The Day I Realised That I Am Alive: October 2014

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

VIJAYPUR VIA RANIKHET-THE SECOND DAY (XXII)

Day-2

Ranikhet-Vinta-Someshwar-Kausani-Baijnath-Bageshwar-Kanda-Vijaypur

We started at around 10.00 am from Ranikhet and reached Vijaypur at 4.00 pm.

First Stop- In between we stopped to have tea and Maggie at Kausani- a hub of tea plantation. Their tea had a unique taste- it had a little tinch of coffee, it tasted little like coffee and had a little fragrance of coffee.It was amazing.

Tea stall Uncle who prepared such delicious tea and Maggie

and his cute little pets

The clever one who took his biscuit which was offered by us and went behind the bushes

On the way I was clicking pictures of the tea plantation and nurseries from the moving car. At one sight I saw few people working at a nursery with flowers around them and when I raised my camera to click the snap one guy amongst them started setting his hair as if getting ready for a pose. It was hilarious. I laughed and he smiled at me.

Second Stop

We stopped at beautiful Baijnath temple, situated at the banks of Gomti river, some 8-9 kms before our final destination. The only temple where I could see the sculpture of standing Pavati.

temple situated at the bank of Gomti river

The Chestnut Grove

We finally reached our destination - the beautiful Chestnut Grove at 4.00 pm. We received the warm welcome from Vivek and Sameer and Vivek's father. We entered our room and I was surprised to see the room made up of cane, cane being my favourite. I always wish to have cane furniture in my home. It has that artistic and rustic look. The cottage was surrounded by forest.

"Here luxury is our time"- said Vivek to which Sameer nodded. Indeed, they gave their full attention and time to us and their travel stories mesmerized me. Hearing them I felt that this life is not enough to travel and see everything and there is still so much left.

Vivek's dad, about 70 years old, retired Army Officer, was so active that a young person could get complex seeing him. He was taking care of all our meals and he used to run on mountains as if walking on plains. He was one inspiring personality.

Bonfire and antakshari at night was additional fun.

In front of our room

Chestnut Grove

Monday, October 6, 2014

VIJAYPUR VIA RANIKHET- THE FIRST DAY (XXI)

2nd October, 2014- 5th October, 2014

Day-1

Delhi-Nizamuddin Bridge– UP Border-Hapur-Garh Ganga-Gajraula-Joya-Moradabad By pass-Rampur-Bilaspur - Rudrapur - Haldwani-Bhimtal - Ranikhet

The reason why I am starting this post with directions is because this was my first road trip to Himalayas without any professional driver, where my friend was driving his car and me acting as the navigator. The first trip, where I didn't sleep (I could not sleep) in the car during the whole journey of 1000 kms and was constantly looking at map,directions, the local boards and relying on the helpful people around us.

So, it all started with looking for a peaceful getaway from Delhi for the long October weekend. A struggle between 100 destinations starting from 200 kms around Delhi finally lead to one- Vijaypur, Uttrakhand, some 500 kms from Delhi. As it was the long weekend for everybody we decided to book our cottage in advance. There were hardly any resorts or cottages in Vijaypur, luckily we could get one - the Chestnut Grove. The owner of the resort, Mr. Vivek, however, suggested us to take a halt at Ranikhet in between as it was the long journey. He was kind enough to find a place for us to stay at Ranikhet- the Chevron Rosemount.

Incident 1 - while going to Ranikhet- We were about to cross Haldwani and a huge long iron bar fell on our car from one bus. The person sitting at the top of the bus became scared and a group of people catch hold of the bar. Luckily only a little dent came on our car and the headlight and the wind-shield were untouched. With traffic jam behind our car and our hearts pacing, we continued our journey.

Incident 2- My friend and I had to take certain luggage from the car. Our car was parked in the Rosemount's parking. It was all dark and my friend was whistling. I asked him the reason for his whistle and he told me that wild animals get a signal and they go away. We took our stuff from the car and I started clicking some pictures of the resort. Suddenly my friend told me to quickly head towards the resort. I concentrated a little and realised that I could hear groaning of some wild animal. We quickly headed towards our room.