Forest Research Institute

    

On our way to Nandadevi National Park trail, we had one full day for our disposal.Though it was a very hot and humid day, we decided to explore the beautiful campus of the Forest Research Institute in Desperado.We hired an auto from the city, close to the hotel we stayed. An elderly driver agreed to drop , wait and bring us back from the campus for Rs.200/- and we gladly agreed.

 

FRI was instituted in the year 1906 and was known as Imperial Forest Institute. During the initial years all the staff were the British Silviculturits.Designed in Greeko Roman Architecture by C.G. Blomfield,and built by Sardar Ranjith Singh,the institute is spread over nearly 450 hectares.  

 

The main building is also a tourist attraction.It has the main office, lab and six museums within its its precincts. 

 

We spent around two hours in the campus. Except for the few mynas and sparrows there was not much birdlife at that time of the month.Heat was getting too much for us to spend more time there. 

And these old bungalows made me feel, " Wish I was allowed to live here"..:-)

 

This avenue looked so welcoming. However, its only restricted for the residents there. So we had to back track ourselves. 

This is the most beautiful area of the among the spots we visted was the long never ending corridors...which seem to take you along no way , yet leading you a way...

All in all, Forest Research Institute is definitely worth a visit when you visit or pass by Dehradun.

Dilli Haat

After nearly a year I was again set to explore the Northern Himalayas. Hence, naturally I was excited. I was to travel to Delhi along with Poornima. Both of us landed in Delhi by flight and had to endure the intense heat. We had enough time to explore Delhi, which I wasn't too sure of as I just can't tolerate the heat. However , always love to visit Delhi Haat whenever I pass by Delhi for the sheer vibrancy of the place. So spent few hours in the heat enjoying the colors around the Haat.

Dara Gaon Village Retreat

I must say this was one of the chance bookings that I had made...not a person to take any sort of risks while taking my guests on a tour, I was totally convinced while talking to Shiva, the host of this beautiful home stay that we will not be disappointed. He is a soft spoken Gurung, who went out of his way to make sure that we had a lovely stay in his home.

We reached Darap late in the afternoon . A bit of confusion and they had assumed that we wont be arriving for lunch, hence had to wait for a wait on reaching for the food to arrive. And it was worth the wait..Radha may not be able to cook exotic stuff but they are homely and definitely very tasty. One day she prepared a typical Gurung breakfast and each one of us hogged on to it as if we haven't had breakfast for ages..:-)

We never realized how fast our two nights passed by....as it was a relaxing holiday ,none in the group were interested in going for the sight seeing trips around Pelling, though we did visit the monastery and the waterfalls.

A visit to the Darap village was a eye opener too. We learnt that many women in the village suffer from Lung cancer, a possible cause may be the the traditional cooking methods using the firewood. The houses are built with low ceiling, and without any outlet. Hence, the smoke remains indoors. Coupled with their tobacco eating habits, its no wonder that many women suffer from this dreaded disease. Shiva was keen that we should do something about smokeless Choolahs for this village. Will work on this project soon.

All in all, it was a well deserved holiday for every one of us .. truly an amazing holiday in the mountains...