Into the Kumaon Ranges..!

Jim Corbett, Ranikhet, Almora, Binsar, Jageshwar, Bageshwar, Kasardevi, Kausani, Nanital, Khuruptal, Bhimtal...(I hope I am not forgetting any ! ). With temperature almost less than 10 degrees, between the tall lush green forests (major pine tress), ruled by the wildlife - animals & birds, shadowed by the mighty Himalayas, with simple living Kumaon tribes on the edges of the ghats in the stone huts, their small villages just beautiful as mesmerizing hamlets, with the crystal clear Gomti and few other rivers flowing side by, spotting small to big temples at almost every half a km of the ghats, travelling in these Kumaon ghats was truly divine and serene! Uttarakhand, known as the DEV BHOOMI, the Kumaon ranges perfectly justifies it with its immense natural beauty and peace!

Mighty North-eastern Himalayan ranges overlooking Kumaon ranges

Delhi to Jim Corbett to Binsar to Kausani to Nanital was our route with many not-so-known places in between that made this trip to Kumaon, Uttarakhand a memorable one.

We started our road journey from Delhi to Jim Corbett, passing through the interior villages of UP, it was quiet a road-rash feeling with potholes and racing vehicles. But it all was smooth once entered Uttarakhand. After spending over-night, we chose Bijrani gate for the wildlife safari at 6 am, which is the best time to visit. Along with wildlife we witnessed beautiful morning at the jungle.

Spotted deer at Jim Corbett

After satisfying the quest for some wildlife at Jim Corbett, our ghat trip commenced towards Ranikhet and Almora before reaching Binsar.

Ranikhet is a small beautiful hamlet with military base and one of the highest golf course in the world, and not to miss a perfect view of Himalayan ranges (Nandadevi,Trishul, Shivling, Panchachuli and Kedarnath), clear sky just made our day!

View from Ranikhet

Next to satisfy our hunger needs, we decided to try some yummy spicy local food (bhatt ki dal aur kaali roti) at Almora. Driving more 35 km we reach the less known, Binsar situated right in the heart of the majestic Kumaon was once the summer capital of the Chand Kings and is a paradise for bird lovers. It is home to over 200 bird species, wild flowers, animals and the sanctuary is spread over 45 km situated at an altitude varying from 900 to 2500 metres with an average height of 2412 metres. The entire 7 hours long ghat trip from Jim Corbett to Binsar is just breathtaking with huge oak, deodar and chir pine trees alongside, steep valley mountains The small hamlet looking villages passing by, transports you back in time. Binsar is simply an untouched and hardly known place of India. Wherever you choose to stay in Binsar, you are sure to be surrounded by the dense forest as it is so strictly preserved for the reason that it harbours one of the last existing natural temperate broad-leaved forests in the Himalayas.

Binsar village

Forest at Binsar

Trek in the Binsar sanctuary

In our 3 days stay at Binsar, we trekked for bird watching, travelled to Kasardevi (19km) for the mesmerizing sunset and created memories at one of the most serene places on earth - Jageshwar (65km).

Bestowed in the list of world's archaeological sites, Jageshwar is home to temples and deities dated as old as 10 BC, but apart from this, one just cannot stop adoring the natural beauty of the place (just too serene) with river flowing besides, huge twin pine trees and cold breeze, it just transports you as close to heaven!

The Jageshwar temple

Next day leaving Binsar, we moved towards Kausani, the crystal clear, in full flow - Gomti river flowing besides the road trip from Binsar to Kausani made the scene perfect! We had to stop overnight at Kausani just for one reason - closer view of the golden lit Himalayan ranges in the morning sunrays and yes we achieved it, by waking up as early as 5:45 am. The best view is from the Gandhi dham.

Golden sunrise at Kausani

After saving the spectacular view in our memory, we proceeded towards our last destination - Nanital. The reasons to visit this place was Khurptal (colouring changing lake with the blowing wind and yes we witnessed the truth.. just mesmerizing !) and the other reason was witnessing the beautiful reflection in the Tal (lake) of the city mounted on the hills especially during Diwali and yes it was worth it! The best Diwali night possibly with beautiful views.. !

Khurptal

Diwali at Nanital

Our one of the most memorable trip with exploring some less-known, untouched and truly divine places came to an end. And I can say, the entire experience was serene, peaceful, beautiful and in true sense close to nature (heaven)!