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Published: June 20th 2017
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Summer Vacation 2017 – Club Mahindra Binsar Valley Hurray! The vacation begins & excitement to explore the new place at its peak.
The fun started at 4.45 am on 3
rd June, when I boarded the taxi from Home to the New Delhi Railway Station with my wife & daughter. At platform no 11, we found the Shatabdi Express to Kathgodam, our gateway to the hills. The seats where comfortable, however a little more cleanliness to the whole Railway system would have made the experience more existing. Waited for the breakfast on train, which has been the weakness of my taste buds, since childhood, when train travel was much frequent. Then arrives two pieces of toast,Omelette, veg cutlet with peas, 4-5 green peas baked, 2 piece of potato fingers. Ah! It’s been the same for ages in the similar looking aluminium packing. Reading the stations names & destination of trains that pass by & playing the time pass games (Atlas / Quiz / Name, Place , Thing, Animal) with my daughter is a real fun & takes me back to the golden old days of family travel of long journey by train.
11.40 am & Shatabdi arrives at Kathgodam.
Sunshine through the hills
The Sun Pushes its way up the hills Although being the last station, I am always surprised how everyone tries to jump out of the train with luggage, big enough to fit the whole house, as if there is a race to who is the winner to the finish line at the Station masters office. Neat & clean station & personally being taken care by the efficient station master there. Swatch Bharat is making an impact there.
Driver Deepak calls to check for pick up & the vehicle arrives. Start the journey to the hills. It’s hot in the plains & slowly changes as we climb up. Hill sickness starts for the family members & taken care by always planned & alert Mom. Deepak is concerned about the cleanliness of his car, but relaxes when he sees the sickness bags around. Well prepared we are. Short break at the River View restaurant for fresh cooked meal, includes Aloo Jeera, Yellow Dal, Chapatti, Rice & Curd accompanied by the local pickle & onion. Taste buds love it fresh.
Excitement builds up for the final destination. Birds chirping on their way back home & the clean fresh air welcomes us to the ever friendly Club Mahindra Resort. This
is the
Club Mahindra Binsar Valley. Beautiful, serene & calm resort. Quick check in, cosy rooms & the excellent weather takes away all the tiredness of the long journey. Enjoy & go around the resort, talk to the friendly Club Mahindra Staff, take some local information & have a quite dinner in the room & retire for the night.
Early morning light peeps into the room through the curtains & pulls me out of the bed & pushes me out into the wilderness of the wild. Beautiful, colourful, sweet chirping birds all around. Hills all around, Sun trying to push its way up the sky & colouring the green with its orange tinge. A treat away from the heat & dust of the bustling city life. The camera is out with a long lens to get some birds captured into its glasses. After a short walk around the resort & to the village, I sit for my cup of morning tea. After a small breakfast of some freshly made paratha’s & freshen up, we head for a small trek up the hills to the Club Mahindra Villa. A first trek for my daughter through the wild is full of
excitement & exuberance. On the way we see beautiful birds & wow! What’s that …..? A green snake in the wild. Daughter all excited shouts Papa, “the Bahubali Snake”. We then reach the resort up the hill about 700 mts with an amazing view of the valley & nicely done wooden log huts. We then walk down to the village & find a small Grocery shop, Shri Hayat, buy some stuff & come back to the resort. Have a sumptuous lunch from a local restaurant “Flavours of Kumaon”. We idle away our time around the resort playing the games & fun activities. With a quite in room dinner, we prepare for the India Pakistan match & the superb Indian win adds to the fun of the wonderful vacation.
The next morning we planned to leave for a journey to the historical temple & caves “The Patal Bhuvaneshwar”. It is 109 Kms approx. from Binsar, which is a 4 hrs journey (with one stop) through the picturesque hills of Kumaon. Must be a beautiful sight during the monsoon with waterfalls around, however roads prone to landslides & blockages. The journey is nice, but with difficulty for people suffering hill sickness.
Had some parantha & kala chana (black grams) with the local pickle in a small eating joint on the way. Awesome is the word for local fresh food.
Patal Bhuvaneshwar is a sacred cave situated in the Pithoragarh District. It is believed that the underground limestone cave, enshrines Lord Shiva & 33 Hindu Gods. The cave is 90 feet deep & 160m long. The whole experience climbing down & going around the cave with descriptions by the local guide is mesmerising. Some very unique natural formation to support the mythological description about the cave. It’s a trip worth the time & distance to travel all the way. Another 4 hours journey back to the resort & relax. It started drizzling & the weather was chilling. Had mouth-watering local preparation of mutton & rice from Flavours of Kumaon & back to bed.
Another beautiful morning with dark & cloudy sky oozing out to pour. Nice pleasant weather to enjoy & relax in the resort. Have a sumptuous breakfast with fruits, idly sambar, puri bhaji etc. at the bird song restaurant at the resort. The restaurant lives to the name with birds singing around while you munch on the food.
The Feast
The Kumaon Thali at Club Mahindra Binsar Valley The lunch was the special Kumaon Thali from Club Mahindra Resort. The much advertised Thali with the local delicacies was a feast. I was very inquisitive about the dishes like Aloo ke Gutke, Bhat ka jola, Bhat ke Dubke, Madhwa ki Roti, Palak ka Kappa, Kumauni Chicken, Lapsi, Kumauni Pickle & Chaach. The spread was delectable & ravishing. Also interesting is the Plate in which the thali is served. The shape is unique.Having an over fed lunch we had to take some long walk around the resort & enjoyed some activities within the resort. Had a quite dinner in the room & retired to bed for the day.
The most depressing & sad day as the holiday was to end. Woke up early with the sky also showing its discontent about us leaving & was pouring tears & lashing the terrain. The driver informed that we have to leave early as the normal route is closed due to rains & the alternate route would take longer time. Time to bid good bye to the beautiful hills & the pure serenity of Binsar, we headed for Kathgodam to take the train to Delhi. The trees laden with ripe peach, litchi
& mangoes was a pleasant site. A small break for a quick fresh breakfast of Puri Aloo was alluring. Then the heat & traffic jam started hitting us, as we approached the plains & closer to Kathgodam. We realised that our time with serenity & purity was over & reality was back. Seems, if we head the same way as we as Human are doing now, very soon we will live in the hot balloon to perish soon.
Reached Kathgodam station & waited in arrival / departure lounge day dreaming of the blissful few days we had spent in the Kumaon Hills at Binsar with Club Mahindra Binsar Valley as our home station.
Boarded the New Delhi Shatabdi for the journey back home & started with the time pass games & reading names of station & destination of trains. The nostalgia of old train travels days engulfed. Ate the snacks & dinner in the train & arrived at New Delhi Station platform no. 11 where we started our vacation 5 days back. Thanks to the technology & facilities of radio taxis was able to avoid the haggling with taxi Wala at the Station & reached home much economical
in the comfort of an Ola AC Cab.
Bye Bye Summer Vacation 2017, comeback with many more such opportunities every year.
Lesson learnt – Keep the earth clean & green to live longer & healthier.
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