Delhi - Jim Corbett - Nainital - Delhi

Warning : Its a long post with a lot of detail! Have some 15-20 minutes spare to read it please...

They say matches are made in heaven, I say Travel Plans are also made in heaven and executed on earth by the lesser mortals!

There is no other explanation of how I have landed up in Nainital 3 times without the name being a part of my plan when I start from home? That statement kind of gave away a bit of the information that ideally would have made sense when I finish the first 10% of this travelogue! but whatever!

Let's Travel!

The first cup of tea being made for us at BailParao

Back into time first!

Early 2010, I had taken this club membership which entitled me to be a guest for some 15 odd parties in and around delhi throughout the year, not a single of which I attended! AND, it gave me a couple of nights free stay by Country Club Resorts! Honestly what I was interested in the free stay, which was not really so free, as I realised later!

Back to the future now...

So we had to send a Rs. 500 draft along with three preferences with different dates to Country Club Resorts before they could pick one (read the cheapest) and book us there! What we got was the Tiger Den Resort! For some reason I thought it was on the NH121 (banks of River Kosi), however we realised that it was about 13 kms away towards Kaladhungi only when we reached Ramnagar and called the resort for directions.

The drive from NOIDA was very comfortable except the "work in progress" flyovers on NH24! I can't believe that the status seems to be exactly what it was a couple of years ago at 3 places... And the road near Garh Mukteshwar is still a buffet of potholes with pieces of road on top! Don't understand it!

The 99 kms stretch between Moradabad bypass and Kashipur (via Thakhurdwara) is still bad! The last I had driven on it was when I was coming back to Ranikhet via Ramnagar, and it did not feel as bad because I was driving a Safari... It did not feel too bad in the Palio either, but it was bad! A lot of strain the arms and eyes! The road quality miraculously changes as soon as you reach Kashipur.. While I could barely touch 60 kmph at times in the last 90 minutes or so, I was driving at around 100kmph as soon as I crossed Kashipur...

The question is WHY? And the answer is that I was now driving in Uttarakhand! Drive to Ramnagar was a breeze and it was just 15 more minutes to drive the 14 odds kms after Ramnagar to BailPadao (Resting place for Bulls - if translated in English)

The wooden stove for making Tea... TASTY TEA

Radha made for a good backdrop for this cycle in the rain!

We reached the resort only around mid-night it was funny to see the guard room boys struggle with opening the gate!! the lock had jammed, and it took them about 5 minutes before I could drive in! We checked into a room towards the back-side of the resort and figured out a few things we could do the next day.. Safari was not on the plan for Saturday, however we wanted to go to Corbett Falls and plan for a Safari on Sunday... The additional information we got from the resort guy did not really lift our spirits as it included mood-dampners like the grasslands were still under water, most paths inside the jungle were still broken, and there were extremely low sightings so far! Except that he could arrange for a jeep for us to drive around the reserve area (outside the main forest) where there were chances of tiger-sighting! Now personally, I am not a fan of animal sighting! I love the jungle, and I hated the fact that I am not going to be able to enjoy the ride like I would have liked it!

We also had to change the room almost immediately after we checked it, as the bed was a spring-bed, and a broken one at that! The shift was prompt, and we called it a day (or night or midnight) after a quick cup of tea!

On our way to Nainital via Kaladhungi

Saturday Morning!

We woke up to an thick overcast sky, and did not realise that it was raining too till we opened our room door! It did not make much of a difference at that time as Pooja and myself both were not too keen on staying in that resort or waste our day driving around for nothing! We did not really know what we wanted to do, but we knew that we were checking out of the resort! We did, and decided our next milestone with a cup of tea outside the resort!

"There is something about tea made on burning wood.. something different... something that energises me differently"

Its very pleasing to click Radha and see that she stills good great... MUAH!

Did not know something like Choti Haldwani existed... nice find!

We decided to drive towards Nainital, which was just about 50 kms (75 minutes) away and started our drive in light rain, with slow speeds enjoying the weather! The rain had stopped, and we drove via Kaladhungi, Choti Haldwani, to reach the foothills, and by the time were reach Tallital, it was raining heavily again! This time it was not rain, but a hailstorm... and both of us were wondering as to why the Rain Gods seem to be too pleased or angry with us.. It had rained like crazy in almost all of our trips together!

