Chakrata - A wonderful destination - if the climate is good!
Whoever said "Traveling doesn't need any planning...just pack your bags and go" is either rich or is lying! It needs some homework and a good planning before the start. Else this can happen to anyone...
A trip that could have been completed with 700-750 km ended up in 930 km. Almost 14 hrs instead of a 10 hrs journey. Traffic jams everywhere, hot sun and a non functional AC. A driver whose main intention was to increase both the km drive and the time. And finally a thrill ride on GTK Road at 120-130 km/h with a drunken driver on the wheel. Thats our trip to Chakrata - A good destination but bad timing and planning.
April 2, 3 , 4 (Good friday + Easter weekend) 3 days leave! Since I am not the regular church going christian boy, I decided to use these 3 days for another trip. My plans of attending Varun's wedding on Wednesday, 31st March in Hydrabad got cancelled in the last moment. On 25th march, I resigned and was on my notice period. So taking 2 or 3 days off and going to Hydrabad was difficult. But believe me Varun Gokul, Shankar and me really wanted to attend your wedding :-)
So on April 1st, with so many things running in my mind, I was thinking of canceling the plan if others didn't show any enthusiasm. But to my surprise, 5 or 6 came to my seat in the afternoon and asked... "So Mr planner.. where are we going tomorrow?"
Where??? No idea!!!
A quick check in the irctc website showed that the ticket status to all the major tourist destinations (or gateway to the hills) were unavailable or in waiting list. So the next option was to hire a cab. A costly idea... but I had no other options.
Still I didn't have an answer to the question "where to..?" Finally, Shoyeb who was passing by said.. Chakrata.
YES CHAKRATA!!! A lesser known destination in the Uttranchal hills with a water fall, a lovely forest and best of all some relief from the dilli ki gharmi. So the destination finalized. The mode of transport.. And the team -
Vikas Gupra and his friend
Jay
Prashant Panda
Himanshu and a friend
Me
Day 1: Apr 2 2010:
6:00 AM
Himanshu called early in the morning and said his friend cannot make it to the trip. Some sudden illness. Fine.
Others showed up one by one and we started at 6 AM. However, only after starting we realized we didnt bother to check for the driving direction or the best route. All we knew was Chakrata is beyond Dehradun/Mussorie. The driver also said he has never heard of Chakrata. So it was decided we would first go to Dehradun and then from there we will ask for direction.
So a delayed start, the driver's confusion, the too crowded Haldirams where we stopped for breakfast, take diversion boards, and the traffic jams caused by fellow delhiites, everything made sure we reached Haridwar at 1:30 PM only. There also the roads were blocked due to the Khumb Mela and we took the chilla road to Rishikesh. From Rishikesh, took the route to Dehradun. To our surprise there was no sign of Chakrata on any sign board and most of the people we asked had never heard of this place. Finally a policeman told us to go to the bus stand circle and from there take a left turn. There we found our first signboard that gave us the direction to Chakrata!
In between our driver stopped the car for some checks and Himanshu managed to find something to chew.
It was 6:30 pm when we finally reached Chakrata. Almot 13 hrs! I really felt like an idiot not taking the best route Gurgaon. Delhi-Panipat-Ambala-Vikas Nagar- Chakrata. Instead we took the Gurgaon-Delhi-Mohan Nagar-Roorkee-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Dehradun-Chakrata. What to do I always lean the hard way :-)
Day 2: Apr 3 2010:
6:00 AM
Today is the day for the waterfall and the forest visit. We woke up early and had a quick breakfast in one of the small hotels in the market area. The market is the only place in Chakrata where you see some activity.
This time it was Jay who found it too hard to walk. When everyone were walking 1 km ahead I waited walked along with him telling the experiences of my Gaumukh trek.
We went back to our rooms and checked out (collected Jay) and had breakfast. Now we were ready for the return journey.
While coming back, the driver took Chakrata - Mussorie route which added an extra 40 km and 2 hrs. This route would have been more enjoyable in winter / rainy season when you soud see greenery everywhere. However at this time the hills were naked and the heat was unbearable.
