Long Drive on the Ghat Roads From Mussoorie to Shimla

Day 4 of our Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh Tour

On 26th April 2023 we checked out the hotel room in the morning and started a bit early. Our next destination was Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh.

The cab driver and the hotel guys in Mussoorie told us that we did a bad trip planner and such a long drive, almost 8 hours, from Mussoorie to Shimla is not at all advisable as it's a waste of our precious time. Moreover it's a bit costly and tidious as well. We couldn't anything than to blame ourselves for the wrong planner and started at around 9 a.m from Mussoorie. On the way we stopped at the same Mukhiya Dhada in Dehradun where we had food and kulhad chai during our onward road trip from Rishikesh to Mussoorie. This dhaba is quite neat and has a beautiful view the Shivalik mountains from the window.
Once again the same breakfast aloo parantha and kulhad chai. By this time I was almost fed up with this same aloo parantha with achar (mixed veg pickle) and poha. We continued our journey and reached Dehradun which was too beautiful a city. We crossed the Indian Military Academy (IMA) but unfortunately I couldn't shoot or click the place. The city was very neat and clean with greenery all around. I didn't see any high raised buildings at this place. I really loved the place and wanted to spend a day or two here but it was not in our itinerary. Anyways we on crossing one place after the other and reached the foothills. It was a pleasant morning and we enjoyed the beautiful sight as we moved on.
We were just gazing at the outside greenery. I don't know the route and I didn't even see Google map but am engrossed in enjoying the beautiful paintings on the walls. Seeing those embossed paintings I guessed it could be Punjab.
There are green crops on either side of the road which was a beautiful sight. I don't even know which all places we had crossed. We continued our drive through small villages, small towns, big town, fields, forests
Driving and driving and driving for long we moved on to the ghat roads from the norther plains and then we could see green trees on either side of the twisty turny road. As it was already noon there was not even a single vehicle seen on the ghat road.
On the way I clicked few pics of beautiful flowering trees on the roads with the valley view on the backdrop. I liked those trees very much which looked somewhat like lavender trees.
Due to long hours of driving we felt stiffness in our legs and so took a halt on road side for a while to move around and do stretching of legs. Not even a single vehicle no a single being to be seen in this place.
At around 3 pm we stopped at a lone roadside restaurant. We had veg biryani at this place, luckily it was available at that odd hours, which was okay in such a solitary place. From the balcony of this restaurant there is a beautiful view of the valley. After having food we continued our journey on the ghat road crossing small villages and towns on the mountains.
After long hours of drive we felt relieved on seeing the board as we were just 45 Km away to reach our destination. Gradually the sun was setting in the western sky making it orangish red. It was around 6 pm and we stopped at a roadside restaurant for evening chai. The restaurant was crowded with tourists who were enjoying the sunset view in the Himalayan mountains from the balcony. The view was simply awesome with setting sun on one side and the buildings with colourful roofs on the slopes on the other side.
As we moved on to higher and higher altitude on the ghat road the weather was getting cooler and cooler. Through out the drive we enjoyed the sunset view. We were halting at certain points and took clicks of the beautiful views.
Finally by the time we reached Shimla, it was dark. The room was not comfortable but we had a beautiful view from the glass window.
Food also was not good in this hotel but somehow we had to adjust with the same aloo parantha and achar. We were damn tired after the too long drive on the twisty turny Himalayan ghat road. The weather too was cold, so we immediately jumped onto the beds and went into sound sleep.

The next day morning as I woke up, I took a snap of the awesome view of the sunrise from the mountains. The view from the window was too good with the buildings on the slopes.
.After refreshing in the morning we got ready to visit Kufri.

Also Read My Previous Posts of the Trip:

1. An Evening at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar
2. One Day Sight-seeing in Rishikesh
3. Visit to Kempty Falls
4. At Company Garden in Mussoorie
5. Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Happy Valley, Mussoorie
6. Hailstorm Experience at Kufri in Shimla