BackPacking Travel to Uttarakhand (Delhi – Kausani – Ranikhet – Jageshwar – Kasar Devi ) 05 Jun to 10 Jun 09

The desire to move adrift with my backpack has been bugging me for quite some time now. The last trip i undertook was in lerala when i travelled from Kanyakumari to Trissur in central kerala in Dec 07 , which i unfortunately could not cronicle (was not much of a blogger then) . So here goes an account of the Uttarakhand trip.

This blog in intended to be of use to a traveler who intends taking a similar trip as I took. Its written more out of reasons to help fellow travelers and to chronicle my travel , hence may not be intensely descriptive , but would be informative to the reader.
Destination Description : Delhi – Kausani – Ranikhet – Jageshwar – Kasar Devi – Delhi
Some common rules that I learnt the hard way:
a. Avoid busses in Uttarakhand and only use shared cabs , they cost nearly the same and the benefits in cabs are much more
b. Look for Paying Guest accommodations , rather than go for small hotels , they are much cleaner , give home cooked food at minimal rates
c. Unless you are very comfortable driving in the hills , I would recommend driving on an empty stomach (to avoid vomiting due to the zillions of turns) and always sipping water irrespective of the weather (to avoid dehydration , the cold saps you of moisture and before you realize you are dehydrated and your holiday goes , zup!!)
d. Always carry some money with you when you trek , you never know where you get to have some well deserved tea break
Dates : 04 Jun to 10 Jun 09
1. Leg 1 : Delhi to Kausani ; 04 Jun – 05 Jun 09a. 04 Jun 09, 1815 Hrs: Left home at Vasant Kunj for Anand Vihar bus depot , by a rickety local taxi , did not estimate that the distance would turn out to be 2 hours , I was positively sick by the end of the journey , cost 350 INR.. Now Anand Vihar is the bus station from where all busses to the Kumaon region in Uttarakhand leave. If any of you have a choice, try catching the Ranikhet Express that leaves Delhi for Katgodham. As the train was fully booked , I decided to take the bus. There are 3 Air conditioned busses 2030 , 2130 and 2300 that leave Anand Vihar depot for Haldwani depot , run by Uttaranchal Tourism. There are no advance bookings, so you got to reach the place 90 minutes before any of these busses leave so as to get a booking on that bus. For example, I reached the depot at 1945 hrs , but was not able to get a seat on the 2030 bus. I booked for the 2130 and got a seat comfortably. The busses are comfortable , the air conditioning was good. Some word of caution, the bus would stop for “Dinner” about 3 hours after it starts , so you may like to have dinner before you start the journey , You could use the stop to grab a tea or some water. The journey from Anand Vihar to Haldwani took about 7 hours and 15 min, including the dinner stop . cost 805 INR (dinner cost not included) . I reached Haldwani (which is at the foothills of Uttaranchal hills) at 0445 hrs on 05 Jun 09.
b. 05 Jun , 0500 hrs : From Haldwani , I made the biggest mistake of taking a bus ,its one of these rickety busses , which is crowded with people , goes at a slower speed and is just about a few rupees or so cheaper than taking a shared taxi. I sat in this bus at 0500 hrs and 2 stops of 30 min each later I reached Kausani at 1100 hrs , a total of back breaking 6 hours , cost 120 INR. The route was Haldwani – Katgodham – Bimtal – Bhowali – Kanchi – Kherna – Almora – Kosi – Kausani . I would suggest to all readers , avoid all busses as a rule and just use shared taxis. In case you looking to save money , the fare difference is so minimal , and the trouble you go thru in the busses does not make them worth it , they are rickety, overfull , slower , charge almost 80 % of what a shared cab charges. The shared cabs are much faster and more comfortable , though at times you find them overstuffed , but that’s a very small pain comparatively. For instance you could have taken a shared cab up from Haldwani to Almora and taken another cab from Almora to Kausani that would save you about 2 hours of rickety drive.