Some how we managed to reach the plains at around 5 pm and this time we decided to take the Ambala-Karnal-Delhi-Gurgaon route. After so many really bad traffic jams and diversions, when we finally reached Gurgaon, it was 11:00 pm. In between something happened which changed the mood of the trip completely.
Our driver has been driving very well on the hills for the last 2 days and were happy with him. On the way, near Panipat our driver took a pit stop near a dhaba. After 10 min he came back and we continued the journey. We all were discussing about the trip and after some time we noticed that he was driving at 120-125 km in the GTK Highway and was dozing off for a moment. We asked him whether he would like to take a break or a cup of tea which he said no needed. We knew he was tired but still we had faith in him. But when the car almost went ramming into another car and later on a truck we knew something was really wrong. We asked him to stop but he insisted he will drive and he was fine. But we had enough and we told him strictly to stop. When we came out and when he started talking to him we realized he was drunk! He kept on insisting that he can drive and there is no problem. However we knew he will surely kill someone on the road or all of us if we allowed him to drive. Luckily we had Jay and Vikas who could also drive. I told Vikas to get the keys and take the wheel. Again we continued the return with the driver sitting next to Vikas and blabbering all the way till Gurgaon.
Summary: Chakrata is a nice unexplored, non crowded peaceful destination. Go there for 'doing nothing'. BUT in winters or mansoon. Summers are very hot!
And most important check for the driving directions before starting...
A trip that could have been completed with 700-750 km ended up in 930 km. Almost 14 hrs instead of a 10 hrs journey. Traffic jams everywhere, hot sun and a non functional AC. A driver whose main intention was to increase both the km drive and the time. And finally a thrill ride on GTK Road at 120-130 km/h with a drunken driver on the wheel. Thats our trip to Chakrata - A good destination but bad timing and planning.
April 2, 3 , 4 (Good friday + Easter weekend) 3 days leave! Since I am not the regular church going christian boy, I decided to use these 3 days for another trip. My plans of attending Varun's wedding on Wednesday, 31st March in Hydrabad got cancelled in the last moment. On 25th march, I resigned and was on my notice period. So taking 2 or 3 days off and going to Hydrabad was difficult. But believe me Varun Gokul, Shankar and me really wanted to attend your wedding :-)
So on April 1st, with so many things running in my mind, I was thinking of canceling the plan if others didn't show any enthusiasm. But to my surprise, 5 or 6 came to my seat in the afternoon and asked... "So Mr planner.. where are we going tomorrow?"
Where??? No idea!!!
A quick check in the irctc website showed that the ticket status to all the major tourist destinations (or gateway to the hills) were unavailable or in waiting list. So the next option was to hire a cab. A costly idea... but I had no other options.
Still I didn't have an answer to the question "where to..?" Finally, Shoyeb who was passing by said.. Chakrata.
YES CHAKRATA!!! A lesser known destination in the Uttranchal hills with a water fall, a lovely forest and best of all some relief from the dilli ki gharmi. So the destination finalized. The mode of transport.. And the team -
Vikas Gupra and his friend
Jay
Prashant Panda
Himanshu and a friend
Me
Day 1: Apr 2 2010:
6:00 AM
Himanshu called early in the morning and said his friend cannot make it to the trip. Some sudden illness. Fine.
Others showed up one by one and we started at 6 AM. However, only after starting we realized we didnt bother to check for the driving direction or the best route. All we knew was Chakrata is beyond Dehradun/Mussorie. The driver also said he has never heard of Chakrata. So it was decided we would first go to Dehradun and then from there we will ask for direction.
So a delayed start, the driver's confusion, the too crowded Haldirams where we stopped for breakfast, take diversion boards, and the traffic jams caused by fellow delhiites, everything made sure we reached Haridwar at 1:30 PM only. There also the roads were blocked due to the Khumb Mela and we took the chilla road to Rishikesh. From Rishikesh, took the route to Dehradun. To our surprise there was no sign of Chakrata on any sign board and most of the people we asked had never heard of this place. Finally a policeman told us to go to the bus stand circle and from there take a left turn. There we found our first signboard that gave us the direction to Chakrata!
