Nainital and Beyond in My Polo: May 2012

[ToughGuy]

Thank you tough guy. I would traveling on a weekend, working class you knw . So I think I will take the Tanda- Bazpur road. I will drive slow, but getting stuck in a jam for 3 years. uuuuhhh cant stand that. I have booked the premier room at Reva Retreat on your recommendation . So the guide Manik is he from the hotel itself? I would need a guide too.

That's great, hotel helpdesk will arrange guide for you, Manik is attached to them as freelance hope he would free on that day, i suggest you to call hotel and book him in advance and yes do remember to post your feedback here. All the best for your upcoming trip

 

[ToughGuy]

Day-2 contd

From here on we are on tar roads, from Ghorakhal road Naukuchia tal is 16-17KM away, we crossed Bhimtal lake on our way but decided to visit Naukuchia tal first.

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Approach road towards Naukuchia lake was not in a good shape, we found this lake ok type and think it worth a single visit only.

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We had not taken boat ride here, we walked along the lake through below shown path and admired the beauty of the lake from corners

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Naukuchia tal got nine corners, one can't see all corners of lake from one place as told by our guide

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This lake is located around 26KM from Nainital and 4-5 Km from Bhimtal, this beautiful lake is 983 meters long and situated at an altitude of 1220 meters above sea level.

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We found many tourists specially in groups enjoying the lake and boating facility

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Nowadays one can see lots of swans enjoying the lake, kids will surely like all these thing

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There is this thing below for some adventure sport no idea about the name though but somewhat similar to balls i saw near Solang valley HP

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[ToughGuy]

After spending around an hour here including a Maggi break we headed towards Bhimtal, found this lake more beautiful then earlier one, this lake is used to supply drinking water to Haldwani

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There is a island at the center of the lake, earlier there was an hotel on this island now converted to museum, apart from being a main tourist destination, it is also the mini district headquarters since most of the offices of the district administration has been shifted here.

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Bhimtal lake is situated at an altitude of 1370 metres above sea level and is 22 kms away from city Nainital, Bhimtal is named after Bhima of Mahabharata.

Bhimeshwara Mahadev temple, an old Shiva temple in the bank of Bhimtal lake, is believed to have been built when Bhima visited the place during the banishment (vanvas) period of Pandavas.

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We saw lots of devotees offering prayer near this tree, womens observe fast in honour of Savitri and Satyavan and remember how Savitri through her intense devotion saved her husband from the claws of death.

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They offered us the Bhaat prasad on leaves which i liked very much, enjoyed the food in mid afternoon while sitting on temple stairs.

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Now its time to say good bye to Bhimtal, which is a very beautiful and attractive lake, water was also crystal clear

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[ToughGuy]

Day-2 contd

After Bhimtal we headed towards butterfly research center, road was narrow and kutcha with steep inclines, after few meters we found a tilted truck on sharp turn literally hanging from road, we waited patiently for few minutes but this truck refused to move so decided to give it a try and somehow managed to squeeze my Polo from this turn

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Saw lots of old and vintage cars parked in a yard, mechanics were working on restoration, our guide told us that this garage belongs to senior retd bureaucrat who now becomes collector of old cars, quite interesting

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my only concern was kutcha narrow road in front of me with deep tyre marks on side which eventually lead to bottom scraping of my Polo on couple of occasions

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After few kms we reached the butterfly research center, i checked the bottom of my Polo no damage was visible by naked eye, good thing was that there is a protective sheet beneath the engine bay area, also i got a under body protection coating with 5years plan, will get that checked/repaired on my next service of Explorer-1

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Please find contact details of Peter Smetacek butterfly research center below, paid 100 bucks per head as entry fees, that gentleman will gave us ample time and explained each and everything patiently.

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[ToughGuy]

Day-2 contd

Peter Smetacek is the youngest grandson of the founder, Viktor Smetacek. He is a widely recognized authority on butterflies and moths. The author of over 50 scientific papers on the subject, he has described over a dozen moths and butterflies new to science.

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He was the first Indian to discover and describe a new butterfly, Neptis misah varshneyi. His publications pioneered the use of butterflies and moths as bio indicators of their environment.

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His wife, Rajni Smetacek has extensive field experience on the early stages of moths and butterflies. She discovered aggressive defense behavior of a group of moths which has puzzled researcher. She has co authored three scientific papers describing her findings

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The reference collection of moths and butterflies is on display at research center. This is the only identified insect collection accessible to laypersons in India. It is also among the most important private moth and butterfly collection in the country, containing over 1500 species and over 200 types specimens.

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Institutions and individuals from all over India avail of the facility for identifying moths and butterfly specimens here.

