Uttarakhand - The Summer Escapade - I




10th March, Friday – Day 1:
               Our flight to Delhi was at 5:45 PM. I left office at 3, met Ashwin and Kiran at the airport by 4, purchased a copy of ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ and got on the flight. The take-off was delayed by an hour, and by the time we landed at Delhi, it was 9 PM.

Lakshmanjhula
               I was supposed to book a train to Haridwar from Delhi, but I booked it for the wrong date, and we had to take the bus instead. The cab journey from airport to the bus stop was eventful too. The traffic on the way was blocked for an hour or so, because a VIP had to pass by! It had ‘Welcome to Delhi’ written all over it! The bus was just about to leave when we reached the bus stop. It didn’t though, and we were able to get in. It was a 5-hour journey to Haridwar from Delhi, and the bus was reasonably comfortable.

11th March, Saturday – Day 2:

               It was 4:30 AM when we got off at Haridwar. Our hotel ‘Madhuban’ was a kilometre away from our dropping point, and we preferred to walk. It was in the area opposite to the railway station, but it took us some time to find it. On reaching the hotel, we were informed that we couldn’t have a room before the check-in time i.e. 10:30 AM. So we freshened up at a place provided by the guy at the reception, and went off for breakfast. Aloo Paratha was the norm here. Over breakfast, we decided to leave for Rishikesh right away in a cab. It was an hour’s drive to Rishikesh, and on reaching, we made bookings for river-rafting. After a local tour of the Lakshman Jhula and a few temples, we were back for the rafting. It was 24-kms long, and we were joined by two tourists and two instructors. We even got off into the river at one point, and the water was icy-cold. But it was fun!

River rafting - Photo by FLYVIDEOS
               After the rafting, we went for lunch at a local dhaba and returned to the hotel by 4:30 PM. We went to witness the Ganga Aarti at 6 PM, but it was very crowded. I could hardly get a glimpse of the aarti so I went off to click pictures of the Ganges in the opposite direction. We roamed in the market place for a while after the Aarti, and went off to visit one of Ashwin’s cousins. Even though we had eaten a heavy lunch, we couldn’t resist gorging on the delicious food there. We were sleepy by the time we reached the hotel. Slept like a log, the next day we were supposed to leave for Jim Corbett National Park.

12th March, Sunday – Day 3:

Ganga at Haridwar
               After breakfast, we took a bus to Ramnagar, which the entry point for Corbett National Park. The bus driver didn’t really care that there were people in the bus. He was driving as if it was loaded with grain sacks. We got off at Kashipur from where we had to take another bus for Ramnagar. Our hotel,  ‘Corbett Deer’s Home’, was the last hotel in Dhikuli village, around 10 kms from Ramnagar. We took an auto for Rs. 200. Since the pickup for the safari was only in Ramnagar, we asked the jeep guy to pick us up from the hotel for 600 bucks. He agreed. We went out for dinner, came back and slept early. The pickup was at 6 AM.

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