c. 05 Jun , 1100 hrs : Reached Kausani , view of the hills was mesmerising. Stayed at this resort called Suman Resorts. I must say the place was expensive at Rs. 3000 per night , but I stayed there as I had a couple of friends from Delhi who were staying there and I wanted to spend time with them. The room and quality of service was not too good for that cost , but I had no choice. Their rooms have a very fine view of the Himalayas (Check out the photo) , but they ruin it with poor service and room maintenance. However I saw a lot of paying guest accommodations , which I guess would be much cheaper , I would urge readers to go there and explore this option. Kausani has lots of trekking routes , I took the one going down from my hotel , down 2 hills and up from the market end. Was a 2 hour trek and very refreshing. Sunset at Kausani was fabulous (see photo) , how i wish the himalayan view would have been clear , but clouds masked most of the himalayas. But the sun offered a magnificent view.Spent the evening with my friends. Wanted to go to Binsar , but the KMVN (Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam) guest house was booked for the next 3 months. The number listed on the pamphlets available at the tourism office (this office is in the market and closes at 5 pm ) at Kausani goes unanswered I spoke to a taxi driver who had been there a day back and he gave me this information. I decided to have a change of plan , and man ! Was I not happy, I decided to go to Ranikhet.
2. Leg 2 : Kausani to Ranikhet ; 06 Jun – 07 Jun 09
a. 06 Jun 0900 hrs : I was at Kausani main market at sharp 9 am. Being a Saturday , I found very less crowd and even less shared taxis / busses there. Had to wait till 0945 hrs before a shared taxi decided to move. I took this taxi to a place called Someshwar , just down the hill from Kausani. This is a 20 min downwards drive , cost 25 INR. At Someshwar the road splits into 2 , one goes to Almora and another to Ranikhet. After a 30 min wait got a shared Taxi that took me to Ranikhet to 65 INR and a 1 hour 45 min drive. Reached Ranikhet at 1200 hrs
b. 06 Jun , 1200 Hrs : The so called mall road in Ranikhet is unlike the others you all must have seen at Mussourie or Shimla. This one runs for about 3 km with just pine trees on both sides before you hit the main Ranikhet market. This is a crowded locality , just one road consisting about a Km of shops on both sides. I was looking for a cheap place to stay. I saw 4 hotels in the market , rejected some due to cost or cleanliness concerns. Finally landed up at Tribhuvan Guest house at the fag end of the market, a hotel with budget rooms . Their rates are 300 to 500 INR in off season and 800 to 900 in season , unfortunately this was the season and I had to shell our 900 INR for a night. The room was ok , not very clean , they have a good view from the room’s corridor. Again by this time I was not aware of the paying guest concept , so did not look for them . I would suggest you walk a bit down from the market and you would find good paying guest accommodation , they have great views , are clean and give home cooked food.
c. Trek Route 1 , 06 Jun 1600 Hrs : Ranikhet Market to Jhula Devi temple. This is a good 1 hour 15 min trek. You need to find steps that go vertically up from the market towards Rani Jheel (Ranikhet pond). From this pond the road winds up towards Jhula Devi temple. The route though on the road is very scenic and is worth a trek (photos). This entire stretch is owned by the Indian army and is beautifully maintained , you could hear the wind in the trees and the crickets in the forests if you stop for a sec. Jhula Devi is an ancient temple and has a Ram temple also along with it. From there if you have time you could go on to Chaubatia , which is famous for its fruit gardens run by the Government. The sunset at Ranikhet was fabulous. The market has got a viewing location from where you can enjoy the sunset.Also saw this beautiful tree in the Army area , next to its holiday homes , its struck me as a wonder of nature , beautiful
d. Trek Route 2 , 07 Jan 0600 hrs: Walk down from the Tribhuvan hotel end , keeping it on your right. You will reach a point where you see a life size metal map of India , a broad road going and another small one winding down the hill. I trekked that one , took the road for some time , but a lot of road walk the previous day had made me more adventurous and I decided to take the paths vertically down the hill , the descent was very easy , though quite slippery , die to the dry leaves of the conifer trees. The mountains in these parts are lines with conifer trees , which give it a very English country look. The walk down was for about 45 min. Meditated in the Spartan hill side for about 30 min , felt very refreshed. The climb up was tough not because of the height , but the slippery surface made it all the more difficult. 2 hours later I was back in the market. They make some great tea at some shops.Sipping tea with the fresh morning air was fun.
