Preplanning :
I'll begin by admitting I always took Kumaon for granted. I mean, having been raised in DDun, there were just so many references to Kumaon on a daily basis, that it almost never occurred to me it was a place very different from Garhwal, with its culture, people and traditions being invariably different from the ones normally found and practised in Garhwal.
A peek into the landscapes of Kumaon :
Only after I left DDun and took up my travels into the northern Himalayas seriously did I begin to nourish the thought of a Kumaon circuit. So followed the research around finalizing the itinerary. FInally after a lot of study and research, we decided to do it in Winters, mainly so that there would be less crowd around.
A peek into the landscapes of Kumaon :
Only after I left DDun and took up my travels into the northern Himalayas seriously did I begin to nourish the thought of a Kumaon circuit. So followed the research around finalizing the itinerary. FInally after a lot of study and research, we decided to do it in Winters, mainly so that there would be less crowd around.
Flew in from Hyderabad to Delhi, on 19th January and stayed at a friend’s pace in Noida. Next day’s plan was to travel in his car till Saharanpur, and then take a cab onto Dehradun.
Started at ~10:30 from Noida, and drove via Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, and took a detour before roorkee towards Saharanpur. Stopped at only one place after Muzaffarnagar for lunch. The food was awesome. Amidts cold winds the food tatsted awesome !!
It was pretty cold in DDun. Too cold compared to Hyderabad, and colder than Delhi. Did a quick check on the stuff that we had to carry for the trip - max. stress on camera equipment and woolens, and the - Nothing better than a good sleep in a quilt in the winters - of which we get absolutely no taste down here in Hyderabad :(
Next day was going to be a long drive.
Day 1 (21st January) :
I had some important task to complete, so we could manage to hit the road only at about 10 am. We intended to reach Nainital before it gets too dark. I was told that it would take around 8-9 hours for a ~280 km journey. Haridwar came in no time, and I took the turn towards Nazibabad. This was new route for me as Ive either gone towards Roorkee, or towards Rishikesh, from Haridwar, so I was pretty keen to see what lay ahead.
Prior to Najibabad we drove through the reserved forest area. The look and feel of this place was similar to the Rajaji National Park on the outskirts of Dehradun. Sal forests and eucalyptus trees on both ends of the road kept us company.
Garbage is a serious problem in India. Heaps of garbage treated us all along the city routés. The sad thing is people don’t mind living alongside it. Waiting for governance to arrive !
Kept driving – the road was smooth and good for the most part of the journey. After Nazibabad came Nagina, and then Dhampur.
I don’t like to break because it really wastes a lot of time and momentum, so we didn’t break the journey. Only when we felt that hunger could not be postponed further, did we stop for a break at this place – before Kashipur.
This provided a good recharge, and I was all set to drive on to Naintal without another break. We cruised through fields and fields of greenery, and some pretty smooth stretches of good road. The hills had begun to be in the vicinity, and the moment I did my first ascent, I was like ‘ah – now this is what we are here for’. That was like a shot in my arm..lol..
Anyways we continued and crossed areas bordering the area of the Corbett Park. Reached Kaladhungi where after a brief stop by policemen deployed to check the illegal cash transfers (it was election time in Uttarakhand) , took a left turn towards Nainital. By this time it was dusk already, and we did most part of the ascent in very dim light.
Soon there were signs of Nainital – small tea/snack shops started to appear, and I saw a board of Khurpatal. Yeah, we are almost there. Paid the toll to enter Nainital city (Rs 100 ?) and proceeded towards our hotel. We had booked a room in the Pavalion Hotel, which Is right opposite the HC. Didn’t have no difficulty in finding it.
We had a mail exchange with the hotel folks earlier, and booked (without any payment) a room for 2 days @1700 per night. However, when I checked with the people on the reception, I was told that there were no vacant rooms . wtf ! That guy didn’t look interested in transacting any business. He just said curtly – koi room nahi hai khali. Only when I told him that Ive had an earlier exchange with them, did he kind of pay attention, and eventually showed us the room. The hotel looked absolutely empty, and I have no idea why that guy told me there were no rooms. All rooms were empty !
