When Mumbai was being rocked by terrorist attacks in various 5 Star hotels unawares I was driving towards the mountains in Uttaranchal. Thankful to the Thanksgiving holiday in US I got the much needed break and on Wednesday night no sooner I was home from my office around 10 PM I asked my wife to pack things with still no clue on where to go I started looking into MapmyIndia.com to look for probably destinations. Since I had already explored Nainital a couple of times I thought I would dare some place else this time and Ranikhet in the map caught my eyes. But Since 4 days was too much a time our plan was to go to Ranikhet first and then plan the onward journey.
At around 2 AM in the morning we left our home in Vasundhara Enclave towards Ranikhet the route being Hapur, Gajuraula, Moradabad, Rampur, Rudrapur, Haldwani, Kathgodam, Khairana. Ride till Hapur is good and then you face the rough streatch where the highway constructions going on hinder your speed. Taking Moradabad by-pass to reach Rampur. Once in Rampur you again come across the rough roads till Rudrapur. You would surely curse whoever is responsible for such a sorry state of the roads here. the 20 kms streatch would take an hour atleast and you shall consider your self very lucky not to get a flat tyre or some breakdown. Once reaching Haldwani you would feel how good the roads in hills are, far better than those in plains. We followed the road that leads to Ranikhet, Almora till Khairana bridge there the roads split, one leading to Ranikhet and the other to Almora. We reached Ranikhet around 11 AM and asked our way to the KMVN(Khumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam) Tourist Rest house. I usually prefer staying in Govt. guest houses unless they are in very bad state.
Ranikhet
The TRC(Tourist Rest Center) in Rankhet as in other places is situated in a very beautiful place with a great view ahead. Since this was off season the tarrif was discounted upto 40%. I got a decent stay at less than 600 Rs. Although I was so tired the air in the mountains sure does rejeuanate and was feeling very fresh. We planned ot do some sight seeing before it gets dark but My the cell in my car keys went dead and my Autocop alarm triggered and would not stop. I had kept the other key but the cell in that was dead as well. I forced opened by Car with my keys and then had to dis-arm the security systems. Without wasting any time(It would get dark very early in the mountains) we left for Choubatia gardens - Choubatia usually has apple plantations and various fruits available but since it was not the season we just had to look at the empty dry plants but the view from here was superb. You can see the himalayan ranges standing majestic ever soothing to your eyes. On the way back to guest house visited the Jhula Devi Temple. Since it was already getting dark we left for the Guesthouse. It was only now we came to know about the blasts in mumbai upon turning on the Television. Also visited the local market wherein you could get very good woolen items. Had our dinner and returned back to the Guest house.I was able to get a Guide Map of Uttrakhand here in the the TRC and our next destination was decided as Kausani.
The Next day we visited the KRC(Kumaon Regiment) Museum and the Shawl factory run by Armymen widows. We got ourselves some shawl and mufflers from there and returned back to pack our stuff and leave for Kausani. There were three different routes to Kausani from Ranikhet we preferred to take the less frequented one. Ranikhet- Gagas - Binta - Kausani.
Kausani
The route to Kausani was very scenic and coming across very small villages once in a while. In Kausani we preferred to take a private guest house instead of Government Rest house since in Kausani it was about staying in the room and enjoying the view rather than sight seeing. As in the case of government rest rooms Private hotels also provided Discounted rates due to the off-season. The rates can be well bargained. On the way we came across Suman Resorts and we picked this one for its view of the himalayan ranges from the hotel room. The hotel manager said normally it would cost 3200 but ws ready to give it for 50% discount for 1600. When we were about to leave he was ready to lessen it to 1300 and finally we took it for Rs.1200(Including tax).
In Kausani it was all about remaining in the room and enjoying the scenic beauty from the balcony. The 180 deg view of the himalayan ranges ahead is really enchanting where one can see a few well known peaks also. The snow clad mountains appears in different shades during the day. The shades vary from blue white to shimmering golden and red in the evening. The only place which was nearby was Baijnath Temple 20 kms from Kausani. Our next plan was to leave for Almora but visiting Baijnath and coming back all the way again and then travelling to Almora did not sound good to me. So we planned to take the Route Kausani - Baijnath 20 KM, Baijnath to Bageshwar 22 KM and Bhageshwar to Almora 79 Km Via Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Baijnath Temple
Baijnath Temple is 20 Kms from Kausani. The temple sits besides the banks of Gomti. and dates back to Pandava perios. This temple is under ASI(Archealogical Survey of India) preservation and renovation work is in progress. The view of himalayan ranges in the background is very good with the river on one side. The river has school of large fishes here and it is a tradition to feed these fishes.
Bhageshwar Temple
Bhageshwar is 22 Kms from Baijnath. This is a district and the temple here is also very old dating back to puranic times. The bhageshwar is on the banks of Gomti and Sarayu. The Route from Bhageshwar to Almora via Binsar Wild life sanctuary is approx 80 km long. This road is at present in renovation. So This part of the journey till almora was very hectic.
*Almora
*On the way from Bhageshwar to Almora falls the Chitay Temple. This temple is famous for the Bells the devotees tie here. The custom of tying bells in the temple to woo god to fullfill the prayers is very old. The temple is filled with Brass bells of all size the the devotees have tied till today. Along with the bells are neatly written application mentioning the requirements to the god. We reached Almora in the evening and took the Holiday home from KMVN. This guest house although not the best of its kind but I still preferred a govt. Guesthouse. In Almora we had nothing much to do but visit one of a family friends whom my wife knew 20 yrs ago.
We left Almora around 12 Noon and a 8 hours drive took us back to New Delhi.
Please Checkout my album for some of the snaps