[asr245]

Originally Posted by MrSDey

Any idea how many hours it will take to reach Ramnagar from Jaipur, starting at 9am - that's when the flight arrives?

I want to stay at very low budget places wherever I can, because the travel from BLR-N.India itself is very expensive. It will really help if someone cal tell me where I can find cheap dormitories in or near Nainital-Haldwani-Ranikhet.

Jaipur to Ramnagar is something like 520kms so i guess about 10 hours + stoppage time.

And you can try GMVN guest houses in Karnaprayag/Rudraprayag. I stayed at one in 2012 for R300/night. For R300/night it was good. Again, advance booking required.

[MrSDey]

Originally Posted by asr245

Jaipur to Ramnagar is something like 520kms so i guess about 10 hours + stoppage time.

And you can try GMVN guest houses in Karnaprayag/Rudraprayag. I stayed at one in 2012 for R300/night. For R300/night it was good. Again, advance booking required.

10+ hours! I can't do that with my 6-month old baby.

Will stop at Mathura on the way, then do it next day to Ramnagar. Next day I will go to Khairna, 30km from Nainital and supposed to be a lovely place. 2 days there, then Karnaprayag at GMVN, then onto Ukhimath and Chopta.

Thanks for all the info.

[joybhowmik]

Originally Posted by MrSDey

Next day I will go to Khairna, 30km from Nainital and supposed to be a lovely place. 2 days there

Khairna? Hardly. I can understand having a nice meal for 2 hours at Khairna, but 2 days there is overkill.
It's just a junction at the point where the highway forks (left to Ranikhet, right to Almora).
You may be better off for sheer experience by spending a night at the KMVN in Binsar (middle of the jungle) and then enroute to Karnaprayag.

[MrSDey]

Originally Posted by joybhowmik

Khairna? Hardly. I can understand having a nice meal for 2 hours at Khairna, but 2 days there is overkill.
It's just a junction at the point where the highway forks (left to Ranikhet, right to Almora).
You may be better off for sheer experience by spending a night at the KMVN in Binsar (middle of the jungle) and then enroute to Karnaprayag.

Binsar TRH is about 4x as expensive as Khairna. Plus it is a place I have been to, before, 20 years ago on my way from Gwaldam to Almora. Also, I thought I would get to Karnaprayag via Ranikhet rather than that route.

Lastly, I hear there's fishing to be done at Khairna, right by the TRH, in the Kosi river. If that's true, that's lovely. If we don't like the place, we can always pack up and leave for Binsar or some other place.

BTW, anyone has any experience with roadside camping in tents in the mountains? I mean, I have camped in the high himalayas, but will it be okay doing that in the foothills here? No leeches or snakes etc, hopefully?

Kids and ladies can stay at some hotel while gents camp - that's the idea.

[joybhowmik]

Originally Posted by MrSDey

Binsar TRH is about 4x as expensive as Khairna. Plus it is a place I have been to, before, 20 years ago on my way from Gwaldam to Almora. Also, I thought I would get to Karnaprayag via Ranikhet rather than that route.

20 years ago - these places were jewels. Now - they are teeming with people.
Via Ranikhet route is actually a little faster than via Almora. Though you would have to part with a little bit of toll money towards the cantonment welfare at Ranikhet.

Lastly, I hear there's fishing to be done at Khairna, right by the TRH, in the Kosi river. If that's true, that's lovely. If we don't like the place, we can always pack up and leave for Binsar or some other place.

To each his own. On my recent run through , did not see any fishing lines or fishermen lining the banks. It may change , by the time you arrive. The fishing is good- you are right. And on a good day, the TRH may even serve up nicely fried fish.
AFAIK, if fishing is done for sport i.e. caught and released , you should not have any problems. But you are still well-advised to seek permission from the office of the Forest Department before casting your hook.

BTW, anyone has any experience with roadside camping in tents in the mountains? I mean, I have camped in the high himalayas, but will it be okay doing that in the foothills here? No leeches or snakes etc, hopefully?
Kids and ladies can stay at some hotel while gents camp - that's the idea.

If you mean camping literally by the main road or one of the roads which go up to the village, I would advise against it. There's just too much traffic and hardly any solitude.
Leeches there are a plenty. Whether you are in Almora or Pithodagarh or wherever in the Kumaon. You may want to keep some salt handy.
Snakes - yes these have been sighted on occasion. But they tend to keep to themselves and far away from foot falls.
What you may come up against - are leopards. Sometimes they prowl close to human habitat , for left-overs. But again, they too beat a hasty retreat rather than tangle with humans.

[abhjain]

If you are heading to Nainital, please do give a thought of staying at two chimneys, gethia. Please PM me in case you need more details.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by asr245

From Moradabad, you have multiple options.
1. you could take NH24 till Rampur and then turn towards Rudrapur till Haldwani. I took this route till Nainital but roads are bad between Rampur/Rudrapur stretch.

