My visit to Dehradun was extremely joyful. Last year, to escape from the summer months in Delhi, I and my cousins planned to visit Dehradun. Dehradun is the capital city of Uttarakhand. The city hosts some of India's best schools and training institutions of national importance. We wanted to spend our summer vacation in a comparatively quiet place and Dehradun met with our needs.
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Dehradun[/caption]
We opted a journey by volvo bus. The journey was tiresome as it took almost 7 hours to reach our destination. As we reached Dehradun, a cool fresh mountain air began to refresh us. We knew that finally we have entered a world of beauty and calmness.
The greenery on the slopes, the snow covered hills and the constantly changing landscape with varying heights and depths presented a fascinating contrast in Dehradun. We made arrangements for our stay in Kailash guest house. Then set out to discover more of the scenic beauty of the city.
The first place we visited was Rajaji National Park. The park is nestled in the beautiful valley of Shivalik ranges. Next we visited Robber’s cave about 8 kms from the city. This was a wonderful place to visit. The rocks here are made of Limestone Deposits. There is a narrow creek and the river passes in between the rocks. We had exciting walk up the river stream between the narrow creeks. Our next visit was to Buddha Temple or Mindrolling monastery. This is a large Buddha monastery in the Tibetan Nyingma tradition.
Laxman Siddh temple was the next place we visited there. This is one of the most ancient temples in Dehradun. There exists a belief that Laxmana meditated here to repent the killing of Ravana. Sahastradhara is another nice place in the city to hang out with friends and family. There are small caves and a number of waterfalls here hence the name Sahastradhara or thousand springs.
We also visited some of the famous picnic spots in Dehradun such as Lacchiwala, Malsi Deer Park, Tiger falls, etc. The beauty of the city cannot be explained in words, it should be better experienced.