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Record holders like world largest insect; the largest and smallest Indian butterflies; the most beautiful moth in the world;poisonous moths and butterflies;killer butterflies; bee hawk moths; death's head hawk moths; the largest Indian beetle and bug; stick insects; scorpions and leaf butterflies may be viewed here.

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A 20 minutes long live talk by Peter or Rajni Smetacek helps visitors understand the world of butterflies and moths. Children particularly enjoy the walk.

Visitor charges are 100bucks per head.

After our fruitful and interesting visit we returned back via same route, only to find out below tilted truck which still struggling to get back on road.

Again after few minutes of wait i squeezed my Polo from this turn.

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Next: Visit to Sattal lake is coming up.

 

[manjoo]

Toughguy Nice images, you have been the guide and a complete explorer of this place.
A must place to visit, keep up the good work buddy :)

 

[ToughGuy]

Toughguy Nice images, you have been the guide and a complete explorer of this place.
A must place to visit, keep up the good work buddy :)

Thanks for your appreciation Manjoo UK is my favorite state and very beautiful place no doubt about that, incidentally i named my Polo explorer-1

 

[TSIVipul]

well,the fruit mentioned above is called 'Kaafal'(Kaa+Fal),it is quite tasty if its salted else it can be sour too.

@Toughguy:
Your pics make me remember my own trips and those roads.I visit Uttarakhand high court nearly every two months but its an irony that I now don't get any feeling to visit the place that much.

BTW,tomorrow I may be heading towards Badrinath on my 2 days biking trip and has now packed my woolen clothes and all.

One personal question:Tum love marriage waale log thode extra trips maarte ho kya?(Do you love-married people make some extra trips as compared to others?)
Why I asked this?Because here also we have 2-3 such couples and they are also found on tours for most of the time..

 

[ToughGuy]

@Toughguy:
Your pics make me remember my own trips and those roads.I visit Uttarakhand high court nearly every two months but its an irony that I now don't get any feeling to visit the place that much.

BTW,tomorrow I may be heading towards Badrinath on my 2 days biking trip and has now packed my woolen clothes and all.

One personal question:Tum love marriage waale log thode extra trips maarte ho kya?(Do you love-married people make some extra trips as compared to others?)
Why I asked this?Because here also we have 2-3 such couples and they are also found on tours for most of the time..

UK is favorite state, i love visiting it nowadays though not aware What future holds for us.

How you manage your Badrinath trip in 2 days? From Delhi it will take four days for up and down journey only with night breaks. I am sure you will not be driving day and night non stop.

On a personal note i don't think case is like this, in my opinion life is too short we should definetly persue our interest at any cost, work in office will never ends nor get lesser.

 

[ToughGuy]

Day-2 contd

On our way to sattal lake we stopped at this place to saw a beautiful cottage wish i could afford something like this, IMO view from this cottage is not the best, wish he had chosen more altitude land.

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As told by our guide this very beautiful cottage belongs to a top known executive of a large Indian MNC, i will not put his name here this cottage was built from imported woods and was looking typical English house to me correct me if i am wrong in my perception.

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Our second stop at this place for some pics, my Polo is posing for shot here, looking beautiful

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We get first glimpse of Sattal lake from here, amazing views from here one can notice lesser construction activities here, temperature was quite high for us but soon we finished this small photo break and headed straight to Sattal lake via beautiful hill roads.

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We reached Sattal lake by late noon, our guide asked us for desi style lunch and we couldn't resist, so we parked our explorer-1 near lake

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And here we are ready for some experiment, we had pure desi style lunch at this dhaba which consists of chapatis, kadi, chawal, dal makhani and salads prepared on mud chulha.

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Even though view from top of dhaba was beautiful, i will not recommend this place to people traveling with family, we find many local guys here on dhaba waiting for couples to finish their lunch so that they can start drinking session.

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After finishing our lunch in 30-40 minutes time we walked along the lake, this lake looked more beautiful than others to us though not very large, IMO good place for camping but one can find many trouble makers here

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[ToughGuy]

Day-2 contd

Along the bank of lake we found lots of people in picnic mode, they all are enjoying this beautiful lake, wish local administration put little more effort to maintain the surroundings of the lake.

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There are lots of benches and swings along the lake, here you can unwind yourself and spend your time at leisure, we enjoyed sitting over here and admired the lake for good 30-40 minutes.

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Sattal or Sat Tal (seven lakes) is an interconnected group of seven freshwater lakes situated in the lower Himalayan range near Bhimtal, Sattal is one of the few unspoiled and unpolluted freshwater biomes in India. These lakes are a paradise for migratory birds. It is home to a few camps being operated mostly by local people catering to tourists looking for outdoor vacations.

