To reach to the New Delhi railway station at 6 am, our cab was booked by kavita at 4:45 am (I never take the pain of booking Ola, Uber!). Guggu Singh got up happily at 4 singing wheels on the bus goes round and round, round and... She starts citing rhymes when she gets eternal happiness! Anyways, we boarded in train at right time after listening to the rhymes coming out of guggu's happy soul all the way. Train started at 6 am and reached kathgodam station around 11:30 am. Again the happy excited soul screamed "Mountain aa gaya na... Guggua ka wait kar raha tha na.."
We had already booked the cab for the journey from Kathgodam to Mukteshwar. I would suggest to do it in advance if you are coming on long week ends. It was a real heavy rush despite holi. There are so many cab vendors you can find on net in haldwani/kathgodam. Price varies from 1200 to 1800. Road is really nice from Kathgodam to Mukteshwar via bheemtal with lush green forest. Without any break it took around 2 hours to reach to the destination. We were in our room at 2PM. There are so many hotels/resorts/home stay in Mukteshwar. We had booked Krishna Orchard and view from the room is awesome. You can see Himalaya lying on your bed:
VIEW FROM ROOM: KRISHNA ORCHARD
In the evening we visited Shiva Temple, Choli ki Jaali, Himalay Darshan point etc.
SHIVA TEMPLE, MUKTESHWAR
CHOLI KI JAALI, MUKTESHWAR
Next morning it was holi so we decided to start for Almora in Second half of the day. We played holi and it was worth playing holi there. Real holi is still there in the mountains, here in the city or plains it has lost its shine.
Road to Almora through IVRI is not that good but forest is really dense. Leopards are seen very often.Our driver drove us through the forest and it was amazing traveling through such a nice place. Had tea at the bank of kosi river and reached Almora around 3:30 pm. Our resort- Imperial height was at the edge of cliff so you can see the whole city from there. Kaasar devi temple was also very nearby so we decided to trek 1 km in the evening. This place is one of the three most conducive places in the world for meditation. Vivekananda also came here in 1890s.
ALMORA FROM KASAR DEVI TEMPLE
AT A DHABA IN ALMORA
Next morning we reached to Binsar. This place we chose just to rest in the lap of nature. So, we chose our resort also away from city. We stayed there in Clark Inn.
AT BINSAR
Binsar is a very quite place. Nature is at its best here. On the way from Almora to Nainital visited the temple of Neem Karoli Baba which has become so popular after Steve Jobs and Mark Zukerberg visit.
NEEM KAROLI BABA TEMPLE
Next day we came to nainital to stay overnight as our return train was from kathgodam and this is nearest hill-station.
NAINITAL
By 3:30PM shatabdi we were back to the polluted zone again!
Travel Advise:
Mukteshwar: Dont expect it a town. A market with 7-8 shops- thats all. Plenty of hotels, resorts so you can book after coming.
Almora: Do visit some ancient temples of shiva. I could not go because of lack of information.
Neem karoli baba temple is nearly 20km from Nainital and its located in a green valley with river bank.
You will have to book cab for even a small distance so plan accordingly.
We had already booked the cab for the journey from Kathgodam to Mukteshwar. I would suggest to do it in advance if you are coming on long week ends. It was a real heavy rush despite holi. There are so many cab vendors you can find on net in haldwani/kathgodam. Price varies from 1200 to 1800. Road is really nice from Kathgodam to Mukteshwar via bheemtal with lush green forest. Without any break it took around 2 hours to reach to the destination. We were in our room at 2PM. There are so many hotels/resorts/home stay in Mukteshwar. We had booked Krishna Orchard and view from the room is awesome. You can see Himalaya lying on your bed:
In the evening we visited Shiva Temple, Choli ki Jaali, Himalay Darshan point etc.
Next morning it was holi so we decided to start for Almora in Second half of the day. We played holi and it was worth playing holi there. Real holi is still there in the mountains, here in the city or plains it has lost its shine.
Road to Almora through IVRI is not that good but forest is really dense. Leopards are seen very often.Our driver drove us through the forest and it was amazing traveling through such a nice place. Had tea at the bank of kosi river and reached Almora around 3:30 pm. Our resort- Imperial height was at the edge of cliff so you can see the whole city from there. Kaasar devi temple was also very nearby so we decided to trek 1 km in the evening. This place is one of the three most conducive places in the world for meditation. Vivekananda also came here in 1890s.
Next morning we reached to Binsar. This place we chose just to rest in the lap of nature. So, we chose our resort also away from city. We stayed there in Clark Inn.
Binsar is a very quite place. Nature is at its best here. On the way from Almora to Nainital visited the temple of Neem Karoli Baba which has become so popular after Steve Jobs and Mark Zukerberg visit.
Next day we came to nainital to stay overnight as our return train was from kathgodam and this is nearest hill-station.
By 3:30PM shatabdi we were back to the polluted zone again!
Travel Advise:
Mukteshwar: Dont expect it a town. A market with 7-8 shops- thats all. Plenty of hotels, resorts so you can book after coming.
Almora: Do visit some ancient temples of shiva. I could not go because of lack of information.
Neem karoli baba temple is nearly 20km from Nainital and its located in a green valley with river bank.
You will have to book cab for even a small distance so plan accordingly.