3. Leg 3 : Ranikhet to Jageshwar ; 07 Jun – 08 Jun 09
a. 07 Jun , 0830 hrs: You have to go via Almora to reach Jageshwar .Took the unfortunate decision to take a local bus from Ranikhet market to Almora. Again I would recommend take shared cabs. The bus left Ranikhet at 9 am took about 2 hours to reach Almora (50 Km from Ranikhet), cost 45 INR. In Almora , there ask for the shared Taxi stand. Now Jageshwar is not too much on the route at this time of the year. Jageshwar is considered as one of the 12 Jyotirlingas and lies on the route back from Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.It consists of a group of 125 temples of various shapes and sizes , ranging from between 7th century to 18th century AD. In addition Jageshwar is a trekkers delight. From Almora it was extremely difficult to get a direct shared taxi to Jageshwar. So took a can to Panuanoala (30 Km from Almora) , from there another one to Artola. From there the road splits and you can reach Jageshwar(3 Km) .I had to book a private taxi and pay him 80 INR for this 3 km ride. In Jageshwar , found a nice paying guest accommodation , Jagnath Tourist Guest House , Phone : 05962-253212 , Mobile - +91-9411794456 , Contact person Harishwar . I got a nice room with double bed and clean washrooms, complete with TV , for 500 INR. They gave me lunch and dinner and some tea/ soft drinks that day , the bill for that 200 INR. I managed to reach Jageshwar by 1300 Hrs , almost 4 hours after leaving Ranikhet/
b. Trek Route 1, 07 Jan , 1600 Hrs : Jageshwar to Jhankar Saim Temple. The climb starts from right outside the guest house. The first house you sight is after 45 min of trek. The road is quite remote and scary at times , you wonder how you would react if you were to sight wild animals , but the adventurous mind tells you to go on and the trek right up to the temple via a very thin mud road with lots of climbs and scenic locations was fabulous. It took me about 1 hour 20 min to reach the temple. The priest told me that this Shiv temple is about 200 years old , though I suspect its much older (not intending to research the internet before putting up stuff here). The trek back was much easier I was back in about 45 min. It was absolutely scenic and beautiful , worth every penny.
c. Trek Route 2 , 08 Jan , 0600 hrs : Jageshwar to Vridh Jageshwar temple(3 KM) . Start climbing the road keeping Jageshwar temples on your right . Just after the village gets over and the road starts to climb you would find a small mud path going up the mountain. This was the toughest trek I encountered during my trip. The climb is very punishing. The locals claim to do it in 45 min , so took that as a challenge , as this local told me I would take about 1 hour 30 min. Finally made iit in about 50 min. Believe me it was tough. The view from here is marvelous. The Vridh Jageshwar (or Old Jageshwar in English) consists of 2 houses , 2 shops and a temple. This is also a 6th century AD temple. The strange part is that the priests here are from a particular village from a village in the plains. The entire village is nominated to come up here and stay as priests for 15 days. The list of volunteers has grown so much that a priest has to only come up once a year. So you would find the same priest in the temple at a particular part of the year. From here you get a 360 degree view of the Himalayan ranges , Gangaotri , Yamunotri etc. But being summers lots of forest fires go on in the hills and there was a hue of smoke in the air and that robbed me of the view. The place is serene and wonderful , worth the trek. The total permanent inhabitants are 2 shop keepers and 1 priest. OPne shop keeper treks up 1 hour every day , the other 2 stay there. They claim that his village has no human inhabitation for 3 km and that 3 km is only down hill !! Took me about 30 min to run down. Man , was I refreshed!
