Beautiful Uttarakhand.. 10 days Itinerary for families

    Uttarakhand, aka. Devbhoomi is really amazing state of India. I travelled across this state recently and in this post I am covering my itinerary of Uttarakhand. Apart from places I am mentioning here, there are many more places to visit, which I will cover in another post.

  We traveled in Uttarakhand for 10 days as I could take only that much leave from office, but if you want to cover entire uttarakhand at leisure, I will suggest 2 weeks of vacation. So, here is a route I took.

Mumbai - Dehradun-mussoorie-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Nainital-Jim Corbett-Delhi-Mumbai

  Here is a day by day account along with notes:
DAY1:
   Traveled from Mumbai to Dehradun by flight and stayed at Dehradun. (If early morning flight is possible for you, then fly only till Delhi and book a taxi for round trip from Delhi to Delhi and reach Dehradun on first day. Delhi - Dehradun by road will take 6-7 hours max.)

DAY2:
   Did local sight seeing in Dehradun.
   Forest research institute building is must see for its beautiful architecture, magnificent lawns and there are 3 small museums as well. You will spend around 2 hours here.

   You can then head for Robber's Cave aka. Kachchu Paani. which is some 15 kms. away from Dehradun.

This is interesting 600 mts cave with water flowing out of it. Water is not very deep but its very cold. This is another point I liked in Dehradun. You have to walk through this water to see this cave from inside but its worth walking and then after coming out you can also enjoy hot maggi or pakoda's..

Again, at this place you can spend 2 hours max. You can either visit deer park in remaining time or opt for evening stroll in Bada bazar which is near Dehradun Clock Tower.

For eating in Dehradun, I tried Town table restaurant and level one restaurant. Town table food as well as ambiance is very good.

DAY3:
  We visited Musoorie on this day. Its only 24 kms away from Dehradun. Road from Dehradun to musoorie itself is very scenic and beautiful. As you climb up, temperature starts dropping. Views of the valley from mussoorie are amazing. We also visited company garden and kempsky falls which are 15 kms from Musoorie. There are other small places in Mussoorie, but I wont recommend spending a day in Mussoorie. We went straight to Haridwar after spending day in Mussoorie. Mussoorie to Haridwar takes around 3-4 hours of drive. So Start from Mussoorie latest by 5 pm. We checked into Hotel Ganga Lahri in Haridwar which is on the banks of Ganga river.

DAY4:
   This was long day for me which started very early at 5 am. I went to BrahmKund for morning Ganga Aarti. Aarti starts around 6:10 am. (but time changes as per sunrise and sunset so confirm with hotel staff). Morning Aarti is not as grand as evening one but the atmosphere is amazing.

Beautiful Ganga Ghat in Haidwar

   After enjoying Ganga Aarti and amazing breakfast of hot Suji Halwa, Chhole Bhature etc. we headed straight to Rishikesh. Rishikesh offers amazing adventure activities, but we had our small daughter with us so couldn't enjoy those. You can enjoy Rafting, River cossing, Kayaking or Bunjee Jumping. These activities take place 5 kms after Rishikesh. On the road to DevPrayag.

  In Rishikesh, you can cross Ram Jhula bridge and visit Temples, Baba Kaali Kamli Wale Ashram, Geeta Bhavan etc. and then come back by boat.

   We came back to Haridwar in the evening for evening Ganga Aarti. Evening Aarti is bigger and its really amazing. Dont miss this Aarti. For best view, be at Har ki Paudi, Brahmakund at 5:30 pm. Time changes as per sunset.

Evening Ganga Aarti at BrahmaKund, Har ki Paudi, Haridwar.

  Haridwar is great for foodies. I shall write separate post on this topic and present Haridwar in detailed manner. But dont miss amazing Haridwar food.

DAY5:
   We left Haridwar and headed for Naianital.We visited Patanjali Peeth in the morning and then went to Nainital. Haridwar to Nainital will take around 6 hours to travel.

