[v&v]

It has now become a norm that every dusshera holidays we are out for a vacation , this time were planning Thailand visit but due to some business commitment we had to plan a short trip again to Himalayas. After checking out options we zeroed in Ranikhet as my wify wanted to visit Babaji's cave, which as around 130 odd kms from Ranikhet. She is a avid follower of Babaji and Yogoda Satsanga.

So the trip itinerary was planned as follows

Day - 1 Drive to Ranikhet. - 356 kms - 9hrs drive

Braj Ghat



Day - 2 Visit to Kukuchina via Dwarhaat, Dunagiri which is around 130 kms round trip.



Day - 3 Visit to Jageshwar Jyotirling - 160 kms round trip.



Day - 4 Checkout - Drive to CM @ Ram nagar - 100 kms


Day - 5 Visit Corbett & Sitabani trip



Day - 6 Drive back to Delhi


Hotel Booking

Ranikhet : We zeroed in to Holm farm which was around 3 kms away from town on a hill top giving awesome view of mighty Himalayas.
Very much recommended place and Mr Updhayay (Owner) is simply a superb host to ensure the comfort of guest. The staff too were very friendly.

http://www.holmfarmranikhet.com/

View from the Holm farms



Jim Corbett : Club Mahindra - Safari Resort


Routes Planned

Delhi to Ranikhet
Delhi - Moradabad - Rampur - Rudrapur - Haldwani - Bhimtal - Bowali - Ranikhet

Babaji Cave
Ranikhet - Dwarhaat - Dunagiri - Kukuchina - Babaji Cave (4 kms)

Jageshwar
Ranikhet - Almora - Jageshwar

Jim corbett
Ranikhet - Ramnagar state highway

[v&v]

Day - 1

Started early by 4.30 am to avoid Delhi & Ghaziabad traffic. Traffic was mild and we could make good progress by 06.15 we crossed Gajraula.



By 7 we crossed Murabad bypass. Road after bypass was under construction.
Rampur - Rudrapur Section has large craters.






Took a break at 09:00 am before Rudrapur.


Rudrapur - Haldwani road was in good condition we quickly reached Haldwani by 10:30






Reached Bhimtal by 11:30. Took 30 min break and proceeded to Ranikhet.






By 2 pm we reached Ranikhet .








Rest of the time as spent exploring the area and Ranikhet market.

Road to Holm farms

[v&v]

Holm farms is just like a big farm house with gardens all around. It has a awesome Himalayan view around. Lots of birds, butterfly's and flowers.
After our lunch we strolled around the area and Ranikhet market. Ranikeht is very beautifully maintained by Kumaon regiment.

Some more photos of Ranikhet

Way to our log hut


Our log hut


Snow peaks view









Ranikhet Town / Market













Beautiful sun set





Evening was windy and chilly. Had a feasting dinner and slept early for a tough Day - 2

[v&v]

Day - 2

Got up early to click some good photos of snow peaks , its only early mornings you get the clear view of mighty Himalayas.

Spent some good 2-3 hrs strolling and clicking photos around.
After our breakfast we started for Kukuchina by 11 am

[v&v]

By 11 we headed to Babaji's Cave @ Kukuchina. Our first destination was Dwarhaat.

About Babaji
Mahavatar Babaji was first mentioned by Paramahansa Yogananda in his book Autobiography of a Yogi (1946). Mahavatar Babaji in 1861, met Lahiri Mahasaya who was posted to Ranikhet in his work as an accountant for the British government. One day while walking in the hills of Dunagiri above Ranikhet, he heard a voice calling his name. Following the voice up the mountain, he met a "tall, divinely radiant sadhu." He was amazed to find that the sadhu knew his name. This sadhu was Mahavatar Babaji.

Mahavatar Babaji told Lahiri Mahasaya that he was his guru from the past, then initiated him into Kriya Yoga and instructed Lahiri to initiate others. Lahiri wanted to remain with Mahavatar Babaji, who told him instead that he must return to the world to teach Kriya Yoga and that "Kriya Yoga sadhana would spread through the people of the world through his (Lahiri's) presence in the world. Babaji's cave in Kukuchina is the spot where he gave Kriya initialization to Lahiri Mahasaya.

More info can found on this link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahavatar_Babaji



My mother is an avid follower of Babaji since many years. My wife too got interested and started practicing kriya yoga & meditation. She is also a member of Yogoda Satsanga. She has been longing to visit the cave for quit some time. Recently actor Rajinkant too visited Babaji's cave and it was telecast in a new channel. After this she too wanted to visit the cave once, this is how this trip for Ranikhet materialised.

From Mr Updhayay we came to know about Mr Joshi who can assist in getting the key to cave as its locked the key is with the local person in kukuchina town. He could not be reached that day we started our journey hoping for the best. Luckly Mr Joshi was available at the restaurant and we came to know that cave is open and a Dr family from Mumbai has just left to the cave.

From the restaurant ,there is 2 kms walk/drive through the narrow road which leads to the base of the mountain, the road is very narrow , but with little effort one can drive to the base of the hill.

