THE UTTARANCHAL TRIP
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My parents, my wife Suma and I visited Uttaranchal hill stations and New Delhi from 9-May-06 to 17-May-06. My impressions about our tour are written below in a day-by-day account.
DAY 1, Tuesday, 09-May-06, New Delhi
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On the previous day, I attended a training at work and came back home directly. For once, I did something right :-) The amount of packing that needed to be done was significant. As a wise guy remarked "If it were not for the last moment, nothing would ever get done" :-)) The toothbrushes, the shaving kit, the combs, etc. were packed in the early morning of Tuesday, 9-May. The Sahara flight was at 7:30 a.m. and we planned to leave home at 6:00 a.m. This meant that all of us were up by 5:00 a.m., no mean feat for me !!
By 6:00 we were more or less ready. Since the clock was ticking away, Suma suggested that I could tie my shoes in the cab that we had ordered to go to the airport. We were all used to reading and hearing about the notorious traffic log jams on Airport Road. It pleases me to say that at 6:15 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, there was indeed minimal traffic on Airport Road ! We reached the airport at 6:35 a.m. and duly checked in. By 7:00, we had the boarding cards in our hands, the security check was done and two suitcases were sent in and we relaxed on the airport chairs. There was a 15 minutes delay to our flight and we saw the first bus load of passengers of our flight depart.
It was too good to be true ..... in fact, it wasn't ..... true, I mean :-)) The bus load of passengers who had left earlier returned and the Sahara representatives said that due to a "technical snag", the flight would be delayed by 30 minutes more. A couple of men who were on professional travel took serious exception to this delay. One of them in particular demanded what the snag was and asked if the flight would indeed take off in 45 minutes. The Sahara staff did their best to convince him that it would, but the professional had seen similar "delays" earlier.
After he kept up the pressure, the Sahara flight confabulated among themselves and said that alternative arrangements would be made for the passengers of our flight ! We were informed that most likely, our flight would not take off. We had picked up small coffee cups with a big price tag of Rs. 30 each. Taking these cups and sipping coffee, I went back outside the security area, stood in the Sahara queue. My parents and Suma got back our suitcases. Passengers who had a flight to catch were put on a Jet flight at 9:30. We were not in that privileged class. We got tickets for the 12:15 Sahara flight which was already 20 minutes delayed.
Collecting those boarding cards, we sat down and waited for breakfast. Suma listened to FM on her mobile, the first time that it was useful ! My parents read a magazine and the newspaper and now that the tension had passed, I busied myself looking at the travellers in the airport. At 11:30, it felt like deja vu as we repeated the security check. I could see that two other couples who were also waiting from the morning had the same question as I had : "Will the flight take off this time ?!"
This time, the answer was yes. At 12:45 pm were inside the Sahara flight and half an hour later, we were air borne, finally off for New Delhi. The tour had begun on an ominous note.
It was 4:15 p.m. when we came outside the New Delhi airport. The temperature was a searing 40 degrees, as the television channels would report that night. The taxi we had arranged had an A/C and it was welcome for us. Our young driver drove to Hotel Clarke International in Karol Bagh.
The cold water we drank and the cool room revived us. After resting for half an hour or so, we left to see whatever we could of New Delhi. The roads of the city are broad and there are few cross roads to the main roads there, unlike Bangalore. The other highlight of the city is the number of roundabouts. We saw the talked about Delhi Metro and its swanky looking stations as we reached Red Fort.
The Red Fort has seen a lot of history. As a monument, it stands proud in solitary splendour among the other Old Delhi monuments of historical interest. The high ceilings and the lawns in the fort made the place a little cooler. We saw the son-et-lumiere (sound and light) show at the fort. Using coloured lighting and loud speakers, we got an idea of the grandeur of the Red Fort in its halcyon days and also an idea of the lavish Mughal lifestyle. The other thing that I got an idea of was the number of mosquitoes in Delhi ! It seemed that most of those had come to Red Fort to add to the "sound" part of the sound and light show :-) Further, it seemed that most of THOSE mosquitoes that had come had taken a particular liking to my ankle and feet :-)
At the end of the hour long show, we had a good idea of Mughal history and how the Red Fort has been a witness to events of great significance. All in all, the Rs. 50 paid for the ticket was worth it.
DAY 2, Wednesday, 10-May-06, Corbett National Park
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Suma and I got up at 6:20 a.m. so that we could leave early for Corbett National Park. All of us ate a hearty breakfast of cornflakes, parathas, curds and sandwiches. It was to be our "way of working" for the next week: start the day with a heavy breakfast, eat a late and light lunch, wash the lunch down with either jal jeera or lassi or fresh lime soda and end the day with a substantial dinner. We met our driver Bahadur, a gem of a man after we checked out from Clarke.
