Corbett and Kumaon in May - suggestions please

subbu74

Hi All,

i ve been following this forum from the time we ve begun planning a holiday and have changed the schedule every time i saw a new place and finally arrived at the below

Holidaying during - May 16 to May 23, 2008
Places to visit - Corbett, Binsar, Mukteshwar (not necessarily in that order)
Starting from Hyderabad(Deccan)
Trying to optimize between leisure trip and sight seeing - sort of leisurely sightseeing - as its a family (me, wifey, 2 kids - 6yrs and 3 yrs) holiday.

Corbett - 2N/3D - trying to book at Dhikala but haven't succeeded till now. hope its not too late. reaching the Ramnagar office is the challenge. Tried Dehradun but they say all bookings now are only from Ramnagar. Whenever i talk to Ramnagar they just say May bookings haven't started and ask me call them later. I ve already sent a Fax to them not sure if they will honour when they actually begin blocking. Any suggestions on how to go about whith this?

Binsar - 2N/3D at Mountain resort , khali estate- not yet booked. please suggest places that can be covered

Mukteshwar - 2N/3D at Montain trail or Krishna resort - not yet booked - cover Nainital, Sattal, Bhim tal...any others. hope its not too much in the available time.


Any suggestions/recommendations on the overall travel plan and accomodation are most welcome.

capt_mahajan

I would do Corbett/Nainital (a couple of hours en route)/Mukhteshwar. Stay overnight
or not- then Binsar/stay at KMVN but maybe too basic for family? Browse this forum, excellent views from Binsar KMVN

add Jageshwar from Binsar, and maybe Ranikhet (but if you want a very relaxed time without much travelling, skip Ranikhet)

And do Bhimtal/Naukuchiyatal etc on your way back from Binsar.

Ideally, hired car at least from Nainital onwards till you reach the plains on your way back.

Corbett will be hot.

subbu74

Thank you captain for the inputs.

our plan as of now is
- Corbett first
- Corbett to Binsar and around
- Binsar to Mukteshwar
- and Nainital for a few hours on the way back to Delhi

Captain, any suggestions on how to get thru a booking at Dhikala.

Have been calling almost daily and whenever i am able to get thru i am just told to wait till bookings start as it is too early. what am I missing.

capt_mahajan

Dunno too much about Dhikala.

But look these up
Booking Dhikala FRH at Corbett

http://www.indiamike.com/india/uttar...hikala-t46018/

Dilliwala

subbu, a package tour of Corbett can be booked thru UA Tourism as well. Call them in Delhi and ask if they can book the accomodation without the rest of the package.
http://www.kmvn.org/packageandexcurs...ettpark .aspx

The facilities at Dhikala are run by KMVN. I suggest call their HO in Nainital also, and ask whether they can't do something. It's worth a try.

subbu74

Package tour of corbett starts in Delhi and ends in Delhi and includes transport...looking for booking just the accomodation.

subbu74

as i keep exploring i am getting into the mode of wanting to visit every place i am hearing of...
thinking of doing Binsar to rishikesh - haridwar. How long is it by road from Binsar to rishikesh? which is a good place enroute to halt overnight if need be

plan now looks like this

Corbett - 2N/3D - subject to Dhikala availaibility...
Nainital 1N/2D hope it sufficient for all lakes and the ropeway around Naintal
(dropped Mukteswar as i am guessing it will be similar to Binsar..hope thats a fair assumption)
Binsar - 2N/3D

Binsar to Rishikesh via gwaldam karnaprayag, rudraprayag, srinagar- this is still open ..thinking of overnight at karnaprayag or rudraprayag. any suggestions which would be the best place.is an overnight needed in the first place? how long is this drive?will a taxi be available at Binsar for this? how much would it cost?

capt_mahajan

Taxi at Binsar will be difficult and, even if available, will overcharge you. I would fix it at Nainital, even if I wanted him to pick me up at Binsar after a couple of days. (and I would pay no advance )

I would also say you are trying to do too much with kids, unless you have planned another week- wasn't your orignial plan one week? That seems to have been taken up by departure Binsar- so how much is it now?-. But, if you do make the circuit, a stop at Gwaldam and then Karanprayag would be my choice.

