July 16'2011, was a day unlike another day in my recent past, I was travelling to a very new destination after a very long time. The weather was just about perfect, being monsoon season clouds were present in the sky like an ominous sign of good new things to come, it started drizzling lightly till the time we left Delhi. It was a group of travel agent representatives who had assembled with the purpose of exploring this new property - Naturoville Spa Resort,nestled amongst natural surrounding on Dehradun Rishikesh Highway, which strives to become a new destination in itself, the trip obviously sponsored by the hotel itself, as part of its promotion strategy. Free trip to destinations had never excited me much, but the fact that after a long time, I was getting a chance to visit the foothills of Himalayas, that too in monsoon times, have excited me. On the top of it, I was getting a chance to visit Haridwar - The doorstep to the abode of gods.
We kept on driving, and I started to realize that the journey will take longer to than the promised 5.5 hrs, as if I mind the same. The next stop of ours was around lunch time, we had been in the bus for almost 5 hrs now, the traffic situation and the road conditions were pathetic, we were slowly moving. We entered into the beautiful and one of the greenest resort midway motel I have seen, that of Moolchands, 110 kms from Delhi around Muzzaffarnagar. The greenery at the entrance and back lawn, was wonderful, small chilli plants have been beautifully used to decorate the entrance, with small chillies decorating the plants in the hue of red and green,coupled with beautiful flowers, it was a perfect garden to enjoy the beauty of nature. The inside of the restaurant was bustling with people indicating to its popularity. The lunch was ordered and the food was good. The veg Biryani we ordered along with Chilli Paneer was tasty. Service was bit slow, but far better than few of the other motels I have seen.
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| Moolchands Entrance |
It was already 1530 hrs and we have reached only midway. People started to ebb the organizers to speed up the journey and the driver was also pressed for the same. The driver started to rush, to ensure that we reach our hotel,Naturoville Spa Resort in time and we have enough time to explore it. Traffic, due to single lane and under construction was congested and traffic was slow. As we entered Haridwar it started to rain, the weather was turning out to be romantic, but the traffic more harder to negotiate. Late evening we at last reached the beautiful spa resort of Naturoville.Nestled between independent bungalows and overlooking the Himalayan Ranges, this beautiful resort was like an oasis in desert. We checked in at the hotel, which was handled quite smoothly, the resort was more or less empty. The reason can range from being a peak off season for travel to it being new and less publicized resort.
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| Naturoville Entrance |
The rooms at Naturoville were king size with a king size bed, equipped with LCD television with cable connection, mini fridge, Writing Desk and material to write your experiences and thoughts, Electric Tea Coffee maker with ample amount of refills of milk, sugar and coffee. The Bathroom was of decent size with all the necessary amenities, toilteries were good. Enough Bath towels were present and presence of Bathroom Sleeper means the hotel have taken care of all the basic necessities and facilities in the room to bring it to the standard of 4 star resort. We had few moments to freshen up before we were called for the orientation tour of the property. After a brief orientation , we were taken to the cocktail Party in the banquets of the hotel with snacks and drinks being served. The snacks served were interesting combination of paneer dishes with potato and non veg. Situated next to the swimming pool and health club, on first floor, our banquet hall provided us with the option of overlooking the pool from Balcony.
Well tired after a long journey, around 1030 hrs, we decided to have our Dinner, and the taste of first food from the kitchens of the hotel. The restaurant was nestled into the corner, in a separate building from the one which had our rooms. The restaurant can be approached through beautiful pathways, which further lead to the Swimming pool and the health club & gym. The food provided was decent, although a bit less spicy than I would have liked, but being a health resort, I could have understood it. What amazed me is , despite being an Ayurvedic Health resort , the buffet served to us had both non veg and a healthy mix of fatty food including preparations of Indian Cottage Cheese ( Called Paneer). Nevertheless we ate to our hearts content. We followed it up with the stroll around the property and circled the property alongside the road circumventing it. We retired to our room early, as next day we had to be up early, we were supposed to get the experience of Ayurvedic Messages and treatments, I will be having first of my professional massage, although I had experienced home massage several time in my home.
Next morning we woke up early and after taking bath, around 0600 hrs, went to the ayurvedic centre. We strolled around the complex exploring the unlocked ayurvedic massage rooms, jacuzzi, steam bath with spanking new instruments and no one to attend to. This new facility, which is as calm as the lull before the storm was soon going to be busy with the stream of visitors and staff. Nevertheless ,we strolled around the facility and the gardens surroundings. Around 0730 hrs, first of the staff started to trickle in and by 0800, it was busy with the massages being offered to the prospective client seeker i.e travel agent representatives. I too went to meet the Ayurvedic Doctor and he advised an Ayurvedic massage to me. I was going to have first professional ayurvedic massage of my life. I was assigned to a young boy from Kerala, who have been working in this field for couple of years. He started with the gentle massage of hands followed by leg, torso and finally head. As he progressed with his soothin g massage and the soft music in the background, soon relaxed my body and mind and I slipped into slumber. An hour passed, without me realizing the passage of time and the massage was over. I was woken up from the relaxed state of mind, wet in Oil and not wearing anything apart from the traditional langot (cloth to cover Groin area), I was directed to the steam bath, where I had the first steam bath of my life. The inside was humid and hot with steam, I soon started to perspire, by the time I came out, I was wet and my skin was shining. I went for the bath, dressed up and left to the restaurant for the breakfast.
The breakfast was a mix of North Indian, South Indian and continental, with fresh juice and eggs made to order. Eggs being served in an Ayurvedic Resort and Spa was new to me, but it seems that the hotel have identified itself as , not only the pure health resort or treatment center, but a resort good for relaxation and enjoyment, also offering Ayurvedic massages to relax and rejuvenate. It is meant for family, business and leisure tourist alike.
Around 1200 hrs, it was time to say goodbye to the beautiful resort of Naturoville and proceed back to home in Delhi. I was hoping to reach home by 1730 hrs, as I had a movie ticket to watch the evening show, but. that seems to be a distant reality. We left, the descent was smooth, the weather amazingly cool with light drizzle and we soon were in Haridwar, next to Har Ki Pauri. People insisted in stopping there, We have come to Haridwar, how can we go back without taking a dip at Holy Ganges?? someone exclaimed. The bus was stopped and everyone got out, people started to fill their bottles with the Ganges water, to be taken back home as memorabilia. The water was muddy due to the recent rains, but the amazing quality of Ganges water is that it does not turn bad or smell, however long you keep it.It is believed that a dip at the River Ganges at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar washes all your sins, so all we travel agents , who have sinned knowingly and unknowingly took a dip in the Holy water and became pure again. The watching of ritual of bathing and prayers on the river Bank of Ganges, is a sight to watch, culture to experience and will transcend you to a religious mode, even if you are atheist. Well everybody took their share of cans filled with Ganges water, to be delivered to their homes and neighbours, which later will be used by them in their prayers.
The weather again become cloudy and from there on, it was race against time and traffic to reach Delhi, as soon as possible. The driver did a good job, negotiating the traffic and ensuring that we reach Delhi at the earliest. Being a Sunday, the traffic was comparatively less and we soon were in Delhi but not before it was already 2100 hrs that we were in Delhi.
The journey to the new Destination of Naturoville Resort Spa, Dehradun was hence completed, we returned to our homes refreshed from the excursion and ayurvedic massages and light of our sins with bathe in River Ganges.
Our mundane life was to begin again till we get another chance to visit any other destination...