Bahadur is not only a skilful driver for the Uttaranchal hills, he is also rather knowledgeable about the people and places there. Best of all, he also understood us well : he would stop at clean hotels and also at less popular places where the scenery was good, be ready on time and grant all our requests of stopping wherever we asked him to. In my view, one of the reasons why we enjoyed the trip was because of Bahadur and his guidance.
To me the high point of the day was the drive from Delhi to Corbett National Park. We went via Akshardham temple, Ghaziabad and by passed Hapur. The roads were simply amazing. The tolled road that is NH 24 is a pleasure to drive. After we passed Gajraula, we stopped for tea at Reliance A1 plaza. This is yet another thing that Dhirubhai Ambani and his sons deserve credit for ! The hotel is clean, the toilets are clean and if required, one can also shower there ! I hope that such hotels should become the norm on our national highways.
We reached Corbett at around 2:30 p.m. after passing Kashipur and Ramnagar. After eating lunch in the manner of famished wolves devouring their kill (!!) and resting for a little while, we were ready for an evening trip.
We went to the Garji Devi temple on the river Kosi. Each temple in Uttaranchal that is more than 100 years old, it seems, has a colourful legend associated with it. In this case, Bahadur said that the river Kosi was in spate once upon a time, flooding the places close by. At that time, the Devi said that if a temple is constructed in the river, the floods would recede. So that is how the temple came up, smack in the middle of the course of the Kosi. We approached it via a bridge and climbed the steps and paid our homage to the goddess.
After the long drive, we had a good night's sleep. Of course, all of us slept early since the early morning safari next day was planned for an unearthly 4:45 a.m. !
DAY 3, Thursday, 11-May-06, The sighting and Ranikhet
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The bed tea came promptly at 4:45 a.m. as requested. Much to our surprise, there was an early morning rain. The Holy Grail of the Corbett national park is the tiger. The previous evening, we learnt that there were 4 entrances to the park and that we would have to take our chances from one of them. There were stories told of how people (foreigners, mainly) waited in machans (platforms) waiting for the elusive tiger for days.
Climbing into a well worn Gypsy jeep, we left with a driver to see which entrance we could enter from. The early morning was cool and we were set with our eyes on high alert for any yellow moving object that even remotely resembled the tiger ! Birdsong was in the air as dawn broke over the national park. Our driver doubled as a guide and pointed out and named a few birds. Our eyes used to the city took some time to catch where he pointed and when one of us did see it, we passed on the co-ordinates to the rest ! It was fun.
My mother was sitting in the front of the jeep with the driver. As there was a clear stretch of land, I was also looking at the road. Purely by chance, I saw something yellow that was definitely bigger than a dog cross the road and jump into the sparse vegetation by the side. Our driver said "Tiger, tiger". Even before the import of this message had fully registered, the beast had disappeared into the vegetation. Suma and my father looked eagerly for the animal, but the sighting was not meant to be for them, unfortunately.
Our driver excitedly asked us "Did you see it ma'am ? What about you sir ? It was a huge animal and he crossed the road in a single bound". My own impressions of the animal was that it was not a fully grown creature yet .... but then, this is how legends are made, I guess ! When we did come to the entrance of the park, our driver told the other jeeps about our sighting. Reality and exaggeration blended and in my own mind, I re-live that instant. It was too fast for us to capture in our digital cameras, but the image in my mind remains. .... And maybe, after hearing the driver, the image has also changed ! This is how legend and mythology are born ! Reality and imagination combine to create a powerful imagined reality :-))
Whatever it is, I can honestly say that I saw a tiger that day ! In the actual safari, we saw exotic birds like the paradise flycatcher swim through the air, peacocks, wild boars, a jungle fox and spotted deer. If I have to compare our trip to a meal, the tiger was the main course. The rest, in comparison, were merely the "side dishes" !
Normally, the safari lasts until 9:00 a.m. Since we also had to travel to Ranikhet and also since we had partaken of our "main course" (the tiger !), we ended it by 8:30 itself. After breakfast, we bade good bye to the luxurious cottages, the mango trees and the flowers that made up the resort we stayed in Corbett national park.
On the way to Ranikhet, we saw preparations for at least two Kumaoni weddings. We saw a bride all made up in the Kumaoni bridal finery sitting by the wayside waiting for the "baaraath" to come. Though the distance between Corbett national park and Ranikhet is not much, the hilly terrain made it a longer journey than expected. We reached Ranikhet at around 2:30 p.m.
In our respective rooms, we stretched our legs until evening. Bahadur then took us to an apple garden. It was just before closing time and one guide volunteered to show us around the garden. He showed us sal, pine, the weeping willow and deodhar trees. We also saw apple, peach and other fruit trees in the garden. Even as he spoke, we saw ominous looking black clouds head our way. I took photos of the lovely valley and we concluded our garden visit. Next, we saw a temple of the Shakti goddess full of bells. The belief here is that if a wish is fulfilled, one has to tie a bell at the temple. There were literally hundreds of bells.
