Wandering through Kumaon

Indian Rupees is widely accepted in Nepal and we struck a deal for Rs 150 with an e-rickshaw to be taken to the market of the nearest town Mahendranagar. While its difficult to find anything authentic Nepali in the border town, a friend later told me that one could search for Nepali beer brands -Gurkha, Everest or local home made beer Chyang. After taking a tour of the market, we hired another e rickshaw for the border and were back in India within three hours. Thus ended my very short but first ever foreign trip. From Banbasa, we hit the road again and reached Lohaghat via Tanakpur at 1:30 am in the night. Since a hotel had already been booked, we crash landed directly on the bed.

DAY 2

DAY 3

Next day we checked out to continue further to Chaukori via Patal Bhuvaneshwar, a small limestone cave temple not known to many. As we drove towards Patal Bhuvaneshwar, the Panchachuli started appearing bigger and nearer. We were zooming up and down various mountains before reaching a sparsely populated stretch, where the only sound one could hear was of the car’s roaring engine. Still, we managed to spot a cricket match with live commentary right on top of a mountain. Here are few videos and photos.

There is a steep descent in the cave with the support of metal chains where one has to slide through narrow rock cavities before reaching the bottom. There being a single entry and exit gate, only a selected group of people are allowed to enter at one point of time. Since not many people visit this place, you won’t have to wait long for your turn.

There are beautiful structures inside the cave formed over year of erosion by water and gases. Some of these structures strikingly resemble Hindu gods and figures – the reason the cave has become a holy spot. There is a family of priest which has been taking care of the cave for generations. The priest also gives a quick tour of the cave after which the group has to ascend back to the entry to allow the next group to enter. The cave is also protected by Archaeological Survey of India.

One also gets a wider and more beautiful view of the snow covered himalayas from Patal Bhuvaneshwar. It was a delight to have lunch while gazing at the foggy valley extended wide open before the majestic Himalayan range.

After stuffing ourselves, we continued our journey and reached Chaukori by around 7:00 pm. We booked a hotel and went to bed early to wake up for the famed Chaukori sunrise.

By 7 a.m. the himalayas were clearly visible, high and towering over other mountains of the region. This was the nearest we could come to the Panchachuli peaks and it seemed the whole journey from Lohaghat to Chaukori was gravitating towards this final moment.

The sun rose gradually from a low lying mountain, coloring the white himalayas orange from its light. The clouds were covered in different hues as the ball of fire came out of the mountain and stayed still for a couple of minutes. This was the most beautiful moment and will remain stamped in my memory for a long time. I could gaze eye to eye at the perfectly, round orange sun; shining and quivering wildly. I dropped my camera to just enjoy the view. After several minutes, the sun climbed further, turning bright yellow in its full power and filled the sky with white light. I could no more look at it directly. We had a nice and relaxing breakfast at the hotel overlooking the valley.

We had weighed our options for the rest of the journey. We could either continue our journey towards the Himalayas by heading towards the hill town of Munsyari, another 100 km from Chaukori, or make a detour towards Bageshwar. While Munsyari would have given even a closer look at Himalayas, Bageshwar gave the possibility of exploring another side of Uttarakhand.

In the end, leaving behind the quite environs of hill stations, we decided to head towards Bageshwar – a small town which owes its name to Bagnath temple. While the drive from Lohaghat to Chaukori was full of dry and abandoned mountains, the journey from Chaukori to Bageshwar is full of greenery, with long pine trees lining the road throughout. Situated on the confluence of Gomti and Sarayu river, the town looked a beautiful agglomeration of small houses as we drove down from an adjacent mountain.

After parking the car, we took a round of the main market near the Bagnath temple. The walk is interesting as it gives a flavor of daily life in a nominal hill town. While the Bagnath temple is small and average in its architecture, it has a great following among the bhakts of Shiva. We wrapped up the temple quickly and decided on our next destination – the Jageshwar temple.

Google maps took us through a very narrow and broken road for Jageshwar – which we reached around 5:00 pm. The temple, a collection of different sites on the way and a main complex, is in a small, isolated village. The site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India and there is a museum located just opposite the temple complex.

As it got dark, we hopped back into the car and headed to Almora bypass to start our journey back to Delhi. However, things didn’t go as planned. After crossing Almora, the Google maps led us astray and with limited diesel, we found ourselves lost in the mountains. However, while exploring a possible route to Haldwani, we spotted a full grown leopard running on the road right in front of our car. It was thrilling to say the least as I had either heard about leopard encounters from local paharis or read about them in Ruskin Bond’s books . The leopard ran for several seconds on the road before quickly jumping into the bushes as we drove past him. The rare encounter made the risk of getting lost in the mountains totally worth it.

However, soon we got back our senses and decided to drive back to Almora, refuel the car and leave the next morning. All the petrol pumps were shut as we entered Almora at 11:45 pm in the night. We parked the car near a petrol pump and drifted to sleep on our seats thinking of a speeding leopard lit by our car’s headlights.

DAY 5

Next morning, we refueled our tank and drove non stop to Delhi with only two breaks at Bhowali and Moradabad. My friend drove the car throughout the journey and the trip would not have been possible without his presence of mind and love for driving. Hats off to you Abhishek !