D E H R A D U N D I A R I E S
A Short Account of a visit to Dehradun
Dehradun Sunset View from Barasi Village
In March 2020 we finished our last pre-Covid tour and sent our clients back home. After that till now - it has been a difficult time for people in travel business. However - this has also been a time when people have looked into their lives and many have started a new enterprise or something different that would sustain them and keep them engaged.
Our story is no different. We (myself and Monika) suffered from Covid 19 in September 2020 and after a month we were out of our house for the first time. The illness made us realise that Covid 19 is quite a serious respiratory illness that can very easily be fatal.
Monika started a small business to focus on her innate being - M I R A I M A I A - (insta handle @miraimaia) and she decided to work with her mentor Sangeeta Khanna (insta handle @sangeetaamkhanna) based in Dehradun. Miraimaia works with wild edibles and brings back lost recipes and natural food back to the kitchen.
So this meant that we had to be in Dehradun a few times in the last few months and it allowed me to see some nice birds, a few interesting insects & a lot of trees and plants.
Dehradun gets its name from the word Dera - meaning home and Doon meaning valley. Three or four decades back it was a green forested valley with slow life, long conversations over cups of steaming tea and long walks in the hills. Today the city is busy place with traffic and a lot of people but the hills are still green and bird song is still there.
So it makes for a great getaway since Delhi is only 4 hours now.
Our short visit was at a time when Dehradun was the ‘go to’ place for a lot of Delhites & so we wanted to a quiet secluded place in the folds of the hills. Monika found ‘Pathal’ a four bedroom vacay spot a few kilometres away from the crowds. It was made in the vernacular style of architecture, was right next to a natural forest & was not a luxury place but quiet.
Well, we drove away in our Honda Jazz CVT - a real pleasure to move out of Delhi & in style. We reached Dehradun just in time for a quick meet up with Sangeeta & her birder husband Arvind - then we drive to Pathal. It was nice place - could have a bit better maintained but the natural saal (shorea robusta) forest was treat. The birdlife was good and it offered great views of the valley. It’s perfect for backpackers & those who really value peace & quiet. Not the cleanest rooms, the food was a bit of a let down but I hope the owners see the potential of the place and do it up a bit.
We checked in - had a round of tea & pakoras and then waited for Sangeeta & Arvind to join us. Once they arrived - we showed them the rooms, had a second round of tea and & pakoras & enjoyed a gorgeous sunset! The rains were still round the corner and over the next two days - it was a quite & busy days & nights as Monika and Sangeeta were busy with brainstorming on the ideas, trying out recipes, working on the pricing of the products - me and Arvind, helped them (or annoyed them at times), enjoyed photographing the birds & had some lovely walks. Of course the food was a very big highlight for us - foraging a bit, getting the fresh fiddle-head fern fronds and making fresh pizzas (all thanks to Sangeeta) - it was an absolute gastronomical delight! Those who do not follow her - you do not know what you are missing - instagram handle @sangeetamkhanna & those who love wild food, processed just right with no preservatives delivered to their kitchens you must follow @miraimaia to taste some of the most delightful recipes.
Before we knew - our time was over and we breezed through the Dehradun - Delhi traffic to be back in Delhi! A few images to help you have an idea of our time in Dehradun!