Next morning we headed for Haridwar, stayed there for the night and after breakfast left for Lansdowne: a 120 km stretch of beautiful road. The only bad stretch was on entering Najibabad, which had a double traffic jam: road under repair and railway crossing. Once out of Najibabad, it was comfortable and after Kotdwar we started the ascent to Lansdowne.
The climb was not very steep and, as we got closer to Lansdowne, both sides of the road were full of pine trees. It was a lovely sight. After 3.5 hrs drive, we entered Lansdowne and right at the entry point was the Blue Pine Resort, which had been recommended by our neighbours. We checked into it. It was a nice place with a view of the valley, and the only drawback there was no mobile network connectivity, though there was an STD booth in the resort so one was not totally cut off. We went for a walk in the evening.
The next morning we drove through Lansdowne cantonment to Tip n Top: the highest point in Lansdwone, with a beautiful view of the valley and the range. There were a few huts of Gharwal Mandal Vikas Nigam there. We saw the place, fell in love, found accommodation, and shifted. The added bonus was that my Airtel phone suddenly came to life, much to the relief of my friends in Delhi and children in Bangalore.
I realized that the car was low on fuel. I asked for a petrol pump but was told that the last petrol pump is in Kotdwar, but you can buy petrol in the market at Rs 50/-. Went to the market with my wife, who looked out for the petrol shop while I waited in the car. Soon she appeared with a porter carrying a plastic sack on his bag. On enquiring where is the petrol, I was told it is in the sack. I opened the petrol tank lid and the porter emptied 5 two litre bottles of petrol. This was my first experience of bottled fuel.
Drove to Bhura Tal: a small artificial lake in Lansdowne and on return to the hut a storm had started. Ahead of our hut the trees were swaying and there was rain while behind the hut everything was calm as if nothing has happened: a living example of how we should be calm inside even if turbulent externally.
After the storm, in the sweet company of the two young nieces of the manager of the tourist bunglow, we went to the Tip n Top point.
In the adjacent hut was a young couple with two little daughters. On chatting with them, we came to know that Corbett Park is just 60 kms from there and my wife got tempted. They were leaving for Corbett the next day after breakfast.
The next morning visited the Lovers lane, two churches and one temple. Lansdowne is a small beautiful place, a paradise for all those who love nature with least interference.
Had breakfast and drove along with the couple to Corbett after 60 Kms there was a gate to enter Corbett but we were not allowed, as entry was restricted to permit holders. Permit was issued to people staying in the guest house and permit was issued only in Ram Nagar, though Ram Nagar was just 50 kms away if you had a jeep. My Wagon R could have still managed, but our companions had a Honda City. We decided to take a longer route which was 140 kms away. We were told only 9 kms it bad rest is fine. The 9 km could not be called bad: it was very bad! At certain points the car skidded towards the valley and other parts it was very very bumpy. My car had a higher clearance so I could manage, but our companion Akash had to get out of his car and clear the stones for his car to pass. On reaching the good part of the road Akash looked very worried about how I felt after that drive. I said no problem and rather I thanked him for fulfilling my desire of participating in the Himalayan Car Rally and from now on, I will think twice before calling a road bad. The rest of the journey was comfortable on winding roads through places we had never heard of. We climbed the mountains three times before finally reaching Ram Nagar after 8 hrs of driving through the hill terrain. We got into a resort inside a mango orchard, had something to eat, and slept like a log.
The next morning we got up very early, went to Ram Ganga behind the resort and by 6 am were all set to leave. We did not visit the Corbett park as it was peak season and advance booking was needed to visit, which we did not have and my wife was is no mood for bumpy jeep ride after yesterday’s adventure. We got the petrol tank filled and set for our return journey we came across a board saying Nanital 74 kms Delhi 280 kms. I asked my wife where should we go. She shot back: Nanital of course, Delhi is so far off! Within 2 hours, we were in the Tourist Bungalow of Nanital, looking out for a room. It was Saturday morning and we thought if we do not get accommodation we will spend some time in Nanital, drive back to Ram Nagar and go home on Sunday. The Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam tourist bungalow people were very helpful though they did not have any room they could get us a room in their other tourist bungalow at Talli Tal which has a lovely view and we have stayed there many times. Tt was a blessing in disguise. We left for Talli Tal and were given a room
Had a bath and after breakfast went boating in the Naini lake. It was a cloudy morning and very few people had yet ventured out. After boating, we went around the mall where my wife was busy window shopping. I went to the newspaper shop and sat on the roadside bench and glanced through the paper.
Soon it was lunch time. We went to a restaurant cum confectionary and had a nice meal followed by éclair. In the meantime, outside it was raining heavily so we kept on sitting in the restaurant sipping a cup of coffee.
After the rain stopped went back to the Tourist Bungalow. Did not venture out in the evening. Sat in the balcony and enjoyed the view of the lake and the mall.
Sunday morning we went for a boat ride and after breakfast we drove back to Delhi doing around 1000 kms in 5 days through Garhwal and Kumaon himalayas, staying in different places.
Sharing with you a few pictures of our adventure:
Your blog is amazing mama! I'm definitely going to be using this for my future trips. Look forward to more such entries...maybe you can even write about some of your past trips and the nice places to stay there. Super!
ReplyDeleteIsha