdwara, a private cab costs approx Rs.600. Start from anywhere in India and reach Haridwar. From Haridwar, take a bus to Kotdwara. This will take approximately an hour. From Kotdwara petrol pump near the bus stand, take a private/shared cab to Lansdowne. Shared cab take Rs. 60/person. Shared cabs are also good and are not too crowded contrary to popular beliefs.

• The route is Delhi via Meerut , Bijnore, Najibabad, Kotdwar.

Best time to Visit: January - February first week and Monsoon.

Brief Itinerary:

Budget: INR 1200/- per traveller

Back to travelogue:

This was my first experience of the hills, I got an invitation to attend my school friend Nitender Rawat’s marriage. He is a Garhwali and lives in Delhi. His wife is from the famous hill station Pauri, Garhwal, Uttaranchal. Hence, We ought to visit the hill station. His marriage date was 31^st May, 2010. I had Maruti Suzuki Wagon R that time and was in a doubt if the vehicle is going to make top of the hill. But we didn’t have any other opetion. On 30^th May,2010, five friends, Rakesh Ahalawat, Rohit Bisht, Harsh Kumar Chauhan, Pranay Prashar and Parvinder Mehra (me) left in the evening around 5 pm to attend the marriage that too on a hill station.

We took a break at Meerath and had tasty Bread omelet.

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At around 8:30 pm, we reached Kotdwar checkpost and the police man ou there didn’t allow to go further. He said it’s too dangerous to go beyond this as this place is home to numerous wild Elephants (Kotdwar is in the vicinity of Rajaji National Park which is a sure place to spot wild elephants). We had some dialogues with him, he wrote our name and address and allowed us to maneuver but at our own risk.

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Perhaps, he was right, within next 20-25 minutes, we encountered a herd of elephants at Rawasan-Sonanadi Elephant Corridor. Harsh spotted a small elephant and excitedly said “Oye, haathi ka bachha!!” we stopped the car and yes, there were two ‘elephant infants!’. Let me tell you something, elephants do not look grey in color in moonlight, they look shining marble white…!!!!

The moment we tried to capture the glaring gray white, fortunately, Pranay spotted a huge creature, elephant, heading straight towards us. And the immediate reaction was.. forget capturing anything and .. “abbe bhaag.... haathi ke bachhe ki maa aa gayi”  :D :D :D.. and we flew from there. 

We kept driving and wandering in the hills till sunrise and it is almost impossible to find someone to ask for the right way in Garhwal after sunset. At 5:30 in the morning we found a dhaba and had a tea break. Pauri is still around 25-30 km as per the dhaba owner.

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While returning from the marriage we steered towards the well known Lansdowne. Road condition is excellent up till the top. Lansdowne is a cantonment area hence you have t o have a security check before you reach the spot.

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There is a man made lake as well…..

 

from extreme left - Rakesh Ahalawat, Rohit Bisht, Pranay Prashar and Harsh Kumar Chauhan.

You can choose Lansdowne when you want least time in travelling and optimum tranquility. Remember to take your favourite soft music tracks with you to enhance the quality of time you spend there….

keeP   tRaVelliNg J