Ranikhet!!!

Start Date: -2nd October 209
Start Location: Dwarka, New Delhi
Start Time: 20:15 hrs
Route: Delhi to Haldwani by train followed by a cab to Ranikhet

Ranikhet

Day 1

The train departs at 2215 hrs from Old Delhi railway station; however, for Ranikhet express that is not the originating station. The originating station is Sarai Rohilla in Delhi. The trip to Ranikhet was a rushed one since it was not a part of our original itinerary. Initially, we were looking at covering Nainital and Kausani alone, however, a late realization paved way for the change of plans and we hurriedly included Ranikhet in our plan.

So we booked tickets by Ranikhet Express and started for the Old delhi railway station to board the train. Our preparations for Journey were again rushed and we missed out on picking up some important but not vital things. Nevertheless, we continued our travel to station. We were given to understand that the Train shall arrive on Platform no. 7 and hence, we parked ourselves with our entire luggage at the said platform. As luck would have it, the train took time to arrive and to add to the confusion it arrived on platform no. 9 instead of 7. Melee ensued at the station as many of us rushed to figure out the details. We ran helter-skelter to figure out the location of coach A1 even as we lugged our luggage along. My wife was quite anxious by now and she was running up and down to figure out the coach. I was myself a bit worried by now because of the huge rush coupled with the general chaos around. Finally, with some effort we managed to locate the coach and helped ourselves aboard the train. There was nothing much to do but to hit the sac for the overnight journey. I set the alarm on my mobile phone and went off to sleep. My wife was sleeping happily too after the tiring adventure of locating the coach which somehow never arrived on the expected platform.

We had the option to get off at Kathgodam and then take a cab from there, however, a day prior to the visit I called up the hotel guy and he suggested getting off at haldwani and taking a cab from there instead. I also checked for the cab fares with him. From Haldwani to Ranikhet, typically they charge you about 700 bucks. Before I began my journey, I also visited a couple of websites to check for these cab fares and realized that travelers had quoted cabbies asking for fares as high as 1500 bucks. With fair bit of prior information, I bargained with the cabbie at Haldwani station and sealed the deal at 800 bucks. By the way, I am all praise for Haldwani station. Its far far better looking and much more cleaner than many of those train station in our metros. It did not take me long to strike the bargain and we set off for Ranikhet.Part reason could also be the fact that this season probably aint the most popular tourist season here.

We were a bit sleepy from our overnight nap and hence, could not really appreciate much of the scenic and picturesque views that lined up the way to Ranikhet. The good part was that for all those who like my wife tend to vomit or at least develop that vomiting sensation on the long winding hilly roads that go round and round , a better part of this stretch of road journey could really be covered in sleep. Finally we reached Ranikhet where we paid about 9 /- as toll to enter the landscape. Going past the landscape it took us all of 10 minutes to hit the place which is chevron Rosemount. The time now was 8:10. it took us about two hours and a half to travel from haldwani to Ranikhet. Rosemount is away from the main market and as per information from the hotel it is located somewhere midway between the market and Chaubatia garden. It is situated on mall road. The last stretch to the hotel i.e., about 1 km looks a bit deserted as you travel down the very silent hilly roads but all said and done it has its own charm in the quietude it has on offer for the visitors. As you enter the hotel, you immediately notice the lush green belt circumscribing the entire hotel. The hotel, I believe, is maintaining a great variety of flora and employs a set of gardeners who work diligently on maintaining it round the day. The staff is friendly, warm, receptive and responsive to the needs of the tourists.

We checked into our room and were offered tea on arrival. After our morning tea we unpacked our stuff. We were tired and wanted to catch up on our sleep, however, the breakfast wont await us beyond 10:00 in the morning and hence, we quickly freshened up and trudged on to the dining hall. The lawn adjoining the dining hall was inviting by its very looks. More so on account of the panorama it offered to an unhindered view of himalyas. The snow clad peaks appeared to be standing too tall to even imagine their heights. The peaks stood still and rock solid which only spoke further about their ability to have remained long unconquered by the mankind. A highly treacherous and difficult trek they have been for even the most adventurous and ardent trekkers world wide. We chose to sit out at the lawns and enjoyed our sumptuous breakfast. The hospitable staff served us well. It only challenged our appetite and we gorged on the breakfast.

While on any usual day we would have gone and hit the sac post our heavy breakfast, the natural beauty around us enticed us to serenade its own self and we felt this urge to go for a walk along the line of pines. The walk proved to be highly refreshing. We went crazy capturing in our digital camera, the natural beauty which was all around us . Before that, on the breakfast table I did manage to leverage the zoom function of my camera as much as possible to capture the top of the snow covered Himalayan peaks. Anyway, we continued our ascent and descent on foot and clicked a whole lot of pictures of the place. The strips of road look deserted but actually they offer all the peace to appreciate the beauty of the nature. We then came back to the hotel and tired as we were we simply crashed on the bed and slept for a good few hours.

