Undiscovered Uttarakhand || Jeolikote || December || 2018

"Gateway to Naini Lake" is how Jeolikote is known to all. That is also how Google describes this hill station in Uttarakhand. Little is it known that this quaint village in the Kumaon hills province is an untapped jewel and doesn't need another hill station's identity for itself.

My visit to Jeolikote was simple fortuitous. A musician friend of mine from Rishikesh had a gig at Nainital Winter Carnival and another friend was residing at a nearby hostel. One trip, two check-ins, is what my mind shouted, and I booked a dorm bed at the same hostel, VistaStays, Jeolikote.

VistaStays is a hostel hidden to the naked eye, amidst lush green forests and a bevy of Jungle birds. Drop off at Haldwani, and 20 km shared taxi/local bus ride to Jeolikote petrol pump. The place has two closeby hostels, Hots and Vista Stays. 2 km uphill steep road journey by hitchhiking and then another 800 meters of mountain hike to reach the den. This is how it looks from 500 meters away! This is the thing about places that are on its road to discovery by the larger mass, you get to experience it raw, undiluted.

Day 2 was 30th of December, and hiking the mountain was an obvious choice(Duh.. I wanted to sleep at the time, but internally voted against it). Led by Bubu, along with Harshit, Shantanu, Abhishek and Prabal I went on my first mountain hike ever. Last of 2018 turned out to be the first of a lot of things. ???? 45 minutes uphill hike, some patches were higher than my height and I had crawled my way up with folks pushing and pulling me at the same time, holding a stick and receiving breathing instructions from the veterans of the Jungle mountains. At the end of the hike were exhilaration and a huge burst of emotion towards achieving a simple yet effortful feat. The spot was apparently a Sunset one, and we were right on time to catch glimpses of this magic unfolding before us. It was worth the gasps and bewilderment.

After this downhill was easier.

We had Bubu-made special bhaang-patta ki chutney with dinner. Ask for it if you ever visit Jeolikote.

31st was a fairly peaceful day with more time to writing and sleep at my warm dorm corner. By the time it was evening, people came back to the hostel to gather for the midnight countdown. It was a full house. Everyone celebrated around their own space, with their own vibes around. Old Monk was the bonfire, and the Bonfire kept us alive at -2 degree C. The strike of midnight happened amidst barking deer and respectable volume music against a mountain ecosystem, and boy was it happy! Instead of ending the night there, we went on to stay up, and then two of us, Prabal and I walked up to a spot on the hostel trail to witness the year's first daybreak. We watched the Sun rise with a flask of warm water, an orange, and some cashews and pistas. What you see here is only a 50% representation of the colors we saw at the time.

Day 4 was my last in the wilderness and after a day's sleep and leisure we went on to hike the Sunset mountains again. This time we had company, 2 mountaineers who have traverses the Himalayas extensively. We hiked the slope, witnessed another misty, yet glorious play of colors at the horizon and then lit a fire near a huge rock structure, waiting for it to get dark and then hike down(all daredevils I tell you). There was music and there were friends(humans and non). Make sure to carry a flask of chai if you ever do this, or better, carry a backpack with cooking utensils and prep one. A bunch of hikers from Delhi did this when they hiked in the day, heard it was fun.

Day 5, hiked down 30 minutes with Abhishek to the village to get freshly baked Cream Rolls and Faen from Bubu's bakery, he also runs the village post office, and Faen is his tea snacks specialty. Saw the village school and thatched houses. Drank fresh spring water and breathed in green air as much as possible. I was fueling up for the next few days in Gurgaon city before I take off again.