VIJAYPUR VIA RANIKHET- THE FIRST DAY

Day-1

Delhi-Nizamuddin Bridge– UP Border-Hapur-Garh Ganga-Gajraula-Joya-Moradabad By pass-Rampur-Bilaspur - Rudrapur - Haldwani-Bhimtal - Ranikhet

The reason why I am starting this post with directions is because this was my first road trip to Himalayas without any professional driver, where my friend was driving his car and me acting as the navigator. The first trip, where I didn't sleep (I could not sleep) in the car during the whole journey of 1000 kms and was constantly looking at map,directions, the local boards and relying on the helpful people around us.

So, it all started with looking for a peaceful getaway from Delhi for the long October weekend. A struggle between 100 destinations starting from 200 kms around Delhi finally lead to one- Vijaypur, Uttrakhand, some 500 kms from Delhi. As it was the long weekend for everybody we decided to book our cottage in advance. There were hardly any resorts or cottages in Vijaypur, luckily we could get one - the Chestnut Grove. The owner of the resort, Mr. Vivek, however, suggested us to take a halt at Ranikhet in between as it was the long journey. He was kind enough to find a place for us to stay at Ranikhet- the Chevron Rosemount.

Incident 1 - while going to Ranikhet- We were about to cross Haldwani and a huge long iron bar fell on our car from one bus. The person sitting at the top of the bus became scared and a group of people catch hold of the bar. Luckily only a little dent came on our car and the headlight and the wind-shield were untouched. With traffic jam behind our car and our hearts pacing, we continued our journey.

Incident 2- My friend and I had to take certain luggage from the car. Our car was parked in the Rosemount's parking. It was all dark and my friend was whistling. I asked him the reason for his whistle and he told me that wild animals get a signal and they go away. We took our stuff from the car and I started clicking some pictures of the resort. Suddenly my friend told me to quickly head towards the resort. I concentrated a little and realised that I could hear groaning of some wild animal. We quickly headed towards our room.