By the time we got up, it was time for lunch. My wife had gotton up a bit earlier than me and I only woke up to the tapping sound of rains on the roof. Rain has barely started when I woke up but it did not take it long to take over full time. Soon it turned into heavy downpour from the mild drizzle. We stepped out of the room and eased us onto the resting chairs placed right outside our rooms. We enjoyed the rains as much as we had enjoyed the meals and the walk through the forest. Wife sounded a bit more adventurous as she prodded me to run to the dining hall even as it rained outside. It took me sometime and finally I took up the gauntlet. We then rushed down to the dining halls only to realize that the lunch wasn't any buffet and it must be ordered. The phone in the room was out of order and hence we could not have done it over phone. We asked them to set the phone right and went back to our room. Soon the room service guy walked in to take our order. We wanted to order for our kumaoni dishes such as Bhat ki Chidkuni and Aloo ke Gutke but realized that Bhat ki Chidkuni would take about 45 minutes for its preparation. We decided to skip it for then. We, however, did settle for the aloo ke gutke and Dal with rice and chapatti. We also ordered for a large bowlful of Kumaoni raita. We ate to our heart’s content and realized that another round of walks up and down the hills wont be a bad idea at all.

We therefore, started for yet another round of walk and this time we went much further than the point we had reached during our walk in the morning. We went on and came across a few private properties in the area besides some of the establishments set up by the Cantonment folks in Ranikhet. It goes without saying that we once again went crazy clicking pictures of the beautiful landscape surrounding us. My wife apparently, turned out to be a much bigger photography freak that am I though with a bit of a difference. While I go crazy clicking snaps she would want to be in the every picture that I clicked. Wife got me thinking after sometime when she raised a possible concern of monkeys presence in the area. We were no new to monkey menace as we had witnessed multiple adventures involving monkeys during our visits to Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in the past. The memories from past brought the chill back After all, it was just the two of us walking through the forest. At this point we decided to catch hold of the first stick that we found on our way back. So that was the point from where decided to retreat. We started on our way back to the hotel. On our way up we had come across “Adhikari Logde” and we were quite amused to see our namesake holding the rights to the lodge there. We clicked a few pictures around that as well. Anyway, we realized that we had walked up quite a bit and should now pace down to reach the hotel. We came across a kid monkey on our way back and wife got scared of a possible presence of bigger monkeys around. Pacing down we soon reached closer to the hotel and it was pretty much in sight when we decided to relax. Clicked a few more pictures and reached the hotel.

This is where the fun started. We went down to play table tennis and for the first time I realized that my wife is quite good at it. It felt awesome to play her on the table and we had a challenging match where I finally managed to beat her 20 to 16. We stepped out of the table tennis room only to proceed to the badminton court and once again to my pleasant surprise, wife turned out to be quite good at badminton as well. Throughout she would boast of how her dad taught it all to her. It is needless to say that whenever she spoke of her dad she also dropped a mention of her brother who is one and the only one in this world as per her. Every sister I believe has such words of praise for her brother(s). We slogged it out at the badminton court following which spent time hanging from the structures erected for kids. It was great fun and we also clicked some pictures there. After this, we went to the lawns and ordered for the evening tea. It was quite an experience sipping from the cup of tea while sitting in the lap of nature. It was time to skim through the daily newspaper to catch up on the news and we did it near perfect while enjoying our cup of tea. Having finished our tea, we went to the room where my wife switched on the TV and I sat down to jot down the blog. The blog continues….

Day 2

Day 2 started only at about 8:30 when we got up. The morning tea was enjoyed outside the room on the resting chairs and we clicked a few pictures around that area. It provides for a small, cozy and beautiful place to enjoy your cup of tea in morning and evening alike. Since we had already planned our day in advance it did not take us long to get ready. We quickly freshened up and headed for the breakfast. It was a treat to eyes to see a different menu on the second day and a treat to our tongue and stomach to eat it. We gorged on Aloo paranthas, Curd, Porridge, pickles, Upma, Fruit Juices, Corn Flakes and eggs not necessarily in that order though 

Soon after we finished our breakfast we ordered for our cab. While the cabbie was on his way we tried to catch up on some news on TV. The cabbie had agreed to take us around the town for a total of 600 bucks. This included visit to various placed like Chaubatia garden, Jhula Devi Temple, Kalika Devi Temple, Kumaon Regiment’s Golf course, Ranikhet’s local market and finally tweed factory before retreating to the hotel for lunch.

The cab was maruti Zen and the driver from his experience looked like a seasoned driver who would not compromise on the safety bit no matter what and hence, he would drive at moderate speeds which were much enjoyed by my wife. She advocated availing of his services for our impending travel to Kausani from Ranikhet. We started at about 10:44 (thanks to the time piece installed in the car since I preferred not to carry my invaluable watch from the wedding time). We first headed for the Chaubatia garden. Wife was a bit concerned about the weather. It was fine when we started out however, no sooner we reached chaubatia than it started drizzling a bit. At the entrance one is supposed to make an entry into the register kept there jotting down the personal details including number of persons, place and phone number etc. The guy with the register would also prompt you to hire the services of a guide who I am sure would be an authority on the variety of flora existing in the garden. With little interest in botany, we planned to go on our own as many other also did. We waked down the track even as we clicked pictures of the beautiful surroundings.

