travel to uttaranchal

capt_mahajan

Kausani/Ranikhet is about 75 km, 2 hours.

Ramgarh is really a stop on the road, I would stay at Mukhteshwar instead.

Mukhteshwar is best done either on the way up or down, after Haldwani and before Binsar.

You could do, broadly speaking, Haldwani/Mukhteshwar/Binsar/Kausani/Ranikhet/Haldwani.. or the other way around, with Kausani first after Haldwani.

sweetbuddy99_2k

Thanks Capt!We would actually be on our honeymoon and hence have decided that sicne we would just ahve abt 6-7 days...we planned 3 places...still to freeze on the palces though.kasauni is for sure 1 palce..so thought we can stay at these palces n go around these places...

hows club mahidnra at binsar and cedar lodge at ramgarh?the websites look intesting!

Shyamal Mukherjee

As you are planning your tour in April hence car booking will not be a problem to you at all. Even after getting down at Kathgodam/Haldwani you can easily bargain and fix accordingly. Still if you wish to prebook a car, you may visit www.nainitaltourism.com and click Tours&Travels. You will get contact nos of car providers. Secondly Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam(KMVN) also provides car as per your requirements. You may visit www.kmvn.org for that. Thirdly I am planning Kumaon tour again within a month and will be taking the same driver with us. As you have lot of time hence after my second trip I will give the phone number of the driver. Till then you will have at least 10 posts to do a PM to IM members (I hope I am right?)
Regarding locations, Captain is absolutely right. My choice would be Mukteshwar, Binsar, Ranikhet, kausani and Chaukori.
Please go through the threads-- Escape to Kumaon, jageshwar- a must, Almora-Kausani-Nainital and of course this thread-Travel to the Uttranchal. You will get lots of imformations to satisfy your queries.
Shyamal Mukherjee

capt_mahajan

Club Mahindra has lousy views. Stay at KMVN Binsar, much more basic but much much better. Search this site, and pls be aware that there is no electricity... except (I am told by other IM members) solar powered lighting and a generator (shudder) for a few hours. But its a beautiful place to stay.

Ramgarh is not a place I would recommend you stop. Go upto Mukhteshwar, some good places there too- and its not far from Ramgarh, maybe an hour or so.

PS Ramgarh has no views, which is why I recommend Mukhteshwar. Ramgarh has gained some popularity mainly because many people from the plains have bought property there in the last many years, and it is closer to the railhead. Mukhteshwar, on the other hand, has excellent views, and is a more peaceful place anyway. There are some decent looking resorts/hotels (cant remember names) there, too, had lunch in one of them sometime ago.

Piyush

No Captain...Ramgarh provides excellent views of the himalayas,not as good as Mukteshwar,but still brilliant.From Gagar the views are majestic.

capt_mahajan

the only halfway decent views I got from Ramgarh were from a half hours climb to a "ridge"... but this was from the main small market area on the main road. Where else should I have been for the views? (looks like I was in the wrong place as usual, and I decided to pass through instead of stopping longer)

And some peace and quiet too, is there a part of Ramgarh better? Didnt see too much of that where I was.

Mukhteshwar was much better, I thought.

WayFarer

As the Captain says KMVN TRH at Binsar is basic but the views are fantastic, it is situated nearly on a hill top. Electricity is via a generator from 17:30 to 20:30 , after which it is Candle light. In winter hot water will be provided in buckets.

One word of caution , don't even think of using electrical applicances on the generator power. The voltage is pretty low and probably has some problems in AC frequency as well. Just short-circuited my rechargeable battery charger trying to do it. If you plan to use your Laptop , Digicams etc , recharge fully before you reach or take lots of spares. They however provide separate points in the reception to charge your mobile phones.

But all things considered , it's great value for money and a quaint place to stay - the views will more than compensate !!!.

BTW they also have a small wind turbine on the premises, don't know if it works though

Piyush

From Gagar..till 2km ahead of Ramgarh the views are good..Yes the views from Mukteshwar are excellent..180 degrees no interruption at all...Berinag also offers excellent views,I was really impressed by the views from Berinag..Finally I am able to upload one picture, a black and white picture of Panchachuli.

capt_mahajan

Gagar.. must stop there next time. Never have.

Saw your Panchachuli pic. Excellent.

Piyush

Thanks Captain..

Finally I am able to upload some pictures...
http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/s...0/ppuser/25039

Sadanand Kamath

Just for comparision purposes, see below pictures of the panoramic views of himalayan peaks from Gagar and Mukteshwar .

Sadanand

Sorry..... could not upload picture of himalayan view from Mukteshwar earlier.

Sadanand

Attached Thumbnails

   

__________________
Sirf ek kadam utha tha galat rahe shauk mein
Manzil tamam umr hame dhunti rahi.

[Just one wrong step on the way of the quest
My destination looked for me all life long]

capt_mahajan

Thanks SK. Nice pics, too.

Tough choice.

WayFarer

Hi Piyush , we seem to have been at the same place at about the same time , when were you in Munsiyari and where did you put up ?

The shots are excellent.

Dilliwala

They're lying. They are 24 km from Binsar in the middle of nowhere, i.e. half-way between Almora and Bageshwar. They say they are at Binsar because they think "Club Mahindra Basauli" is too uncool. And as Capt says, there are no views.



I had to imagine that view from the lookout point, becos it was mid-August.
That's pretty much how I imagined it, but it's nice to see the real thing.

Piyush

Hi WayFare....I stayed in Munsyari for 2 nights,28th and 29th of December..First night stayed at KMVN rest house and the second at a nearby lodge..The KMVN rest house is far better than any other hotels there..
When were you there???