Uttarakhand - The Summer Escapade - III


16th March, Thursday – Day 7:

Snow at Khaliya Top
               A quick breakfast and tea, and we went off for the trek. We started our trek at 10 AM. There was another family with a guide. The guide advised us to eat the petals of a red flower, which had medicinal qualities. We plucked the flowers along the way, eating the petals. It was definitely effective. The trek was tiring, and we reached a resort midway during the climb at 12:30 PM. The resort was called Alpine resort, where we had a cup of tea and placed an order for lunch to be had on our way back. A bit of snow was visible now, as we continued our climb. We finally reached the top at 2 PM. It was covered in snow, and in my excitement, I picked some up, and stepped right into one foot of snow! My hands were numb, and I could hardly operate the camera – frost bite. We started descending as it started to snow. By the time we reached the resort, the snowfall got heavier. It was my first experience, and I could not stay indoors! It was a fascinating experience! Lunch was hot, and delicious.

Jump shot - Photo by Kiran Karnati
               After lunch, we continued our return journey despite the snow. Slipping and sliding on the ice, we reached the base by 3:30 PM. There was no snowfall at the base, but it had rained. We returned to the hotel. My hands were swollen as we got down, but they were back to normal in a while.

               There was no electricity throughout the night, but the sky had cleared, and it was full of stars, twinkling! We stayed up till late, talking about a lot of things before finally dozing off.

17th March, Friday – Day 8:

The Panchchuli peaks
               Breakfast consisted of Maggi, omelettes and the mandatory cup of tea. We said our good byes to the guy at the hotel and proceeded to Kausani. We went to Nanda Devi temple on the way, from where the Himalayas were visible as the sky was clear of clouds. After a photo session, we continued to Kausani. Munsiyari had exceeded expectations, and we were glad that we’d made the journey.
Nanda Devi temple
              On the way to Kausani, we visited the Baijnath temple. It was actually a group of temples, ancient ones. An interesting part about the temple was a 90 kg rock which could be lifted easily by a technique using just 9 index fingers but it a single person couldn't lift it using both hands. We thought it was a gimmick till we tried it ourselves with another group of tourists.

Baijnath temples
               Kausani was at a lower altitude, around 150 kms from Munsiyari. There were tea gardens and a beautiful landscape to go with it. Our stay was at Hill Palace, and we reached there by 5 PM. There was a cricket match showing on TV, and we sat watching it till late night. There wasn’t a lot of sightseeing today.


 18th March, Saturday – Day 9:

Golf course, Ranikhet
               Next morning, we purchased shawls from a nearby shop, and started for Ranikhet. Ranikhet has a military cantonment area. Our stay was supposed to be at Haldwani, from where we would get on a train to Delhi. At Ranikhet, we visited Kalika temple, and the golf course. The golf course was beautiful, and we spent some time there before leaving for Bhimtal. At Bhimtal, we visited the Sattal lake, and a few other places, and left for Haldwani. Haldwani was crowded, and dull after what we had seen across the state. After roaming the streets for a while, and trying some street food, we returned to our hotel, packed our stuff and slept off. The next day would be the last day of our action-packed vacation.

19th March, Sunday – Day 10:

Sattal lake, Bhimtal
               I was up by 6 AM. We reached the railway station by 8:30 AM, and the train arrived at 9. The train journey was uneventful, and we reached Delhi by 4 PM. We had our lunch at this restaurant in Connaught place called ‘Sandoz’. The food tasted great, and we were fit to burst by the time we finished. We reached the airport by 7 PM and boarded the flight by 9. I started reading and dozed off after a while. I never realized when we landed at Mumbai.

Tea, a ray of hope
               On the cab from airport to home, we sat talking about the experience, the journey. It was one of my best travel experiences. The eyes get used to the landscapes after a while, and it takes a while to accept the concrete jungle again. The mountains to the city are similar to what a vacation is to the office desk. You always enjoy your holidays because you have a desk job. Vacations are not a pleasure if they are forever!

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