MYSTIQUE KUMAON

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HYMALAYAN PANORAMA FROM CHOWKRI

Driving through the normal tourist trail of Kumaon ( Uttaranchal ) - NAINITAL- ALMORA -BAGESWAR -KAUSANI , I was just thinking of coming back home. Driving through the hills for 3days was a bit tiring though the roads were extremely good . I was just getting ready in the wee hours of 5th nov,2005 . I met up with another local tourist cab driver in the Kumaon Mandal state rest house. Just as we were talking he asked me about the places I have visited. He then suddenly suggested me of a place called CHOUKRI, where I can get the best view of the Himalayan peaks. I was a bit sceptical. Somehow my wife and kids (5 & 8 ) insisted. So I gave it to the majority. We just started off. Once we crossed Bageswar a small town just midway the landscape started changing. It was mesmerizing .I thought If I have not come this way I would have missed a trip of my lifetime. We reached CHOUKRI after around 2 1/2 hours driving( about 100 kms from Kasauni.
Chowkri is a small hamlet with some tea gardens. Its like a virgin beauty, the more you see the more you fall in love. It has got such an attraction that you can’t resist to fall in love.
The view of the Himalayan peaks is awesome. Just can’t compare with anything else.
You will get to see a whole lot of peaks in a 180 degree range. They are TRISHUL, NANDADEVI, NANDADEVI EAST, NANDAKOT, NANDAKHAT, MAIKTOLI ,PANCHCHULI. There are also many unnamed peaks. It was just as if you are in the lap of Himalayas.
The best thing about this roadside stopover is that, there is not a single shop or hotel except for the KUMAON MANDAL STATE REST HOUSE and a tented accommodation opposite it. (Pray that it remains like that ). I fear to write about this place in net because once tourists start to move in ,commercialisation will spoil the pristine nature of the place.

The next morning though I was reluctant to leave behind this heavenly abode but life has to move on……one can not just hold on to all the beautiful things in the world for ever…
So I left Choukri with a broken heart ,swearing to the virgin damsel, to come back some day alone just to be with her……may be forever.

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