SOLO TO MUSSOORIE: A NEW BEGINNING

When you tell someone that you are travelling solo, many eyebrows get raised. You are called weirdo or a loner. Some people would get surprised and ask how can anybody enjoy being alone on trips. And if you are a bachelor, some would advise you to get married first and then travel together.

I heard all of this from family and friends whenever I touched this subject.

I had already seen many travel plans with family and friends falling apart for one reason or other. I had two options at that time – either keep waiting for others to join me and regret later of not travelling much or to become master of my own destiny and live the life that I had always desired. And I chose the latter. I had already wasted too much time and I didn’t want to waste more.

Destination Planning

I knew my first solo trip would be instrumental in shaping up my future travel plans. A bad experience would strengthen one of my inner voice albeit how small, which was paranoid and wanted me to drop the idea of travelling solo. Similarly, a good experience would give a boost to my ambitious travel dreams.

Keeping this in my mind, I wanted my first solo trip to be short and destination to be a popular one to give me the confidence to travel solo in future. And Mussoorie perfectly fitted the bill. It is just 300 kms away and easily accessible by public transport from Delhi, a popular hill station and can be explored in 2 days.

Mussoorie was also supposed to be part of a previous trip that gave me wanderlust but it couldn’t be due to some unavoidable reasons. So in a way, it was poetic that it becomes the beginning point of my new journey.

Now it was time for trip planning. I wanted to plan everything from the train to accommodation to the sightseeing places, and leave nothing to chance.

I decided to take the night train that would leave Delhi on Friday night and reach Dehradun on next morning, from where I would take a bus for Mussoorie; leave Mussoorie on Sunday afternoon, thereby giving me one and a half day to explore Mussoorie. I booked the train ticket and hotel over 1 month in advance.

Also Read: Mussoorie Travel Guide

---

Excitement and Nervousness

Just a day before the travel date, I went through the whole plethora of emotions from excitement about my first solo trip, the ecstasy that my dreams are finally coming true, nervousness and anxiety thinking that I won’t be having anybody to fall back in case anything goes wrong. But I got comfort knowing that there have been millions of solo travellers before me, people who have spent years travelling solo in strange countries whereas I would be spending only a weekend that too a short distance away from my home.

Near train miss experience

Now came the D-day. I left my home with a backpack for the railway station.

It was 5 minutes before departure and train had not arrived yet. I looked at the screen display at platform and train was shown right on time. I was perplexed as it was the starting station of the train and I expected the train to arrive atleast 30 minutes earlier at its source station. I looked behind and saw the train was standing at the opposite platform. I picked my backpack and ran towards my coach and caught the train just in time.

I was just a couple of minutes away from seeing my first solo trip turning into my first travel disaster.

Reached Mussoorie

After reaching Dehradun in the morning, I boarded the bus for Mussoorie. The bus driver drove like he was in a race and he would get some medal if he reaches Mussoorie in shortest possible time. Every time when he took a sharp turn on mountains, leaving a small distance between railings and bus in the process, my heart was in my mouth. I didn’t have to go anywhere for adrenaline rush activities; I experienced it in 1-hour bus ride. But I realized that this is how every bus driver drives there as I had a similar experience during my return bus ride.

Most of the traveller’s reviews on multiple travel forum had painted a similar picture about Mussoorie that it is not what it is used to be a decade or two back; overtourism and commercialization have ruined most of its famous attractions. Looking at that, I intentionally kept out the likes of Kempty Fall and Gun Hill Point from my itinerary and instead focussed on not-so-popular attractions like Lal Tibba, Soham Heritage Centre and Happy Valley.

Incredible views at Lal Tibba

I got off the bus at around 8 AM at Mussoorie and started my hike for Lal Tibba – highest peak’s topmost point. It was a 3 km hike and I stopped around a dozen times to admire the beauty of mountains. It took me more than 1 hour to reach the viewing point but was worth it. Lal Tibba can also be reached by taxi and I am glad that I didn’t opt for it, otherwise I would have missed the amazing views.

