Suggestion requested - Abbot Mount - Mayavati Ashram - Shyamalatal trip

Hi,

I am planning to visit Abbot Mount - Mayavati Ashram - Shyamalatal alongwith my mother (age 60) in mid April.
To avoid a long journey by bus, am planning to reach Mayavati via Kathgodam/Haldwani (Delhi - Kathgodam train), through bus/car. Since this is my first trip to Uttarakhand, want to know about few things:

• Till what time in morning the buses leave for Lohaghat from Haldwani (will reach Haldwani by 6 am).
  
• Is it safe to travel through car? Have heard about the drivers are (mostly) youngster/inexperienced and about sharp turns in ghat section almost every 5-10 mins.
  
• Or should I change the route and travel overnight by Delhi-Pittoraghar bus to Lohaghat. Are the buses comfortable for a long journey? (especially for women)
  
• Or should I go to Bareilly from Delhi by train, but don't know the journey duration/availability/time of the buses to Lohaghat from Bareilly.
  
• In mid-April what would be the lowest temperature and what things we should bring with us? please advice.

Also while returning we have two more days to spend around, so how and which places we can visit near Kathgodam and the hotels to stay nearby. (My mother would not be able to walk much distance.)
Any suggestions appreciated.

1) Till what time in morning the buses leave for Lohaghat from Haldwani (will reach Haldwani by 6 am).
As per my knowledge there are 2-3 buses from Haldwani to lohaghat.Exact timings I dont know, but I believe they leave Haldwani well before 8am...You may get a bus at around 7am..

2)Is it safe to travel through car? Have heard about the drivers are (mostly) youngster/inexperienced and about sharp turns in ghat section almost every 5-10 mins.
Yes its safe to travel in car..

3)Or should I change the route and travel overnight by Delhi-Pittoraghar bus to Lohaghat. Are the buses comfortable for a long journey? (especially for women)
From Delhi to Pithoragarh you wont get a delux bus..All buses are normal buses except one which is semi delux type..
Delhi to Lohaghat is approx 450kms..especially for a women it would be tiring journey considering the distance and comfort.

4)Or should I go to Bareilly from Delhi by train, but don't know the journey duration/availability/time of the buses to Lohaghat from Bareilly.
Cant say..If you do this then you have to change buses from different stations(Barelly and Tanakpur)..I doubt there is a direct bus from Barelly to Lohaghat..

5)In mid-April what would be the lowest temperature and what things we should bring with us? please advice.
Mid April is little bit hot,Lohaghat is not located at high altitude...you can carry light woolen clothings as the night temperature would be around 12-15 degrees..

Thanks for your suggestion Piyush.
I will stick to my first option - will travel via kathgodam.

Wondering which places I can visit near Lohaghat/Kathgodam in two days.

Has anybody been to Patal Bhuvaneshwar, Munsiyari . Can it be covered in two days from Shyamalatal and then back to Kathgodam by car.

1) Piyush, wud it be useful to go to Champavat? There must be plenty of options from there to Lohaghat. And do the Haldwani-Champavat buses go via Chorgaliya/Sitarganj? In that case I think it wud be better to get off at Rudrapur? Or is there a pakka road from Chorgaliya direct to Tanakpur?
And what's the normal/short route from Haldwani to Lohaghat - Dhanachuli Bend-Shaharphatak, or some other route?

2) Not correct. If you want a really safe driver, contact Anil Bisht at Kathgodam. His number is in #437 of 'Escape to Kumaon' thread.
And the turns are every few hundred metres (50 sometimes), not every 5-10 mins.

3) NO! Delhi-Pithoragarh ordinary bus, that too at night?!! It'll be a killer!

4) In fact there is a once-weekly Mumbai LTT-Bareilly train and I was trying to work out whether it might suit you, just to avoid coming to Delhi and changing stations, etc. But too many variables - Dep LTT at 7.45 am (ok, you may have relatives in Mumbai with whom you cud stay the night); or catch the Bareilly train at Manmad or Bhopal or even Agra, but it means either leaving Pune the night before on a slow pass. train or early morning 4 am; but finally what rules this train out is the 15.40 arrival at Bareilly (if it's on time) - there are no buses to Lohaghat, MAYBE to Champavat, and most likely you'd have to change at Tanakpur. You'd be travelling around 8 hours by bus (if all goes well) meaning you'd reach Lohaghat around midnight, I don't think you want that. Even if you hire a car at Bareilly you'd need 7 hours, meaning 11 pm arrival.

A few more things:
IF you hire a car for yourselves, you can get off at Kathgodam. But IF you want to use buses/jeeps, the transport hub is HALDWANI, book your tickets to/from there.
There are excellent deluxe bus services from Delhi Anand Vihar to Haldwani v.v., leaving both in the morning and at night. Cost is similar to 3A train fare. Depending on what train you're catching, you may find it convenient to take a bus instead of waiting for the night train.
I see that almost all the trains Pune-Delhi terminate at Nizamuddin. But if you take the Jhelum Express, you can go upto NDLS, which will be more convenient IF you decide to take the night train from DLI. But IF you decide you prefer the deluxe bus, by no means shud you go to NDLS, get off at NZM.

