TRAVELOGUE PART-II- NAINI TAL & CORBETT (DAY-2 AT NAINI TAL)

           Day-2 at Naini Tal was utilized for relaxation. An early morning start of the day was done with a cup of hot brew whilst nature unfolded itself in front of us. The place HOME AWAY FROM HOME belonging to the SAPPER COLONEL KK DANGWAL, SM offers the most panoramic view of entire Naini Tal and the view is perfect.
              We ordered a breakfast of Aloo Paratha and Curd from a local eatery joint. Adding to the economy of such eateries is a good deed being done by the affable Colonel and the owner was all at sea to make us happy. A great round of relaxation followed and suddenly the mist moved in. The entire Naini Tal was taken over by the clouds and it poured and poured. After the stoppage of rain, we walked down about 500 meters to the Mall Road and picked up a lunch of Mutton Biryani. The only stuff I missed was the cans of beer which I had forgotten in the Innova and it was parked far away. Anyways, detoxification is always good and I am maintaining a Sea Daddy look in this trip.
             The climb of 500 meters back to the home at an angle of 35 odd degrees was fun and tested the mettle of fitness to its hilt. The heart pumped to its rated capacity and the hunger rose. The day was spent in leisure and I rounded it off by reading a book titled THE TEMPLE TIGER by JIM CORBETT. Incidentally, this place HOME AWAY FROM HOME has a beautiful library called PETER MAVERICK LIBRARY. Colonel Dangwal told me that this library has been donated by an American gentleman named Peter Maverick who has himself never been to this place. It seems Peter read about the good work being done by the Colonel and sent the entire lot of books on various topics covering Uttaranchal to the Colonel as a token of his appreciation!!! Some wonderful human gesture, I must say. The library has a vast range of books covering myriad topics about Uttaranchal.
             Jim Corbett has been one of the legends that I admire. His subtle writings have evoked a lot of interest into my travel plans of this area and I am keenly looking forward to do my next Travelogue on a route done by Jim when he shot the Temple Tiger who had of course turned into a Man Eater. This travel would take me through a scenic place called Muktesar and its villages. Wow, it would be great. With heroics of Jim Corbett still wringing in my mind , I called it a day late into a still night and amidst HOME AWAY FROM HOME. A series of photographs clicked is attached below:-

https://plus.google.com/photos/101238588481972006061/albums/5889223566968376929?authkey=CJyz8OPcmq_YRA

TRAVELOGUE PART-I- NAINI TAL & CORBETT (DAY-1 FROM NEW DELHI TO NAINI TAL)

           New Delhi woke up to a clouded morning on 13 Jun13. The weather was absolutely pleasant to start a journey. This is a rare journey where I am not behind the wheels. Our driver Rajender from COLORS OF INDIA TOURS & TRAVELS, owned by my ex-Submarine mate Mr Aman Saini (Mob- 09899131881) arrived sharp at 7.30 AM. The Toyota Innova was immaculately clean and fully loaded for a comfortable journey. The luggage was stowed up as on this trip we are 05 Adults, 02 Children and 02 infants!! The vehicle set off from Delhi at 9.30 AM and we left New Delhi via Navy Children School after securing the admission for our elder son Akshay.
              Any journey out of New Delhi is through bottle necks as Delhi continues to seam away far and wide and gobbles up small towns en-route. Keeping Akshar Dham Temple on our left , we criss crossed through a dense traffic zone at Ghaziabad and Kaushambi area. The road here is narrow and traffic is big. Making steady progress, we reached Hapur and crossed into the sugar town of Gajraula. This was the place where we took our first pit stop at a neat Bikanerwala. Bikanerwala is accompanied by outlets of Dominoes, KFC, Baskin Robbins and good ol' MacD. There are a few Punjabi Dhabas alongside and also various Factory Outlets. The lunch at Bikanerwala alongwith Mango Lassi was sumptuous and some quick take aways were also picked up from MacD.
            As the Innova sped along to Moradabad, we settled down with a DVD show of HIMMATWALA. I wondered the plight of people who had to endure this movie on a big screen!!! Meanwhile, we crossed Moradabad by-pass and reached Bilaspur. The 30 Km road from Bilaspur (Distt Ramnagar) to Haldwani was a torture as the road was bad . Maybe Jaya Prada (the local MP) has fallen out with SP and as her fortunes have dipped so has Rampur's. The Innova tossed and jolted to Haldwani. The 30 Km journey took almost 2 hours to complete.
          Nothing can beat the tiredness (and I get fatigued more if I am not driving) more than a hot cuppa. The pit stop was a Cafe Coffee Day outlet at Haldwani. The sugarless Black Coffee regained the vigor and josh and the climb to Naini Tal was started.
           En-route , there is a delicacy called SARDARJI KA MURGE KA ACHAR. Now, there are 3 shops claiming the name to fame and all the three ladies claimed to be the original wives of the original SARDARJI!!! Now, the Chief Protagonist- SARDARJI is no more other wise he would have a great time with the three wives and smelling of the oil and Murga. The pickle delicacy is oily and heavy on heart but who cares when you are climbing up the hills.
          We checked into a HOME AWAY FROM HOME belonging to a SAPPER COLONEL KIRAN KUMAR DANGWAL (Mob- 9411107798). The place has good basic facilities for a comfortable stay with the mountaineer Colonel who is always at hand to help his guests. A photographic trailer is attached below:-

https://plus.google.com/photos/101238588481972006061/albums/5889223566968376929?authkey=CJyz8OPcmq_YRA

Best regards.

Arun Jyoti