1. Indonesia... We did not see the Kintamani Volcano and had a rainy walk to Monkey Forest

2. Ranikhet... It was a trip with falling rocks, landslides, and overflowing rivers

3. Goa... Wasted about half a day waiting for the rain to stop... made us move to hiring a car from a bike too (but that turned out to be good)

4. Singapore... Well, there are just two types of days there as Aseem puts it... with rain, and with heavy rain!

5. Jim Corbett.. Rains again!

But we were commited to having a good time, with rain or without :) So we found a nice cozy room with a lovely view at the Lake Side Inn and spent an hour waiting for the rain to stop! It converted into a light drizzle giving us enough time to walk around without an umbrella! And the waiting time did give us an opportunity to enjoy Maggi while looking out of huge glass windows! Bliss!

What is interesting in this photograph is that OM is opposite in all of them due to air-flow

We just walked around the Mall eating snacks and had a few glasses of tea again while it rained and almost snowed, and we had a lovely view of the hailstorm from under a canopy next to the Naini Lake! The number of people was low in Nainital that evening, and the roads were empty, and it stopped raining too after a bit, giving us a few more hours to walk around on the mall road and the local markets!

Chaat, Shopping, Chai, Talking, Walking, Shooting were what we did that evening!

Finally called it a day after having some delicious Vegetable Biryani

Langurs enjoying the rainy evening

Wire cycle-rickshaws at a roadside shop.. They are made from a single piece of wire(just the frame)

Sunday Morning

Looked like the Rain Gods had finally made peace with the fact that Pooja and me would travel, come whatever may, and we were welcomed with a lovely bright sunny morning! It was a long drive back home, and we dediced to start driving back by 1100 hrs to reach NOIDA by 2000 hrs. With the kind of roads and distance, it would take about 8 hours for sure, specially the Sunday traffic back to Delhi!

Shikaras in the Naini Lake

Empty Tea Glasses at a road-side Tea-Shop

The drive back via Kathgodam - Haldwani - Udham Singh Nagar (Rudrapur) - Rampur - Moradabad Bypass - Hapur was mostly uneventful except a deroute forced because of Behenji as she likes to be called, or for others, Ms. Mayawati, Chief Minister of UP. Rampur was sealed because of her visit, and we were forced to look around for options which involved driving through the town, trusting our direction instincts, and drive through a village with mud roads, and lanes just wide enough for the Palio to move through!

Rest is mostly history! with Future looking very bright with a few good trips on the cards! Enjoy some more photographs below....

Steamy Tea...

People at the T-Shop

Like I said... it was a hail-storm

One of the two Tea-Shops we had Tea at... this guy was selling everything from Tea t0 Bread-Omlette, Bun-Omlette, Boiled Eggs, Pakodas, Cream Rolls...

Corn-cobs (Bhutte)... They taste different on a rainy evening...

Nothing warms cold fingers better than a wood fire...

Eggs were plenty around the Mall Road...

Another view from the same Chai ki Dukaan...

This guy was really happy to have his photograph clicked...I think this is one of the biggest satisfactions of being a photographer... an opportunity to make people smile!

Loved the steam coming out of the pressure cooker... the 10 min wait was worth it...

Nainital Post Office

Ripe Red tomatoes for the Omlettes

Now for some objective information

1a. Distance from NOIDA to RamNagar : Approximately 250 kms

1b. Driving time : about 6 hours in the night with low traffic... Add another hour if driving in the day because of local traffic

2a. Distance from Ramnagar to Nainital : Approx. 65 kms

2b. Driving time : About 2 hours (Do take a break to enjoy the view somewhere)

3a. Distance from Nainital to NOIDA : Approx. 310 kms

3b. Driving time in the day : Approx. 8 hours with local traffic and bad roads and work in progress flyovers

Recommended eating joints on the way :

1. McDonalds just after Gajraula on the road towards Moradabad

2. Meriton just before Gajraula towards Delhi... Its almost opposite McDonalds and serves decent food

3. There are many dhabas near the Garhmukteshwar and Gajraula, however I am not sure if I would stop there to have food... snacks and tea would be my choice there

I drove a total of about 660 kilometers over that weekend, and loved every second of it! Pooja is an amazing addition to my co-traveler list, and there is not much other than that a man can ask for! isn't it?

Back from the hills!

