B&B Mussorie

WALKING TRAILS - WISHING WELL NEAR CLOUDS END, MUSSOORIE

Continuous chirping of Whistling Thrush and Indian Treepie woke me up early this morning. After a small struggle with my razai, I shrugged the laziness and stepped in the verandah; pulled the chair and sat looking at dense forest of deodar and pine in front of me.

While somender got hot Tea pot for me, I kept watching movements in The basti ~ the movements were few and staggered ~ one cow moving up and down the George Everest Road, 2 dogs sleeping on the warm wood ash, few goats grazing on the slope under and a villager filling water from the perennial spring in front of the lodge is all I could see. The silence was deafening but the bird calls were music to my ears.

The atmosphere was warming up with the bright sun and I felt like taking a long walk. My legs were still aching with yesterday’s hike to Benong so I asked local host - amisha if she can recommend any straight walk. I was advised to visit Whishing Well and I stepped out with my binoculars and walking stick.



This is a walk that begins on tar Road gently going up and down the forested area towards Clouds End. It had rained last night and I could smell the aroma of the wet soil and the whole forest was washed clean and appeared sparkling clean. So far, I had heard that The pine forests in higher Himalayas are famous for curing TB patients but while I was walking through these forests here, I could smell the pine trees and deodars and the experience was simply divine. I am not sure if it can cure TB but it certainly had power to cure me of the city fatigue!



The trail bifurcates at a distance of about 1.5 kms from the lodge and wishing well is towards your left on the ‘kachha road’. If you are here in the month of June or October, you will notice few blue berries which are edible and delicious. (Refer image with berries in my palm) but the ‘red’ berries are NOT edible by humans so do watch out and don’t get tempted.



I met a villager and he told me that the well was built by Colonel Whish in the year 1829. When Sir George Everest established his house in this estate in 1832, this well was his only source of water. (I visited George Everest house and it is recommended that you either walk / drive up to the ridge where Everest built his house. The walk is recommended for bird lovers). over the years, the well came to be known as Wishing well and got to become popular as locals started believing that if lovers exchange their rings here, their wish comes true. I am not sure if this is true but would definitely recommend this walk to nature lovers.



Contributed by - Our regular visitor to the lodge.

Danis Carlos

Amisha and Vicky thank Danis for his patronage and this contribution.

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