Anyway, last december we decided to touch the Uttarakhand Kumaon region -- this was next on our list having visited Himachal to a certain extent. To save ourselves from the Christmas crowd we decided to start a bit early and to enjoy the ride to the mountains we decided to take a self drive(Safari(4-wheel drive) from Avis) from Delhi.
Thanks to Spicejet flight from Blore to Delhi, we reached really really late in Delhi and by the time we got our vehicle it was already midnight. We had planned our first stop in Noida, so the first challenge was to find the routes at the late hour it being our first tryst on the Delhi roads. Even with the GPS at our disposal, we were thoroughly confused at the AIIMS flyover -- the architect should be commended on connecting so many roads and doing an amazing job.
Anyway, finally reaching our first halt at 2 in the night, we started for the long journey of around 400 kms to the hills of Uttarakhand -- Naukuchiatal in Kumaon region
Naukuchiatal gets its name from the lake around which the inhabitation exists. This lake has 9 corners and the image of the glistening waters is still fresh in my mind. The lake is nestled among the mountains and we stayed at 'The Lake Village Resort' overlooking the lake. The pristine waters are abode to the geese and innumerable variety of birds nested among the trees surrounding the lake. But before reaching Naukuchiatal, we drove on the roads of UP and Uttarakhand -- I remembered the ad of Bournville -- " you need to earn it"...the National Highway in UP is messy, most of them is just 2 lanes and you need careful maneuvering to escape the potholes and bad roads.
We started around 11:30 am from Delhi, having got late the night before thanks to the big vulture(this is how my daughter described the Spicejet aircraft!) that transported us from Blore to Delhi. As we started late, we were welcomed by traffic and traffic jams thus slowing our speed considerably. The roads till Moradabad were more or less fine and we had a smooth ride in terms of jerks and bumps. Around Rampur, it was something that really showed that Mayawati needs to focus more on infrastructure rather than making memorials for the different categories of society including her! The Highway was bumpy for around 40-50 kms, just 2-lanes with nil bypasses through the villages and towns. Every town welcomed us with overflowing traffic and people on roads-- the only relief was the innumerable sugarcane and mustard fields which were surely an eye-candy. Battling the loads of trucks and tractors carrying the sugarcane at their own sweet pace, we reached Haldwani and this is the place from where the ghats start. It was already 5 by then and the sun was already setting. We were welcomed by the pitch dark mountains with lights here and there giving us a very vague idea of the settlements on the slopes. Our booking was already done at the Lake Village Resort which is located next to the Naukuchiatal lake and is around 35 kms from Nainital. Though I would write a separate review for this resort, but still I cant help but mention that their service was excellent. Because of slightly bad and narrow roads leading to Naukuchiatal, one of the persons from the resort waited for us in Bhimtal, which is at a good 20 mins drive from our final destination. We reached there by 6:30 and the air had become chilly and biting cold. We went shivering to our cottage and had the much awaited hot ginger tea -- which tasted and smelled great. It was full 3 days of sumptuous, elaborate and delicious food in the lap of nature!! -- just heavenly! We were the only occupants and got a very good personalized service. The cottage was big and round with windows on all the walls -- a beautiful terrace where in we had the view of the mountains on one side and the lake on the other. We had the luxury of having our lunch on the terrace with the sun warming us in the cold weather.
The fields at the foothills provided an excellent view. The resort itself has great plantation -- beautiful flowers and creepers made the place bright and cozy. We went to Saattal the next day. It was around 30 mins from our resort. Its a more commercialized lake and the route is simply mesmerizing -- trees guarding the lake with a beautiful path to walk around the water.
We roamed around at our own lazy pace stopping here and there clicking memories. In the afternoon on the same day we enjoyed the Shikara ride on the Naukuchiatal lake with the boatman providing us interesting tit-bits. Next day was reserved for Nainital -- which was surprisingly clean despite being a famous tourist spot. We rode in the cable car to the hill top to see the Nandadevi peaks.
From the top the Nainital lake looked like a bowl of water held by the mountains and the smell of pine and deodar trees on the mountain slopes was something you just take back home! We had planned our next stop in Corbett on the 4th day and one the way back we picked up kumaon lemons( 5 times the size of normal lemon) and kiwi fruits (5 times cheaper than what in Blore!) from the local market in bhuwali. So, after spending an idyllic time in Naukuchiatal we headed to corbett. We had planned to stay in Jaagar village resort (around 20 kms from Corbett) and after staying in the wonderful Lake Resort in Naukuchiatal, our expectations were really high. Jaagar Village resort is around 5 kms inside the fields with no pucca road leading to the resort. Our safari did a wonderful job and we reached the Jaagar resort late in the evening -- the worst part of the journey from Naukuchiatal to Jaagar was we couldnt get anything decent to eat on the way and we had to do with the fruits and light snacks we had picked. Corbett was a bit of disappointment as we couldnt see the big cat and had to just satisfy ourselves with the numerous pug-marks.
Jaagar village resort was just okay -- service average, food palatable though the cottage was good and scenery was great! Myra had privilege of seeing vegetable farms and taking out a few radish. After stopping for a day at Jaagar, we started for Haridwar enroute to Chandigarh which was a good 450 kms. We entered Haridwar around 7 in the night -- its a totally different feeling with the incense-stick smell engulfing the pilgrim city and the temple bells being heard from every nook and corner. Stopping at the Sarovar hotel on Roorkee-Haridwar highway was truly luxurious -- a perfect icing on the cake!!
Finally next morning the journey to Chandigarh was not adventure-less -- and I will surely cover the adventures around Yamuna river in my next blog...
So, overall the journey was hectic but not tiring , it was refreshing and has left us yearning for more of the mountains...motivating us to make more and more trips to the giant and unbelievable Himalayas!!
