Trip to Nainital, Mussoorie and Jim Corbett National Park with Kesari Tours :- Day 2

20th May 2009 :- We checked out of the hotel after breakfast. Being Day 2 there was some increase in communication between fellow passengers. The first place we visited was Gangaghat at Haridwar. The plan was to visit this in the evening on the first day but the road trip the previous day was a delayed one.

The river Ganges enters the Indo-Gangetic plain of North India for the first time at Haridwar. Haridwar is also the entry point for the Char Dham yatra (of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri). The river water was ice-cold even in the month of May. Rather than taking a dip in the river we decided to be safe and just waded through the water on one of the ghat steps close to the river. The area close to the river and the river water itself is pretty unclean. Idols of deities could be seen popping up from the water at several places. A dam constructed beyond the ghat ensured that there was plenty of water close to the ghat.

Not many amongst us could spend a whole lot of time here. A few dared to take a dip and also got some mantras chanted by one among many brahmins present at the ghat.

We then headed to Hrishikesh which is about 25 kms from Haridwar. The first sight of forest cover could be seen along this road as we went up the mountain range. The main attraction here is Laxman Zhulla. It is believed that Laxman crossed the river Ganges at this particular point by constructing a jute rope bridge. That kind of bridge was reconstructed over the years to be replaced by an iron-rope suspension bridge which was eventually replaced by the strong bridge that stands today. The river at this particular point is surprisingly quiet even though it flows through a hilly area. This place is located in the Garwhal region of Uttarakhand.

We visited quite a few temples before heading to Chotiwala a restaurant famous for its food and also for a person with a Choti sitting at the entrance of the restaurant. The food here is strictly vegetarian but was pretty good. The weather was hot and a good meal was welcome after some sight seeing.

We had walked over the Laxman Zhulla towards the North, and then came back by a boat where we got an oportunity to fill a small plastic can with Ganga-jal. The bus then headed to Mussoorie which is aout 120 kms away and about 3 hours away in terms of time. As the bus went past Haridwar, the first instance of stomach sickness hit a girl (last name Vaidya) who was sitting right next to me. Fortunately, I was not sprayed by her vomit but neverthless there was quite some mess created. The road to Mussoorie is a 34 km ghat starting at Dehradun. Kesari guides offer tablets to make things easier for individuals who get affected by winding roads. After the incident with the girl, Nihar seemed pretty confident that such roads do not affect him. He had formed a good bond with a lad (Bunty), a year or two older than him. They had fun playing games along with a small girl named Shamalee. After getting through most of the ghat Nihar started feeling uneasy. Just as we reached the hotel Nihar could not control his stomach sickness any more and finally relieved himself by vomitting. This had to happen after all the loathing about never getting affected by ghats :-)

Mussoorie is located at a height of 6600 ft. The forest cover was pretty dense and sights down the ghats were pretty. Surbhee Resorts which is about 7 km away from the center of Mussoorie, is down the ghats, in a direction opposite to Dehradun. The resort is extensive with townhomes situated on the hill slope. There were entertainment facilities in the form of a billiards table, ping pong table, other games etc.

It was tea time, followed by checkin. The rest of the evening was free time for all to rest. The rooms seemed a bit unclean, possibly due to lack of constant visitors. The television was not that good which meant I could not watch IPL with continuity. There also was an intermittent power cut which was complemented by constant talk by Varsha about me watching cricket. Nihar and I spent some time playing ping pong. Nihar went after the ball as if he was playing cricket, always interested in sending the ball in orbit for a six. A few youngsters (probably visting from Delhi) had occupied the table for long and it took a while to join them for a game.

Dinner was in an exclusive room where a DJ had been arranged. The first program organized by Kesari guides was one of introductions where families took turns to talk about themselves, their background and interests. This broke the ice and many groups started communicating among themselves in groups at the dinner tables. Quite a few people danced to the tune of Hindi film songs. The groups included the young and old. Varsha and Nihar enjoyed themselves to the tune of music. Unlike me, Nihar can dance for sure but needs a lot of coaxing to get started. Dinner and lunch often included a soup and non-vegetarian varieties were on offer for those that like to have a go at it.