After we returned to our hotel, Suma and I went for a walk to pick up a lock for one of the suitcases. The dark clouds that we had seen earlier were now pretty much upon us. All shop owners closed their doors and said that a storm was coming. Ranikhet has a singe main road and we were on it. When we left the hotel, it looked like a quaint, "hill-stationish" main road. Now with the rain beginning to pour, the road seemed like it went on for ever !! The power went off and we stood for a while under a shop. When the rain reduced, Suma and I walked quickly towards the hotel. We were drenched, but refreshed. The soup that we drank that evening for dinner tasted extra special !!
DAYS 4 and 5, Friday and Saturday, 12 and 13-May-06, Kausani
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I usually go out for a walk in the mornings whenever I am at a hill station or on vacation, visiting a new place. When I woke up on 12-May, dawn was just breaking. I went for a walk on the same main road that Suma and I were caught in the night earlier. The view of the sunrise from our balcony was nice and even during my week, I took a couple of photos in the digital camera. After I returned, in moments, the sky changed its colours. Dark, greyish black clouds came in from one side, obscuring the light. The sight was something special : it started raining and we heard the school children and shop owners below say that it looked like 8:30 in the evening ! My father remarked that apocalypse ("pralaya") must look something like this. Truly, the clouds made for a fearsome sight.
The hotel at Ranikhet was pretty ordinary. After breakfast, we left for Kausani and the hotel here was something out of the ordinary ! From the back of the hotel, we could see hill ranges. The window from our room opened into this view and it was a refreshing one.
That Friday evening, we went for a walk. At one view point, we saw ranges of hills one behind the other. Just next to our hotel was the Anushakti Ashram where Gandhiji had stayed. We went in and like us there were other tourists as well. Every day, there is a prayer meeting and visitors are invited to sing bhajans. One Gujarati group and a Bangla family sang bhajans, making the evening an introspective and spiritual one. All four of us felt out of place since we did not sing any Kannada bhajans !
The next day, I had set the alarm early at 5:15 a.m. since I was told that dawn came early in Kasauni. The manager called my parents and told them to see the sunrise. After quite a few days, the sunrise was visible, he told my father. Clouds had obscured it the days before. We made this trip mainly since my father wanted to see the Himalayan range. In that sunrise that day, his wish was fulfilled. He saw the sun etch out the outline of the Himalayan range as it rose beyond the peaks. The effect was pure magic. Unfortunately, in the Nikon camera he has, the moment was not captured.
By the time I took photos during my walk, the sun had risen and the first rays had shone on the Himalayas a few minutes earlier. Still, that dawn and that morning walk are again a couple of precious memories in my mind. Suma joined me later for a second walk and we climbed a small hillock. On our way back, we drank masala tea from a tea stall served in a glass. The tea was the most delicious that I would taste during my tour !
After breakfast, we visited a tea estate and then went to Baijnath temple complex. On the way, Bahadur pointed out the snow capped Himalayas. Finally, there it was, to my satisfaction ! The white snow capped peaks of Nanda Devi and Trishul could be clearly seen. I took a photo, of course ! We proceeded to Baijnath, already satisfied ! This temple complex was constructed between 900 to 1000 A. D. and looks that old. One temple in the complex is bent. The legend is that this is the temple from where Shiva's "baarath" set out. The Gomti river flows along the complex and there are fish that can be fed. One boy selling rice which can be fed to the fish cheekily remarked that there were fish in the river bigger than he was ! We didn't see it, though !
What we did see was a round stone that nine of us lifted by the crooks of our forefingers. Later, the stone proved to be quite a weight to lift for one man to lift. I don't know what trick of physics or geometry the rock had, but it provided an interesting topic for us to talk over ! We went to the confluence ("sangam") of Gomti and Sarayu rivers at Bageshwar next. The place is dirty and I have nothing to write about it. After returning, eating lunch and resting for a while, we went for a walk in the evening.
The next day, clouds obscured the sun rise. After breakfast, we left for Naini Tal.
DAYS 6 and 7, Sunday and Monday, 14 and 15-May-06, Naini Tal
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Murphy's law struck us when we left for Naini Tal. We had a tyre puncture bang in the middle of nowhere ! To top it all, it was Sunday and at the next village, the shop hadn't opened while there was no power also !! Bahadur was prepared though. He had brought not only a spare tyre but also a couple of tubes. He replaced the tyre and stopped at Kosi, where an enterprising tyre shop man had a compressor.
Bahadur readied all the tyres and I took the opportunity to click a couple of photos. We passed Almora and then the road was a series of curves. However, it was of good condition and a pleasure to drive on. We stopped for a tea break at Mendak Patthar ("Frog stone"). There is a stone that resembles a frog. There is a suspension bridge across a dry river that takes one to the restaurant. The view from the bridge is scenic, even in summer.
