Tag Archive for 'cave'

Rafting

The latest destination was the Dehradun. Our mid-semester exams had just ended and we were eager to get away from Kharagpur. The choice was between Gangtok, Goa and Dehradun. However there were quite a few constraints and we finally decided to go with a two night three day trip to Dehradun.

The time was limited and there was a lot to visit. Amidst a packed schedule were a list of places we wanted to visit. After consulting with an aunt of mine who lives there, we settled on spending the first day in Dehradun, the next in Mussorie and the final day river rafting in Rashikesh. I shall divide my tour in three separate posts, each one covering single day. This first post is about Dehradun.

The trip started off the wrong note with us chosing the Doon Express to take us to Dehradun. It was one of the worst trains I have ever had the misfortune of travelling in. Slow as it was, all the local passengers took it upon themselves to travel in this trian without any tickets. This only meant that a hot tuesday afternoon became worse, sweaty and with no pantry car, there was no quenching of the thirst. We toiled in the afternoon heat only to be relieved after the cool breaze started in the evening. Towards the later part of the night it became colder and we had to pull up our sheets to keep us warm during the night.

Next morning I woke up early in the morning to find the train halted at the Haridwar railway station. It was chilly and we were excited to finally have gotten to a colder place than Kharagpur. The cool breeze beat across our faces and made us shiver. The train started off for the last two hours to Dehradun. Hungry from the journey, we got down quickly and headed to aunty’s house. Refreshed and enervated, we were ready to plan out the next course of action – the fun was about to begin.

Since we had only half the day to visit all the places we wanted to, we had to decide quickly on our plan. We finally decided upon visiting Robbers’ cave first, followed by Sahastradhara, and then visit the city at night by the car. Yay, thought of a special kulfi had us looking forwards to the last part of the day.

We hired an auto rikshaw to Robbers cave. Not knowing what to expect, it was a pleasant surprise for what awaited us there. An entrance to a cave with water streaming out of it. And it was no ordinary cave. Huge rocky walls lined the sides of the cave, the top being canopied by trees. Water was flowing into the cave from above along the walls and also from the inside. It was a breath-taking view of such a beautiful place. We changed into shorts, put on rubber slippers and entered the ice cold waters.

At first the water was too low to only cover the ankles. The cold was something we needed getting used to. We ventured inside the cave wondering if it was a labyrinth or something else. Labyrinth it proved out not to be, but was good enough a place to visit. Towards the end though there was a pool of water whose depth was not visible to us. We dared not enter it lest we be submerged and unable to come up again by the force of the gushing stream. We were content watching it mesmerised from a distance. A few minutes later we were able to muster enough courage to go and put one leg inside the pool, but never dared to jump into it. Probably this is where the robber hid their treasure, inside the pool, and thus the name of Robbers cave.

We left the cave an hour later to visit the next spot – Sahastradhara, which is described as the combining of countless streams of water streams into one stream. What more, apparently its spring water, making it beneficial for body if you were to care to swim in it.

After half an hours ride in the local bus we were dropped at this parched place where not a drop of water was visible. We immediately realised that it was going to be a big let down. We walked a few distance to finally come to a rope-way. Hoping to find water streams above we bought tickets for ourselves and alighted the rope-way, only to be let down again. It lead tus to no where!! We were left at this elevated platform where there was a nescafe and a shelter to sit and rest tired aching feets while enjoying a breath-taking view of the valley, or so it was supposed to be, for neither were we tired nor was there enough water in the streams to make the view spectacular.

After enquiring about this apparently famous place we were told that in our way we must have passed a temple, behind which there is a pool where all the streams meet! That was the famed place. Dejected and disappointed we visited the said spot. But even in the month of March there was hardly any water. We decided against entering the water. A few clicks and smiles later  we returned to the bus to take us back home.

In the evening we visited this temple carved into a mountainous rock. Its a shivling upon which water drops from the roof of the cave throughout the year even though it does not rain outside. We went around the cave for a few minutes but left pretty early. Later on a trip to the city main market by car and a flavour of kulfi were the last things we did in the city. Tired by the afternoons expedition, we returned home once again for dinner. A happy meal and combiflam later we were fast asleep.

On the whole it was a pleasant place to visit. Robbers cave was the high point of the day, Sahastradhara being a big let down. It was also good to get away from the scorching heat of the Kharagpur’s afternoon sun. There’s one waterfall near Dehradun that we weren’t able to visit. Something to look forwards to in the next trip.

In later posts I shall write about our outings to the Queen of Hills, Mussorie and also my first river rafting experience in the glacier waters of the Ganges.

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