India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) - Keith Bain [561]
There are several good connections between Delhi, the capital, and both Dehra Dun and Haridwar, including the Dehra Dun Shatabdi and the Dehra Dun Janshatabdi (Mon–Sat), which both stop at Haridwar. An overnight alternative is the Mussoorie Express.
By Road The drive from Delhi to Rishikesh (250km/155 miles) takes between 5 and 6 hours. Regular buses leave Delhi for Haridwar/Rishikesh. If you’re at Corbett, the drive to Rishikesh takes around 4 hours. Mussoorie is 280km (173 miles) from Delhi, including a final 33km (20 miles) from Dehra Dun, along a steeply ascending series of troublesome hairpin bends; plenty of luxury buses ply the route (best bus option is Volvo; expect to pay around Rs 450).
VISITOR INFORMATION In Mussoorie, the Tourist Bureau ( 0135/263-2682; Mon–Sat 10am–5pm, closed second Sat of the month) is located near the ropeway, on the Mall. Dehra Dun’s GMVN office is at 74/1 Rajpur Rd. ( 0135/274-8478, -6817, or -9308). In Rishikesh, visit the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) Tourist Information Centre (Railway Station, Haridwar; 01334/224-240 or 01334/228-686; www.gmvnl.com; same hours as above); you can contact the same office for rafting (Nov–May) and other adventure inquiries.
GETTING AROUND Hire a car and driver for the duration of your visit, unless you plan on trekking. Note that in Mussoorie, the taxi union frowns upon outside taxis.
White-Water Adventures
If you’d like to raft the Ganges or the border-hugging Kali River, either sign up for a 1-day experience or set aside several days for the adventure, allowing time for transfers and a variety of rapids, gorges, and the occasional shallow waterfall. Aquaterra Adventures India ( 011/2921-2641 or -2760; www.treknraft.com) ranks as one of India’s top adventure outfits and is our pick for most activities in the region. Also worth checking out are Outdoor Adventures India ( 98-1018-4360 or 98-1051-3571; www.outdooradventuresindia.com); and Mercury Himalayan Explorations () 011/2334-0033 or 2334-6209; www.himalayanadventure.com). All provide overnight eco-friendly camping on the Ganges River beach, reasonably good food and most important, professionally trained guides who are adept at negotiating rivers and organizing rescue in the unlikely event that something goes wrong.
MUSSOORIE
278km (172 miles) NE of Delhi; 35km (22 miles) N of Dehra Dun; 67km (42 miles) NW of Rishikesh
Smaller than Shimla and some 450m (1,500 ft.) lower, this hill station enjoys a more spectacular setting but has rather gone to seed, its regal colonial mansions marred by peeling plaster and overgrown hedges. It was once a favorite summer refuge of the Raj, but these days the strutting sahibs and memsahibs have been replaced by hordes of visitors escaping Delhi’s blistering summer heat (which is when Mussoorie is best avoided). Until recently, Mussoorie’s historical ambience was also overwhelmed by unchecked urban development; the government has now intervened (a little late, it must be said).
Unlike Shimla, Mussoorie in its glory days was pleasantly free of administrators, with plenty of nocturnal cavorting between young men and the wives of the hardworking bureaucrats who had remained back in the plains—it is said that a bell was rung just before dawn at the famous Savoy Hotel (once host to royalty and the likes of Rudyard Kipling and Arthur Conan Doyle; now sadly closed and looking near collapse) to encourage impious lovers to get back to their own beds.
The town’s lifeline is the Mall, a stretch of pedestrian road that links its two centers, Library Bazaar and Kulri Bazaar. During peak time, the mall is not only jam packed with domestic tourists out to have a good time come what may, even if that means pushing and shoving, but also (and quite irritatingly), cars amidst the crowds. Despite moving at a snail’s pace, these drivers will honk incessantly, and no number