From there one has to climb around 2 kms for the cave. The climb was little difficult but manageable with couple of breaks. Were back at Joshi restaurant by 3.30 pm.

Photos

[v&v]

After the Cave visit, we headed to Dunagiri Devi temple. This temple is around 6 kms before Kukuchina.

There around 400+ step to the temple.
Interesting facts about the Dunagiri.
it is beleived that Hanumanji was carrying mountain with 'Sanjiwani buti' to save laxman, a piece of it fell here and thus was named 'Doonagiri'. This temple was built in honour of goddess Vaishnavi. It is believed that the bronze plate inside the temple dates back to 1181 A.D
This link has lots of info : http://dunagiri.com/history.html



















We got completely exhausted by the time we are back from the temple. Rested for 30 min and we drove back to Ranikhet by 5.30. By 7 we were at our hotel. Had and early dinner and all were flat soon.

[v&v]

Day - 3

Day3 was originally planned for local sight seeing. But we altered the plan to visit Jageshwar temple. We are told by Mr Updhayay that Mahamrityunjaya Mahadev temple @ Jageshware is must visit and is a day trip. So the plan was altered accordingly we by 10.30 we headed to Almora. From there its around 40 kms.

Jageshwar Temple
The main temple in the complex is dedicated to Bal Jageshwar. its a group of 124 temples in the same complex. it is beleived that Adhi Sankaracharya found Jageshwar on his way to Kedranath.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jageshwar

Mahamrityunjaya Mahadev Temple
Its an ancient temple which is east facing and unique shivling has a unique opening in the shape of an eye. It is believed that recitation of the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra for 108 times clears off any illness.














Mahamrityunjaya Mahadev Temple







As per above photo, the temple to the right is the Jytorling Jageshwar and left is the Mahamritunjaya Temple. Behiend is a small stream.

[v&v]

Dandeshwar Shiv Temple
This temple is just before the main temple complex and here the shivling is a natural rock.

[v&v]

By 2.30 pm we started our return drive to Ranikhet and by 7 we reached our destination. The road to Almora - Jageshwar is in good condition with reasonable traffic.

En-route i could click some awesome shots of Himalaya. Here is one of them and tried to name them.

Mighty Himalayas


Sun set



Other places around Jageshware which are worth visit are

Pithoragarh : Berinag, fort, Darchula
Didihat : Is the Kailash mansarovar route
Patal Bhuvaneshwar : Lime stone caves dedicated to lord shiva. (Must visit, next in our Radar)
Panar : for trekkers

[noopster]

Thread moved from Assembly Line to Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

[hvkumar]

Where is the McD shown in the first photo?
Any places which you can recommend en route for good food & clean toilets?
Did you go through Rampur city - how messy was it?
Rampur-Haldwani road widening is going on?
How was Almora-Jageshwar road?

[BUXX]

Looks like its the McD in/after Gajraula..

[mobike008]

Nice TL that you have shared here. I am not sure if you already mentioned it, when was this trip undertaken?

I too was in Uttarakhand during 3rd week of Dec'12

[v&v]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Where is the McD shown in the first photo?
Any places which you can recommend en route for good food & clean toilets?
Did you go through Rampur city - how messy was it?
Rampur-Haldwani road widening is going on?
How was Almora-Jageshwar road?

Originally Posted by BUXX

Looks like its the McD in/after Gajraula..

Yes BUXX its in Gajraula

HVK , McD is around 18 kms after BrajGhat and apart from Drivein McD , Bikanerwala, CCD, Dominos pizza all these are almost adjacent to each other.

Yes : Rampur was not crowded as it as around 7.30 am but traffic was building up.

Also i was told, alternative route to bypass rampur is to cross the Phatak and 4 kms, there is a left cut, that bypasses the city.

I didnt see any work on Rampur - Haldwani road. Rampur - Rudrapur road is in bad shape.

Almora - Jageshwar road - 50-50. 50% is good , rest 50% has occasional patches of bad roads.

Originally Posted by mobike008

Nice TL that you have shared here. I am not sure if you already mentioned it, when was this trip undertaken?

I too was in Uttarakhand during 3rd week of Dec'12

Yah i have mentioned it, we did it in dussehra holidays.

[v&v]

Day - 4

We checked-out of Holm farms and our next destination was Jim Corbett national park. A quick query with locals about Ranikhet - Ramnagar road condition were positive and we decided upon it.

Started leisurely by 11. Total distance to destination was 100kms. The roads were winding and narrow at places. There are certain segments where its very narrow as only one vehicle can pass. There were 2 -3 such occasion where i had to reverse to give side to oncoming truckers.

Midway break




By 3 pm we reached our CM - Tiger resort. Check-in was hassle free. The day are planned to leisure out and enjoy the pool and riverside. Kids got engaged with games.








I had already paid advance for Day-5 morning safari for Jhirna/Bijrani. Evening i got a call from travel/fun zone regarding safari and was informed that i have to personally visit the counter at Ramnagar by 4.30 am with ID to collect/buy the tickets for safari. I was told that the online system is not working and due to heavy rush , its first come first serve basis. This news put me off and cancelled the Safari and planned to spend the day at Sitabani buffer zone.