Dilliwala

Binsar-Almora...................35 km (1 hr)
Almora-Gwaldam...............90 km (3 hrs)
Gwaldam-Karnprayag.........67 km (2 hrs)
Karnprayag-Rudraprayag....32 km (1 hr)
Rudraprayag-Shrinagar......34 km (1 hr)
Shrinagar-Devprayag........36 km (1 hr)
Devprayag-Rishikesh.........69 km (2 hrs)

subbu74

captain , me too thinks am over stretching but again am not sure when the next time is...this holiday if materializes is after 9 years!
the plan is to add a couple of days that might be required and drop off 2 days from Mukteswar and add a day in Nainital that gives me about 3 days to do the round trip. hope the additional 3 days are sufficent for the round trip.
going forward if the round trip materializes , thinking of an overnight in Karnaprayag and Rishikesh

thanks dilliwala for the detailed breakup of distances.
this forum in my opinion has the best people to seek advice from

capt_mahajan

3 days are sufficient.

Spend some time in Gwaldham even if you don't stop overnight there.

subbu74

May 16 - Reach Delhi at 9:00
- 10:00 start for Corbett - 6 hrs?
- 5:00 reach Corbett
- Overnight Corbett
May 17 - Corbett Park
- Overnight Corbett
May 18 - Corbett
- 11:00 to Nainital - 2 hrs? - Need to book a good budget hotel. any suggestions
- 1:00 sigh seeing in Nainital
- Overnight at Nainital
May 19 - Lakes around Nainital
- To binsar - 2 hrs?
- Overnight Binsar
May 20 - in and around Binsar
- overnight Binsar
May 21 - Binsar
- 12:00 start to Gwaldam 4 hrs(is it required to comeback to Almora? maps show a road to Gwaldam from Binsar without having to comeback to Almora)
- overnight Gwaldam/***Prayag - any suggestions on where to stay at any of these places
May 22 - in and around Gwaldam/***Prayag
- start to Rishikesh 4-7 hrs
- overnight Rishikesh
May 23 - Rishikesh and around including Haridwar
- overnight Rishikesh/Haridwar
May 24 - To Delhi 5 hrs??
- after 16:00hrs to Hyd.

Is there a detailed distance chart on the forums anywhere? if not can someone provide me with the time and distances for the foll.
Delhi to Cobett
Corbett to Nainital
Nainital - Binsar
Rishikesh - Delhi

capt_mahajan

Give or take, and off the top of my head

Delhi to Cobett 280 km - 5-6 hrs depending on city traffic
Corbett to Nainital 100 2.3/3 hours
Nainital - Binsar 130 ( 4 hours, if no long stops)
Rishikesh - Delhi 250 (5-6 hours, depending on city traffic)

Dilliwala

subbu,

You will not be allowed to enter the gate of Corbett (at Dhangari) after 4 pm. That's after having made payment for the whole stay and collected the entry permit in Ramnagar. They also generally do the paperwork only upto 2 pm, after that they get sticky.
It's 260 km from Delhi to Ramnagar. With traffic/road conditions as they are, 10 am departure is too late. You basically need to leave at 9 am, which means the car has to meet you at the airport or station and you have to leave straight away. It's 18 km from Ramnagar to Dhangari. You basically have to allow 90 mins from arriving in Ramnagar to get to Dhangari. I assure you, they don't relent for even 5 minutes delay.
If you stay outside the park at one of the resorts, then you can arrive whenever you want. But then you are dependent on them to get you entry for day-visits into the park (difficult, but not impossible).
I don't want to be a spoilsport, but what with having a tough time choosing where to go, and mid-May being REALLY hot in the park, I suggest you drop the idea this time. Nov-March is a better period.

You're right, you can go directly from Binsar to Gwaldam via Bageshwar and Baijnath, approx 115 km/3.5 hrs. I have NO idea why I gave distances Binsar-Almora-Gwaldam, must have been dreaming.

At Gwaldam there are only 2 hotels, GMVN and Nature's Treat Hotel. The first is cheaper, the second a little better.

At Karnprayag, the GMVN overlooks the Pindar, 100 m upstream from the sangam.
At Rudraprayag, GMVN has the best location of all, directly looking onto the sangam.
Tough choice between the 2, I wud probably choose Rudraprayag, also to shorten the drive next day.

subbu74

At corbett, will there be any formalities/paper work involved after you book the accomodation at FRH Dhikala in advance? I have sent them a Fax for accomodation already. hoping they will confirm the accomodation shortly. Will keep following up with them. The plan of Corbett is on only if the accomodation is confirmed in advance.

Coming to the starting time from Delhi to Corbett, the scheduled arrival time of the flight to Delhi is 9:00AM - hoping we would be on road and cruising atleast by 10:00 if not before that. i hope its a fair assumption.