[sgiitk]

Sightly OT:

How long is the drive to Corbett from Delhi (I guess I will add about 90 minutes from Gurgaon)

[Samba]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Very nice travelogue. I have been thinking of visiting Corbett this winter, and your writings and photos have reinforced the urge :-)

Btw, the 'barking deer' photo in the first page - that is a Sambar. Barking deers are small - the size of goats.

Good to know that one can take a 4WD inside. Will try for that if/when I go.

Thanks a lot, and thanks for correcting it out. I was unaware of it. Our driver pointed it to me as a barking deer.

Regarding booking at Dhikala if you want you can PM me i will give you the agents number through whom i did all my bookings. I did Corbett through him twice and both the times he were excellent with reasonable rates.

Originally Posted by ampere

Quite frankly Samba, people who visit Agra rarely visit this place. And I have not seen anyone mention this place at all. The place is supposed to be perennially under construction.

Thanks to SS-Traveller & Predatorwheelz for suggesting me to visit Dayalbagh.

Originally Posted by ampere

Brought back some real old memories. Thanks for sharing.

You are welcome sir.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Sightly OT:

How long is the drive to Corbett from Delhi (I guess I will add about 90 minutes from Gurgaon)

It took us 7 hours.

[AGupta_i20]

Hi,

By any chance, will it be possible to share the details of the agent who did your booking @ Dhikala, Corbett or is that not allowed and will be considered as advertising.

We are visiting Corbett from 26th Dec '14 - 30th Dec '14 but saw that everything is full. So booked ourselves in The Den @ Ranikhet - Corbett road. Will want to call your agent just to check if something can be booked in Dhikala.

Thanks a lot, irrespective of whether it will be possible to share, for your nice travellogue and pictures.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by AGupta_i20

Hi,

By any chance, will it be possible to share the details of the agent who did your booking @ Dhikala, Corbett or is that not allowed and will be considered as advertising.

We are visiting Corbett from 26th Dec '14 - 30th Dec '14 but saw that everything is full. So booked ourselves in The Den @ Ranikhet - Corbett road. Will want to call your agent just to check if something can be booked in Dhikala.

Thanks a lot, irrespective of whether it will be possible to share, for your nice travellogue and pictures.

Thanks.

I cant PM you right now as that option is not available to your profile, so am sharing the details with you over here itself.

Name of agent - Mr Nabi.
Ph number- +919927994501

Dhikala needs to be booked 60 days before the date you plan to visit. But you can still give him a call. Nabi called me few days back as he has brought a new gypsy this season.

You can call him and tell my name and refer him as Samba Sengupta who came from Kolkata with his wife and he gave Arif his 19 years old son as our driver & guide. He will understand. In case of any communication gap or if you need any other information on Corbett do give me a call at 9830031323. If needed i will talk to him too.

Hope it helps.

[AGupta_i20]

Originally Posted by Samba

Thanks.

I cant PM you right now as that option is not available to your profile, so am sharing the details with you over here itself.

Name of agent - Mr Nabi.
Ph number- +919927994501

Dhikala needs to be booked 60 days before the date you plan to visit. But you can still give him a call. Nabi called me few days back as he has brought a new gypsy this season.

You can call him and tell my name and refer him as Samba Sengupta who came from Kolkata with his wife and he gave Arif his 19 years old son as our driver & guide. He will understand. In case of any communication gap or if you need any other information on Corbett do give me a call at 9830031323. If needed i will talk to him too.

Hope it helps.

Thanks a lot. This is immensely helpful. My husband will call Mr. Nabi today to get all details. The site said that online booking can be done only 45 days in advance. Will check if we can get any details on that as well!

[Samba]

Originally Posted by AGupta_i20

Thanks a lot. This is immensely helpful. My husband will call Mr. Nabi today to get all details. The site said that online booking can be done only 45 days in advance. Will check if we can get any details on that as well!

Its true the site say 45 days but its almost impossible to get the bookings online. Plus you have chosen a peak tourist season. So it will be much more difficult for you. I have tried that many times before but failed every time. So at last got it done by an agent.