   Reached Nainital at night and checked in to Hotel Vikram Vintage. Its really amazing hotel and charged us 4500 INR per day including BF & Dinner. There are many other good hotels in Nainital (Pavilion, Grand, Manu Maharani to name a few). Vikram vintage is amazing considering quality of food, service and room as well.

DAY6:
  Visited High altitude Zoo in Nainital. Its very close to city and must visit Zoo built on top of the hill. Tigers here are amazing. They also have Bear, Sambhar, Leopard, fox, Red Panda, and many birds as well.

Tiger in Nainital Zoo

 After Zoo, we took a boat ride in beautiful Naina Lake. This lake makes Nainital stand apart from other hill stations. There are many lakes in and around nainital which are really beautiful.

Beautiful Naina Lake.

  After lake we headed to Bada Bazaar which is main market of Nainital. Dont forget to buy amazing candles which is specialty of Nainital. There are scented, aromatic, magic or various shaped candles available in the market.

DAY7:
  It was another day in Nainital, we went for horse riding to peak. Its around 2 hrs. ride which covers around 8 kms of route. We paid 700 INR per horse. but this ride is must take. If you are big PETA supporter then you can go for trek on this route. but dont miss this one. View of Nainital from the top is amazing.

Beautiful Nainital from Peak

 After this we visited Bhimtal and saatataal. You can also choose to visit Mukteshwar which is around 40 kms from Nainital or almora or kausani.

DAY8:
  Travelled from Nainital to Jim Corbett National park. Its only 2 hours drive and very good road. Checked into hotel The Den Corbett. Its very good resort inside open forest zone. There are forest rest houses inside reserve forest as well but as we booked only for visit purpose, I booked it in open forest. Resort charged me 5500 INR per day including all meals. This resort is very good place to relax and views from open terrace is beautiful. If you are booking over the phone ask for DEER PARK room which is vey beautiful

  We just relaxed after reaching to corbett and spent evening on beautiful sundeck constructed near the valley.

DAY9:
  Went for early morning safari from Durga Devi Gate. Safari was from 6:30 am to 9:30 am. It was a open Jeep safari, but the choice of gate was wrong. This being a hilly area, citing animals is very difficult and rare. If you are visiting jim corbett with intention of watching animals or tiger. Please plan your trip after doing proper research. I will put few points in separate post.

 After early morning safari relaxed in the resort and then went on small elephant ride near resort.

DAY10:
  Started from Jim Corbett at 7:30 am in the morning for Delhi. We went to Delhi airport directly from Jim Corbett. If you are planning in same manner please keep at least 8 hours in hands for this travel. Many times you get heavy traffic between Gaziabad and Delhi. So keep buffer time.

 So on day 10th, We reached back with lot of beautiful memories from Uttarakhand. If you need any help planning your trip to uttaakhand, you can write to me at kaustubhkhare@gmail.com or call me at 9820031162.

  I will write few more options of itineary as well as budget soon.. till then bye bye.. and yes dont forget to write your feedback on the post.

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Srinagar for foodies

In my latest trip to Srinagar, I got great opportunity to spend time doing my most favorite activity.. EATING.. So, if you are foodie and love trying various delicacies.. this article is for you..

To start with, I enjoyed some sweets, chats and bakery stuff at Nathu sweets. Nathus sweets is opposite to Dal lake ghat no. 11.

Nathu sweets not only serves Kashmiri sweets but has amazing variety of bakery, bengali sweets and chaat items.

You can enjoy pastries, puffs and lots of cookies here. Hot veg puff was really amazing.

If you are craving for chaat.. Dahi bhalla, Dahi puri & the famous Aloo tikki will satisfy your taste buds. You can also get panipuri here, but pani puri and shev puri are no where near Mumbai.

You can also try some kashmiri sweets full of dry fruits like appricots, walnut, almonds etc.

For veg lunch / dinner, the road parallel to dal lake, between ghat 11 till dal gate provides lots of Vaishnav restaurants. All of them serving amazing parathas, chhole puri or some even serving south indian.
  
Now comes the part for real food explorer..

