Lansdowne

Google “Lansdowne” and you get a series of sites in “Lansdowne UK”, some in United Kingdom and some, in Uttarakhand! The place was named after the 5^th Earl of Lansdowne, who served in the British Army and lived here. It took us forever to drive the 270 km from Delhi. The toughest part was getting past Delhi and Ghaziabad. Meerut was another nightmare. After that it was through sugarcane fields and temples of eco-friendly Gobar on either side of the road until we came to a long stretch of forest leading to the hills. 15 km before you reach Lansdowne, the pines accompany the drop in temperature.

Fairydale, the guest house, happened to be hidden at the end of a path that you’d think your car won’t go through, but miracle of miracles, it will. Lansdowne is just what the doctor ordered. The place is so quiet you can hear silence. I especially liked the non-touristy atmosphere around the circular roads with bungalows tucked in between the trees. Each of the bungalows in the cantonment area has a number and a plaque with its history and/or a ghost story on it. One Bungalow for example, had a story of a British Army man who died in 1912 but whose ghost frequented the Mess. His ghost was last seen in 1947. He apparently came riding on his horse and told the driver of a military vehicle to wish the “sahibs” for him.

The cantonment board has done some really good work by naming all the trees in local language. You can see bainj (oak), buransh (rhododendron), pangir , morpank(fir) and chir(pine). In the evening the light was brilliant and we went crazy clicking photographs. The Garhwal Rifles mess is quintessentially Raj with its wooden staircase, lah -di -dah verandah and clusters of blue and pink hydrangea giving the place a surreal Englishness. Supposedly, one can see Chaukhambha from Lansdowne. However, according to the hotel manager, because of forest fire, the valley is really hazy and assured us that we would not get a view. So we decide to go to Khirsu.

Day 2 – Lansdowne- Jwlapadevi – Pipalpani- Buakhal-Khirsoo

Jaiharikal is a few kilometers away from Landsdowne and another option for stay. The drive was hot and road construction made it challenging. To visit Jwalpadevi temple, you walk down all the way to the river. It is of non-descript architecture, but a pilgrim to the shrine prayed by intensely yelling and shrieking and the priest kept a bell ringing furiously all along. This apparently is an accepted practice of praying to the Goddess who granted Sachi’s wish to marry Indra – the king of gods.

We went on to Buakhal and dense forest started. Because of the dry spell for the past two years, the ground is dry and forest fires are rampant. We followed a fire engine which tried to put out the fire but after a while ran out of water. Water seems to be a great problem in the area. Little children with colorful plastic jerrycans wait for a water tanker to pass and the driver stops and allows them fill from the dripping water. At the Khirsu guest house, an entertaining Manager told stories of his woeful existence in this place with no plumber, electrician, water supply, (water comes from Srinagar) or internet connectivity.

The place is beautiful and would be spectacular if the weather were clear and allowed views of Chaukhamba. The people are gentle, open and seem to have a great sense of humor. We met a lady carrying a rope net to carry fodder or perhaps firewood. When asked “Where are you going with the net?” she replied with a twinkle in her eye “I‘m going to catch this giant fish from the reservoir” What she didn’t voice was “…you stupid tourist!”

Day 3

We decided to stay on at Khirsoo. Next morning at 10, we started off on a trek to Rakhal, a hill top where the horticulture dept has an orchard and a greenhouse. You take the Srinagar road for about 30 mins and you come to a dry stream. The road takes a U turn and an old dilapidated uninhabited house stands next to the trail. Walk up the trail into a baanj/oak forest for 30 minutes. In monsoon, this trail would be greener and water would, depending on the precipitation, trickle or gush from several springs. Even though it was dry, it was still a beautiful walk along a dappled trail. Once you reach the top, there are a few houses and an apple orchard. From here, you get good views and there are plenty of birds to identify and photograph.

Khirsu has a helipad, certifying its tourism potential or ministerial clout. The walk to the helipad was through a village speckled with blue and green houses, nestled in the midst of terraced slopes looking their fancy best for photographs at a time of long shadows. The trail to the helipad was straight up, and 15 minutes later, you are sitting on the H with a couple of pine trees in the backdrop. There’s a 360 degree view. Leopards are common sightings here in Khirsu. We met a woman who offered us some kaphal - a sweet sour berry she’d picked. She was returning from the forest without fodder for her cattle because there’s a leopard on the prowl. And no, we didn’t get to spot one here.

Day 4

On the drive back to Lansdowne, we took the lesser frequented road from upper Pauri, after Buakhal. It goes through Adwani and pine forest and the road is perched on the upper ridges, and you get fantastic views of valleys on either side. The drive to Satpuli through Khanskhet was about 85km and was simply divine with pine forests and lots of wishful “This piece of land, I want to live in” stops. Lansdowne again made us go round in circles trying to figure out where the GMVN Machan is. After a good lunch, we visited St Mary’s church where there is no worship but where now, the Garhwal Rifles has done a superb job of restoration and maintenance. St John’s church looked tacky but had service. We walked on random trails , paid the touristy Tiffin top/ Tip and Top a quick visit, said hello to Bhulla lake and read the plaque on every little ghost bungalow there locking some of Lansdowne in memories to revisit.