Wake up to the misty mornings. Winter is here.
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Background Photo: Rail tracks near Mandya, en route Melkote.
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Other published articles on Binsar:
Other published articles on Binsar: Last three travel plans to the North India remained in planned status for me due to various reasons & constraints. One of the plans getting cancelled just 5 days before the trip. When I received the invitation from Club Mahindra for the Blogger’s trip to Binsar, Uttaranchal, I was uncertain & was under an assumption that another place would get added to the above list due to my official assignments. This time luck was with me & I made it to the trip, to the Kumaon mountains. Six bloggers & travel enthusiasts from three cities assembled in Delhi Airport & an unforgettable journey towards Binsar started. After two hours in taxi to Delhi Sarai Rohilla railway station, overnight journey by Ranikhet Express to Kathgodam & then six hours by road, we were in Binsar. Our trip would have interrupted in Delhi roads itself but thanks to that Samaritan who helped us to reach the station in time (Read the incident narrated by Kiruba & Arun Nair).
Ranibagh, Bhimtal, Bhawali, Almora - We leave behind the small towns to reach Club Mahindra resort, Binsar, our destination & base camp for next three nights and four days. Next three days involved - Rock climbing session, an early morning walk to catch up Sun rise, visit to Jageshwar & Zero point, night camping in the jungle and not to forget, a dip in river Kosi (not the one which caused havoc in Bihar.). To add to the list, in the evenings it was time for table tennis, pool, cricket (Kiruba, I still have a thing to settle - to beat you in TT when we meet next :)
Other published articles on Binsar: |
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After the short trek in the morning we visited Jageshwar later in the day. Jageshwar is a Hindu pilgrim dedicated to Lord Shiva & is at a distance of 35KMs from Almora. Nestled between tall Deodar trees lies this small town where more than 100 small temples are grouped in one premise. Constructed in ‘Nagara’ architecture (temple shikhars in the shape of bee hive), the temples date back to eight and ninth centuries.
Inside the Jageshwar temple premises, smaller temples are dedicated to other gods & goddesses - Vishnu, Hanuman, Lakshmi and more. A light (akhanda jyoti) burns continuously 24/7 in one of the temples & I was told that it’s burning since ages & is still maintained. And a small stream which flows beside the premise adds serenity to the place.
Couple of kilometers from Jageshwar is Dandeshwar temple, another shrine of Lord Shiva. This premise is smaller in size and four-five temples are there along with the main Dandeshwar temple. Both the premises are maintained by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India).
One peculiar sign we observed on almost all the temples was the three faced sculpture on the temple shikharas in both Jageshwar & Dandeshwar. When we enquired about the same with the priests we didn’t get any appropriate answer. And along with this one irritating issue we came across in the temple were the priests. They are no less than any of dacoits in extorting money from the tourists and devotees.
By the time we reached the resort in Binsar it was post noon. Only negative point about Binsar is the amount of time needed to reach the place. It took 20 hours to reach the place which included 6 hours journey by taxi. We were warned before about the journey time & I thought day one at the resort would be spent getting some rest from the journey. On the contrary, there was no sign of tiredness at all (blame the mountain air ;)
Hours after we reached our destination, we were out on the mountain roads for rock climbing in the evening. Though so many events happen around Bangalore on rock climbing, I never got a chance before to try my hand. It looked so-damn-easy when we saw the demo by the experts. With Sun setting down behind mountain ridge, one by one went up & came down, sweating out. And we had spectators too.
The mountain weather during day time at Binsar reminded me of our good old Bangalore in winter mornings. A pinch of chilly when in shadow & a soothing prickle by the Sun when in open, with nights being much colder.
Next morning we decided to go on a morning walk/trek to catch the glimpse of first rays & view of Trishul parvat (a Himalayan peak visible at certain places in Binsar valley). We went on an adventurous trek/walk before returning to the resorts. We took our own route through the pine trees to reach Manipur villa where a second Club Mahindra resort is coming up. While returning we reached the resorts as if like an arrow is shot, in straight line, crossing all the hurdles which came in between which made the trek back more adventurous.
Half a kilometer away from the Kathgodam railway station, we leave behind the plains & the mountains starts. Winding roads, gurgle of river/stream down below on one side and mountain face on the other. En route Binsar, we pit stopped at Club Mahindra resort in Naukuchiatal to freshen-up. Naukuchiatal lake is one of the deepest lake in the region and has nine corners & hence the name. We finish breakfast at the resort & continue our journey towards Binsar.