Weekend getaway : Day 1 - Mussourie

...the trip to mussourie/dehradun. Started on a want to spend time with friends drinking and making merry and the desperate need to get out of town !

Tushar/Saikat and I were sitting and enjoying a wonderful evening at Tankus (read earlier post - garam masala) when the urge to drink with simtoo caught up with us. So, a quick call to simtoo and we realized it cant happen in Delhi so the plan for Ddun(simtoo's base) was kicked off !


There were 3 of us for sure - Sumit/Saikat and I !













Who else to ask - Rajika ! she is quite an enthu punter and we had been talking about making just such a plan for a while. And true to my expectation, one call and she was ready ! and within a few days, we had Paromita also confirm and we had a group !


We didnt plan this much - just decided we are going to hit the road. Get to Ddun and pick up Sumit and then head on to Mussourie. Well honestly, getting to this also took multiple phone calls with Sumit showering us with options :) But at the end of the day, we did just this !

Now the trip itself, hmmm, I can write a lot but let me put some pics down and then some commentary. That would be better I think. So here goes...


So we picked up my trusty diesel Indica (thanks Bhai) and left Delhi for ddun early on Sat morning. Enjoyed some lovely sandwiches maid by Rajika's mom and some good conversation. The highway was really bad and we also managed to always miss the bypass's for the city which meant we had to double back and waste some time. We also encountered horrible traffic and delays on the way which meant we took 8 hrs to do a 5 1/2 journey. But honestly, it was still great ! I think the funniest part was the bonding between the girls - the moment they laid eys on each other in the car they started chattering and went on and on and on for the whole trip. At the end of the trip they both thanked us for helping them meet. It was as if two lovebirds/soul mates had just met. Quite amusing at times to Saikat ;) And oh, Saikat also made one observation - "notice girls have no pauses when they are talking. Its like watching a tennis match " heh heh - quite true.

ok- so we reach Ddun after a long trip and after a sumptuous meal cooked by Sumit's mom who is an AWESOME cook. We all overate and were like no ways we are leaving from here. But after an hr of laziness we did finally depart for Mussourie. First stop was at the FRI (Forest Research Institute) Campus which was huge and beautiful. There was this one road in the front where the top pic with the car is which had quite a nice view. Instead of the planned 10 mins we spent more than 45 mins there clicking snaps and enjoying the weather and the scenery. The weather that day, oh my god - quite fantastic. It had just rained in the morning so everything was lush green and fresh looking. There was a slight nip in the air and that made it perfect.

This is a nice pic of Saiko and I on the FRI road - doesnt the road look as if it belongs in the twilight zone or something ?



Then the journey to Mussourie - man it was spectacular !! Like I said before, the weather was perfect with a slight nip, we had good music with the i-pod and great scenery !! Man oh man- Good fun !!





Once we reached Mussourie, we checked into our hotel and then the guys and Shiva promptly headed out for a quick walk. Oh, btw, by this time, Shiva and Ankush - Sumit's cousins had joined us. Those guys had grown up in this part of the world so we were treated to insgihts about the best places to eat and things to do here. The girls joined us after an hr or 2 of laziness and god knows what else for dinner. The restaurant was quite nice but yet again the best part was the weather - having the clouds come in from the windows when you are eating is quite a nice experience.

Dinner was followed by a nice sutta and daaru session in the hotel with Rajika trying to behave like a bad girl with a sutta in her mouth.

Conversation was highly philosphical and could be a huge blog post of its own. We also talked a lot about yoga and bipasana - bipasana is a crash course into meditation. 10 days in an ashram with absolutely no communication with anyone. I would love to try it some day, though dont think this is the right time. I have had a nice and relaxed last few months so dont really need to empty my mind and chill ;)

Well, lets just say that was it for day1. Yup, day1 - got day 2 and 3 also to go...man this is a marathon post. I am surprised if you are still with me here. Let me take a break now and will post day 2 afterwards. Am also cooking lunch at home today so need to make sure everything is ok.

aight then- tk cr all.