Lansdowne may not be the quintessential hill station with unending perspectives of hills secured with snow capped summits, and it may not give you the bewildering sentiment being on a bluff place, yet nothing can match the ageless appeal of this old town housing a cinema hall and with clean wandering streets, weathered Church of St. Mary’s, and the hyperactive dogs running up and down the hills.
Named after the then Lord Lansdowne, a former Viceroy of India, the eponymous hill town, Lansdowne at 1700 meters above ocean level in Uttarakhand, for long has been home to the Garhwal Rifles that can be rightly credited with safeguarding the perfect surroundings and keeping the place neat like a pin. Dissimilar to more commerical hills stations, for example, Nainital and Manali, Lansdowne is sans littering of any sort, and on a night’s walk hurls scenes from its local life. If not the most stunning view, Lansdowne makes up by giving you space to find the little delights of life that make it worth living – delights that can’t be remunerated by lovely keepsake shops and favored spots to eat. Also, being a cantonment territory, a specific part of the town is out of the reach of the tourists. Around 240 kilometers from the country’s capital, it’s a fine drive on NH 58 in a Delhi to Lansdowne taxi and taking around 6 hours in the journey.
You may not instantly take a sparkle to the place, and explore and compare its natural beauty with that of Dhanaulti or Chail, yet the thing about this little cantonment town is it develops on you treacherously making you need to return for some more time.
Trek up to Tip N Top. On entry post an animating walk, you will be welcomed by a relinquished jeep with weeds growing on it. Nobody knows why the jeep remains there; in any case each the tourists often jump into its driver’s seat to get a brazen photo taken. The Tip N Top point is a delightful open porch that bears clearing perspectives of the inaccessible Himalayan crests capped with fog. Obviously, a great opportunity for photography.
Downhill, you’ll walk through the Church of St. Mary’s, a beautiful hill-town church invade by creepers and blooming shrubberies. In spite of the fact that in neglect since India’s Independence, the congregation still holds its old heavenliness in the form of interesting interiors made of stone, and an abundance of writing verified by photos of all the town weddings, that the church saw. You can spend good enough hours in this little place thinking about the wonderful pilgrim days of Lansdowne. Photography is, in any case, not permitted inside the church.
Bhulla Taal is another fascinating place to visit in this hill station. It is a lush territory with an emerald lake in its inside, where you can appreciate pedal boat rides along with swans. It is a decent spot to spend a couple relaxed hours browsing the greenery or just appreciating the landscape with some coffee from the canteen in the park.
There is enough tourist attractions and allures in Lansdowne that will make one wish for some more chances to return to the spot over and over. Head to the quaint town and make a few experiences before booking Lansdowne to Delhi taxi or the place where you live.