With a heavy heart we had to take leave of Sitlakhet as we were to go back to the guest house and get ready for the next destination ‘Binsar’ . At that time we did not know how wonderful would be Binsar.
With the help of the Guest house caretaker we found a Maruti car with a driver to drive us upto Binsar KMVN Guest house. We had some good breakfast with pure milk.I did some editing work on “Wise being of the East & West” which I brought with me. We planned an early lunch and move out of Sitlakhet around 1 p.m. Accordingly, we got ready by 12 noon and had our lunch. My mind became heavy with the thought of leaving this place, an isolated spot of serenity which we all enjoyed for two days. After clearing our dues with the Guest House we started for Binsar. Binsar is situated at a height of 2412 meter. We had go via Almora once again and the drive through the reserve forest of Binsar. It presented a rich variety in bio-diversity with thick forest cover. We reached there around 3.30 p.m. and went to the reception. We were allotted a super deluxe room. Once having settled, we went to the refreshment room to have a cup of tea and sandwich. But we found the services provided by the staff were very slow. However in the meantime, a number of family came there to have snacks and tea/coffee. There was a family from kolkata Mr. Samanta, his wife a son and two daughters. We became very friendly over a cup of tea. Our daughter Shivani found two good friends, my wife became a friend of Mr. Samanta’s wife and myself enjoyed the company of Mr. Samanta and his son who just appeared for the 10th examination conducted by West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. For a while we went out to have a look at the forest around. Here again our daughter found another healthy doggie to play with, wherever she would go the doggie would follow. She enjoyed the company of the dog immensely. After a little while we came back and found Mr. Samanta and his family was going to the Sun set point and we also joined the group. Let me tell you here Mr. Samanta and his son, Partha, both are good amateur photographer and it was also delighting to see how intensely these two photographers were observing their objects of photography. After about half an hour walk uphill we reached the Sun set point. There we found a PWD Guest house and as far as sight could go there were thick forests and a few isolated houses here and there. A number of photographs were taken at this place and I am displaying here two of them.
As soon as the sun set, the darkness started enveloping the whole area. We had a torch and moreover the crescent moon was out in the sky. When we came back to the guest house it was getting cold outside. We had to put on sweater or had to carry warm wrapper. In the moonlit night we walked about half a kilometer down the road. It was dead silence all around, only the rustling of the leaves, and howling of foxes could be heard. The cool breeze became colder. We were told by the guest house people that Leopard could be seen in the night. So we walked back to the guest house.
At the dinner time, the dining hall was almost full. It was warm inside. We finished our dinner early and we went to the roof top of the Deluxe rooms from where a vast stretch of area could be seen. In the night the starts were looking so big and so near. Generally in Delhi we see only a few dull starts due to pollution in the city. But at Binsar inside the sanctuary there was no electricity, enhancing the beauty of nature manifold. It was so cold that we could stay outside for long. Promising to meet next day early morning, we took leave of Mr. Samanta and his family. The room was so warm and inviting that very soon we were asleep. At 4.45 a.m. in the morning we were up and there comes a knock on the door. Mr. Samanta is ready with his camera. Our daughter continued to sleep but I went out with Mr. Samanta. The whole of Himalayan range could be seen not very clearly but gradually it became clear. The sun rose, all the picks were visible only for few minutes. From nowhere the clouds came rushing bringing down the visibility to zero.
After breakfast we trekked through the forest reaching the base of the famous tower with a guide. The guide told us that the tower was not very strong and we were advised not to climb the top most floor keeping in view the safety factor. I was the first person in the group to take the risk followed by Krishna and another elderly couple.
The view from the top was breathtaking. The green stretch extended as long as I could see. Of course at the end the 300 km. stretch of the Himalayan view unfortunately hidden by the clouds and mist. On the way back I took a number of short cuts through the untrodden path and it was quite a thrilling adventure. Our daughter kept on telling me to avoid such ventures. Around 9 a.m. we were back to the Guest House and had a sumptuous break fast. Then it was time to wind up our stay at this beautiful jungle retreat and head for Kausani via Almora. Mr. Samanta offered us to take upto Almora as he had already hired a jeep. We gladly accepted his offer. So the journey back to Almora started around 10.15 a.m. My mind became heavy while leaving the place and my daughter felt sorry of her wonderful companion, ‘Sheru’ Again Almora city. We looked for the bus stand and were told there was a bus starting around 12 noon for Kausani