Stay for two nights at Ranikhet - Rs. 5700

Food Bills for the trip - Rs. 2400

Fuel for about 800 kms - Rs. 4500

• Dodging falling rocks and rushing through the rock-rain within a matter of seconds
• Gathering courage to cross a fresh active landslide, and driving over rocks and trees
• Driving over huge rocks with just about an inch of possible error margin
• Watching river Kosi in its full flow, and driving through rushing waters for about 100 meters

Priceless!!!!!

Came back from a wonderfully rejuvenating break from Ranikhet and around! and brought back a whole lot to talk and think about for a long time!

जय बद्री विशाल (Jai Badri Vishaal)

Have been planning the Badrinath trip for a very long time now... more than 6 months, but just could not go for some reason or the other!

Before the US trip, my travel plans were getting changed every week and I just could not go! When I was in the US, mom dad for some reason did not go either! So we decided that we could go as soon as I am back!

We did!

I reached Noida on Saturday and left for Badrinath on Monday afternoon. We took a long break in Meerut where I met Naani after a while. She is not doing well at all these days. Not even able to speak :( I hope she recovers soon! The improvement in her voice and movement was seen after we were back from our trip, so that makes me feel good and better!

The drive was very long and mostly uneventful except the extremely bad roads at a lot of places, 4 pit stops and a forced break at Rishikesh. We had reached Rishikesh at 0300 hrs and there is a restriction on driving ahead on the hilly area between 2030 hrs and 0500 hrs, hence we had to wait before we could move ahead! This forced break was kind of good as it gave our cabbie, Kamal a couple of hours to catch his nap and prepare him for the long 12-14 hour drive ahead!

Pa never stops getting surprised at what all I keep clicking :P

Some flowers on the one of our pit stops


Just after his bath, praying !

I have always respected the hill drivers for their discipline and decent driving, but this time it was very different. All the local cabs seems to be in a rush to catch a train which they had already missed, and were almost breathing down our necks with continuous honking and idiotic over takes ! This was the first time that I have seen such reckless driving on the hills. And I could not help but notice the laaaarge number of cabs as well on the route... The last time when I went to Govindghat with Arobindo, we did not find many cabs on the way, but this time around there was one every five minutes!!!

Thankfully on the way there were no fresh landslides to stop the traffic and we kept moving slowly but with ease. The road condition really got worse after Chamoli, and after Joshimath till Badrinath, it was practically no roads for at least 80% of the 44 kms. This was the toughest part of the entire drive, for us and I am sure for Kamal as well, because even at on single lane paths, we had the assoholotic local cabbies making our lives tough with constant honking and overtaking. We had to stop for the gate system at Joshimath and then there was another forced stop at Pandukeshwar (another gate system for the same reasons as Joshimath)

The Gate time-table at Joshimath

This is from the Panasonic I mentioned in the last post about Badrinath. I like the amount of things in this picture, the boards, the punjabi, the hindi, the jeep, the walking man, the clothes !

One of the chat-wallas at Joshimath gate ! The yummy matar chaat ( very typical of UP)

Our second forced pit stop was at Joshimath, where you have to pass through a gate system. The traffic ahead of Joshimath usually travels one way, because of the narrow roads and the tough and dangerous terrain. We waited there for about 90 minutes before the last gate for the day open at 1630 hrs. This is when I finally took my camera out and made an effort to take a few pictures. Rest of the time I was more than happy just enjoying the views and breathing deep, with a few clicks here and there!

The Joshimath gate make a good sales opportunities for a lot of people there. This lady was selling sphatik malas, rudraksh malas and what not...

One of the old boards of the Mount View HOTel

It took us a good 2.5 hours before we reached the holy town of Shri Badrinath. It was freaking cold already, and I had to brave the chill in my shorts and a shawl (was just too lazy to take out my lowers). We checked into a cheap hotel with the bare minimum facilities. Changed and rushed to the temple for darshan before the doors were closed for the night. It had started drizzling, and it just made it colder! Brrrrr!!!

Papa was the last and lucky one to enter the main temple door after much requests to the priest, while the rest of us (ME, Mom, my two cousins) waiting outside in the compound. The priest then closed the main door of the temple giving Pa and Uncle God some decent time together! He came out after a few minutes and we rushed back to our hotel with wet and freezing feet. The next action item was to have dinner. Shops close early in the small town; however we did manage to eat well at a restaurant nearby. I was very tired and sleepy with the long day and almost slept on the dinner table itself: P I was not even sure of the menu the next morning!!! : P We rushed back to our rooms after dinner and it took me two quilts, my shawl, and 2 minutes to take off to my dreamland.