Anyways, the room was pretty, clean, comfortable. A room heater was provided, and hot water would be made available for a couple of hours in the morning. Not a bad deal at all, specially given the beautiful hotel complex – it appears to have been converted from a private property. There was some pretty excuisite antique furniture there too. Have a look :
Ordered food from the hotel itself, as we were too tired to venture out in the cold. Cold – ah yes, it was pretty cold. Colder than DehraDun. But the heater was sufficient to keep the room tolerably cold. Had been driving all day, so fell asleep while watching the election based programmes – last thing I remember I saw was ND Tiwari’s interview before I dozed off (lol).
Day 2:
It was a beautiful morning. Woke up by 7amish, and rushed outside to test my new wide angle for the first time :p - this is the result
After freshning up, we headed for breakfast. The dining hall of this hotel was equally artistic and had all the elements of a colonial setup. Breakfast was Bread omlette and gobhi paratha. While having breakfast we talked about what we had to be doing this day. My idea was to go to most of the lakes that we could manage, do the ropeway and see what the mall road of Nainital has to offer. Not that I enjoy doing these heavily touristy stuff, but since it was offseason, AND a weekday, there were hardly any tourists - so it was going to be calm and easy. And trust me, even in a place like Nainital, offseason weekdays are pretty serene !!
So we drove to the Nainital, and took a boating ride --
The boating experience in the Naini tal was pure bliss. Mostly because of the scant ascent of other people :grin: and partly due to the early morning setting.
The boating got over in an hour or so, and next on the agenda was the ropeway. Trust me, it looks more fun than it actually is .. lol - add to it- the dissapointment of going over the top just to see a lot of trash littered around, and a not so flattring view from the alleged 'view point'
I wasnt really dissapointed because I didnt expect anything better. We should be thankful to such spots that contain the hysterical tourist. I was glad they dont venture beyond - leaving the 'places where there is nothing to do' to folks who treat the serinity with respect.
Anyways, came back and had a cuppa tea with some snack at a confectionary. The inside was beautiful lso I took some pics -
After this, the next destination was Saat Tal and Bhital. They are a good 20+ kms from Nainital. I liked SaatTal due to its sheer size, and relative remoteness. We did a looong round of the 5 tals (2 are closed for boating). It was extremely relaxing. Again there was just a loner kayaker besides us. The sound that the boats row make as they make and lose contact with water is so damn sweet - it induces sleep
Bhimtal is also huge, but poorly maintained. There are numerous hotels right across the street at Bhimtal - but sadly - its just shoddy. WIth a proper road, and nice construction, it could become a prime attraction !
Btw We also went to Naukuchiyatal - not sure why, but it looked deserted !
Anyways it was 4-4:30 by now, so we headed back to Nainital and had no capacity whatsoever to go and check out more taal's ;) Came back to the hotel and had chai-pakora, steaming hot. bliss
After a bit of rest, we decided to have dinner outside, and used this chance to see what the Mall Road has to offer :
Had Dinner at SherePunjab (?) [or something of that sort]. The food was very reasonably priced, and must admit - extremely tasty ! Fully recommended :
Ate to our fill, and came back to the hotel. Tomorrow was going to be the big day. Tomorrow was the day we exit Nainital, and venture into the places whose names had been resounding in my mind for so long !
Day 3 :
After a good breakfast, we settled the bill @The Pavilion, and headed for our next leg of journey - Bisar. I was so looking forward to this part of the journey for all the expectation that had built up, thanks to the t'logs on bcmt :grin:
The route was straight, via Almora. So from Nainital we reached Bhowali, and took the road going to Almora. If you are coming from the mall, that'd be a left turn. Got the car refuelled at Bhowali.
The road was good for the most part, but there were landslide hit patches, where work was happening, though at a snail's pace. It was a clear morning, and the journey was as smooth as it could be. We crossed Kainchi Dham, but didnt stop.The terrain remained kinda constant throuout the stretch until we reached Almora.
Enroute Almora :
As one approaches Almora, the beautiful pine forests become a constant company.
Crossed Almora, and checked for directions to Binsar with locals. Withing a 5min ride towards Bisar, we were riding almost alone. There was no traffic whatsoever. City dirt and garbage receded fast, and we were amidts pristine pine forests !
