Nainital - Travelogue

It was long awaited trip, almost for 2-3 months. Satheesh and GK finally made it to Delhi. Our trip was set atleast a month prior. But i was not very sure if it would realise just as planned, 'cos it just sounded too good to happen. Both have them had booked their tickets in Air-Deccan. And the day was Holi. I was totally surprised and shocked to know that on the day of Holi, there is a serious shortage of public transportation due to the general mood of violence, intoxication and joy. So managed to reach at almost 8.00am at the airport, thanks to Ramesh(colleague in Vishal Project). He had booked the car to pick up his wife from the airport and back to Gurgaon. Took the easy ride. Waited for almost 45 minutes. And to my surprise Air Deccan had not rescheduled or cancelled the flight that day. It came right on time. Finally, i met up with the guys. I felt really bad initially cos of the Holi festival and causing a lack of options in the sources of entertainment and timepass. Even the Metro railway station was closed. We left our bags at the Old Delhi railway station, from where we had the train scheduled for departure that night. Had breakfast in an overpriced hotel just there. After that i was looking for a loo. And found one too. But the guy at the counter said that i had to pay 5 bucks for using it. "What da hell??? 5 bucks!!!!". And all that he had to say was "Holi hai, saab". I just could not control my anger, so after branding him a dacoit and a theif in the open and screaming at him i left with an unfulfilled urge to use the loo.. :(
As there was nothing worthwhile to do, we left for Gurgaon. And Guess What.... The malls were closed too. We managed to get the tickets for the 'Aeon Flux'. Dont even dare ask me how the movie was. It was a sad one. After the movie, we roamed about in Metro Mall(which had opened up by now). Had some chat food at Paprika. That was not that good either. We made it back to my room(had a pastry on the way). We got fresh and left for Dhaula Kuan to get our bus to CP, so that we could get a Metro train to Old Delhi railway station from there.
I guess we all enjoyed that ride. WOW!!! I LOVE THE METRO TRAIN. After that it was our turn to enjoy the smells and sights of the markets of Old Delhi, it never seems to lose its charm. We went to Karim's hotel. Tasty, delicious food just as ever. The street has a magic spell sprinkled all over it. We reached the railway station quickly, thanks to the Rickshaw. I was totally surprised to know that this was the first time that Karat and GK had ever had a ride in the rickshaw. The train travel mostly uneventful, except the tremors caused by the guy who was snoring as to warn the almighty heaven. GK sure would have woke up the guy atleast 10 times that night, so that he could sleep.

Made it to the Kathgodam station early in the morn and also managed to get a car to Nainital from there. Checked in to the Hotel, which looked more like a honeymoon suite, with all the wood work inside, only problem was that the geyser was not working. And the temperature must have been somewhere around 8 degrees. The view was comendable. The room was overlooking the beautiful Naini lake. After getting adjusted to the temperature, with all our sweaters and jackets we set out. First stop breakfast. The aloo parathas were just OK. I guess Gk enjoyed them pretty much. To go to Nainital and not go for boating, is like goinf to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel tower. So we had our share of boating with the four seater paddle boat. And GK made sure we had a 'rocking' time in the boat. And all along we never failed to capture the moments in the camera. Next stop was the ropeway. Its basically a cable car type arrangement. It must be about 500m distance travelled at an average height of 20m. The best part all along was the anticipation of the expressions that GK would give, knowing his acute acrophobia. Probably, there was not a single second when he let go of the hand railing. The destination is named as 'Snowview'. There was nothing much to see from there 'cos the mist had blocked the view. But Karat, had his first contact with natural-ice.

