33. NAINITAL (UTTARAKHAND), INDIA .

This is the fourth of the five blogs covering this enjoyable trip.

Naini Lake, Nainital (Uttarakhand)

Driving down from Naukuchiatal, we reached Nainital by evening. Locating the Guest House took some time but once we reached there, we realised what a beautiful location it was, overlooking the Naini Lake. Wow!

Having missed our lunch, we were famished and asked the caretaker if he could provide us with some tea and snacks. He came back with adrak wali (ginger) tea, stuffed omelette and toasts which at that time tasted like manna from heaven.

The view of the Lake from the Guest House

It was getting dark and cold, but we still decided in favour of a walk along the lake. While walking down, we knew how tough it was going to be while climbing back the steep gradient. After a stroll on the mall and in the market, we climbed back actually at a snail’s pace!

The place was cold and had been renovated recently. The old heaters had been removed and the new ones had not been supplied. Brrrr…it was freezing cold. 

I was surprised when hubby asked the caretaker, “Would it be ok if we use our own heater?” 

“Are we going down again to buy a heater now?” I asked uncomfortably.

“No, only up to the car. I had kept a heater in the boot while leaving, for a just-in-case emergency,” his eyes were shining with glee at his foresight.

Boats in the Lake

The suite that was allotted to us, comprised a bedroom, a box room, a dressing room, and a washroom. The room had high ceiling and had to be closed from all sides but still the heater did not appear to be effective.

This was not our first visit to Nainital and we had already seen most of the nearby tourist attractions earlier. The purpose of this trip was just to soak in the natural beauty of the area in a relaxed manner instead of hopping over from one tourist attraction to  another.

Sun rays + Water = Diamonds

Next day morning, after breakfast, we started off for a long walk as per our plan. The sun was bright and the sky a lovely hue of blue. The lake looked really wonderful with the sun rays twinkling directly on the blue water forming bright and twinkling stars. Walking around leisurely, stopping and buying knick knacks at the mall, sitting on the benches on lakeside, recuperating and again starting, we had an enjoyable walk admiring the beauty of the lake as we had never done before. If I use our children’s language, we really chilled out that day.

Come evening and we were actually chilled. Shivering in very low temperature, hubby decided to be friends with Mr. Johnny Walker who was staring at him perched on the side-table in the room. But I was finding the cold extremely unbearable. So ignoring the fact that it was only my great idea to visit Nainital in winters, I bundled off my ego and said, “What’s the idea of sitting in this igloo and keep shivering? Let’s change our programme and go to Jim Corbett Park instead.”  My Doubting Thomas expressed his doubts, “But it is peak tourist season. We may not get a room in any hotel.”

Incidentally, I had picked up the visiting card of the Country Inn while leaving the hotel at Bhimtal. It came handy and I quickly called them up. Voila! A room was available and soon I received an SMS on my mobile phone confirming reservation of the room for us in the Country Inn close to the Jim Corbett.

Next day morning, while we continued to shiver, we were ensconced in the warm hope that we will soon be comfortable in better climes. And hope has a lot of power. No?

After enjoying the delicious breakfast of Aloo Parathas and Curd and gulping down hot ginger tea, it was time to drive down to the plains where the temperature was more congenial for these old bones. We resolved to come back to Nainital again but in summers.

Azure blue sky and lush green trees

The drive from Nainital to Kaladungi, a distance of about 35 km was simply heavenly ….a serpentine hilly road, high mountains on one side and deep valley on the other side, both having a thick forest cover, azure blue sky above and water rivulets of all sizes and shapes … I did not know which side to look and admire. So I decided to capture as many images as possible  in my camera. 

The road from Nainital to Kaladungi

One thing, I specifically noticed on this route which made me feel very good, was a number of children including a large number of girls going to school. A good sign for the future of the state.

Soon we reached Kaladungi marking an end to the hilly track. After driving a couple of hours more, we were at Ram Nagar, the town nearest  to Jim Corbett National Park. 

Going on the tiger trail in the Jim Corbett National Park in the next blog!   

For viewing the video, pl click on the red triangle in the centre

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