Enroute Binsar :
Finally, I saw the Binsar checkpoint. I didnt know that the Binsar KMVN is 'in' the sanctuary, so I kept driving, assuming that the KMVN would be somewhere down the road, and I'd have to come back to the checkpoint if/when I wanted to take a tour of the sanctuary. After driving a good 10 kms, I realized that we were actually going towards Bageshwar, and that we may have left Binsar somewhere on the way back. Had to struggle to 'find' people who could give us directions. Finally managed to confirm that we had to go 'inside' the Sanctuary. Duh, had to drive back.
At the checkpoint, took the entry ticket, and paid the vehicle fee as well. Dont remember, but prolly[B] Rs. 250 per head[/B], another [B]Rs 150 for the car. [/B]
The atmosphere inside the sanctuary was blissful Total silence, only seldom broken by the chirps of playful birds. Managed to view some very bright and beautiful birds enroute - no idea about the names, sorry.
Inside the sanctuary :
The road was dangerously slippery during the last few metres on the way to kmvn, black ice. I didnt see that coming, and just managed to get the car on track before the worse happened !
I checked in, and confirmed my booking# . Must say - there is something very very creepy about this place. I totally loved it. Absence of electricity just adds to the eerie atmosphere. They Should never ever plan to provide electricity here. That day the Binsar story shall be over.
Btw - they said there is no lunch, but would be able to proivde snacks - maggi, bread omlette etc. Hadnt eaten anything enroute, so hogged a lot of -whatever was available-.
Having eaten, stretched for a bit. I dont do Yoga, but pretending to do some asanas in the himalayas is great fun nontheless..lol
Took a chair and sat in the open terrace, watching the stunning 180 deg view that Binsar offers.
KMVN Binsar :
After absorbing enough Sun, came back for a quick nap. It mustve been 3:30-4 pm by then. Woke up and decided to check out the nearby areas, hoping to get aglimpse of some more birds, when the receptionist asked me to check out the sunset point, near the FRH. I asked him if it was fine to venture out alone during evening, specially since I'd be coming back after the sun had set, he commented "saab idhar ka kuch guarentee to de nahi sakte, par chale jao, sunset dekh lo"
I decided that I'd pick up a stick or something on my way. If required, maybe flashing a leopard with my camera would help
It was late evening already, and the walk till the frh was dead silent, and the atmosphere was magical. It looked like someone had sprinkeled golden dust. Check out :
Evening sunset at FRH :
Came back to the kmvn after witnessing the coulour riot. Didnt see no leopard on the way back for the good ;)
As I entered the room, and lit the candles, the ambience changed to a setting ideal for just sitting down and introspecting. When you are at Binsar you realise how electricity has taken away much of the free idle time that people used to ejoy couple of decade back. [Folks in UP still do :twisted:]
Anyways - in terms of weather, it must've been -1 or -2 deg. Also the receptionist mentioned that it was just THIS day that the raod till the kmvn was cleared, so we were pretty lucky on the timing. Also there was snow at a lot of places here and there - 3-4 day old perhaps.
Soon the dinner call was made, and it was buffet kinda setting. There were more options that I had imagined (given the difficulty in getting supplies up there). Dal, Paneer curry, egg curry, Mix veg, Roti - papad, Curd, salad and sewaii as sweet dish. Tasted pretty good as well (wonder why people complain about the food there. As I'll mention in the next part, the next day I had the BEST poori chana of my life !!)
That brings us to the end of this day. I set alarms for 5:30 in the morning, as the magical morning at Binsar could not afforded to be missed. I was just praying for a clear sky :)
Btw, I had a pretty uncomfortable night. It was cold, but I had a sleeping bag, so comfortable on that front. But I got some really weird dreams. At one moment I opened my eyes, and all I could see was the ominous darkness outside the window - checked the time, believe it or not, it was 00:00 - :shock:
Also there was an occasional cry from the jungle now and then, adding to the mood. I love horror stuff. Although I was kinda scared, I enjoyed the mood, and dozed off in a couple of mins.
To be contd....
Day 4:
A vibrating mobile phone at 5:30 am in the morning, when the temperature is sub zero, and you are dead asleep in the warmth of your sleeping bag, is not a moment to cherish, BUT not when you know what waking up to it would have to offer !
