Sojourn@Lansdowne

LANSDOWNE, a place not much popular, explored and tapped yet beautiful, calm, serene and peaceful.

After a smooth journey  without much traffic on road we reached at a height of 1700 mtrs. We were coming from a place of 45 degree temperature. The question which striked us.."No AC !!" , as soon as we entered in our room of this place  called , Kasang Regency. As noons were quite sunny still it was pleasant to stay in sun .
A small cantonement area , few spots to visit thankfully they have not considered it  in developing it a main tourist attraction . Else hawkers, street vendors ,food joints and cab drivers would have spoiled its beauty. Didn’t  see much police and traffic police around. May be recruits from Garwal Regiment does all the work . There was a sense of discipline in the air.

We had nothing much to do except sitting in the hotel, going for small walks and gazing at the mountains , watching green oak and pine trees, breathing  fresh air of mountains.

One day was sufficient for sight seeing . And Second day to live in serenity away from din and noise of this urban life.
Bhulla tal, a quiet lake and paddle boating on it. Nice flowers and rare birds you can spot around.

Santoshi Mata ka mandir, a temple without any pujari ,  Mata ke bhajans were being played there. To sit there for some time was quite surreal.

Tadkeshwar Temple of Lord Shiva, 33 km from Lansdowne  amidst thick dark forest and bells ringing in the premises was so enchanting. We also had a taste of Kafal, wild berry from this region.

St Mary’s Church, Churches  always remind me of Hollywood weddings and confession of Anthony in the movie Amar Akbar Anthony.

Jaswant Dwar, Shatabdi Dwar, Jai Badri Vishal were some of the gates made in honour of brave hearts of Garwal Regiment.

On the way you may  see some young boys jogging on the road sides , building up their stamina  for the nation.

Saw hundreds of ‘Rangroot’ (recruits under training) practicing for Parade  near war memorial and war museum.Cantonment area was echoing from their sounds and their foot steps.  An  amazing feeling of patriotism and valour of the soon to be soldiers of platoons.  While we civilians keep complaining of small stuff in life , here they were all geared up to serve the nation . Garhwal regiment as their war memorial suggests has a long history of bravery, sacrifices . Most decorated regiment of India which has some inspiring anecdotes waiting to be heard . Victoria cross  , Mahaveer Chakra, and Veer Chakra awardees could ignite a sense of pride and worship towards these real life heroes of the nation.

Now was the time to come back from a place in this scorching heat where you are close to nature as well as a training ground of  some exemplary , physically fit young soldiers of our nation.