Actually the agents prefer a time of 60 days as they hold or do some other tricks in the back office which we are not aware of. They ask for your Id proof and other details few days before the online booking starts. So they keep on telling to pay 50% advance around 60 days prior to the trip. Its like a gamble. I have been to Dhikala twice and both the time Nabi succeeded to do it for me but in one of my friends case he failed to get in Dhikala, he got it done at Birjani for him which is another FRH inside Corbett. But i can assure you in more than 95% time he succeeded to get Dhikala.

[AGupta_i20]

Originally Posted by Samba

Its true the site say 45 days but its almost impossible to get the bookings online. Plus you have chosen a peak tourist season. So it will be much more difficult for you. I have tried that many times before but failed every time. So at last got it done by an agent.

Actually the agents prefer a time of 60 days as they hold or do some other tricks in the back office which we are not aware of. They ask for your Id proof and other details few days before the online booking starts. So they keep on telling to pay 50% advance around 60 days prior to the trip. Its like a gamble. I have been to Dhikala twice and both the time Nabi succeeded to do it for me but in one of my friends case he failed to get in Dhikala, he got it done at Birjani for him which is another FRH inside Corbett. But i can assure you in more than 95% time he succeeded to get Dhikala.

In fact, that's one of the other question I had. These places: Birjani, Dhikala, Jhirana, Sonanadi.. Are they completely different or there should be an order of preference among these? My husband somehow got the impression that these places are more like night stay only and can be clubbed with an evening safari to these zones. Also, he was telling me that in few of these, the tourists need to carry their own raw materials and the caretaker can cook for them. I thought that these are forest bunglows within the core area and works more like Govt. hotels with basic amenities.. We already have booked the The Den because an aquaintance told us that the bookings insite the forests are subject to last minute cancellations if any VIP / Politicians visit. So we were thinking of going for one night during our stay between 26th Dec - 30th Dec while keeping our main luggage etc in the hotel we have already booked. Of course it will be paying double for that night

[Samba]

Originally Posted by AGupta_i20

In fact, that's one of the other question I had. These places: Birjani, Dhikala, Jhirana, Sonanadi.. Are they completely different or there should be an order of preference among these? My husband somehow got the impression that these places are more like night stay only and can be clubbed with an evening safari to these zones. Also, he was telling me that in few of these, the tourists need to carry their own raw materials and the caretaker can cook for them. I thought that these are forest bunglows within the core area and works more like Govt. hotels with basic amenities.. We already have booked the The Den because an aquaintance told us that the bookings insite the forests are subject to last minute cancellations if any VIP / Politicians visit. So we were thinking of going for one night during our stay between 26th Dec - 30th Dec while keeping our main luggage etc in the hotel we have already booked. Of course it will be paying double for that night

Birjani, Dhikala, Jhirana, Sonanadi all are FRH and has all the basic amenities you get in a hotel. They will provide you food. Infact at Dhikala they had buffet system for food (Veg), 24 hours running hot water, an air cooler in the room. As all of these fall under FRH, the amenities should be same all over. Though i have not stayed at the other place. I would suggest you to try in this order- Dhikala- Birjani- Jhirana.

Regarding staying and safari let me clear your doubts.

From Ramnagar or from the entry gate you will board a Gypsy or a Canter. You will be driven around 20kms inside the forest to reach any of these FRH's. These are located deep inside the forests. The check in time is 12pm and check out is 11am. There are two safari's done every day. One is morning Safari which starts at 5 or 6am to 10 am depending on season and the other is afternoon Safari which starts from 3pm to 7pm. In between the two timings you have to stay in the FRH.

Generally cancellation due to VIP's were common earlier but now its less.

If you stay at 'The Den' in that case if you want you can book a Gypsy for the morning and evening Safari. Even for that you need to book and get your permits prior to the trip. In case the number of permits are filled up they wont allow you. If you call Nabi he can pick you up from your resort and get your Safari done inside the forest too. He will arrange for the Safari permits. So staying at your resort you can also visit Dhikala or any other spots. You have to decide it according to your priorities.

[AGupta_i20]

Thanks a lot for all these information. This is immensely useful. I have joined BHP very recently and really appreciate such insights from people like you who have "been there and done that" .. Thanks again.

[AGupta_i20]

Hi.. Just to keep you posted, I had indeed reached out to Mr. Nabi and we have discussed the rates and what plans will suit us the best. Right now, we have transferred some money to his account with our details and waiting for him to share the confirmation once he has the same. He (and his sons) were quite useful... So thanks a lot for your lead