Kumaon Diaries

Good morning Nainital!!! It snowed last night and the town was covered in snow. Served a good breakfast by the hotel and headed out to Mukteshwar in the car I had hired from Sandeep (+91 95361 97025), a good and decent tour n travels owner. The ride to Mukteshwar was full of snow and it just added more the beauty.. because it has snowed heavily we could not make it to the temple as the road was covered in 2 feet snow.. we used to turn back just a km short from the temple. Started my journey to Almora and checked into TRH Almora. On my way to Almora I headed to the chitale golu devta temple. It’s a unique temple that has bells of all shapes and sizes. You must visit the temple to see the bells if not from the religious pov.

Day 3 however started with some good views from TRH Almora. The rest house was spacious but KVMN really needs to work in maintaining the rest house.. I started the day with a sumptuous complimentary breakfast and headed for jageshwar temple. It’s a group of temple dedicated to lord shiva and built by the Pandavas.. Walking barefoot in the temple made my feet go numb but added to my experience.. the temple is beautiful and has many monkeys running around.

Spent the day taking a walk on the Almora streets and clicking pictures from bright end corner.. not to forget a visit to the famous khimji sweet shop.

Said good bye to Almora and headed to Binsar on my way visited Katarmal temple dedicated to the sun god.. the place is another group of temples dedicated to the sun god. About 30 kms from Almora the place is a must visit for the beautiful temple and the calm serene environment it has. One will need to walk up to 750 metres to reach the temple. I would suggest you visit the temple early morning.

Because of the heavy snowfall I couldn’t make it to the TRH Binsar and was told that I had been transferred to TRH Deenapani, that added to my disappointment which actually did not last long as the view from the TRH was excellent. Left with no option but to have pakoras and hot tea which really was the need of the hour.

It was pleasant to sip tea and watch the clouds hover below you over the mountains in dinapani, not something you get to see everyday.. Had my breakfast and started for the sleepy town of kausani. Kausani, a small town in the Himalayas is around 40 kms from dinapani.. if you looking to spend some peaceful time then this is the place .. the mornings are beautiful and so are the evenings. Nothing much to do in this sleepy town but relax and enjoy nature.. visited the tea garden but was kinda disappointed as I had been to Munnar in Kerala.

Started my morning by heading out for the pinnath trek.. it is a 5kms trek from the base and would take one around 3-4 hours to reach the pinnath temple. I unfortunately had to come back half way because of the snow.. I did visit the Rudradhari temple and the falls which was around 2 kms from the base. The temple is nestled in the jungle and if you travelling to the rudradhari temple then you need not take a guide as it’s not far and you have a path the leads you to the temple.. I had hired a guide as I intended to go to the pinnath temple and would recommend you do take a guide if u go to the temple as it is easy for one to loose the way..

I was back at the base in 3 hours and then went back to my hotel. Went shopping before retiring to my hotel and picked shawls for my mother and gifts for friends..donot forget to buy these shawls.. Rested for some time and went out in the evening for the sunset shots . This time I could see the panchchuli peaks clearly.

Started my journey to my final destination munsiyari.. Had heard a lot about the beauty of this place from my Kumaoni friends. It was a 6 hrs drive from kausani so we started early morning at 7. Believe me that is early morning in winters.. The drive was scenic as expected with a few rough patches here n there.. on the way we halted to see the Baijnath temple and also at chaukori, another beautiful town, had breakfast and moved on.. reached Birthi falls by 4.30 pm and found out that the road to munsiyari is blocked since 5 days because of heavy snowfall:(.. I had kept 4 days for munsiyari as i has planned to trek to Khaliya top and stay overnight.. that seemed like a distant dream now ... spent the evening by walking to the Birthi falls and then slept tight after dinner..

Munsiyari OPENS @12 pm.. finally the roads to munsiyari opened and I started my journey to the final destination..MUNSIYARI.. On the way to munsiyari we stopped at kalamuni temple and got a view of the meadows full of snow.. since the road had just opened there would be times when we had to wait for the incoming traffic. The roads are narrow too and strongly recommend you drive carefully.. Birthi was barely 30 kms from munsiyari and I stopped to go to hanuman tok and the kind.. but all roads blocked.. in fact I could not trek to Khaliya top too which I was so looking forward to.. visited nanda Devi temple and the was charmed by the view it had to offer . Retired early to the hotel as it was too cold..

Since Khaliya top was not accessible I roamed around in the sleepy town and went to point where I could get could pictures Od the panchchuli peaks.. the ITBP area is a good place to take pictures of the peaks.. the peaks turn red and pink in the evening and amber when the sun rises.. the peace and calm was a blessing and one could hear traffic at a distance.. since we had covered nanda Devi temple on the day of arrival today we went to Darkot.. Darkot has nothing to offer except excellent views and a temple.. but the road to Darkot was scenic as expected..

It was predicted to snow today and for once the predictions were right!! We started to travel down to Birthi at 9am so that we don’t get trapped up in munsiyari.. by the time we reached Birthi the roads were covered in snow .. lucky me !! In munsiyari I did purchase a rabbit fur cap which really kept my bald head warm.. :) .. the route was normal from Birthi on and I decide to take a night halt at chakori as I had a day in had because of not going to Khaliya.. one can view the entire range of Himalayas from chaukori.. I stayed at the TRH and ooh boy it was worth every penny.. the view from the rest house is excellent..

One of the holy cities of the region this town is dedicated to lord shiva and can feel that once you come to the town.. beautiful green town but quite populated bustling with noise and chatter, it has its own aura.. I halted at the place as the journey from munsiyari to kathgodam was 10 hrs and I was advised to split it, so opted for bageshwar as it’s midway.. the town is good enough to stay overnight and I would recommend not staying at TRH bageshwar.. a walk by the river and visit to the famous temples is what I did.. one can go to the Devi temple to get the view of the entire town..