After that break, we stopped at a view point near Naini Tal. The view here was spectacular : a deep gorge, hills on either side and a range of hills beyond the gorge. The weather was also cool. We checked into Hotel Krishna in an upbeat mood. All hotels in Naini Tal overlook the Tal and ours was no exception. The path along the lake beyond which the hotels are built is called "The Mall". On the evening of Sunday, 14-May-06, we went for a boat ride along the lake.
Drawing the row boat must have been a demanding task for our boatman, with four of us in it. He took us around the lake and also talked about the lake, its 120 feet depth, etc. All along The Mall in the evening, the crowd was like any busy city street. We walked along The Mall to the Naini Devi temple. The legend here ? When Daksha, the father of Sati, consort of Shiva did not invite Shiva for a ritual, the angry daughtre Sati jumped into flames. A distraught Shiva carried her corpse and was inconsolable. The gods requested Vishnu to do something. Vishnu dismembered the corpse. Where the eyes of Naini fell, a lake sprung up - hence, Naini Tal ! What a terrible legend for such a peaceful place !
I went for a walk along Thandi Sadak, the side opposite to The Mall next morning. The walk around the lake took me 45 minutes and it is around 3 k.m. It was a good exercise. After breakfast, we went for a cable car ride. The ride itself is barely 5 minutes long. It is not that scary either, but it is a novely. Until March, one can see the Himalayas from Snow View point where the cable car takes us. Naini Tal looks gorgeous from top, a U-shaped lake.
Then, we drove to Bhim Tal. This lake is the longest one and also looks scenic. From there, we went to Naukuchiya Tal, the nine edged lake. Our final stop was Saath Tal, where Rama, Lakshman, Sita, etc. are supposed to have bathed. There are seven separate, small lakes, each seemingly isolated, yet all interconnected. After a late lunch at 3:00 p.m., we went for a walk on The Mall in the evening. Suma bought candles, which are famous in Naini Tal. She also purchased dress material since the prices in Bangalore are far more.
DAY 8, Tuesday, 16-May-06, New Delhi
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The next morning, we saw hardly anything when we woke up ! A cloud had engulfed the lake and we were right in the middle of it ! After breakfast, we left for New Delhi. Our trip had come to an end and the prospect of entering hot New Delhi after the cool morning only made it worse :-(
We left at 8:40 a.m. and soon crossed Haldwani. There were a few mango plantations that we saw on the way. There was one stretch after Haldwani when for nearly 2 k.m. there was not a single vehicle that crossed us ! However, all good things come to an end. So .....
.... at Bilaspur, we found that there was a narrow bridge. There was a bus driven by a Sardarji from our side and a massively loaded truck from the other side. It was a no contest. The bus driver had to come back, eventually. However, behind him there was another bus and a line of vehicles. The traffic was gridlocked and there was no way out ! Some lighter vehicles like our taxi went to the side and the bus finally came back. The massively loaded truck cleared the bridge and somehow made its way beyond us. Following it was a huge trail of vehicles.
Bahadur said that no policeman would venture to control this traffic. So it proved : the two policemen that we saw merely went on their way. Somebody on the other side had the sense to stop and after 35 minutes or so, our car inched ahead on the bridge. After that, it was smooth sailing, relatively speaking !! I had not put the A/c on until then, but after the frustrating wait at Bilaspur, I immediately put it on.
Again, we stopped at Reliance A1 Plaza at Gajraula for lunch. On the way to New Delhi, we went to Akshar Dham.Please visit http://www.akshardham.com (sorry, I am using Firefox and can't see the hyperlink button to create a hyperlink) to read more about the temple. It is a magnificient structure, superbly maintained. The security restrictions are also rather stringent. It was quite an experience.
By the time we reached Clarke International, it was 6:30 p.m. In the night, we saw India Gate and the Birla Lakshminarayan temple. This is also another clean temple.
DAY 9, Wednesday, 17-May-06, New Delhi
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The next morning, we checked out after breakfast. We visited Rajghat first. The lawns provide solace to the eyes there. We drove on Rajpath, saw Rashtrapati Bhavan, Sansad Bhavan and India Gate in daylight. Bahadur also showed us the embassies in Chanakyapuri. The area is clean and neat. We went to the Bahai Lotus Temple next. Our final stop was the Qutb Minar and the Iron pillar which hasn't rusted for hundreds of years.
After eating lunch, we went to the airport. This time our Sahara flight was only 20 minutes late and it did take off after that delay ! However, by the time we approached Bangalore, the weather conditions were not good and our pilot circled Bangalore at least thrice. When he did land, it was with a thud and the worst landing that I have experienced yet in the eight landings I recall !
It had rained in Bangalore and there were hailstones as well. After an eventful nine days of tour, it was good to be back home. Sure, there are traffic jams and power cuts and I won't hear birdsong in the morning. Still, "be it ever so humble, there is no place like home" !!
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NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
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===== COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS =====
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When I created my first blog, I thought I was
being clever by being "anonymous" and let my
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My parents, my wife Suma and I visited Uttaranchal hill stations and New Delhi from 9-May-06 to 17-May-06. My impressions about our tour are written below in a day-by-day account.
