[W.A.G.7]

This has got to be the shortest travelogue in terms of words. Let the pictures do the talking. With the blessings of the fire and Gods, we got married on 06th May.



Tbhp stickered cars all decked up to welcome the new L-O-H.


Before the marriage happened, we had planned to do this trip on our honeymoon. Both of never wanted to do the typical honeymoon itineraries; so we sought the advice of our friend who is the co-owner of Foliage outdoors/Infinite Journeys. He suggested this plan which we thought was nice.

The basic idea was this -
Pune - Delhi -> Corbett N.P -> Binsar -> Pangot -> (Nainital/Saat-tal/Naukuchiyatal) -> Gethia -> Delhi -> Pune.

All arrangements were done by Infinite journeys from pickup @ Delhi airport to drop again @ Delhi airport. A driver cum helper along with a Toyota Etios was given to us for the complete duration of 8 days.

Pune Delhi travel was by SpiceJet, one of the most boring airplane journeys that we have undertaken.

[W.A.G.7]

The first stop was at Corbett N.P. Jungle visit in a honeymoon trip?? Many of my friends called me nuts, but then visiting Delhi and not going to Corbett N.P is a sacrilege (for wildlife enthusiasts). As long as my wife didn't object to it, I was okay with the plan!

We reached Tiger Camp resort, which is one of the good ones over there. The accomodation and food was just fantastic.



Inspite of the burning summer, plants still sprout new leaves.


We spent a lot of time together.


We even climbed trees using high heels!!


Needless to say, we saw a lot of flowers. Some common, some not so common.


red


purple.


white.


pink.


orange.


some small ones too.

[W.A.G.7]

When we were exhausted, we sat in the shade of the trees.


Pink lilies. Himalayas/Kumaon/Uttarakhand seem to be blessed with exceptionally beautiful varieties of flowers.



The ambience of the resort was excellent.


In the afternoon we set out for our first ride in the park.


A bust of the legendary Jim Corbett as soon as we enter the gate.


A little distance further, this big tusker crossed our path leisurely.


Thats the Kosi river, all dried up in summer


A herd of deer looks at us inquisitively.


A different kind of pigeon. Which is it?


White throated kingfisher.


Blue tailed bee eater.


Brown fish owl.


Yellow footed green pigeon on the banks of the river.


A tortoise or a turtle basking in the sun.

[W.A.G.7]

Holy Cow! Getting to see a tiger in Corbett National Park in the first ride is not something everyone gets to do! But we were infinitely lucky, we saw this male tiger on Sambar road, out looking for a kill. He's not interested in the tourists at all and after looking at them, he vanishes into the jungle just as mysteriously as he had appeared






Going further, we spot this black drongo swinging up and down in the breeze.


Then we get to the Chaurs which are grasslands.


Where this baby tusker is running and playing alone without bothering about the gypsies.


Which bird is this? It was very bold.


Some distance further is a big male tusker. This one started chasing us, but then gave up after some time.


A herd of elephants led by an adult female who is the head of the group.


Like flowers, sunsets are very very mesmerizing and beautiful in Kumaon.


~5AM in the morning, waiting in front of a line of elephants, for the morning elephant ride? Not a very bright idea on a honeymoon!!!


We saw this crested serpent eagle


Elephants refuelling at the water hole.


Common green bee eater.

[W.A.G.7]

A pair of monkeys cleaning each other.


Thats an oriental spotted dove.


Mahseer fish in the Kosi river.


Jackal, who is upto no good.


Parting shot, of a mother langur and child. This was when we were leaving for Binsar.


En route to Binsar.


We went Corbett -> Bhimtal -> Bhowali -> Almora -> Binsar.


A cool looking marble elephant. Very beatiful.


As we gain altitude to ~8000 feet, the landscape changes dramatically with pine forests everywhere and long winding but narrow roads with Ghat sections. On one side there are tall tall trees which head into the sky; on the other side there are sheer drops of many hundred feet into the valley below.


Our resort room @ Binsar


The Resort where we stayed at Binsar. It was in the forest department area.


A bygone era sundial which can also be seen in the picture above.

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Next is a few shots of flowers at the resort. There are no words to describe this. Everything is so utterly beautiful that it has to be seen to be believed. And the beauty of nature has to be experienced.

























Rhododendron flowers. Used to make a red squash which tastes very nice.


3 different kinds of butterflies

[W.A.G.7]

At Binsar, it was raining and the min. temperature was very less ~10-11 deg. The rains prevailed till we had reached Pangot, which is 15 kilometres from Nainital. Pangot is know for birding, butterflies, flowers and a tranquil atmosphere. A good place to avoid the rush of the tourists at Nainital.

The clouds above the mountain, is where you supposedly see some of the peaks of Himalays. This was from the observation deck at zero point Binsar.


A typical shot. At the Zero point in Binsar.


Beautiful pine forests. They are never ending.


Looking out of the room from the window, as the weather had turned very wet and cold.


Some more beautiful flowers at the resort.





Thats a horse chestnut tree. You can see the dark clouds looming in the background.


Prickles. This was taken on the route to Pangot. We went Binsar -> Almora -> Bhowali -> Nainital -> Pangot.