Now to the best part of the day, trekking. We decided to go to this viewpoint called 'Land's End'. The photos that the guide showed us were really impressive. And what better option than to go walking. It was about a 4km walk from the town, which i hoped should not take more than about 1.5 hours includint the uphill climb. We walked along the stone laden path and across the path that the horse shoes had laid. Just when we were almost about three-quarters the distance we saw that there was a thin line of non-grass land, which pretty obviously had been laid by the continuous trespassing of humans. Being a little bit of an inquisitive person myself, i suggested we take the path less taken. Walking through the thick forests though was rich in experience was just as risky as that, for we didnt know that those forests are occupied by tigers(we came to know this from a guy from the forest deptt. the next day). We walked for about an hour and half after which we reached a wider pathway with the now recognisable horseshoe marks. But one thing for sure, The forest and the little silent view-points that the forest path offered were so very unique. After getting lost in the forest and walking across the same point twice, we finally heard people talking. On talking to them we found that we had already crossed the point that we were supposed to reach. After about half an hour along the right path we reached 'Land's End' at last. The place was so damn cold, that all three of us were literally frozen. We were waiting for the sunset to happen, so that we could see the so-called beautiful sunset and leave the damned place ASAP. I would say the place was awesome and at the same time awefully cold. Then we were on our way back to our room, and as it was downhill, the walk was comparitively less tiring. After about an hour or so, we finally reached the market, found a decent place to have our dinner(two diff dishes of Chicken and some roti). Rushed to room on the Rickshaw, we had to take 2 of them. We were so damn tired that, hardly half an hour in the room and all of us were sound asleep. GK made sure the sleep was 'sound' with his snores that landed right into my ears.
The next day morn was really clear and fresh, very few clouds in the sky. Had a real bad and over-priced breakfast at one of the hotels. Packed up with some stuff to eat and a bottle water, we set our foot on work. Destination - China Peak/ Naina Peak. It is supposed to be the highest pointin the whole of Nainital, and it is supposed to be a really beautiful view-point. We took a jeep halfway, which is about 3 kms from the town. Wlkaing was really tiring, that too uphill almost doubles the trouble of walking the tough and kachha roads. The roads were mostly hand-laid. Just 10 minutes after we started, we had to break for rest. This trend of taking rest after every ten minutes continued till we reached the peak.There were a few firangs who crossed our paths, and also few other guys and a girl. By about 2.00pm we reached the peak. Surprising there was a forest office outpost geared with solar panels, radio set for communication and a cute little canteen. The guy over there was kind enough to give us tea and water. The view from the place was truly breathtaking. We could see almost every point in Nainital from there, which included Almora, Ranikhet, Rampur and few more villages and towns that i cant spell. The boats in the Nainital lake looked as small as a speck of dust. About an hour there and we set our destination back down to the town.

The train for Delhi was scheduled at 2040 hours, so had to leave Nainital by atleast 1900 hrs. Reached the town by about 1730hrs and myself and GK went shopping for some candles(the place is supposed to be famous for that). We managed to leave Nainital as planned and got the train too. A really long sleep until Karat woke me up early in the morning at about 0500hrs, when we reached Old Delhi station.
From there we reached, New Delhi railway station to get a room at Rail Yatri Niwas. The guys over the counter in the Hotel were really arrogant, and was surprised by the statement made by the guy as "Dont expect timely service here". Checked out of the place, before we left for the cloak room of the railway station to leave Karat's and GK's baggages. Incidentally, GK's were not accepted as it didnt have a lock on the bag, the authorities were not really understanding when we showed that a traveller back-back doesnt have provision to lock it. Left for Delhi's Palika Bazaar. We tried finding a particular kind of dress for Marzia. Could not find it. So got something similar to what she wanted. We got something for Sakthi also. Not exactly what she wanted, but something the three of us liked. Had a couple of mocktails and coffee at Costa Coffee and then again left for Old Delhi. On reaching there we had the famous Dahi-Bhalla and Aloo Tikki. As we had lot of time in our hands and didnt know what to do, we went to Red Fort which was just about a kilometre away from our current point. Took tickets and saw around the palace and fort. Came out, sat for sometime, then set ourselves towards Karim's for yet another mouth-watering delight. Walked through the main alleys of Jama Masjid and walked into the mouth-watering narrow streets of Old Delhi. Had our dinner, boarded the Metro Rail. GK and Karat got down at New Delhi station and i got down Rajiv Chowk. Got a bus from there to Dhaula Kuan and then was lucky enuf to find a cab back to Gurgaon.
Calculating in all we had walked a total of about 6km(plains)+14km(downhill)+9km(uphill). With a well deserving multiplication factor of 1.5 for the uphill walk, in total it comes to about 33.5km for 3 days.
The next day i had my well deserved rest. Thanks to Sunday, it made it all easy.
It has been a trip that would always be etched in my memory for the great time we had. the adventure, the trekk, the food, the time. Nothing but splendid. Thanks guys. Thanks for making it such a memorable one.