Mini Travelogue: Adventures At Robbers Cave, Dehradun

Never knew that an office colleague’s marriage at Dehradun will bring an opportunity for a visit to the famed Robbers cave a.k.a. Guchhu Paani. Before this serendipity, I never had even a glimpse of a cave and the associated pebbled streams. Since I ardently believe in first times, I decided to explore this natural heritage.
I went in the month of February, so the place was definitely colder and a watery cave invites more iciness. We had to ditch our warm socks and shoes and take the journey in the humble hawai chappals. There is a special place for the storage of foot wears, so you need worry about your expensive Nikes getting stolen.


This cave is actually a very narrow one with a 10m waterfall and has a slender gorge after the refreshing falls. The overlying rocks over the water fall are pretty slippery and I was quite apprehensive of crossing them to see the beautiful gorge.


Considering my low tolerance for mercury dipping temperatures, I did not dare to experience getting drenched in the falls but I would recommend you to try it if you are going in warmer months. The water is fresh because it is just coming from the melted glaciers and is falling from an altitude of 10m.

After getting up on the rocks and then getting down, the narrow serpentine gorge starts. Since the stream has a shallow bed covered with rocks and pebbles, one should be careful to carry those pair of slippers otherwise your heels will have a pain to remember. The icy cold water does provide some relief but after a while your feet give up. There is a local vendor after a few metres who sells maggi and momos and somehow they did not taste very appealing. But the owner assists you in your sojourn and recites the tales of this stream and how he saves the lives of people during floods. He does captivate you to an extent.

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Climbing barefoot on the rocks and walking with naked heels on the cold pebbled stream was a painful experience; but now when I think about it, it was adventurous, considering the fact that we had a marriage to attend in the evening. Who says life has to be all ordered and perfect?

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