How much time did it take from Delhi to Nainital?

Originally Posted by MrSDey

Yes I am driving all the way. It will be exciting, but terribly hot as well.

I will go to Hyderabad, then from there to Indore via Akole and Nanded, then Jaipur, then, as you suggested

Any specific reason to take the Hyderabad - Indore route and not the Mumbai-GJ route which is much faster? We are also doing a nainital trip in April.

[MrSDey]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

How much time did it take from Delhi to Nainital?


Any specific reason to take the Hyderabad - Indore route and not the Mumbai-GJ route which is much faster? We are also doing a nainital trip in April.

What a nice coincidence! How many of you are there? We are five people from here to Jaipur, and from Jaipur we are 6 people including my wife (and baby son) who fly down there.

I am taking the Indore route because I have never been to that part of the country. GQ may be faster, but I have been to Pune-Mumbai twice, and Hubli I have been at least 20 times. It gets boring driving such fine roads.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by MrSDey

What a nice coincidence! How many of you are there? We are five people from here to Jaipur, and from Jaipur we are 6 people including my wife (and baby son) who fly down there.

I am taking the Indore route because I have never been to that part of the country. GQ may be faster, but I have been to Pune-Mumbai twice, and Hubli I have been at least 20 times. It gets boring driving such fine roads.

Ok. Nice to know about your trip. We are 2 adults and 2 Kids. Planning to take the Mumbai-GJ-Udaipur-Jaipur-Agra-Delhi route.

[asr245]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

How much time did it take from Delhi to Nainital?

Originally Posted by MrSDey

10+ hours! I can't do that with my 6-month old baby.

Will stop at Mathura on the way, then do it next day to Ramnagar. Next day I will go to Khairna, 30km from Nainital and supposed to be a lovely place. 2 days there, then Karnaprayag at GMVN, then onto Ukhimath and Chopta.

Thanks for all the info.

Oh! then it might take longer. I had my 1 yr old on that trip and it took us 9 hrs from Noida to Nainital (about 300kms via Rudrapur/Haldwani). Took multiple breaks and drove sedately. Otherwise should be doable in about 7-7.5 hours.

[Petropolitan]

Hi,

Planning to do Delhi-Nainital and back in 3rd/4th Week of April. But going by seniors' quotes on the poor roads, I am thinking many times, as I have aged mother to accompany. Mine is a poor Wagon R. Any suggestions regarding road conditions/timing?

[ankur_gupta10]

Originally Posted by Petropolitan

Hi,

Planning to do Delhi-Nainital and back in 3rd/4th Week of April. But going by seniors' quotes on the poor roads, I am thinking many times, as I have aged mother to accompany. Mine is a poor Wagon R. Any suggestions regarding road conditions/timing?

Take the regular haldwani-kathgodam route. Leave delhi very early morning around 4 am, and you will just breeze through.. Do a return on sunday when the markets at haldwani are closed. Have fun

[rajatsingh78]

Originally Posted by Petropolitan

Hi,

Planning to do Delhi-Nainital and back in 3rd/4th Week of April. But going by seniors' quotes on the poor roads, I am thinking many times, as I have aged mother to accompany. Mine is a poor Wagon R. Any suggestions regarding road conditions/timing?

Take whatever route my friend just DO NOT take the route that is via Tanda,

I happened to take this route accidentally and ended up 10-15 kms of moon like surface,

Calling them potholes would be an understatement, they were like craters where the buses were entering and leaving with water reaching its more than half tyre. I had my SX4 which did pretty well but I had to drive on the periphery of the craters. Took us almost 2 hours to cover 10-15 kms.

Best is take the following route,

Ghaziabad-Gajraula-Rampur-Rudrapur-Haldwani-Kathgodam-Nainital

[arun_josie]

From Noida, we took the Ghaziabad-Hapur-Moradabad-Rampur-Bazpur-Kaladhungi-Haldwani route to Nainital. We reached Nainital in 8 hours with 2 breaks of 45mins each. During our return journey, with one break it took 6 hours and 45 minutes only.

Except a 5 Kms stretch before Bazpur, entire stretch is good. It took around 20mins to cover this 5 Kms.

[Sting]

Originally Posted by abhjain

If you are heading to Nainital, please do give a thought of staying at two chimneys, gethia. Please PM me in case you need more details.

All,

My wife and I will be going to Gethia (Two Chimneys) near Nainital on my Triumph Bonneville in the next few days. A few questions:

Any route recommendations?
What is the time we should build in for the travel if we leave at 630am?
Any good places to stop/eat?
How much of the total kms are mountain roads and what are the road conditions on mountains?

Thanks a lot for your help!

Cheers,
Sting