The Travelogue.. Part Two !

The second leg of our vacation was the one which was most eagerly awaited. On Sunday night, we boarded the Ranikhet express from Old Delhi station for our journey to Kathgodam, the last railhead and the gateway to explore the eastern Uttaranchal and Kumaon regions. The train was supposed to reach Kathgodam at the unearthly hour of 5 am, and we were always apprehensive about the cold weather at that time (Kathgodam is around 550m above MSL). Thankfully, the train was late by an hour and a half and by the time we pulled into Kathgodam at around 6.30 am, it was slightly better. The taxi I had booked was already waiting for us, though there were plenty of taxis asking if we wanted to get to any of the many destinations that can be reached from Kathgodam – Nainitial, Almora, Ranikhet etc. We got into the taxi and left in the backdrop of the rising sun to our destination – the Club Mahindra Valley Resort in Binsar !

I had heard a lot about the journey from Kathgodam to Binsar (120kms, takes around 4.5 hrs). For the initial part, we had the meandering river Kosi for company (and I could not, still do not, believe that this was the same Kosi river that causes so much havoc further downstream in Bihar). As we moved along with the river, the morning sun rays and the shallow river bed made for some great photo opportunities. The road condition was mostly good, the turns not too sharp and we proceeded at a fair clip (stopping in the way for a wonderful snack of Bhajiya, Aloo Paratha and Tea !). We soon reached the town of Almora, which in itself is a good hill-station. As we entered the second half of the journey, we started gaining in height and soon, the magnificent snow-clad peaks of the Himalayas appeared on the horizon. It was surely a case of so near, yet so far ! (the peaks are about 250kms away in a straight line and yet seem so near !). Finally, at around 11.30 am, we passed the entrance gates of the Club Mahindra Valley resort in Binsar (around 1800m above MSL).

We were greeted not just by the courteous staff at the reception but also by an array of colorful flowers in the resort. After checking into our apartment, we quickly set about exploring the resort and its surroundings. As is well known, the resort is known for its natural beauty. There are also many opportunities available for talking long walks around the resort (though you have to be fit enough since it is all in a hilly area and there are hardly any flat patches available). The first evening was well-spent at the activity center, where a game of Housie kept us all entertained (though without any returns !). For the second day, we had booked a cab for sight-seeing (the no. is 08057245755 for good deals). Now the issue with a place like Binsar is that most of the sightseeing places (apart from the Binsar sanctuary) are a good distance away. We first went to the Bell Temple and from there to the Jageshwar temple complex (around 60km away). Jageshwar is a nice little temple complex consisting of 108 small temples spread over a small area. But because it was so far away, it was almost 4.30pm by the time we reached the Binsar sanctuary on our way back. It was probably the worst time to visit the sanctuary. Firstly, there is a steep entry charge (Rs 150 per person and Rs 250 for your vehicle). The vehicle then has to travel another 15km inside. We were all excited to visit the famed Zero Point, from where you can get a wonderful view of the many Himalayan peaks. The last leg in the approach to Zero Point can only be done on foot and sadly, there is no information displayed in the Park that gives us either the direction to Zero Point or the distance (the estimates we got from people there were in the range of 1 – 4 kms). While me and my wife did set out, we were finally thwarted by a combination of the cold, the setting sun (since it can quickly get dark after sunset), lack of fellow travelers and most importantly, absolute lack of any signs/directions that could have helped us. For a park that we spent almost a thousand bucks visiting, this was the least we expected. Sadly, we returned disappointed (though we got decent views of the Himalayas while on our way – including the Nanda Devi, the highest peak completely in India). TIP: Visit the Binsar sanctuary in the mornings ONLY !

The third and final day of our stay was devoted to just relaxing at the resort, since the whole point of visiting any Club Mahindra resort is to savor the experience of staying there. After a lazy yet tasteful lunch at a small hotel just walking distance from the resort, we had a good afternoon siesta and then we visited the other Club M resort there – the Manipur Villa. It is located about 500 feet or so above the Valley resort and the private road that takes you there makes for a thrilling ride ! Though not as vast as the Valley Resort, it still is a lovely place, with the many log huts giving a different experience altogether. So in case you are not travelling with children, the Manipur Villa might be a very good option. Our last evening there again was spent at the activity center – where we indulged our vocal chords in a wonderful Karaoke session organized by the guys there. My 18-month old daughter also enjoyed the open space in the resort and the steps to our room and towards the hotel (she simply loves climbing stairs !)

And so ended our stay at Binsar as we departed the next morning, filled with sweet memories of a fine resort and a great experience!

Cheers

Amit

The Travelogue... Part One !

This trip was coming for a long time.. Hotel bookings were done in May itself, train reservations were completed almost at the start of the 120-day advance reservation period, and after that there was nothing much to do but wait for the trip. My first extended trip with the full family, and much planning and preperation had gone into it. But before we could begin, there were several moments of anxiousness when little Aarya (all of 18 months) fell victim to diaarheoa just a week before we were to depart from Mumbai. On more than one occassion, we were worried that the trip would end even before it started. But thankfully she recovered well in time, and on the afternoon of 25th October, my parents, wife (Anjali), Aarya and me gathered at Mumbai Central station to board the August Kranti Rajdhani to Delhi, everyone in a state of excitement and expectation of a good time in the coming 10 days.