At Pangot, we came across this beautiful butterfly.


And this bird.


Also these birds flitting in the resort. They look like some species of babblers.


Some more beautiful flowers.


The balcony above is where our resort room was. Below is the library.

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At Pangot, we spend some leisure time.


We watch the clouds go by...


... and some butterflies...


... and some more flowers and clouds.



We dry out clothes in the wind.


And some typical honeymoon shots.


Then we decide to go for a walk in the Pangot forest.


"9 kms?? Trek??? Is he mad? "


No. we didn't do all the 9 kms. We must have done some 3-4 kms. and then returned as it was getting dark.


Board which shows the flora and fauna in the jungle.


British era copper plate which marks out which peaks of the Himalayas you can see from the point.


But again, rains played a spoilsport, so we weren't rewarded with astounding views of the Himalays again in Pangot.


Punishment ready, for the 9kms trek scare that was given earlier !!!

[W.A.G.7]

The Naini lake. Taken from the ropeway.


At the top there are many TP things to do.


Like shooting bottles for 30/- ...


or dropping down to earth, strapped in this contraption.


Then we played dashing cars.



"What if the whole thing collapses? Will we fall down?"


Another view from the ropeway while descending.


Then we went for boating in the lake.


Where some wagtail greeted us.


The boatman at the helm.


Lord Hanuman.


The oxygen pumping station situated on the banks.


Naini Tal town.


Another view of the lake.

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The typical honeymoon shot. Must have in every honeymoon trip.


Mosque


Capitol Cinema


The market place. After shopping for candles in the market, we left Nainital, for Gethia. Pangot is 15 kms and above in altitude from Nainital, whereas Gethia is 15 kms and below in altitude at Nainital.


We were greeted by another beautiful resort with nice rooms.



And some more beautiful flowers



And pine trees.


The highway as seen from the resort, this resort is bang on the highway from Nainital to Delhi. From Gethia we did Saat-tal, Naukuchiyatal and Bhimtal. All in one go as each place is some 20-25kms from Gethia.


Excuse the dirty background. Couldn't resist getting a few shots of butterflies mudpuddling at Naukuchiyatal.



Geese in the lake


A view of Naukuchiyatal.


The boatman. He had a big stock of PJ's and kept us entertained too.

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Just before Naukuchiyatal we came across this mandir, which had figures of all major deities in India.



With the entrance through a tunnel. On reaching there, we were made to give an exam of 30 mins on the meaning of life. "No cheating" was what we heard from the person sitting at the table when my wife tried to copy from my paper. I scored 70/100 whereas wife got 30/100!


Beautiful blossoms. I can't recollect the name of this tree but it looks really amazing. This was on the banks of Bhimtal.




One more of those beautiful butterflies.


The Bhimeshwar mandir.


A view of Bhimtal. From here we headed to Saat-tal.


Only one shot of Saat-tal as it was a repeat story of boating. Post this we returned back to the resort by 4 pm and next day we had to leave for Delhi

[W.A.G.7]

Some random shots taken while returning back to Delhi. This was at Pant-Nagar.


This should have been in the accidents thread


Nissan


Delhiites, what's this monument?


Last we visited Rajghat. We just had 2 hours before our return flight to Pune.


Rajghat. A tribute to the father of the nation.


Gateway was cordoned off so we just drove by.


Is this the Supreme court?


The most interesting part. These are the costs that we had during the trip. Except for Gethia where as per the plane we had rooms and breakfast only, all other resorts where we stayed had rooms+breakfast+lunch+dinner in the plan.

I have put this info, so that if anyone wants to stay at these resorts, they will have a rough idea of the expenses. However do research on the internet and also if you plan to stay, call them for the latest rates. Also, instead of the AC indica taxi, we had an AC Etios given to us.



Thanks for reading our short story. Now with another partner for life, who is as interested in visiting new places as me; I hope to share more travelogues and jungle stories!

[GTO]

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

[stormerider]

First of Congratulations to both of you for your marriage.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

The first stop was at Corbett N.P. Jungle visit in a honeymoon trip?? Many of my friends called me nuts, but then visiting Delhi and not going to Corbett N.P is a sacrilege (for wildlife enthusiasts). As long as my wife didn't object to it, I was okay with the plan!

I can completely relate to that as an enthusiast you can never ignore the call of the wild! Above all, I find Corbett to be one of the most beautiful forest that we have.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Holy Cow! Getting to see a tiger in Corbett National Park in the first ride is not something everyone gets to do! But we were infinitely lucky, we saw this male tiger on Sambar road, out looking for a kill.
A herd of elephants led by an adult female who is the head of the group.
Attachment 1091013

I believe that they all were giving you wedding presents. As we did not get to see a tiger or tuckers in our 2 visits spanning 3-4 days to this reserve. But what pulls us there is the beauty of the forest.

cheers

[gd1418]

First of all congratulations & the all the very best for a Happy wedded life.

Lucky couple, I must say, for having sighted a Tiger n Corbett on the very first safari.

I've yet to spot one.

Some very beautiful pictures of colourful flowers & butterflies.