Near KGM/HDW but still in the hills wud be Nainital. Otherwise Bhimtal/Naukuchiyatal/Sattal are close by, and might interest you (Sattal is the nicest).
Patal Bhuvaneshwar is not far, about 3 hours from Lohaghat, but having been there recently, I doubt your mother wud want to crawl into the cave (a few tough sections) - I know I'm not doing it again!
Munsyari is a bit far, altho still doable. Long drive back to the train though.
You might like to do some day-trips instead - Pithoragarh/Chandak is a possibility, Jhulaghat is 50 km from there - Kali river/Nepal border, you can cross over and come back (frankly will be visible from Shyamlatal as well); Khetikhan is supposed to be nice - close by (from Lohaghat), a little further is Devidhura with the Varahi Devi temple which might be of interest, on the way to PB is Rameshwar with the sangam of Saryu and Ramganga rivers.......

Since OP is from Pune, he could consider the following options:

2103 Pune-Lucknow Express leaves Pune every Friday @16.15 and arrives Lucknow (LJN) @ 17.25 the next day.

There is an overnight train 5308 Nainital Express which leaves Aishbagh (Lucknow)@20.45.At Pilibhit Jn, the slip route takes a part of the train to Tanakpur @09.25 the next day.

Tanakpur-Lohaghat distance is about 90 kms by bus. In this way, the duration of bus journey is reduced.


Sadanand

Thanks Dilliwala & Kamathji for all your efforts to make my journey smooth. In my first post as I have mentioned in all options that I will start from Delhi either by train or bus, so I didn't mention about reaching Delhi. I will be reaching Delhi by flight from Pune. Dilliwala aptly located my location and gave the valuable suggestions for journey right from Pune. Anyway these usefule info would be of great usage for others traveling from Pune. Thanks again!

So finally I have fixed the itinerary as following:

1. Delhi - Haldwani by train (Ranikhet Exp.)
2. Haldwani - Lohaghat by bus/car. (Thanks Dilliwala for the phone no. of Anil Bisht - for car driving)
3. Stay at Mount Abbot, Mayavati Ashram & Shyamalatal - total 6 days.

You are right Dilliwala, journey to Patal Bhuvaneshwar would not suit my mother. I found out from other posts/sites that to reach PB caves one need to walk half a km and then crawl some 100 steps into the caves, again which are slippery. So as of now I drop my plan to PB

Now from Shyamalatal, am planning to go to either Kausani or any other solitude hilly region where I can rent a logde in natural surroundings
and could walk in the woods which is at a little walkable distance from the lodge.
I'd be grateful for any suggestions which suits this description.

So if I opted for the Kausani foll. wud be my schedule:

• Day 7 - Depart to Kausani by 8 am from Shyamalatal. (May I know the temples/spots which I can visit on the way to Kausani, if time permits? I think Devidhura is on the way.)
• Day 8 - Stay at Kausani (Can I visit to Baijnath temples, heard they are nearby.)
• Day 9 - Depart to Kathgodam to catch the train at 8 pm. (Can I go to Sattal while coming to Kathgodam?) (Kausani - Kathgodam 6 hrs drive, is it right?)

Any idea about Shyamalatal - Kausani distance? Can I reach Kausani by evening if I depart frm Shyamalatal by 8 am?
What wud be the charges if I hire a car for 3 days from Shyamalatal - Kausani - Kathgodam?
Is KMVN a good resort to stay or any other lodge pls?

Hoping for a quick reply.

7 am. 9.25 is arrival at TPU.
And this train hangs around Pilibhit station for 4 hours. Bit of a disturbance with chaiwalas and others trying to get into the compartment when one's trying to sleep.

No steps. Just the regular rocks, with iron chains on either side to hang onto while going up/down.

By lodge do you mean something like an independent cottage, as at Manali? There aren't any at Kausani, and a private one will be impossible to rent, specially for a few days. Certainly KMVN has cottages, which you can rent like regular rooms (without kitchen). I'm not sure whether each cottage has one double room or two (can be rented individually), you'd have to check with KMVN.

Quote:

• Day 7 - Depart to Kausani by 8 am from Shyamalatal. (May I know the temples/spots which I can visit on the way to Kausani, if time permits? I think Devidhura is on the way.)
• Day 8 - Stay at Kausani (Can I visit to Baijnath temples, heard they are nearby.)
• Day 9 - Depart to Kathgodam to catch the train at 8 pm. (Can I go to Sattal while coming to Kathgodam?) (Kausani - Kathgodam 6 hrs drive, is it right?)

Day 7 - Baleshwar and Nagnath temples at Champavat, Khetikhan, Kedarnath temple at Devidhura, shiv temple at Someshwar.

Day 9 - Yes you can go to Sattal, it's a 7 km diverson off the main road.
Kausani-Kathgodam is 142 km, less than 5 hours driving.

