Landour
Landour (also Landaur), a small cantonment town contiguous with Mussoorie, is about 35 km (22 miles) from the city of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Landour is located in the Lower Western Himalayas and it is 1,500 ft (450 m) above Mussoorie. The twin towns of Mussoorie and Landour, together, are a well-known British Raj-era hill station in northern India. Mussoorie-Landour was widely known as the "Queen of the Hills". Landour is a pollution-free zone, and with fresh pure air to breathe, recovery from any stress or disease is superbly fast here. During old times, the Britishers set up a rejuvenation center to enjoy the nature at its best.
History of Landour
The name Landour is drawn from Llanddowror, a village in Carmarthenshire in southwest Wales. During the Raj, it was common to give nostalgic English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish names to one's home (or even to British-founded towns), reflecting one's ethnicity. Names drawn from literary works were also common, as from those by Robert Burns, Walter Scott, Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis Stevenson and many others.
Climate in Landour
The altitude difference with Mussoorie, aided by Landour being partly Tibet-facing, has a marked effect on the temperature, which can be 3-5°F (2-3°C) lower than in Mussoorie. During the monsoon, Landour receives almost daily rainfall, often heavy. Additionally, pre- and post-monsoon showers mean a rainy season that can run from May to September, though it can be shorter.
Before the rains arrive, April-May is the warmest period, with the temperatures rising upto over 30°C on hotter days. December to February is downright cold, especially if one does not receive enough direct sunlight, as on the northern slopes.
Snowfall in Landour
It can snow anywhere between 3 and 15 times in the winter, at times heavily. In a given year Landour receives perhaps twice the snow that Mussoorie does; it also takes longer to melt especially on the north-facing slopes.
Landour Bazaar
Landour Bazaar is located on a steep slope about 4 km up the hill from the Mall. Landour bazaar is 150 years old and sprang up to serve the needs of British soldiers who were sent to the Landour convalescent depot to recover. Today, it continues to be loyal to its locals rather than pandering to the needs of tourists as much of the other markets do. Silversmiths and Shoemakers ply their wares alongside second-hand clothes vendors. Visit the bazaar to pick up necessities as well as some unexpected items. After shopping, stop for some breakfast and cold coffee at Char Dukaan, said to be frequently visited by Ruskin Bond. They also sell his books here. Landour is also home to the acclaimed Woodstock School, a residential school spread over 250 acres of forest region.
Landour Excursions
East of Landour lie the small hamlet of Dhanoulti and the Surkhanda Devi temple; further east are Kanatal, Tehri (now submerged by the Tehri dam) and Chamba. And to the West lie the tourist trap of Kempty Falls, the military town of Chakrata and the region of Jaunsar bordering Himachal Pradesh.
Reaching Landour from New Delhi
Landour is 290 km from New Delhi and can reach by train or bus, a switch at Dehradun is needed. Buses and taxis, and even "shared taxis", are easily available from Dehradun and Mussoorie. There are also direct buses from New Delhi, and one can easily negotiate with taxis at any of New Delhi's railway stations or at the Delhi airport. One can also fly from Delhi in just 40 min to Jolly Grant Airport east of Dehradun, which saves a lot of time, but it takes another 90 minutes to drive up to Landour from the airport.
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