DAY 1, Tuesday, 09-May-06, New Delhi
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On the previous day, I attended a training at work and came back home directly. For once, I did something right :-) The amount of packing that needed to be done was significant. As a wise guy remarked "If it were not for the last moment, nothing would ever get done" :-)) The toothbrushes, the shaving kit, the combs, etc. were packed in the early morning of Tuesday, 9-May. The Sahara flight was at 7:30 a.m. and we planned to leave home at 6:00 a.m. This meant that all of us were up by 5:00 a.m., no mean feat for me !!
By 6:00 we were more or less ready. Since the clock was ticking away, Suma suggested that I could tie my shoes in the cab that we had ordered to go to the airport. We were all used to reading and hearing about the notorious traffic log jams on Airport Road. It pleases me to say that at 6:15 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, there was indeed minimal traffic on Airport Road ! We reached the airport at 6:35 a.m. and duly checked in. By 7:00, we had the boarding cards in our hands, the security check was done and two suitcases were sent in and we relaxed on the airport chairs. There was a 15 minutes delay to our flight and we saw the first bus load of passengers of our flight depart.
It was too good to be true ..... in fact, it wasn't ..... true, I mean :-)) The bus load of passengers who had left earlier returned and the Sahara representatives said that due to a "technical snag", the flight would be delayed by 30 minutes more. A couple of men who were on professional travel took serious exception to this delay. One of them in particular demanded what the snag was and asked if the flight would indeed take off in 45 minutes. The Sahara staff did their best to convince him that it would, but the professional had seen similar "delays" earlier.
After he kept up the pressure, the Sahara flight confabulated among themselves and said that alternative arrangements would be made for the passengers of our flight ! We were informed that most likely, our flight would not take off. We had picked up small coffee cups with a big price tag of Rs. 30 each. Taking these cups and sipping coffee, I went back outside the security area, stood in the Sahara queue. My parents and Suma got back our suitcases. Passengers who had a flight to catch were put on a Jet flight at 9:30. We were not in that privileged class. We got tickets for the 12:15 Sahara flight which was already 20 minutes delayed.
Collecting those boarding cards, we sat down and waited for breakfast. Suma listened to FM on her mobile, the first time that it was useful ! My parents read a magazine and the newspaper and now that the tension had passed, I busied myself looking at the travellers in the airport. At 11:30, it felt like deja vu as we repeated the security check. I could see that two other couples who were also waiting from the morning had the same question as I had : "Will the flight take off this time ?!"
This time, the answer was yes. At 12:45 pm were inside the Sahara flight and half an hour later, we were air borne, finally off for New Delhi. The tour had begun on an ominous note.
It was 4:15 p.m. when we came outside the New Delhi airport. The temperature was a searing 40 degrees, as the television channels would report that night. The taxi we had arranged had an A/C and it was welcome for us. Our young driver drove to Hotel Clarke International in Karol Bagh.
The cold water we drank and the cool room revived us. After resting for half an hour or so, we left to see whatever we could of New Delhi. The roads of the city are broad and there are few cross roads to the main roads there, unlike Bangalore. The other highlight of the city is the number of roundabouts. We saw the talked about Delhi Metro and its swanky looking stations as we reached Red Fort.
The Red Fort has seen a lot of history. As a monument, it stands proud in solitary splendour among the other Old Delhi monuments of historical interest. The high ceilings and the lawns in the fort made the place a little cooler. We saw the son-et-lumiere (sound and light) show at the fort. Using coloured lighting and loud speakers, we got an idea of the grandeur of the Red Fort in its halcyon days and also an idea of the lavish Mughal lifestyle. The other thing that I got an idea of was the number of mosquitoes in Delhi ! It seemed that most of those had come to Red Fort to add to the "sound" part of the sound and light show :-) Further, it seemed that most of THOSE mosquitoes that had come had taken a particular liking to my ankle and feet :-)
At the end of the hour long show, we had a good idea of Mughal history and how the Red Fort has been a witness to events of great significance. All in all, the Rs. 50 paid for the ticket was worth it.
DAY 2, Wednesday, 10-May-06, Corbett National Park
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Suma and I got up at 6:20 a.m. so that we could leave early for Corbett National Park. All of us ate a hearty breakfast of cornflakes, parathas, curds and sandwiches. It was to be our "way of working" for the next week: start the day with a heavy breakfast, eat a late and light lunch, wash the lunch down with either jal jeera or lassi or fresh lime soda and end the day with a substantial dinner. We met our driver Bahadur, a gem of a man after we checked out from Clarke.
Bahadur is not only a skilful driver for the Uttaranchal hills, he is also rather knowledgeable about the people and places there. Best of all, he also understood us well : he would stop at clean hotels and also at less popular places where the scenery was good, be ready on time and grant all our requests of stopping wherever we asked him to. In my view, one of the reasons why we enjoyed the trip was because of Bahadur and his guidance.
