Uttarakhand - prelude

It has been such a long time that we posted something we almost forgot how to type long paragraphs. Maybe all due to Facebook and WhatsApp which is instant but then in when you look back you have no way to figure out what all the noise was about. Well enough of rant now let me type…

Beginning of 2017 we were very much looking for a vacation and Pamela was interested in Uttarakhand. Now Uttarakhand is not a big state, it was carved out of Uttar Pradesh around 17 years back(A.D.2000 to be precise). But being a hilly region you can not just go around and see it all. There are two main parts Garhwal & Kumaon.

And we were lost in between which part to visit. At the end, we made up some plan after talking to friends who are quite familiar with the UK for which you can keep your passport back home.

That made me more confused. Now comparing to the trip of Himachal Pradesh 3 years back, I was quite sure would be able to drive myself in the hills unless we plan to visit high altitude areas where roads would be narrow and tricky. Also if you recollect there was a major natural calamity in 2013 which washed away most roads and caused havoc during the peak of summer vacation. And I was not so keen for Dhams (seats/abode) yatra as it means visiting temples and religious places. So at the end, I posted my planned itinerary in team-bhp.. Now, as usual, got useful advice and modified our itinerary accordingly.

The plan was to fly to New Delhi and then rent a car and drive to Uttarakhand. Here is the high-level plan.

S. No	Journey	Activities	Driving Distance
Day-1	Bangalore to Mussoorie	Morning flight to Delhi and then drive to Mussoorie, get Interstate tourist taxi permit	310 KM
Day-2	Mussoorie / Haridwar	Explore Mussoorie, visit Dehradun night halt at Haridwar.	84 KM
Day-3	Night stay still in Haridwar	Explore Rishikesh and come to Haridwar for Ganga Aarti (evening)	75 KM
Day-4	Ramanagara / Corbett	Leave Early morning, drive through U.P. need to reach by noon as has afternoon safari to attend	225 KM
Day-5	Corbett	Morning safari in Dhikala, check out and go to Jhirna for afternoon and night stay there	moving between Corbett
Day-6	Ramanagara / Binsar	Post morning safari leave Corbett behind and drive up the hills. We took the Ranikhet road, it wasn’t crowded but with lots twist and turn	155 KM
Day-7	Binsar continues with night stay	Trek around Binsar, hire a guide nature walk full day.	No driving
Day-8	Binsar / Kausani	Reach Kausani, enjoy the vista of nature as we drive on the mountains.	65 KM
Day-9	Around Kausani, night at Kausani.	Explore around Kausani, Baijnath temple complex.	Not much driving
Day-10	Kausani / Nainital	Drive down to Nainital	116 KM
Day-11	Night at Nainital.	Explore around Nainital.	Not much driving
Day-12	Nainital / Delhi and fly back home	A long drive to Delhi and then fly back to Bangalore.	350 KM

Hotel bookings, mostly used GMVN where possible as hotel.

I pre-booked Corbett Tiger Reserve using their official website The booking to Corbett is very tricky. You need to be on online and ready and at your best, I had my caffeine shot just before 10. The booking opens 45 days prior for Indians. And without night booking Dhikala region the best region to explore within Corbett remains off limit to you.

If you are serious about CRT, my simple advice is you MUST have a booking at Dhikala. You will see and capture what is totally depends on your luck. But just for the experience, you must do the booking in Dhikala zone. The other zones are small and open for day safari as well so that way they become more crowded. Rest of the Hotels are booked via KMVN and GMVN website directly. Also booked Kausani well before hand as it looked like a good option again Team-BHP.