Quote:

Any idea about Shyamalatal - Kausani distance? Can I reach Kausani by evening if I depart frm Shyamalatal by 8 am?

It's around 250 km. You'll need at least 9 hours on the road, and if you stop at a few places on the way, you'll only reach by dark.

What wud be the charges if I hire a car for 3 days from Shyamalatal - Kausani - Kathgodam?
If you're staying 2 days everywhere, it makes sense to keep a car with you all thru. E.g. if you release the car the day you reach Abbott, how are you going to move around the next 4 days? If you hire a taxi point-to-point, they'll charge you double for the return trip. In the end you'll end up paying as much or more than if you have one car thru out. Get a quote from Anil Bisht for the whole trip (around 1400-1500 per day approx). You can also ask how much partail use wud cost.


It's decent.

We five ladies members from Hyderabad are planning to visit Shyamlatal ashram,mayavati ashram and almora. I would like
to know which route is better and safe for us to reach our
destination, whether from Hyderabad to Delhi and then via
Kathgodam or from Hyderabad to Lucknow and then lucknow to
Kathgodam and onwards. Whether from Lucknow to Kathgodam
by night train is safe for ladies. Secondly, to reach to
Shyamlatal where to get down? At Kathgodam or Haldwani or
Beirelly. Request intimate the distance also by road.
I hope anybody have idea about this route will guide us.\
Thanking you.

Hyderabad - Delhi - Bareilly and then a cab will be a good and safe thing to do.

Bareilly toi Shyamaltal is around 150 KMs. approx 4 Hrs. traveling.

The route for Shyamalatal -> Mayavati -> Almora:
Option 1:
Hyderabad -> DELHI (DLI) and then go to BAREILLY (BE) by train. (There are lot of trains between DELHI - BAREILLY)
And from BAREILLY you can reach Shyamalatal by a cab or Tanakpur by public transport.
(You need to enquire about transportation mode from BAREILLY to Tanakpur. I have heard from Swamijis @ Shyamalatal Ashram that lot of ppl travel through this route).
From Tanakpur you can reach Shyamalatal in 20-30 mins. by a car.

Option 2:
Hyderabad -> Lucknow and then get into Nainital Express (5308) for an overnight journey
from Lucknow City (LC) @ 20:53 to reach Tanakpur (TPU) @ 09:25 next morning.
From Tanakpur you can reach Shyamalatal in 20-30 mins. by a car.


From Shyamlatal to Mayavati the journey is about 3 to 3.5 hours (80 km).
And from Mayavati to Almora the journey is about 6 hours (125 km).
In a hilly area/ghat section distance doesn't matter.

The route for Almora -> Mayavati -> Shyamalatal:
Option 1:
Hyderabad -> DELHI and then get into RANIKHET EXPRESS (5013) for an overnight journey
from DELHI (DLI) @ 22:20 to reach HALDWANI (HDW) @ 04:53 next morning.

From Haldwani there are buses directly to Almora or a cab would be a good option.
(You need to check the bus timings & their availability as of today).
On this route you can enjoy the scenic views of Himalyas.

For the whole journey from Shyamalatal to Almora via Mayavati, travelling by cab is always a good option.

Dear Mr. Mahesh,
Thanks a lot for getting your suggesstions regarding
above mentioned tour. Futher I would like to know whether
is it safe for us (5 ladies only) to journey by night train either from Delhi to tanakpur via beirelly or from Lucknow to tanakpur? Hope I shall get the proper guidance. Thanks.

Not sure whether it is safety for ladies to travel at night by train.

Better someone can answer about safety in this forum who is a frequent traveller in kumaon regions.

But if you all are coming by NIZAMUDDIN EXP (2721) from Hyederabad you will reach Delhi @ 04:00 hrs morning. Then you can get the BAREILLY EXP (4556) @ Delhi @ 06:05 morning and reach Bareilly by 13:00 afternoon. Then you have to get a cab (No trains are available from Bareilly to Tanakpur) so that you can directly reach Shyamalatal Ashram by evening.

This way you will be travelling from Delhi to Shyamalatal at day time.

Dear Mr. Mahesh,
Thanks a lot for getting the suggessions from your end.
I am still waiting for the reply from somebody who has an idea regarding safe overnight train journey for ladies from Lucknow to Tanakpur or from delhi to tanakpur.
Thank you again.
Sensuvra

I would recommend to travel via DLI-Bariely-Tanakpur route. I followed this route in May 2009:
http://www.ghumakkar.com/2009/10/25/...unsiyaripart1/

There should be no security concern as such.

Otherwise you could opt for Delhi-Haldwani-Kichha-Tanakpur route.(Both routes would cause comparable amount of road travel).

Can Anybody please inform me whether reasonable hotels are
available at Bereilly and Haldwani. Also, I would like to
know which is the safest place to stay ? Bereilly or
Haldwani? Is Cab easily available for Shyamlatal from both the place? If so, which is the nearest from shyamlatal and what
is the approximate rate for cab? Thanks in advance for giving
proper guidance.