It was Dushera, which meant a
welcome holiday amidst the long six-day work weeks at the factory. We decided to get
away from civilization, which is quite a natural feeling when you are in the
land of Forests and Factories - Uttaranchal. Our shortlisted options this time consisted
of a Touch&Come overnight Dehradun trip or a drive to the picturesque forests
of Ranikhet or the small temple-hill town of Mukteshwar about 85 km from Haldwani.
Finally the Atheist in me lost and we decided to visit Mukteshwar.
Getting up at 6am on a Sunday is
possible only when you have joined a coaching class at Dadar or for an exam at 7am
in a B-School or when an interesting new place is lined up for travel. Thankfully this time it
was the most pleasant one of the three. Leaving by 7.15am, we hit NH87 and took
the detour off the Nainital road towards Bhimtal. Even the off-roads are great,
which should come as no surprise if you have already entered Uttaranchal from
UP. We drove for an hour and got a bit bored of the chilly weather making us
sluggish. The car parked safely, we began a small, half an hour trek through
the beautiful trees and the comforting sunshine.
With some warmth in the bones, we
drove on for another half an hour past some breathtaking scenery devoid of any
human beings in the entire horizon. Uttaranchal is blessed. Period.
We drove near the Bhimtal Lake
where we had been just a week ago and headed to the small town called Bhowali. After
a short breakfast stop at a very cozy place overlooking the valley, called George’s,
we took the road towards Ramgarh which happens not to be the one from Sholay.
Duh!
Enroute the hills, a sudden
moment of sanity made us realize how fucked up we were with the Fuel indicator
at one stick. Thanks to some pretty awesome ‘Crisis Management’, 7 Bisleri
bottles (filled with a suspected 33% Petrol, 33% Kerosene, 33%
No-One-Knows-What) were purchased for 100 bucks each just to Play Safe. Finally
we reached the temple at 11am and expected to see a grand 350 year old Shiva
temple. Reality as often the case is a letdown of epic proportions. Not choosing
to capture the disappointment of the small temple structure, we captured this
view looking down from the temple.
The rocky cliff seen above is the
famous Chauli ki Jaali, where legend has it that women who take out their head
out of some hole amidst the rocks is blessed with a baby. Of course we headed
out there immediately, our reasons being only slightly different – Rappelling and
Rock Climbing.
The cliff has a safe height of
20m fit for adventure after which it becomes dangerous. Spending about 45 min and Rs. 800 for two people for both activities, we drove away from the temple
to explore the ‘main market’ of Mukteshwar which had exactly 4 shops and a
restaurant. No trip to a hill station is complete without having Maggi, and
this one was no different! We drove past the Indian Veterinary Research Institute
(IVRI) where we came across a rather interesting sign board.
Since there was not much to be done on the way back, we decided to stop randomly at places, clicking and enjoying beautiful sceneries like this one below.
When the mood gets a bit cranky,
nothing like Chocolate to get things back. A European styled shop
claiming to offer local made chocolate at rates upto Rs. 1800/kg made us salivate
and sure enough we bought the costliest chocolate at the store.
After driving on for a further
hour, we finally stopped at a ‘Tea Factory’ sign board which lead us on a half
a km downhill detour through some of the most amazing Shire-like (LOTR) homes. The
factory was not in operation that day but the shop and the Tea Gardens were
open to visitors (possibly just the two of us in the whole day). Though the
Himalayas aren't really known for its Tea plantations, the sights were just as
pretty as the Nilgiri ones.
Already tired with the trekking, rappelling,
rock climbing and the walking around, we decided to drive to Bhowali and then
through Sattal, yet another lake in the Nainital district. Though nothing extraordinary,
the lake was again pristine with just one other gang around. On the way back, for
the first time in the day, navigation on Google Maps ditched us and the path
shown ahead turned out to be a non-drivable, walk-only road. This resulted in a 15 min extra drive and we reached Haldwani at 7.30pm.
The day had just got more
interesting for my partner-in-crime as Firefox had opened an outlet in Haldwani
barely 24hr ago. With her long intended Firefox Target 21 speed All Terrain
Bike being available, Rs.20,000 quickly exchanged hands and the result was one
beaming kiddo. The night was then aptly concluded at midnight continuing from its early
morning temple start, with the roadside Ramleela at Kathgodam. We in our metros
can never challenge the sights and spirits of a small town where the whole
family enthusiastically turns up in their festive attire to watch the same 3hr
Ramleela year after year. Perhaps our materialistic world would do well to ask
itself some of the questions we have forgotten to ask ourselves over time. Why do we exist in the first place, for
example.. The answer that we find out, might well be - Traveling!
Photos: Galaxy Note 2