Jaggery preparation
The confused soul - Later he confused us so much
Prashant experimenting with his new toy - Canon SX120 IS
Vikas, Jay and Roger (vikas's friend)
It was 6:30 pm when we finally reached Chakrata. Almot 13 hrs! I really felt like an idiot not taking the best route Gurgaon. Delhi-Panipat-Ambala-Vikas Nagar- Chakrata. Instead we took the Gurgaon-Delhi-Mohan Nagar-Roorkee-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Dehradun-Chakrata. What to do I always lean the hard way :-)
Day 2: Apr 3 2010:
6:00 AM
Today is the day for the waterfall and the forest visit. We woke up early and had a quick breakfast in one of the small hotels in the market area. The market is the only place in Chakrata where you see some activity.
"The woods are lovely, deep and dark..."
Start of a 3 km trek downhill
Tiger falls finally!
How long could anyone resist this?
The return.hike
Himanshu and Vikas enjoying the sun near Devban area
The Ruins
The gang minus Jay who prefered to sleep in his room, rather than coming up here.
Standing tall
A bit of adventure activity.
Over the edge
Click soon, else we will be 'gone'
We went back to our rooms and checked out (collected Jay) and had breakfast. Now we were ready for the return journey.
After traveling for almost 2 hrs we reached at this point and unfortunately we spotted this board! :-( We took a 70 km road when we could have taken just 43 km to reach here...
A small waterfall
Some how we managed to reach the plains at around 5 pm and this time we decided to take the Ambala-Karnal-Delhi-Gurgaon route. After so many really bad traffic jams and diversions, when we finally reached Gurgaon, it was 11:00 pm. In between something happened which changed the mood of the trip completely.
Our driver has been driving very well on the hills for the last 2 days and were happy with him. On the way, near Panipat our driver took a pit stop near a dhaba. After 10 min he came back and we continued the journey. We all were discussing about the trip and after some time we noticed that he was driving at 120-125 km in the GTK Highway and was dozing off for a moment. We asked him whether he would like to take a break or a cup of tea which he said no needed. We knew he was tired but still we had faith in him. But when the car almost went ramming into another car and later on a truck we knew something was really wrong. We asked him to stop but he insisted he will drive and he was fine. But we had enough and we told him strictly to stop. When we came out and when he started talking to him we realized he was drunk! He kept on insisting that he can drive and there is no problem. However we knew he will surely kill someone on the road or all of us if we allowed him to drive. Luckily we had Jay and Vikas who could also drive. I told Vikas to get the keys and take the wheel. Again we continued the return with the driver sitting next to Vikas and blabbering all the way till Gurgaon.
Summary: Chakrata is a nice unexplored, non crowded peaceful destination. Go there for 'doing nothing'. BUT in winters or mansoon. Summers are very hot!
And most important check for the driving directions before starting...
Hammm............Good place to visit. wish i was there with gang.
ReplyDeleteBingo Pravs............another one :)
ReplyDeleteNice narration after a long time, u look good with the new hair do as well.
ReplyDeleteBtw, Was Jay wearing a 1400 rs woodland by any chance??
U ppl have done a gud job. very nice photography, narration and of course the destination.
ReplyDeleteThe confused soul - Later he confused us so much
ReplyDeleteI couldnot stop myself laughing when i read this message..:)))) this single line remind me the whole trip..:)
Agree!!Nice scripting:)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI love you blog.....very nice photography
ReplyDeleteThanks to all of you for your wishes...
ReplyDelete@ Sahu, you are always welcome!
@ Asim, lot more to come.
@ Shankar, naaa... though it was a similar model :-)
@ dinesh, Big_Mike1216, thanks a ton for the compli...!
you really beat me at it, i was planning a trip to chakrata for a lont time now.
ReplyDeletebut loved the pics, thanx