I was the first one to get up the next morning and this was around 0230 hrs, only to sleep again and wake up around 0500 hrs. I got up and went out of the hotel only to see one of the best views I had seen in my entire life! A majestic mountain with snow all around, overlooking the town in that dark blue morning sky!!! I just could not take my eyes off it. Went back in, took the camera out and just waited for the light to be good enough to take a few pictures. I roaming around in that freezing temperature loving the entire feel of the Indian cold, and the view of the majestic Mt. Neelkanth in front of me. The town was also getting up with people walking around the streets, the tea stalls warming up milk and preparing vegetables, the cabbies trying to start, jump start and fire start (See one of the pictures in the Badrinath set on Flickr) their vehicles.

The first view of the Mount Neelkanth ! It does not look half as good in the picture, as it was in real ! Grand, Majestic, Royal, Larger than Life !


Dew converted to frost and ice over car tops!


Mount Neelkanth after a while with the sun shining bright on it !


Bhagwan Singh, our hotel attendent. Very prompt and quick!


One of the many segregated dustbins for organic/ inorganic waste in the town !

We finally got ready to go to the temple around 0700 hrs. The skies were clear and the temperature was getting better every minute. Had a lovely walk around the temple with the sun shining all nice and bright. I took a few pictures and we were ready to head back home by 0900 hrs.

Way to the temple !

Shri Badrinath Temple

Uttarakhand Police on duty (They were not too keen on getting a picture clicked, but agreed when I told them that I was not from the media but just a photographer)

Another view of the temple!

Natural hot water springs (Tapt Kund) are another attractions of the town. While there must exist a perfect scientific explaination to it, most people are happy believing that its an act of God that hot boiling water comes from within the surface of earth at this high altitude ( over 3000 mtrs from sea level)

Pa again :)

Some another temple not too far away ! not sure about its name or relevance!

The usual daily life of any small town. Road side salons for that perfect hair-cut!

One of the many tea stalls; and the tea essentials, Ginger and Cardomom (Elaichi)

We left the town around 0930 hrs (There is a gate system for vehicles going back as well and we had missed the gate by some 30 minutes and the next gate was at 1130 hrs). We were still allowed to pass through I guess because the traffic from the other side would take sometime before they bump into us. The rest of the drive was pretty bumpy as expected till Chamoli and got slightly better post that.

Mt. Neelkanth once again with some clouds visiting for breakfast !

The beginning of the long road back home!

View of the National Highway 58 towards Badrinath from Joshimath. The driving distance between the point where picture was taken from and the road below is approx 6 kms. Its the Govindghat ( 22 kms) that is the first town on this road, from where you can trek to Ghangria and consequenty to Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib. Then Pandukeshwar and then Badrinath. The highway ends in the Mana Village which is the last village on this route and is the end of road for civilian traffic.

We visited another temple called the Dhara Devi Mandir just before RudraPrayag on our way back, and were at my Mama's place near Meerut around 0300 hrs after a long drive of approximately 18 hours. Kudos to our driver Kamal who managed to drive for this long, and saved us at least two night halts which I had earlier planned. All in all a wonderful trip.

Bells at the Dhara Devi Mandir

Time for some objective information:

Route : New Delhi - Meerut - Haridwar - Rishikesh(No traffic allowed before 0500 hrs or after 2030 hrs) - DevPrayag (Another check post for night traffic) - Srinagar - RudraPrayag - KarnaPrayag - Chamoli - Nand Prayag - Joshimath(Gate System; Last Gate 1603 hrs) - (Govindghat/Vishnu Prayag/Pandukeshwar) - Badrinath
Distance to Badrinath from Haridwar: Approx 350 kms
Time: Minimum 12 hrs ex. Haridwar (Add buffer for landslides and pit stops and the total off-road experience after Joshimath)
Transport: Many buses from Haridwar around 0400 hrs/ Local taxies run at 11.50-12.50 Rs/Km (plains/hills)
Food on the way: Carry your own biscuits and snacks and water. Decent road side stalls and small restaurants at all major towns enroute
Route very prone to Landslides to plan your journey in non-rainy times

Link to : Badrinath Set on Flickr



Hope you enjoyed ! Please excuse any grammer or other silly english mistakes. The small blogger editing window takes a lot more patience than I have to ensure everything is good in the post ! Relook at a picture you like, when you find an english mistake and let me know of it too, so that I can correct it :P