Explore this ecological gem in Uttarakhand that is also author Ruskin Bond's home. Landour Environment NewIssue Travel
Built by the British in 1827, Uttarakhand’s colonial gem, Landour, home to mighty oaks, cedars and deodars and more recently cerebral celebrities from the plains, is where Mala Vaishnav stops to smell the rhododendrons…
Landour, named after the Welsh town Llanddowror, is a song that sings to its own tune. There is a melody that wafts on the breeze though not everyone may hear the same music. Deodar trees and rhododendron bushes rustle in the canopied wooded paths; the faraway peaks emit wispy white loops in the sky; pine cones drop to the ground rhythmically; multicoloured prayer flags flap and flutter atop actor Victor Banerjee’s villa; tiny squirrels skitter away from bored langurs….
In what is considered to be the peanut butter capital of India, post the purchase of the food processing machines left behind by American missionaries, Prakash’s Store, at the evocatively named Sisters Bazar, is a haven for the ubiquitous spread. We also spot fig jams, apricot preserves, cheddar and gouda, all locally produced, seducing the tourist and the well-shod students of the neighbouring Woodstock School.