We’ve spent three days now in and around the Hanifl Centre. The Centre itself is on a quiet, rural end of the Mussoorie ridge, and feels quite removed from the busy market street a 40 minute walk (and 3 kms) away. This end of the ridge is technically called Landour, and is full of large old homes tucked among towering trees. There’s a lot of forest here and the charm of the place is undeniable.
It was a sanatorium for ailing British soldiers during the Raj period, and so also has a couple of 170-year old churches to complement the smattering of shops, hotels, and viewpoints frequented by tourists from across north India. One of the churches is St. Paul’s, where Mrs. Sommers attended as a younger person, and lit a candle in honor of her mother.
We’ve had chances to partake of some of the local treats (thank you, Landour Bakehouse!), and learn quite a bit about the ecology of mountains and of the temperate forests we are in here particularly.
It’s interesting to see plant relatives of the species we have back home in the forests here, since the climate has a lot of similarities. There are two species of maple and a horse chestnut here, for instance. But the crown jewel are the deodar cedars, who dominate forests on the cooler, northern slopes. Simply majestic.