I had an opportunity to enjoy traditional kashmiri meal called wazhwan... Its a serving for multiple people and must be enjoyed in group, sitting on the ground (bhartiya baithak).. 
First course consists of platter of kebabs which include chops, seek kebab, chicken leaver, sweetish reshmi kebabs etc. This platter is served on top of base of rice.. this rice is enough to accompany all courses..

This is how Wazhwan enters the eating area ....

And then... the real beauty is revealed and presented to you....

Second course is a spicy red gravy called rista.. its close to apla marathi Rassa.. this rassa has 5-6 big meat balls prepared from minced mutton. 

Third course is of gostaba.. its a white curd based gravy again with meatballs. Tastes really fantastic.. not spicy, but sour gravy and made very rich probably by adding dryfruit paste..

Fourth serving is of roganjosh.. this is again brown spicy gravy with mutton, but this time not minced.. it has big pieces with bones. The gravy is spicy and tastes amazing.

Dont take your closest friend if he is foodie.. else that bone can break the friendship

Once you put all this in your tummy.. drink hot kawa to help digesting it..

This amazing drink is made up from cardemom, saffron, sugar and some local spices.. its real bliss

If you are in shrinagar, dont miss this lavish grand meal.. but dont forget to go in a group and enjoy this meal together.. the best place to get this meal is at mughal darbar restaurant which is 15 minutes walking from dal gate. There are two restaurants with similar name, the real one is on first floor..

They also serve portion for one person but then you will miss grandeur of this treat.. so go in a group and enjoy...
Apart from this, you can also try yakhni, kashmiri pulav, chicken kanti, Kabarghah (Mutton Chops)...

So.. when you are in srinagar.. apart from shikara ride dont miss on this SHIKAAR.. 
Bon Appetit 

Karnala - Best trek for beginners, Best patch for climbers

  Although I personally started trekking from Mahuli near Asangaon, I have taken few groups to Karnala as their first trek. If you are in Mumbai, this trek can be done in a single day. Very less travelling required, and you can club this trek with karnala forest resort or trip to Alibaug, Kihim etc.

  Karnala base is just 14 kms from Panvel as you can see in this map.

Panvel - Karnala Map

  I have mentioned it as best place to start trekking because, its comparatively easy and small trek. You can reach to the top in 1.5 to 2 hours easily. Apart from one small rock patch, I dont remember any tricky portion enroute.

  You can travel to base by your own car / bike, then park it in any of the restaurant and start climbing. Else you can also travel easily by state transport buses.

  You will easily get a bus from Panvel ST depot, as all buses going to Konkan pass through Karnala.

  Apart from Karnala fort its a bird sanctuary and if you are lucky and interested, you can spot few nice birds around.

  Once you reach at the top, there are around 50 stairs which take you to the entrance of the fort. The fort is not in very good conditions but you can see some bastions and protection wall which will give you glimpses of what it was in past. 

  If you are climbing enthusiast. Then the image shown below will surely attract you. A thumb shaped peak is a good challenge for climbers and many groups plan climbing expeditions at karnala.

 There are two water reservoirs, carved beneath this thumb. They have very sweet water and most importantly the water always remains cooler compared to the water you have carried with you. You can safely drink this water, provided groups before you have not thrown garbage in it.

  You can prepare, or unpack your meal at the top, enjoy it and then start your descend. You can come down to base in an hour or so.

  If you have additional day in hand, you can either enjoy at karnala forest resort, or travel to alibag / kihim for spending remaining time.

 

Kihim Beach

  So, if you reach karnala base by 8 am on saturday, you can easily come back to base by 4pm.

  If you have your own vehicle, you will reach Alibag, kihim by 5:30pm. Then enjoy sunset on alibaug beach. Spend night at Alibag / kihim. And come back on next day post lunch after enjoying your dip in the morning.

  So when are you planning your first trek? Its not too hot yet.

  but, Please dont leave any plastic behind when you come back.

  If you need any help, dont hesitate to write to me at kaustubhkhare@gmail.com or contact me @ 9820031162.