To me the high point of the day was the drive from Delhi to Corbett National Park. We went via Akshardham temple, Ghaziabad and by passed Hapur. The roads were simply amazing. The tolled road that is NH 24 is a pleasure to drive. After we passed Gajraula, we stopped for tea at Reliance A1 plaza. This is yet another thing that Dhirubhai Ambani and his sons deserve credit for ! The hotel is clean, the toilets are clean and if required, one can also shower there ! I hope that such hotels should become the norm on our national highways.
We reached Corbett at around 2:30 p.m. after passing Kashipur and Ramnagar. After eating lunch in the manner of famished wolves devouring their kill (!!) and resting for a little while, we were ready for an evening trip.
We went to the Garji Devi temple on the river Kosi. Each temple in Uttaranchal that is more than 100 years old, it seems, has a colourful legend associated with it. In this case, Bahadur said that the river Kosi was in spate once upon a time, flooding the places close by. At that time, the Devi said that if a temple is constructed in the river, the floods would recede. So that is how the temple came up, smack in the middle of the course of the Kosi. We approached it via a bridge and climbed the steps and paid our homage to the goddess.
After the long drive, we had a good night's sleep. Of course, all of us slept early since the early morning safari next day was planned for an unearthly 4:45 a.m. !
DAY 3, Thursday, 11-May-06, The sighting and Ranikhet
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The bed tea came promptly at 4:45 a.m. as requested. Much to our surprise, there was an early morning rain. The Holy Grail of the Corbett national park is the tiger. The previous evening, we learnt that there were 4 entrances to the park and that we would have to take our chances from one of them. There were stories told of how people (foreigners, mainly) waited in machans (platforms) waiting for the elusive tiger for days.
Climbing into a well worn Gypsy jeep, we left with a driver to see which entrance we could enter from. The early morning was cool and we were set with our eyes on high alert for any yellow moving object that even remotely resembled the tiger ! Birdsong was in the air as dawn broke over the national park. Our driver doubled as a guide and pointed out and named a few birds. Our eyes used to the city took some time to catch where he pointed and when one of us did see it, we passed on the co-ordinates to the rest ! It was fun.
My mother was sitting in the front of the jeep with the driver. As there was a clear stretch of land, I was also looking at the road. Purely by chance, I saw something yellow that was definitely bigger than a dog cross the road and jump into the sparse vegetation by the side. Our driver said "Tiger, tiger". Even before the import of this message had fully registered, the beast had disappeared into the vegetation. Suma and my father looked eagerly for the animal, but the sighting was not meant to be for them, unfortunately.
Our driver excitedly asked us "Did you see it ma'am ? What about you sir ? It was a huge animal and he crossed the road in a single bound". My own impressions of the animal was that it was not a fully grown creature yet .... but then, this is how legends are made, I guess ! When we did come to the entrance of the park, our driver told the other jeeps about our sighting. Reality and exaggeration blended and in my own mind, I re-live that instant. It was too fast for us to capture in our digital cameras, but the image in my mind remains. .... And maybe, after hearing the driver, the image has also changed ! This is how legend and mythology are born ! Reality and imagination combine to create a powerful imagined reality :-))
Whatever it is, I can honestly say that I saw a tiger that day ! In the actual safari, we saw exotic birds like the paradise flycatcher swim through the air, peacocks, wild boars, a jungle fox and spotted deer. If I have to compare our trip to a meal, the tiger was the main course. The rest, in comparison, were merely the "side dishes" !
Normally, the safari lasts until 9:00 a.m. Since we also had to travel to Ranikhet and also since we had partaken of our "main course" (the tiger !), we ended it by 8:30 itself. After breakfast, we bade good bye to the luxurious cottages, the mango trees and the flowers that made up the resort we stayed in Corbett national park.
On the way to Ranikhet, we saw preparations for at least two Kumaoni weddings. We saw a bride all made up in the Kumaoni bridal finery sitting by the wayside waiting for the "baaraath" to come. Though the distance between Corbett national park and Ranikhet is not much, the hilly terrain made it a longer journey than expected. We reached Ranikhet at around 2:30 p.m.
In our respective rooms, we stretched our legs until evening. Bahadur then took us to an apple garden. It was just before closing time and one guide volunteered to show us around the garden. He showed us sal, pine, the weeping willow and deodhar trees. We also saw apple, peach and other fruit trees in the garden. Even as he spoke, we saw ominous looking black clouds head our way. I took photos of the lovely valley and we concluded our garden visit. Next, we saw a temple of the Shakti goddess full of bells. The belief here is that if a wish is fulfilled, one has to tie a bell at the temple. There were literally hundreds of bells.
