The Hilly Solitude - Day 5

There is something about being in the mountains that makes you smile. As I walked down Gun Hill, I just realized how polite and smiley I generally am while climbing up and down the mountains as opposed to my otherwise crooked-eye brow nature!

Funny tree from the top of Gun Hill

I woke up this morning feeling fresh and ready. After a quick cuppa with my host and another guest who is staying in one of the rooms next to mine and their two dogs – Doodle and Berlin, I went out for my morning dose of mountains before I get glued back to work. Just after a couple of minutes’ walk, I found myself pacing up a steep road that goes all the way to the top of Gun Hill. I met a local woman who was gathering tree branches and piling them up to carry them on her back. She told me the turns I need to take to get to the top of the hill. I followed her instruction and kept going. It was a short 20mins steep walk (gaining about 400ft) at the end of which I found myself standing in a large square area surrounded by little shops. There was no one around this early in the morning except for an old man who sat in a corner, probably soaking in the warmth of the sun. He showed me a little alleyway by the side of a shop where laid a few steps that landed me to the viewpoint.

View from top

Ah the view! The snow-clad peaks and massifs of the Garhwal Himalayan range grazing the skyline on one side, the green Doon valley scooped out on the other side and the hilly slopes dotted with red and green tiled houses – all in all, it offers a beautiful view of this pretty hill town. The story goes – from the top of this hill, the British used to fire canons every afternoon to make people aware of the time. Hence, the name – Gun hill. Then one day, apparently, a cannonball got fired in the wrong direction (maybe he was drunk or just having fun – who knows!) and it hit the house of an English woman. This created a lot of hullabaloo and there was no further canon firing to be heard.

The square area with lots of shops, just before the view point

The deserted Gun Hill now saw another man who has a tea shop on the hilltop. He offered me some tea. Apart from 3 or 4 monkeys who were busy surveying the area, there were only 3 of us – the old man who sat under the sun, the tea-shop owner and myself We chatted for a while – me telling them about my city of joy and them telling me about their queen of hills. A few tiny woodpeckers with olive-yellow wings danced around, a bright green parakeet fluttered by, an eagle circled overhead and a cuckoo cooed from somewhere in distance…

Mussoorie from top