Himalayan Wanderlust - Exploring Sahastradhara's Hidden Ponds

What do you need to travel anywhere in the world? I don't know about you, but I always think that to climb a mountain, shoes should be good so that I don't slip and die. And yes, it is very important for me to have my phone with me while travelling, that too with 100% battery. Today I put the phone in my pocket without checking even though it was only 32% charged.

Today we have to go to Sahastradhara, which is the most famous place of Dehradun for tourists and religious people. There is a temple of Shiva here, hence many people come here every day to visit the temple and for tourists because the pond built on the Sahastradhara river here is the center of attraction where tourists have a lot of fun.

Looking for some hidden ponds

Altitude is 900 meters

Sahastradhara river

Nowadays, winter has reigned over the entire Himalayas, hence there is so much current in the water that it can even stop the heartbeat of a weak hearted person. And in my opinion, I am not at all weak-hearted, so I go out with a pair of shorts and a towel in my small bag. After walking 700 km from home, I reach the bus stand from where I board 'Mahanagar Bus Seva' and after next 40 minutes I get down at Sahastradhara bus stand from where I walk one kilometer and reach Sahastradhara.

Shiva temple

Guru Dronacharya statue

Shiva temple which is under cave

After visiting the Shiva temple, I start walking along the banks of the river, thinking that if I find a nice and big pond, I will take a bath in it. But seeing the strong wind, my courage almost started to break. One of our friends had told us about a pond here, so today we were walking to find it. After walking about two kilometers, finally the place where the pond was was visible.

Ponds on Sahastradhara river

Sera village across the river

Another village

Got some companion on the way

Coming down the road I explore this place. There are many small and big ponds in the river here. Some are big and 4 to 5 feet deep and some are 2 to 3 feet deep. It is cold and the water is very clear...it feels like jumping into the water, but considering the cold wind and cold, I canceled the bath.

First time I reached here

There are clouds in the sky and the sun is shining like a star amidst the dark clouds. Since there are a lot of Buddhist people in this place, there are many prayer flags installed above the river. There are so many flags that the entire sky is covered with these flags. River, cold, mountains, colorful flags, sun and blooming flowers… everything together is creating such a beautiful atmosphere that anyone can fall in love with it. Same thing happened to me here...I spend about an hour wandering around and decide that as soon as summer comes, I will come here every day to swim.

Buddhist prayer flags on sahastradhara river

This dog came with me till bus stand

It is 4 in the evening and now I start walking back. From here it takes 40 minutes to reach back to the main Sahastradhara where the Shiva temple is located. Since I haven't had lunch yet, I eat chavmin with tea. There is algae accumulated in the pond located here, which will be cleaned in the first week of March so that the tourists can have a lot of fun when they come.

Small one where i saw small fishes

It is 4 in the evening and now I start walking back. From here it takes 40 minutes to reach back to the main Sahastradhara where the Shiva temple is located. Since I haven't had lunch yet, I eat chavmin with tea. There is algae accumulated in the pond located here, which will be cleaned in the first week of March so that the tourists can have a lot of fun when they come.

After drinking hot tea, I reach the bus stand where I have to wait for half an hour for the bus. Sitting in the bus, I look at the sunset and think that I have to come back here quickly otherwise my heart will not get relief till then. And thus I end this day.

The finall goodbye to sahastradhara

I hope you will enjoy walking and roaming for a few more hours. This entire trip cost me only Rs 100, if we talk about dollars, I spent only one and a half dollars.

Disclaimer: This post is originally written in Hindi and I have used Google Translator to write it in English. All the photos have been clicked by me from Android mobile and edited in Lightroom.