It was the last week of Nov, and we were sitting and casually discussing. Suddenly, we realized it is our anniversary next week. It has been 12 years of togetherness, but we did survive with each other. We had all the drama, kittle, arguments, care, and love over the years, but we grew strong. We had our ups and downs, but we always had each other’s back. And we became friends first and then life partners.

The journey of all these years of kinship thought of celebrating it. but were not sure due to covid-19 situation. We had all the questions like how to celebrate it. what to do? should we go out? should we arrange a special dinner? etc etc.

Then, finally, we settled for a weekend trip nearby. A place where there would be less tourists. We considered many options but couldn’t find any place which was meeting all our conditions. At one time we thought of dropping the whole plan of going anywhere.

Suddenly, we saw a resort named “Vanvasa in Lansdowne” in one of our searches. Both of us instantly liked the place and finalized it. It was a 2N,3D trip to Lansdowne in Uttrakhand.

We started early from our place in a hired cab (best decision to hire a cab instead of self-driving). The resort is a couple of hours more from proper Lansdowne, where most of the tourists stay. It took us approx 9 hours, including stopovers for breakfast, filling petrol, etc., to reach this resort.

The roads to reach here and overall location justified the name of the resort “VANVASA”. There are no proper roads, people, cars, or houses anywhere on the stretch of approximately 50 km.

Located on a far hilltop with jungle all around in Uttrakhand. We were awestruck by the beauty all around us. The resort was surrounded by jungle, hills, and rivers all at one place. Simply mesmerizing.

Day 1 at Lansdowne

We explored the 32 sq mt property and clicking pictures. Spend the evening enjoying the magic show and live music. Later a special candle light dinner with bonfire was arranged for us to celebrate our anniversary.

Day 2 at Lansdown

The next day, we went for a short trek to a waterfall/river which was near our resort in the morning. The sound of flowing water and birds chirping were the only sounds one could hear. It was so good and had a calming effect. Not a single person could be seen at the entire stretch. We spend the entire afternoon sitting on our balcony and watching the beauty. The evening was spent enjoying (read struggling :-)) obstacle sport/adventure in the resort, followed by a magic show and live music.

The resort is a paradise for nature lovers and photographers. The serene beauty all around is awestruck. The hills, the rivers, the clouds, the jungle, and birds chirping are just beautiful. Watching sunrise and sunset from the balcony was stupendous.

This is the place to simply relax and cherish the beauty of what Mother Earth offers.

Tips:

• The objective should be to relax, enjoy the serenity and not sight-seeing (to typical tourist spots) if going to this place.
• The roads are not that great, so drive slowly and cautiously.
• Ensure your car tank is full of petrol/diesel.
• Always have a stepney and jack in your car trunk/boot.
• Be patient; any help required would take at least a couple of hours to reach you.