After we returned to our hotel, Suma and I went for a walk to pick up a lock for one of the suitcases. The dark clouds that we had seen earlier were now pretty much upon us. All shop owners closed their doors and said that a storm was coming. Ranikhet has a singe main road and we were on it. When we left the hotel, it looked like a quaint, "hill-stationish" main road. Now with the rain beginning to pour, the road seemed like it went on for ever !! The power went off and we stood for a while under a shop. When the rain reduced, Suma and I walked quickly towards the hotel. We were drenched, but refreshed. The soup that we drank that evening for dinner tasted extra special !!
DAYS 4 and 5, Friday and Saturday, 12 and 13-May-06, Kausani
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I usually go out for a walk in the mornings whenever I am at a hill station or on vacation, visiting a new place. When I woke up on 12-May, dawn was just breaking. I went for a walk on the same main road that Suma and I were caught in the night earlier. The view of the sunrise from our balcony was nice and even during my week, I took a couple of photos in the digital camera. After I returned, in moments, the sky changed its colours. Dark, greyish black clouds came in from one side, obscuring the light. The sight was something special : it started raining and we heard the school children and shop owners below say that it looked like 8:30 in the evening ! My father remarked that apocalypse ("pralaya") must look something like this. Truly, the clouds made for a fearsome sight.
The hotel at Ranikhet was pretty ordinary. After breakfast, we left for Kausani and the hotel here was something out of the ordinary ! From the back of the hotel, we could see hill ranges. The window from our room opened into this view and it was a refreshing one.
That Friday evening, we went for a walk. At one view point, we saw ranges of hills one behind the other. Just next to our hotel was the Anushakti Ashram where Gandhiji had stayed. We went in and like us there were other tourists as well. Every day, there is a prayer meeting and visitors are invited to sing bhajans. One Gujarati group and a Bangla family sang bhajans, making the evening an introspective and spiritual one. All four of us felt out of place since we did not sing any Kannada bhajans !
The next day, I had set the alarm early at 5:15 a.m. since I was told that dawn came early in Kasauni. The manager called my parents and told them to see the sunrise. After quite a few days, the sunrise was visible, he told my father. Clouds had obscured it the days before. We made this trip mainly since my father wanted to see the Himalayan range. In that sunrise that day, his wish was fulfilled. He saw the sun etch out the outline of the Himalayan range as it rose beyond the peaks. The effect was pure magic. Unfortunately, in the Nikon camera he has, the moment was not captured.
By the time I took photos during my walk, the sun had risen and the first rays had shone on the Himalayas a few minutes earlier. Still, that dawn and that morning walk are again a couple of precious memories in my mind. Suma joined me later for a second walk and we climbed a small hillock. On our way back, we drank masala tea from a tea stall served in a glass. The tea was the most delicious that I would taste during my tour !
After breakfast, we visited a tea estate and then went to Baijnath temple complex. On the way, Bahadur pointed out the snow capped Himalayas. Finally, there it was, to my satisfaction ! The white snow capped peaks of Nanda Devi and Trishul could be clearly seen. I took a photo, of course ! We proceeded to Baijnath, already satisfied ! This temple complex was constructed between 900 to 1000 A. D. and looks that old. One temple in the complex is bent. The legend is that this is the temple from where Shiva's "baarath" set out. The Gomti river flows along the complex and there are fish that can be fed. One boy selling rice which can be fed to the fish cheekily remarked that there were fish in the river bigger than he was ! We didn't see it, though !
What we did see was a round stone that nine of us lifted by the crooks of our forefingers. Later, the stone proved to be quite a weight to lift for one man to lift. I don't know what trick of physics or geometry the rock had, but it provided an interesting topic for us to talk over ! We went to the confluence ("sangam") of Gomti and Sarayu rivers at Bageshwar next. The place is dirty and I have nothing to write about it. After returning, eating lunch and resting for a while, we went for a walk in the evening.
The next day, clouds obscured the sun rise. After breakfast, we left for Naini Tal.
DAYS 6 and 7, Sunday and Monday, 14 and 15-May-06, Naini Tal
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Murphy's law struck us when we left for Naini Tal. We had a tyre puncture bang in the middle of nowhere ! To top it all, it was Sunday and at the next village, the shop hadn't opened while there was no power also !! Bahadur was prepared though. He had brought not only a spare tyre but also a couple of tubes. He replaced the tyre and stopped at Kosi, where an enterprising tyre shop man had a compressor.
Bahadur readied all the tyres and I took the opportunity to click a couple of photos. We passed Almora and then the road was a series of curves. However, it was of good condition and a pleasure to drive on. We stopped for a tea break at Mendak Patthar ("Frog stone"). There is a stone that resembles a frog. There is a suspension bridge across a dry river that takes one to the restaurant. The view from the bridge is scenic, even in summer.