There are a couple of cafes which have binoculars at the terrace to provide a 360-degree view of Mussoorie. I chose the Lal Tibba Binocular & Cafe and went to the terrace after ordering a sandwich and coffee. I was awestruck by the magnificent view of snow covered Gangotri and other mountain peaks located hundreds of kms away. Sun had also started to shine and its rays were floating over the mountains, adding to their beauty. I just stood there for a few minutes in admiration of the alluring beauty of nature.

Amazing artefacts at Soham Heritage Centre

After staying at Lal Tibba for around 90 minutes, I started the descend towards my next stop – Soham Heritage Centre. This is the private museum which houses the paintings, sculptures, artefacts and other art forms showcasing the Himalayan culture. I was mesmerized by the collection of paintings made by its founder Dr. Kavita Shukla.  The paintings varied from spiritual to cultural to modern art and each one of those perfectly depicted the emotion and story as desired by the painter.

Soham Heritage Centre also exhibits some sculptures made by Dr. Kavita’s husband, Mr. Sameer Shukla, who is also the founder. It also has old Mussoorie photographs, antique utensils, mountain jewellery.

It was overwhelming to see the art, culture and history at a single place. I was amazed both by the museum and their founder’s hospitality.

Also Read: Soham Heritage Centre – A Hidden Gem in Mussoorie

---

Disappointment at Company Garden

Afterwards, I checked into the hotel and crashed into my room. I had some spare time in the evening, so I decided to go to the Company Garden by rickshaw. This was the only place on my trip where I used any kind of transport to visit. It was more than 4 km away from my hotel and after walking for almost 10 km in a day (half of which was hike), I didn’t have enough strength to go there by foot.

Company Garden is the municipal garden having a lake, an artificial waterfall, and small amusement rides. I regretted coming there as soon as I entered. Lake was so small that it got finished as soon as it started. There was also the option of boating in the lake which I didn’t do. I had a cup of tea and circled the garden and came out of there in 30 minutes. The time that I could have spent amidst the lap of nature, watching the sunset over the mountain, I chose to see the artificial things. This was my only disappointing moment on the whole trip.

Bliss at Happy Valley

Next day after checking out of the hotel, I went to Happy Valley, a Tibetan settlement, to see the Shedup Choepelling Temple (Buddhist Monastery). As I entered the Happy Valley, I could sense the placid atmosphere. There were no touts and taxi drivers after every few minutes bothering me. Except for a few local people, I had the whole place to myself. It was like I had entered into a whole different world.

Monastery in itself doesn’t receive much of the tourists. There were a couple of tourists apart from me.

It was so serene and peaceful inside the monastery. I stayed inside the monastery for a few minutes, but the whole experience was amazing. Outside the monastery has got some breath-taking view of mountains. That view was by far the best I had experienced in Mussoorie.

After talking to locals, I got to know there is a Buddha statue located at a nearby small hill named Dalai Hill. As I was following the walking trail, jillions of prayer flags hanging on the rope caught my attention. Those flags in different colours, hung by locals for blessing and prayer enhanced the charm of the place. Top of the hill has a golden coloured Lord Buddha statue surrounded by the prayers flag all over the hill. Sun had also started to beat down, giving me the perfect weather in an otherwise cold weather for some great time at the hill.

It was past 1 and it was time to leave the Mussoorie. I started my way back to Mall road, had lunch there, then took the bus to Dehradun to catch my train back to Delhi.

Also Read: Why you should not skip Happy Valley in Mussoorie

---

Returned with wonderful memories

Apart from a near train miss experience, rest of the journey went without any hiccups. I had a far better experience than my expectation. I got to experience incredible views at Lal Tibba and Happy Valley, amazing artefacts at Soham Heritage Centre and serenity at Monastery. And I experienced all this on foot as a traveller and not as a tourist in a taxi. More than those places, I loved the time that I spent on the road to reach there. Stopping after every few minutes to admire the stunning beauty engulfing me was the true highlight of my trip.

In the process, I also managed to push away all the negativities and demons around the idea of solo travel. Despite being alone, I never felt alone amidst the magnificent mountain peaks, tranquil atmosphere and the spirit of Mussoorie. I hope that this trip would be the beginning of many more trips in future, whether alone or with someone.

This was my first solo experience. How has been yours?

Liked this post? PIN IT