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The Sattal Lake is situated 21-22 km from Nainital and is another prominent lake of the Kumaon region. Five of its lakes are perennial, which includes the Ram Tal, Sita Tal, Lakshman Tal, Hanuman Tal and Garuda Tal while its other two lakes are seasonal and are called the Sookha Tal and Biyun Tal. The names of its lakes are based upon the popular characters of the famous Hindu epic, Ramayana.

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[ToughGuy]

Day-2 contd

On can get awesome views of the lake from this bridge, we crossed this bridge and went to other side of the lake to enjoy it's beauty.

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There were benches installed on the sides of the lake where one can sit and enjoy this pristine beauty of mother nature, we chose to walk our way along the lake and enjoyed this place thoroughly.

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Like all other lake this place is also full of tourists and lots of vendor selling eatables and souvenirs here.

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One can avail boating facility at this lake also, we missed the boat ride here too but suggest you to save your boat ride for this lake, i found this lake worth for boat ride after Naini lake which got spectacular views from inside the lake.

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Now day-2 is on verge it's to completion, so it's time to call the day off, we were tired and our way back to parking in between our guide asked us whether we are interested in a village visit, i told him in affirmative and asked him to plan this visit for early next morning.

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On our way back i calculated everything and decided that early morning checkup from hotel was not possible so decided to give it a try now so our next destination was a village near Ramgarh which is situated 35-36KM away from Sattal

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Coming next: Ramgarh village visit

 

[ToughGuy]

Day-2 contd

Ramgarh is situated 35KM away from Sattal lake and 24Km from Rewa retreat-Bhowali, it took us around one hour to reach Ramgarh from Sattal lake.

We took a photo break enroute, roads were mostly empty and deserted.



One can reach Mukteshwar and Nathuwakhan via this route both are very scenic destination and quite closer to KMVN Ramgarh.



We took a left turn soon after few meters from KMVN Ramgarh and crossed these small roads



Being interior roads they are not in very good state but manageable



After a kilometer or two drive on this road we reached our destination



Views from here are breath taking



We parked our car on roadside and walked our way through this path to village, our guide was familiar with the house owners



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[ToughGuy]

Day-2 contd

Ramgarh is a serene hill station perched at an altitude of 1789 m above the sea level on Bhowali - Mukteshwar Road. Ramgarh is located at a distance of 36 km from Nainital in Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand.

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Ramgarh is also known as the "Fruit Bowl of Kumaon" owing to its verdant orchards of Peach, Apricots, Pears & Apples. Ramgarh comprises two parts - Malla Ramgarh, located on an elevation and Talla Ramgarh, located downhill.

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Ramgarh is known for orchards of a variety of Himalayan fruits like apples, apricots, and peaches.

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Ramgarh is a small hill station and tourist destination on the way to Mukteshwar in Nainital district of Uttarakhand, this place is rich in orchards.

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An unobstructed view of the snow-capped ranges of the Himalayas from this place can be seen. The place was once the cantonment of the English army. The famous poets Rabindra Nath Tagore and social worker Narain Swami had established their ashrams over here.

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Ramgarh is an idyllic place for leisurely holidays in peace and tranquility with pleasant weather conditions. You can have the unobstructed view of the snow-capped ranges of the Himalayas from this hill station.

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Ramgarh is perfect place for the nature lovers, as you can gaze at the star-lit sky, marvel at the sunrise and sunset, admire the beauty of the mighty Himalayas and taste the Himalayan fruits.

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As said above Ramgarh is famous for its orchards of plums, apples, peaches and apricots, it was once home to the English army.

 

[ToughGuy]

Day-2 contd

After this our village visit comes to an end, with full throat we bid good bye to this lovely place, we started our journey back towards our parked Polo

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Explorer-1 also seems enjoying this place like us

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We along with our Explorer-1 witnessed a beautiful sunset from here

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On our back to Bhowali we came across this beautiful property of KMVN in Ramgarh, i liked this hotel very much and almost decided to extend my holiday by a day but to my utter disappointment this hotel was packed to it's capacity, will stay in this hotel on some other day

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We stopped for a Maggi break here, after spending 20-30 minutes we started again

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Explorer-1 posing for a pic, she is looking gorgeous thanks buddy for your company

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I found Polo's headlight quite sufficient for night driving, good all round throw of light beam.

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We are running out of cash and the only ATM near Bhowali was also out of cash due to weekends so only option left with us was Nainital or Bhimtal but with the help our guide we found a petrol pump which accepts debit card so got tankful and some cash from Petrol pump, after all this mess we reached our hotel by 8:30PM ordered dinner and had sound sleep after a small lawn walk.

Next: Day-3 return Journey