India owes it hill stations to it’s colonial rule. The pink coloured Sahibs could never tolerate the tropical heat, instead fleeing to the cooler locations within the mountains. The cooler temperatures and the secluded life gave them an opportunity to feel like being in their country home. There was a tremendous mushrooming of these hill stations all over India’s mountains. Each one of these hill stations used to have a mall road which acts as a central market for the whole town. Now when you try and escape from the heat and clangor of the city life, we tell you what you can find at the Mall Road of Mussoorie.
Check out this walk through of the Mall Road at Mussoorie.
How to get there?
With the high amount of traffic in the hills as opposed to limited development, the roads to the Mall Road are always chock blocked. It is a blessing if you’re staying in a hotel at the Mall Road itself but a real pain in the ass if you are trying to get there from other locations of Mussoorie. Your car will usually take 15-30 minutes near the approach. A better idea is to get down and start walking up. There is also a small staircase by the road if you can find it. The streets usually close for vehicles during the peak hours of afternoon and night but usually open up after that.
What to do?
The street starts of with an Ice Cream vaala at the start to give you sweet beginning. Numerus shops selling food, clothes and a plethora of things adorn both the sides of the Mall Road. There will be numerous shops of Momos. These hot steamy dumplings are enough to take out the chill from your bones. During the rainy season, the clouds drift in as you can see in the video. A very romantic place to walk, though it is punctuated by a load of Punjabi youngsters eager to spoil the mood of everyone. Be careful of the cars as the drivers are already very frazzled and wouldn’t mind rolling it over your legs.
What to eat?
The influx of the Punjabis has led to an explosion of steamed Corn on the side of the roads. Every other shop nowadays sells these. There are a few shops also selling beautiful wooden nameplates to hang outside your home. Omelettes and eggs are a staple here along with Maggi. You will find them almost every 50 metres. We planned to try out a Maggi with Omelette and corn on top along with some momos dunked in that fiery hot chutney. One of the most special shops selling Omelettes is Lovely. It usually has a waiting for about one and a half to two hours. We ate a really awesome Chinese meal at Kalsang Restaurant. More about that in the next post. Tell us about your experiences of Mussoorie
