Sometimes it is fun to fool unsuspecting mortals especially when they are least expecting it, of course you must be one crazy head to do that repeatedly. Traveling in the Kumaon region of the Himalayas can be rewarding if you select your visiting spots carefully and time your trip well. If you are fond of hoopla and chaos during a vacation please don’t read anymore. Interior Kumaon is a great place to be in when all you want is green hills, pine forests and majestic Himalayas for company, representatives of the opposite gender please excuse atleast once.
Start early morning from Delhi to avoid traffic inside Delhi and take the NH27 which passes through Ghaziabad and then opens up into a beautiful 4 lane expressway from Hapur. Stop for breakfast either in Gajrola or any other dhaba, aloo de paranthes on a trip always taste better you see. After crossing Moradabad toll road, take the major left turn from Rampur and you are in NH87. You will pass through a section of the Jim Corbett National Park on NH87, keep the speedo needle northwards here, if you are on a bike, the fun quotient increases a little bit.
Get past the highly trafficked Haldwani and Kathgodam and voila you are slicing and dicing through the blissful tarmac, going uphill towards Bhimtal. Once you reach Bhimtal, take the road for Almora. Leave Nainital aside, remember all you want is peace, picturesque locations and some adventure! The road from Bhowali to Almora is the NH87 extension, and its one of the best hill roads in India, it gives enough time, fun and curves to scrape your bike’s footpegs and also hit the 100kmph mark. If you are on a car, well…hmm…that power steering is a good thing !
[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y106/darkside_of_d_sun/IMG_0008.jpg[/img]
As you are about to reach Almora ask the locales for the road to Berinag, though the diversion is well marked but your just concluded high speed track simulation may make you skip the road signs. The road to Berinag is currently under repair, a few hundred labourers digging here, there and everywhere. If you have read the books of Jim Corbett you will know Dharanoula, stop here for lunch, choices are few though. Also tank up your bike/car from the petrol pump in Dharanoula. Go 12kms downhill from Dharanoula and you will get the diversion to Berinag on your left, c’mmon you cant miss this one now! The adventure part of your trip begins.
This road passes through an extension of Binsar wildlife sanctuary, there are no villages for the first 20 odd kms. Chances are that you wont spot any ongoing vehicles and human beings as well. If you are unlucky, you wont spot any jackals, barking deers, some exotic birds and if its getting dark already, well add leopards and the odd tiger. If you get a puncture here, you will do well to stay shut inside your car and wait endlessly for a truck to passby. And if on a bike, please make sure you know how to climb trees. I am not joking here, maneating leopards are suddenly showing up everywhere in Kumaon these days, again! You don’t need to stop at the villages of Barachinha and Dholchinha , really small hamlets, only stop for a cup of chai. No accommodation is available in these places. Once past these places, you once travel thorugh jungle roads, if on a bike, please don’t take chances and stop at a dhaba, its 2.5kms before Sheraghat( Corbett places) . It’s the Nukkad Dhaba, and its owner panditji will gleefully invite you to stop over for the night for Rs.20. Have dinner, settle into the cozy bed in the small room, feel the thrill, the sound of the jungle, the deer shouting, blue skies, mickey mouse, Pamela Anderson, zzz….
[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y106/darkside_of_d_sun/IMG_0011.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y106/darkside_of_d_sun/IMG_0041.jpg[/img]
Next morning, start after breakfast, cross Sheraghat and Berinag, and reach Chaukori by afternoon. Go straight into the KMVN rest house, not because its exceptionally good but there is no other option to stay in Chaukori. Dump your baggages and climb up the watchtower in the rest compound. The majestic Panchachuli, Pindari Glacier and the Nandadevi peaks surround you. While you are busy with your camera, the birds hardly take notice and keep on chirping, the winds blows ever so gently and just then you realize, this is where you wanted to be in!
[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y106/darkside_of_d_sun/IMG_0038.jpg[/img]
Now you thought that all this while I figured out some out of the map route to reach this small hamlet of Chaukori, actually not, it’s the famous route to the Kailash-Manasrovar yatra which is taken by Hindu pilgrims for centuries. I have figured out that I am a crazy head of some sort and its really fun to fool people repeatedly..he he he!
[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y106/darkside_of_d_sun/IMG_0049.jpg[/img]
Now you thought that all this while I figured out some out of the map route to reach this small hamlet of Chaukori, actually not, it’s the famous route to the Kailash-Manasrovar yatra which is taken by Hindu pilgrims for centuries. I have figured out that I am a crazy head of some sort and its really fun to fool people repeatedly..he he he!
…………….to be continued.
This blog is an online expression of my thoughts, about my country and how my life revolves around her. The dream to live here forever and involve myself to make a change about things which matter to me. My love for motorcycles and touring my country on them. My passion for being in the midst of people who make up our country.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
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Archeriostichaos
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7:47 pm
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About de Archer

- Archeriostichaos
- New Delhi, Delhi, India
- Pictographic evidence of motorcycle travels in India.
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