On our way down we kept wondering as to what the garden is about with no flowers or other fauna in sight. It was only when we reached the lowest point that we noticed a track curving to the right which led people onto an ascent that would take them to the core of the garden. We started our ascent and soon found us in the middle of the garden. We could see the gardeners working actively on the different species of plants / saplings. On any other day I would have taken active interest in engaging the gardeners to figure out more about the plants but owing to the presence of about two “all unruly boys” groups we chose to tread on. Nevertheless, that did not dampen our spirits since there was plenty of good sight to enjoy and click the pictures. That kept us engaged as we continued our ascent all the way to the last bit of the garden and finally to the exit which is precisely the same place where you first enter the garden. Its kind of a circular trip around the garden. As per the man sitting at the entrance, besides garden, the place also provides opportunity to venture into forests protected by electric fencing and a visit to a dam close by. Due to paucity of time we chose to give it a slip.

At the exit of the garden there is a small shop which sells a variety of juices. These include apricot, Jamun, Lichi and juice from a pahari flower. We decided to try the last one. It was quite refreshing and in taste felt like a mix of roohafza, cough syrup and one more thing which I fail to recollect at this point of time. While it may not sound too appealing to try it from that way I have described it I stand by it and strongly recommend people to try it once. I believe it does add to your vigour while you are out to explore the place. We wasted little time and moved on to see Jhula Devi Temple.

Jhula Devi Temple is quite close to Chaubatia garden and in fact, you see it first on your way to chaubatia garden. On our way back we offered prayers at Jhula Devi temple. It’s a temple which will touch the depth of your hearts with its serenity and divinity. It’s a small temple which reflects the strong faith reposed in it by people from the number of bells offered to the temple by devotees. The saying goes that you can tie a bell there and seek the blessings of Jhula Devi who fulfills your wishes as you seek them. Following the Darshan of Jhula Devi it was time to move on to Kalika devi. Way to Kalika devi temple goes through the heart of the cantonment. It is closer golf course. We crossed the golf course to reach kalika devi temple. It is actually two temples and you need to take this flight of stairs to reach one after another. The temple houses statues of Goddess Kali as the name suggests. We offered our prayers at Kalika Devi temple and started back to have a view of the golf course. As luck would have it, it was past 1:00 in the afternoon and by then the army guys had come out on the field flaunting their golf sticks. You could also see a couple of caddies walking up and down the field. It was then that our driver told us that the scenic views of the golf course are open for public access only up to 1:00 in the afternoon post which the guys take the field and the access is curtailed. Nevertheless, we had an overall view of the golf course. It is a nine holes golf course made in two parts each of it lying on the either side of the road which tourists / others take to cross the area. Though the attempt has been to lay it out on a relatively plain area yet given the overall geography of the place the terrain remains undulating, however, the greens on the field is a refreshing sight and am sure it’s a high privilege to be getting an opportunity to try your hand at golf there. This does inspire me to learn golf at some stage of my life so that may be at a later time I could also enjoy playing it shoulders to shoulders with the rest on a field like this.

Having skipped the golf course, it was now time for us to visit ranikhet market. The one good thing that I will always remember about market is that it was one place where my cellphone’s network started showing some signs of life. Airtel network is a big problem in this area. Wife has a Vodafone connection and true to their punchline, the network indeed followed us wherever we went. Hats off to Vodafone and piece of advice to Airtel. At least try and be the one amongst top three players in terms of network availability. It was quite an inconvenience and embarrassment going out with an Airtel network. We walked through the market and looked at stuff that could be purchased and taken back home as “memories to keep”. Due to paucity of time, we could not settle down for much except for a piece of binoculars for a kid at Kausani which was our next destination being my wife’s native.

After this, we started for the tweed factory. It is said that the Shawls, Stoles and other stuff at tweed factory is woven by Army widows. A word of appreciation for the guys managing it and providing a source of livelihood to those who probably deserve much more than just a handful of money from selling the produce at Tweed Factory. We went through the array of display there and settled for a shawl for mom and a stole for wife. Wife as ever was adamant on having her pictures clicked and I did manage to capture a couple of them inside and outside of the Tweed Factory. Tweed factory’s collection is nice and the experience could have been nicer but for the power cut that cut short our time at Tweed Factory. The place has a high ceiling and hence, a power cut can render the complete set up dark. We could not spend much time even as the power cut persisted. Tweed Factory also houses an ATM from Punjab National Bank. We withdrew some money from the ATM and also clicked a few pictures of the scenic views around this area which also includes Nar Singh Stadium.

Finally we started back for our abode set up in the hills, Chevron Rosemount. We were on time for lunch and hogged, hogged and hogged after the sight seeing. The day 2 ended with an evening stroll down the hills. We could now appreciate the natural beauty around us much better than when we started.