Uttarakhand

Holidaying in Uttarakhand                                            Travelling between Delhi & Mumbai, Above Baroda

Last year I holidayed in Uttarakhand with my wife, my best friend Mango & his wife Lalita. It is somehow a trip that I am unable to forget. There are no extraordinary great things or great hotels or views that is the reason for what I am saying. It was due to many small things that it has become memorable.  Firstly, i was with my wife and my best friend Mango. For me, a measure how close to a person you are is best gauged by how much a person can be himself/herself when around with his friends/family. Both of them completely accept me the way I am. Secondly, after reading umpteen books on Jim Corbett I got to see my hero’s home in Kaladhungi, the famous national park named after him and Nainital which was his summer home. Thirdly, the mobile did not work during the 3 days that I was in Jim Corbett National park. Trust me that is the best thing that can happen when you are holidaying. Cut off from world, that is probably the only time you can block all sources of mental fatigues emanating from office and home. We entered Jim Corbett on a Thursday Morning and from then till Sunday, we had complete privacy in true sense  which was a potent combination with all the scenery like lakes, mountains, forests, wild life. The rest house in Dhikala did not have at TV also which worked so well because we spend all our time in safaris, boozing and playing board games. Lastly, it was the unplanned things that you do that really add a change from the normal. On a typical working day, there are hardly 3 hours (if I am lucky) that I get to be the captain of my soul. Everything else is a military like schedule of getting up, going to office, working, coming back, dinner & sleep.

We started from Delhi in Mango’s car through Ghaziabad. We had dinner on the way at some dhaba (lovely food but I can’t remember the name) and reached Ram nagar via Moradabad around midnight. We stayed at a hotel in Ramnagar since our Dhikala rest house was booked from next day. Having had a hearty breakfast the next day, we parked our car in a nearby hotel and from there went via jeep to Dhikala rest house entering from Dhangiri gate. To quote from a Jim Corbett book, “the designer of the rest house was a lover of nature”. Situated on bank of Ramganga lake, the rest house gives a sweeping view of the lake itself and mountains beyond. It has one of the most captivating views that I have seen. 3 days in rest house were spent looking for elusive tigers during different safaris and nights were spent boozing amidst Business games. From Dhikala guest house we went to Kaladhungi through Ram nagar where we spent some time looking at the Jim Corbett’s home which has been turned to a museum. It is a must visit for any Jim Corbett fan. From Kaladhungi we proceeded to Nainital where we spent a night in even colder climate. The day was spent in the bazaar sipping hot coffees and eating all kinds of food that you enjoy in winter. A boat ride was also indulged in after ages which was a tough task since the other person rowing the boat was Mango who is an armyman. From Nainital we proceeded  back to Delhi on same route where we went our separate ways.

All in all it was one memorable trip and it became quite clear to me that Uttarakhand can’t be seen in 4 days. I want to keep going back to Uttarakhand to look at things which I could not on this trip. I want to visit Muktheshwar, Kanda, Champawat, Tanakpur, Ladhya valley and so many other places. The only problem seems to be that my firend circle is not the kind of people who are given to same wandering nature either by habit or paucity of time.

On a separate note, I am dying to do a trip with my Mango, DCP, Ghajini again this year where we go to some place unknown, drive many miles and in general have no contact with anyone.