After that break, we stopped at a view point near Naini Tal. The view here was spectacular : a deep gorge, hills on either side and a range of hills beyond the gorge. The weather was also cool. We checked into Hotel Krishna in an upbeat mood. All hotels in Naini Tal overlook the Tal and ours was no exception. The path along the lake beyond which the hotels are built is called "The Mall". On the evening of Sunday, 14-May-06, we went for a boat ride along the lake.
Drawing the row boat must have been a demanding task for our boatman, with four of us in it. He took us around the lake and also talked about the lake, its 120 feet depth, etc. All along The Mall in the evening, the crowd was like any busy city street. We walked along The Mall to the Naini Devi temple. The legend here ? When Daksha, the father of Sati, consort of Shiva did not invite Shiva for a ritual, the angry daughtre Sati jumped into flames. A distraught Shiva carried her corpse and was inconsolable. The gods requested Vishnu to do something. Vishnu dismembered the corpse. Where the eyes of Naini fell, a lake sprung up - hence, Naini Tal ! What a terrible legend for such a peaceful place !
I went for a walk along Thandi Sadak, the side opposite to The Mall next morning. The walk around the lake took me 45 minutes and it is around 3 k.m. It was a good exercise. After breakfast, we went for a cable car ride. The ride itself is barely 5 minutes long. It is not that scary either, but it is a novely. Until March, one can see the Himalayas from Snow View point where the cable car takes us. Naini Tal looks gorgeous from top, a U-shaped lake.
Then, we drove to Bhim Tal. This lake is the longest one and also looks scenic. From there, we went to Naukuchiya Tal, the nine edged lake. Our final stop was Saath Tal, where Rama, Lakshman, Sita, etc. are supposed to have bathed. There are seven separate, small lakes, each seemingly isolated, yet all interconnected. After a late lunch at 3:00 p.m., we went for a walk on The Mall in the evening. Suma bought candles, which are famous in Naini Tal. She also purchased dress material since the prices in Bangalore are far more.
DAY 8, Tuesday, 16-May-06, New Delhi
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The next morning, we saw hardly anything when we woke up ! A cloud had engulfed the lake and we were right in the middle of it ! After breakfast, we left for New Delhi. Our trip had come to an end and the prospect of entering hot New Delhi after the cool morning only made it worse :-(
We left at 8:40 a.m. and soon crossed Haldwani. There were a few mango plantations that we saw on the way. There was one stretch after Haldwani when for nearly 2 k.m. there was not a single vehicle that crossed us ! However, all good things come to an end. So .....
.... at Bilaspur, we found that there was a narrow bridge. There was a bus driven by a Sardarji from our side and a massively loaded truck from the other side. It was a no contest. The bus driver had to come back, eventually. However, behind him there was another bus and a line of vehicles. The traffic was gridlocked and there was no way out ! Some lighter vehicles like our taxi went to the side and the bus finally came back. The massively loaded truck cleared the bridge and somehow made its way beyond us. Following it was a huge trail of vehicles.
Bahadur said that no policeman would venture to control this traffic. So it proved : the two policemen that we saw merely went on their way. Somebody on the other side had the sense to stop and after 35 minutes or so, our car inched ahead on the bridge. After that, it was smooth sailing, relatively speaking !! I had not put the A/c on until then, but after the frustrating wait at Bilaspur, I immediately put it on.
Again, we stopped at Reliance A1 Plaza at Gajraula for lunch. On the way to New Delhi, we went to Akshar Dham.Please visit http://www.akshardham.com (sorry, I am using Firefox and can't see the hyperlink button to create a hyperlink) to read more about the temple. It is a magnificient structure, superbly maintained. The security restrictions are also rather stringent. It was quite an experience.
By the time we reached Clarke International, it was 6:30 p.m. In the night, we saw India Gate and the Birla Lakshminarayan temple. This is also another clean temple.
DAY 9, Wednesday, 17-May-06, New Delhi
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The next morning, we checked out after breakfast. We visited Rajghat first. The lawns provide solace to the eyes there. We drove on Rajpath, saw Rashtrapati Bhavan, Sansad Bhavan and India Gate in daylight. Bahadur also showed us the embassies in Chanakyapuri. The area is clean and neat. We went to the Bahai Lotus Temple next. Our final stop was the Qutb Minar and the Iron pillar which hasn't rusted for hundreds of years.
After eating lunch, we went to the airport. This time our Sahara flight was only 20 minutes late and it did take off after that delay ! However, by the time we approached Bangalore, the weather conditions were not good and our pilot circled Bangalore at least thrice. When he did land, it was with a thud and the worst landing that I have experienced yet in the eight landings I recall !
It had rained in Bangalore and there were hailstones as well. After an eventful nine days of tour, it was good to be back home. Sure, there are traffic jams and power cuts and I won't hear birdsong in the morning. Still, "be it ever so humble, there is no place like home" !!
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NOTE:
I had originally written this blog in another site. Since that site is no longer accessible, I am uploading it in this blog at http://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.in/ using the same date as the original blog dates.
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===== COMMON TEXT FOR ALL BLOGS =====
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