So I woke up almost without any cribbing. It was still very very dark outside. And I was very very cold. Despite all the damn jackets. Winds were blowing softly, and the murmurs from the jungle, the odd stepping over the jungle floor riddled with dry leaves, made it the perfect spot for a leopard to emerge from ..anyways - I did see 4-5 wild boars hushing away into the thick of the forest. So much for spotting wild life.
I had lit a candle in my room before coming, you can notice it in this pic :
At this point of time, I had to just wait and wait for some signs of light to appear at the horizon. It was not pretty standing there in the cold. Not so much for the cold, but more so for the fear of leopards. One might think that I overstress the cat factor, but if you've been around in these areas, you'd know its not that rare for a human-cat encounter to happen. The results obviously are devastating.
The first signs of light appeared at ~6:45, thereon, it was a visual fiesta. Watch on -
Sunrise at Binsar :
Sadly, as you can see the main massifs were not willing to reveal their glory to me. But frankly, whatever I managed to witness, didnt dissapoint me a tab bit. Later as you will see, it turned out to be an overcaste morning.
I came back to the room and completed morning ablutions in that half hot water bucket that I got (you get a 1 bucket of cold water per person, but the pipes burst I was told, so hot water was scarce). I didnt complain, and thankfully accepted that half bucket.
Soon it was time for breakfast - which was bread butter omlette, and poori chana. This is what I mentioned in the last part - the best chana Ive ever had. Kudos to the cooks !!!!!!
It was time for some farewell pics :
Settled our bills, and checked if the way to Munsyari was open. There was lot of uncertainty around this q. so we decide to go till where we can, and if the road is blocked due to fresh snowfall, to retreat back to chaukori, and stay overnight there. Also checked ont he route. One option was to go via Bageshwar-chakori-Udyari bend-Thal-Birthi-Munsyari , while the shorter option was to go via Dhaula China-Raigarh-Udyari bend-Thal-Birthi-Munsyari.
The KMVN receptionist mentioned that since it had been raining/snowing, the secong route may not be in the best of shape, so we took the longer option. At this point I want to re-emphasize : Dont trust GMaps. Always check with the locals. The bageshwar route turned out to be pretty long - but the road was fantastic throughout !!
Stopped at the Binsar temple for a short while :
Onwards Bageshwar :
Finally at Bageshwar :
From Bageshwar one has to cross the Saryu-Gomti and take the bridge, moving towards Berinag-Chaukori. After Bageshwar, the amount of whatever little traffic one sees before it, recedes further.
By 2:30 we were at Chaukori. I wasnt sure whether to checkin here or continue till Munsyari. The roads were open, but we hadn't had food. So I decided to break the journey for that day at KMVN Chaukori, and go to Munsyari the next day - we had enough days at hand anyways. KMVN's cottage cost us aroung 900 bucks (after the 30% offseason discount).
KMVN didnt have no lunch ready, and it would take 30 mins or so for preparation, so we asked aroud at other small restaurents, but none had any food ! We were told that we'd get something at Udiyari Bend, because it was a 'big bend' ...lol
DOnt expect butter chiken and other fancy stuff when you are in this part of the world. You'd get very basic food - Dal, Aloo gobhi and roti.
Food at Udiyari Bend:
The plan after lunch was to go till Birthi, and head back to Chaukori and leisure around. However, Munsyari is a good 90+ kms from Chaukori, and Birthi falls is a couple of tens of kms before munsyari, so the plan didnt work out. We returned from somewhere after Thal. Nonetheless, when going to Thal, came this splendid location :
After Thal :
This is the point near Thal from where we returned, back to Chaukori KMVN :
Stopped at the fav. spot again on the way back :
By the time we came back, the sun had set. So it was time to take some rest and have dinner.
Inside view of the cottage :
Day 5 :
The day's plan was to go to Munsyari, and either stay there for the night, or head back to Almora, depending upon how long it took to reach Munsyari.
Chaukori offers beautiful views of the mountains, but we werent going to be lucky. There was no view whatsoever :(
Anyways, it was a lovely morning, and breakfast of aloo poori was equally delicious. Settled the bill at Chaikori KMVN, and got up the watch tower to try and see if I could manage 'some' view.
