Camping Trip to Mussoorie

 

Although I have visited Mussoorie 4-5 times earlier also but this time it was different. It was a different trip planned this time.

 

Dates were decided as 19-21^St Feb keeping Sat and Sunday and we took a Monday off.

 

I started preparing for this trip almost 1 month back. We were looking for a place to camp which is not far from Gurgaon so that we spend time in the campaign rather than traveling a lot.

So after doing my research it was decided that we will go somewhere near Bhadraj Temple in Mussoorie as I saw there are lots of videos and I also saw a group going by car there so I thought if the car can go we can easily go there on the bike.

 

So I have a few things and I bought a sleeping tent and other basic stuff and I am done.

 

Along with me were Randeep, Rajiv, and Jas. So we were 4 people 4 bikes.

 

We started our journey on the 19^th early morning around 5 and met Rajiv at around 6:45 near Ghaziabad and we started our trip.

It was an easy trip and the roads are good all the way till Mussoorie and we pretty much knew the roads till there. But as every trip there is a surprise element there s was in this trip also.

 

I had finalized a campsite while surfing the internet and it was agreed for 2 tents t 500 per night. As per that gentleman, we have to just stay on road to Bhadraj temple and we would see the property on our left side.

 

It sounded quite easy but it was not that easy. Since Randeep was leading from Mussoorie and he was following maps which eventually led us to George Everest which was a wrong turn for us but after asking locals we were again on the right track.

 

From George, it was around 10-12 km inside the jungle but there is no roads there and no one told us this. When we were going Jas who was riding an Interceptor slipped as the road was too slippery and he was on the ground.

 

Since I was close to him I tried to pick his bike but damm it was heavy and ultimately Randeep sir also had to come to the rescue so that we could pick the bike.

 

Somehow, we managed that and reached a small village where we bought Maggi and a few stuff. Rajiv got his tank tipped up and his Ducati was on low petrol.

 

It was there that another twist came and my bike refused to start after trying for some time and then it was decided that we will park the bike here and will see after 2 days what needs to be done.

 

I gave my half stuff to them so that they can go to the campsite and then come back and take me. My phone was also there.

 

After they left I tried my bike again as I thought it was overheated but it was actually on reserve and that’s why it refused to start. After topping it with 2 liters it was ready to go.

 

I thought they would have reached the site but to my surprise, I reached the site and they were not there. Now I was under impression that where are..should I wait or should go back to that Maggi point.

Luckily, I was carrying my backup phone but it didn’t have any number and there was no network so I was again to ground 0.

 

After taking to local and waiting for 30 min I got the network and I called my wife and requested her to send me Randeep Sir s number.

 

I must say I was lucky that call got connected to Randeep sir also. They had reached a different site and it was much better where I was and much cheaper also so I asked them to stay there and I will come back. They were almost at a distance of 300 meters.

 

And OMG what a sight it was…. beautiful, peaceful, and total silence.

 

Everybody was bust in pitching the tent so I parked my bike and unloaded all the stuff and started pitching my tent.

 

When you are at a campsite which is so beautiful you just want to enjoy that. After pitching the tent we made a Maggi and coffee and it was our lunch actually.

 

We just sat there to relax and feel the sound of that silence. It was great. I was well equipped for that cold dry wind and as the day was coming to an end it was becoming colder there.

 

In the night we decided to make Khichdi as it was easier to make and since we had taken Mussoorie bypass to reach George we could buy anything which we wanted to buy while coming back.

There was a bonfire which was arranged and we were cooking near to fire only but it was super cold. We ate our dinner early and after having taken blessing from old monk we were in bed by 9 types.

 

I was sleeping in my sleeping bag after a very long time and it was a bit discomfort. I came out of the tent at around 12:30 in the night and realized it was a full-on night. The star’s sky everything was very clear. I immediately took out of my tripod and DSLR and came back outside again. I managed to click a few photos which would have been the best to date what we have taken.

 

Our 2^nd day was the lazy start and in breakfast, we managed to have egg Bujji and bread and it was great. We had asked the guy to get stuff for us and he has already brought the same in the morning only.

 

After having breakfast and just lying there we decided to go for Bhadraj temple. For me, it was not easy but since everyone was going so I thought to tag along and manage till I get there. It was a 3 km trek and almost at 45-50 degree steep one.

 

We managed to reach there in almost 90 minOn the way we could see local people going to the temple and also lots of dating young couples going there. All 4 of us are near the ’40s and we all were wondering why is this young crowd going there. Later on, we realized that they were just looking for a place which is quiet and they can relax.

Let’s come to the point. Trek was hard and we took 3-4 breaks in between, gathered our all strength, and came back to the point that let’s complete the same.Bhadraj temple is made for  God Balram ji.There is an annual gathering on the temple around 16-17 august everywhere year . There are small fests that are organized here and people from all near by areas come here to participate in them.

 

By the time we came back, it was almost 3:30 Pm and we were dead tired. We were not in a position to cook so we asked a Maggi point guy if he can make rice and daal for us. We thought to conserve some energy and we wanted to cook chicken in the night and it would need time and energy both.

 

We started cooking chicken around 6 PM. It was too windy so we had made some arrangements as to how to block wind while cooking and it worked as we wanted the same to be.

We finished our dinner and 10 that day and went off to sleep. Since I was alone in my tent  I slept peacefully.

 

After taking a few early morning time-lapses and photos I started my last day at around 5 in the morning. Since it was Monday, I just had pieces of bread in the morning and tea. We started packing and our target was to leave by 9:30 am from there.

 

While coming back we took Haridwar road and we even stopped for a while just to have a glimpse of Ganga ji. It was a fun trip. Pretty relaxing and when you are out there with limited facilities and comfort you discover something new.

I reached back home around 7. While coming back I am always homesick and I am always in a hurry to come back. But overall campaign trip was a hit and we are looking forward to doing the same this year at least 1 more time.

 

Important points:

Distance from Gurgaon til site: 324KM

Contact number for camping: 9027674204
Charges paid for pitching: INR 100 per tent per night

 

 

https://photos.google.com/u/1/search/tent/photo/AF1QipM_iptlkWN47XT38MeO3i514B16E8MRjzjN1D2G