The worst experience we ever had. We planned 2 nights stay at
Dhanaulti, a small hamlet of Garhwal. We came here before and was very much
impressed then. A sweet small village with few villagers; very clam evening and dark blue sky; dense
forest with a smell of old and wild.
Last year also I went there. The place became a bit crowded
and small village was expanded. People became bit less innocent. Till we never
dreamed that what we faced this weekend.
raining |
the hotel |
After having lunch we decided to stay there only for that
night as till it was raining. The distance between Dehradun and Dhanaulti is
around 56 km. So, thought not to take risk. Booked room in the same hotel. They
charged ~1500/- per night for a good ac room. It is specious and
well-maintained. But the room service was not at all upto the mark. They also
have a tendency of cheating. The room they allotted had a non-working ac. They
knew it. It took the chance. The TV was also faulty. Finally after several
complain they changed our room and that one was fine. But as I already said,
room service was horrible. No one even donot pickup phone at room service after
9 o’clock, though they supposed to take order till 10.30pm. Anyway, it was a
sudden stay. We enjoyed in our own way, watching TV and doing chit-chat. One of
our friends also visited us in the evening.
Next morning we started for Malsi Deer park at around 11 o’clock
as it is just 10km from the city. We planned to stay there if any option
available. But the park was impressive for us neither any stay option was
available. After spending an hour or so, we started for Dhanaulti.
Mussourie road is quite good and easy to drive. But not the
road for Dhanaulti. Before 4km of Mussourie one has to take a right turn to
move to Dhanaulti. The road is very narrow for first few kilometers. Few patches
are very good and wide enough but rest is not much. The entire road is full of lawless curves and enhanced by greeneries.
The beautiful drive ended at destination polluted with unexpected crowd. No rooms
are vacant in government rest houses. Below average hotels were charging more
than huge. For a room with bed, single bulb, very old and too small TV was
charged 1600/-. After searching few, we decided to have lunch first and to
think about hotel.
The best hotel in heart of the hamlet is Drive-Inn. It is
one of the oldest too. We went there for lunch but the food quality was upsetting.
After lunch thought to visit Apple Orchard but the private road is not at all
good. So after driving few meters we gave up and drove back to the centre.
By that time we were almost decided to be back to Roorkee. The
crowd was actually pushing us back and the illogical huge charge was really
disgusting. It seems like selling a 10/-rupees product in Rs.1000/-.
Light rain we got on near Mussourie, but rest was eventless.
At one place we spots monkeys on the road having fun in their own way. The red setting sun was also visible behind a
dense forest of big trees. So we stopped there for few minutes to catch the moments.
Clicked few snaps too.
Driving back to Roorkee, having lassi in civil market,
dinner in Prakash (the worst even dahi valla) has nothing special but Santanu’s
surprised expression after seeing the length of his special paper masala dosa.
But the dead line is – no more trip to Dhanaulti. This place
is no more advisable for those who love to spend weekend in silence on the lap
of nature. Not advisable for those who love to mingle with innocent villagers
during their vacation. The place becomes too commercialized and honesty is no
more a part of Dhanaulti.
We are planning to find another destination in my next
possible trip.