My romance with Mussoorie started about 10 years back ,when my family moved to Dehradun . Every morning i’d go to my roof and savour that brilliant strech of mountains .One could easily make out the houses (read hotels) sprinkled between the thick dense green forest .At Night it would look like a million little stars .
<–Spiral Mussoorie road.
It took me some time to muster the courage to go all the way to the top ,on my own .When one moves from the Rajpur Road ,the path bifurcates .Most travellers like to use the first bend but if you leave it and go from the Rajpur village ,it feels like heaven as you can see the beautiful banglows, the Sai temple and the famous rajpur’s pakore waali shop which has seen generations growing up.A 100 years back ,people used to stay overnight at Rajpur before moving to Mussoorie.
The Mussoorie -Dehradun road (pic) is unarguably the best indian mountain road and you’ll always find a lot of people infact (around 60% traffic) in 2-wheelers.Driving at 2000 feet amidst clouds ,gives you a real high.I heard in Delhi and Mumbai we have clubs ,where one can pay upto 500 bucks to breathe Pure Oxygen and i say ,come with me buddy and we can have more oxygen then our lungs could hold. Pure ,unadultered,pristine air.It takes about 1.5 hour to reach Mussoorie from Dehradun bus station , a cab would take around 1 hr , a personal 2-wheeler would take around 50 minutes and my best time is 35 minutes.There are certain rules that you need to follow, while driving in mountains, the most important being,Never leave your side and horn at every bend.you can spot Malsi deer park on route to mussoorie , where you can easily spot deers and a caged cheetah. On the way up you find beautiful places like bhatta fall ,ITBP academy which has a nice halipad at about 4000 feet.
Mussoorie for a first timer would appear very very chaotic ,claustrophobic and a complete mess.You will find hotels and taxis everywhere.I think it was a failure on government’s part to stop those from mushrooming .It is not even good for them as most of them have to wait ,till snow season to find the clients and then they get a chance to charge exorbitant to make up the losses.(A popular hotel– left pic).This place ranks really high among honeymooners
Places I’ve seen so far.
Gunhill – Don’t go by the name , it has no gun.But you can take a cable car to reach at the top of mussoorie’s 2nd highest peak.There used to be a gun there prior to independence ,which used to fired at 12noon so that people could adjust their time.Be adventorous and take the moutains by feet .A 40 minute walk would take you to the top where you can find a beauiful view of snow capped mountains ,on a clear day ( in winters) and a skating rink which is the largest in India
Mall Road – if you like to walk , a walk in this road is must .you can view some beautiful old building a lot of tourist in and around that area .you can find all kind of eatables at road side nuts, corn (right pic) roasted and boiled at Rs 10 which comes from surrounding villages .One can buy local made shawls and woolens at cheap prices along the roadside .It has a history too ,During British time, Indians and dogs were not allowed on the mall road. Motilal Nehru, father of Jawahar Lal Nehru, used to break this law every day, whenever he was in Mussoorie, and would pay the fine.
Kempty Fall- this is a overtly crowded but pretty waterfall.There’s a stream that flows 
through the valley and gains maximum intesnity during the monsoons.13 kms from heart of city
Camel’s Back road- I don’t know the logic behind the name ,it is a saying that it resembles a camel’s hump.well never made sense to me but it is a beautiful walking trek and one can find people walking all seasons .
(<- Coniferous trees –right pic)
The british legacy has left mussoorie with India’s best schools. Oak Grove,St. George’s College,Wynberg Allen,Woodstock School are among the best schools in the world and their alumni are all over the world and successful.So next time you want a break from the scroching heat of Delhi,move to the Delhi’s favourite weekend hangout. Did i tell you ,it is home to children’s favourite author.Who knows,a little lazy walk at landour 
and you might stumble into this old man who happens to be the bond.Ruskin Bond.
and finally ..can a tree be named Majnu or weeping willow , I found it out there this is Salix babylonica .(right pic)I googled the word and found these willows are generally troublesome trees attacked by a variety of insects, have invasive roots and are poor neighbors .makes sense now.Poor majnu