 

Travel on the AK Rajdhani was largely comfortable (though we felt more than our fair share of jerks). Anyways, in a Rajdhani, most of your non-sleeping time is spent eating ! And it was no different for us as we gulped down the samosas, juices, soups and then the dinner !. Next morning, we ended up at the Nizamuddin Station in Delhi, from there it was quick drive down to the Ginger Hotel outside New Delhi station. A word on the hotel: excellent location and decent facilities (where else would you get an AC room within 2 minutes walk from the railway and Metro stations for just 1700 bucks ?). If you are going to Delhi with the aim of not spending too much time in your hotel, then this is the place for you. That evening, we had our first ride on the Delhi Metro. And I am must say I was impressed (and coming from a Mumbaikar, that IS saying a LOT !! ;). Coaches were well maintained, stations were clean and the connections were quick. In fact the whole set up (travelling in a Metro and the hotel just outside the main station) reminded me of an earlier trip in 2007 to Nuremberg, Germany. The next day (27th October) we hired a cab (got a good deal from EasyCabs) and left for Agra. As I have detailed in an earlier blog post, the experience was not very pleasant. The Taj was overflowing with people and civic sense was largely absent in the general population. Had it been my first trip to the grand monument, it would have been tragic and heart-breaking not to see the granduer of the Taj in liesure. In the evening, we also w the Fatehpur Sikri, another beautiful place to see. Next day, there was a short journey to the Lotus Temple followed by one of the better lunches that I have had (at the Purani Dilli restaurent in the Kalkaji Metro station). In the evening, we all came back to our hotel, ready to say Bye Bye to Delhi and to begin Stage 2 of our trip... a ride up in the mountains and into Uttarakhand !!

 

Details in the next installment !! :)

 

Cheers

Amit

Why we are so bad as a tourist destination.. !

First, some statistics. The number of foreign tourist arriving in India stands at around 5 million every year. Though it is growing at around 15 odd percent every year, India's share in world tourist arrivals stands at a lowly 0.7 %. In fact, the stated objective of the government is to increase this figure marginally to around 1% by 2016. Both these figures are dismal for a country like India which has umpteen tourist spots (apart from the usual suspects like Goa, the Taj and Kashmir, there are still plenty of sights on offer in a nation as vast and diverse as ours). And what is even worse, there are many reports that suggest that Indians prefer to travel abroad (with the Gulf, South-East Asia becoming cheap destinations) rather than spend time and money on seeing what their own land has to offer ! On a recent trip up North, I came across two instances (on the same day no less !!) that offered a glimpse on why we are so bad at attracting tourists.

 

On Saturday the 27th October, I visited the Taj Mahal. When I reached there around 11.30 am, it was a choc-a-bloc with people (I was told that the long weekend and Bakri Id were the cause). Whatever the reason, it was packed with tourists (see the huge numbers in the attached snap) and we had to stand in the queue no less than 3 times (purchasing tickets, entering the main compound and then entering the actual Taj structure). Now I have no issues in respecting the queue, but many of the people around seemed oblivous to people spending time in standing in a queue. Touts and guides were freely injecting their customers in the queue, and nobody seemed to mind. As is to be expected, there was no security around to mind the crowds and that made things even worse. It was especially bad at the entrance to the main Taj structure, where I, with my temper running high, almost had a physical altercation with people who were jumping the queue ! Off the two-odd hours that I spent there, nearly 1.5 hours was spent in queues and arguing with people. Thankfully, it was my second visit to the Taj. Had it been my first, I would have been gutted to see the experience of visiting a beautiful monument spoilt by people who do not have the civic sense of queing up (The next day, I was at the Lotus Temple in Delhi, and the same scene played out there as well !).

 

From the Taj, we drove on to Fatehpur Sikri around 40km to the west. About 4km short of the monument, as we pulled away from the highway onto the service road, our cab was stopped by a couple of people claiming to be guides. They pointed to a spot about 200m away and said that outside cars were permitted to go only till that point. Thereafter, there was a cab shuttle to take visitors to Fatehpur Sikri (a couple of hundred bucks to cover around 3-4 kms !). To add to it were their guide fees of around Rs 100. Their USP was, of course, to give us a discount of Rs 50 !! With our mood already fouled by the events at the Taj, we simply ignored them and moved on. And found that our cab could go freely till almost the end (with only the last 0.5 km being covered in a government shuttle bus that cost a princely sum of Rs 5 each !). It was then I discovered the meaning of the word highway robbery. God alone knows how many people have fallen to this fraud ! (We were again stopped - with people almost jumping in front of our moving cab - about a kilometer from the monument, but this time we knew better). Another example of the experience of visting a beautiful place like the Fatehpur Sikri being spoilt.

 

As long as instances like this happen, there is no reason why we should spent our time and money getting ripped off by anti-social elements out to make a quick buck in the name of tourism. It is something that the government needs to address quickly. They need to look at what is happening around the tourist places, not just inside. Till that happens, and visiting tourist spots is made a comfortable experience (I am not even getting into the state of the infrastructure at many of the places), we will continue to lag at the bottom of the heap when it comes to attracting tourists. Dear Mr. Chiranjeevi (who was recently appointed MoS with independent charge of tourism), I hope you use your learnings from your various movie shoots abroad and implement them so that we learn how to take care of our tourists.

 

Amit