Chaukori KMVN :
Started off to Munsyari, and all that we did was drive slowly, break frequently, and soak the atmosphere. Btw - I found the way to Munsyari quite interesting, for the terrain changes quite a few times on the way. It is also quite different from the pine forests that you get used to in the adjoining areas, almost throughout from Almora to Thal, almost.
One intersting thing to note After around 15-20 kms from Thal, we observed that there was a terrible sound coming from the front right side of the car. It sounded so bad, I was worried that the axle may have broken. While driving, I had no confidence that the car would not open apart ..
I stopped the car and ruled out the obvious tyre punctures etc. Opened the bonut, but nothing there. We had no option but to carry on. There isnt a mechanic until Munsyari, and it was still ~50+ kms away. So I drover very very slowly, almost at 15 kmph. The sound continued nonetheless. It was a rattle kinda noise. Before ~20 kms to Munsyari - the sound dissapeared !!!! The sound came back at the exact same stretch on the way back. My assumption is that the road was not smooth, and something in the car resonated to produce that nasty noise. So if you happen to feel the same, prolly thats the reason.
On the way to Munsyari :
Very soon, it was snow all around ! :
Munsyari was closed. Everyone was in a mode of slow slumber. All Trek routes were closed, and more snowfall was expected this day or the next. KMVN had not food, so we looked for a place for lunch, with was pretty Okaisish. I had a chat with the fellow there, mostly about the election buzz around there.
We decided that we would start back for Almora the same day post lunch, because everything in Munsyari was closed, and as far as views are concerned, the weather forecast was not good for the next day. I asked about the Darma Valley treak and other some trails from the locals, and having made a resolve to return back for a full fledged trek, we started off for Almora !
On the way back, I saw this borad that read "Thamri Kund". I wasnt sure but I head seen a pic on flikr and I faintly recollected Thamri Kund it was. I was extremely eager to visit it. So I took a break, and ventured into thick 2-3 ft deep snow. Wife gave up after a 100mts or so. I continued. It was late afternoon, and strong winds were blowing. I didnt have proper equipment, so my shoes and the socks became wet pretty quickly. Also, soon I found I was on a mountain ridge alone, wihtout any idea of which direction to take for Thamri Kund, or whether even this was where thamri kund was, or whether even Thamri Kund was the lake I had seen in that pic .. lol .. More than that, I really didnt want to become an easy snack to a black bear or a leopard, so I decide to give up. It wasnt easy walking in the snow, and I slipped at least thrice. Anyways, came back and changed the lower and socks, and started off.
On the way back from Munsyari :
This house was on fire, seriously !
Managed to reach Udiyari Bend while there still was some light, and took the way to Almora via Raigarh and Dhaula China. The raod was nothing compared to the Bageshwar side, but I would not complain, it wasnt that bad. Though we took a wrong turn almost thrice, and mustve travelled a good 30 kms off track. There were hardly any poeple on the road by 7-7:30pm whom we could ask routes from. ALso, its much easier driving in the hills during night than on a plain highway because 1. there is hardly any traffic, 2. you get to know whena vehicle is coming from far-far away and most importantly 3. You dont have an idea of how deep that valley across the edge of the road is, so the false sense of confidence that its not deep has its own impact too, on the speed. :twisted: - although I drover perfectly safe.
We mustve reached Almora by around 10 in the night, and dinner was all done. So we had bread butter and tea. Sleep was comfortable, as I was tired of the long drive !
Day 6:
Almora KMVN :
Nothing much to write here : Had breakfast - gobhi paratha, bread omlette and tea. Settled the bill, and drove continuosuly from ALmora (starting at about 10 am) to Dehra Dun, reaching DDun by 10pm, only stopping at Haldwani for lunch.
The route we took was :
Almora->Bhowali->Bhimtal->Kathgodam->Haldwani->PantNagar->Rudrapur->Kashipur->Najibabad->Haridwar->Dehradun.
Hence ended the 5 day long Kumaon visit. It was supremely satisfying, and the experience was magical.
Disclaimer : The information in this weblog is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights.
This is a personal blog, and does not represent the thoughts, intentions or plans of my employer/peers. It is solely my opinion.