4. Leg 4 : Jageshwar to Kasar Devi ; 08 Jun – 09 Jun 09
a. 08 Jun , 0830 Hrs: Left Jageshwar by a taxi (privately booked) for 50 INR till Artola. From Artola , I got a shared taxi to a place called NTD (Narayan Tiwari Deewar) , even the locals have no idea what this name is all about , it’s a small circle between Almora and Pithoragarh. From here Kasar Devi is 8 Km uphill. Got a shared taxi to Kasar Devi for 10 INR (cheap Ha!) Don’t expect Kasar Devi to be a destination. In fact its perched on top of a hill , ideally speaking it’s a road , starting with the Kasar Devi temple and then the road just goes on. I had to ask the taxi driver to tell me to stop , assuming its reached. Mohan’s restaurant is a very cool place to hand out . Its got a good view and good terrace to sit out. He has staying places also , but it was full , so had to wak down to Ashok tourist guest hous , found the room a bit stuffy , but was on the mail road , touching Mohan’s café and 150 INR only!! The couple told me that they would make a simple lunch and dinner for me. I decided to explore some more paying guest accommodations. Finally landed at this place called Ashu’s Lodge. They own a beautiful cottage on the hill side , just 5 min walk down from the road. It is clean , is isolated , has its own kitchen , a beautiful sit out at the edge of the hills (the photo says it all) with a 200 degrees view of the hills all for 400 INR per day. I was thrilled to bits. The catch is they don’t cater for food , not even tea or water. You got to lug all that from the road , anything for a place like this to stay. Contact person Deepak Rayal , Mobile +91-9877007446
b. Trek1 , 08 Jun , 1600 hrs: Kasar Devi (my cottage) to the Kasar Devi temple.By road this walk is just 15 min. I decided to be a bit adventurous. I walked down the hill to the village (check out the walh way in the photo) and had to climb 2 hills and walk upwards and hit the road at the other end of the hill to reach Kasar Devi temple. The temple is the most significant goddess Durga temple in Almora. The name Kasar is due to “Kasar” hill. This temple finds a mention in Hindu scriptures “Skand Puran” and is believed to be 2000 years old pilgrimage site. There is a Shiva temple also there built in 6th century. Was contemplating if I should walk the 15 min back home by road or go down hill for about 45 min , decided on the latter. It was a fun return. Got back to Mohan’s for tea and watched the sunset from across the road. Had the smoke not engulfed the horizon , I would have been able to see the sun set over the Himalayas. But nevertheless the sunset was fabulous.
c. 09 Jun , 0700 hrs : By now was too exhausted by all the travel and extensive treks. Spent the morning , lazing the morning sun , had some tea and biscuits and decided to leave for Delhi
5. Leg 4 : Kasar Devi to Delhi ; 09 Jun 09
a. 09 Jun , 0900 hrs: Waited for almost 1 ½ hours on the road to take a shared taxi , but strangely none would stop. This is a phenomenon I had not noticed during my entire trip. The local shop keepers told me , that the traffic police had started a patrol for that day and till the police are around they behave and only take a specified number of people in the vehicle , which is safe , but these guys are known to stuff up to 24 people in a Mahindra Bolero jeep!! I myself saw 14 people (including me squashed in ) in a jeep , and all adults. Kids if any are not counted as they have to sit in the laps of their parents. Its strange. Here I met a Swede , “Leo the Lion” as he called himself. He has been staying in the Himalayas for the past 10 years. He and me chatted for ages , may be that’s why I dint realize how time flew. We spke on various aspects , life , needs , desires etc. He has gained control over the biggest controlling factor in our body after the mind , the stomach – hunger. He has not eated a proper meal as in meal in the last 6 years. Its so right hunger controls what we do most of the time and it controls our mind. Its even said “An army marches on its stomach !”. Finally after walking for 3 km , got a bus to Almora , cost 10 INR. Took a shared taxi from Almora to Haldwani , it got there in 2 hours flat , cost 150 INR. Got to Haldwani at 1300 hrs. The worst part was , I wanted to take an air conditioned bus back , but unfortunately the lady at the enquiry counter had no clue of the timings and gave me a wrong advise ,She said the air conditioned busses run only in the night. But that’s not true. Later after about 4 hours when we stopped for tea , I saw an A/c bus that had come down from Nainital and left Haldwani at 1300 hrs (the same time that I left in the normal bus). The bus ride was terrible , had to suffer the hot air blast for 7 hours. Reached Anand Vihar bus depot at 9 pm. Took an autorikshaw to Vasant Kunj and reached home in 45 min flat , was home by 2200 hrs.
That marks the end of the journey , end of one journey , waiting for the next caling , the next destination abd the next unknown road…….Regards

Pradeep Eledath
14 Jun 09 , 2103 hrs , Vasant Kunj , Delhi

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