Being an all ladies (and kids) trip, all of us were extremely excited about our trip to Mussoorie. We took Shatabdi from Delhi to Dehradun, which was convenient as always. We reached Dehradun at 1pm. As soon as we stepped outside the railway station, we took a prepaid taxi from Dehradun Railway station to Mussoorie. There is absolutely NO hassle in getting a prepaid taxi, the fare is fixed, and there are LOTS of taxis available.
On our way to Mussoorie, we got really hungry and requested the drivers to take a 10 minutes break. Little reluctant in the beginning they agreed and stopped at midway dhaba. I don’t remember the name, but I can tell you that it was where I had the best Maggi EVER. Just so yummmmmy!! There is something about mountains and maggi J.
We also gave some tip to the drivers which they appreciated.
We finally reached our hotel, Country Inn Suites and Resorts. It is slight uphill and off the Mall Road. They welcomed us with a big smile and lot of warmth. We were given executive rooms on first floor, which were nice, cozy, neat and clean. I would call it a 3.5 star property. The only drawback was that the rooms were not facing the valley. All their valley facing rooms are suites this is what we were told. Another problem were monkeys. Each room had a sweet little balcony, but unfortunately they could not be used as a lot of monkeys are roaming around the place, But I think that holds true for all the resorts in that area. Last summer also we went to Mussoorie in a different hotel, and we had similar problem.
Food served was little inconsistent. At times it was good, whereas some meals were not up to the mark. Dinner served on Day1 was so so. The Mutton dish was good whereas Dal, Paneer were so so. There wasn’t much variety available, maybe because the occupancy was less.
Day 2 we went to Company Garden. The best part was Rickshaw Ride…I would recommend it to everyone!!! Take a garma garam bhutta (corn), and hop on that rickshaw, which takes its own sweet time to reach Company Garden. You enjoy the scenic beauty of mountains on your way up there. Once you reach there and if you are with children, there are couple of rides for kids that they can enjoy, and little pond where boating can be done. The pond is too small for boating hence will only be enjoyed by kids. If you are all adults, avoid it. I enjoyed another round of Maggi J accompanied by mixed vegetable pakoras. In that weather, the piping hot pakoras are so delectable.
After coming back, we went straight to the Mall Road. You can buy a few things like export surplus garments and jackets. Hand-knitted woolens from Mussoorie Emporium are recommended for kids. Else just take a stroll down the road and enjoy the weather and the beauty of hills. One thing you should NOT miss is the famous omelette. There is this gentleman who has a small corner where he sells omelets of different variety. He has been reviewed as one of the best in country by various food critics. We returned back from Mall and enjoyed tea at our hotel. The dinner was much better and the occupancy had also increased since first day.
On 3rd day, after much insistence of my 2 year old, we took the horse ride from Mall Road till the point where you board the cable car. We thought it was little overpriced, but the kids enjoyed it thoroughly so it was okay. The ropeway takes you to Gun Hill, which is the second highest point in Mussoorie and it offers picturesque view of Mussoorie town and Doon Valley. There are few eating stalls and gaming stalls for Hoopla, Gun Shots etc. but nothing more.
Around afternoon, we returned back to our hotel and checked out within 30 mins. The checkout was hassle free and very quick. Another point to mention is that we had booked 2 rooms, and because our train was of evening, we requested the hotel reception to allow us late checkout for one room and they agreed on the basis of availability. With kids you would always need a room to freshen up before leaving for journey back home. We really appreciate the co-operation of the hotel staff.
All in all, a wonderful vacation with Kids, completely hassle free! (and no husbands around made it even better ;-))
Date of Travel: 11th October – 13th October 2013
