Binsar - Uttarakhand

This holiday was dreamt up in 2020. When we were clueless to what was coming our way. The COVID wave one, washed our plans away. The wait lasted for almost three years and we finally were off to Uttarakhand in 2022 winter.

Ready with a hoard of warm clothing, we took a train from Hyderabad to Delhi, so that the kids could experience a train journey. After 2 hours, we heard the first "Are we there yet?", we had 20 more hours to go!

Day 1

We had decided to spend a day at Delhi as our connecting train to Katgodham was early in the morning and we were reaching later than that. Stop number was of course Hauz khas and all the amazing places there.

We ate to our heart's content, and then headed to the National museum of India, the best place when you have kids with you. The children loved the museum, specially as they were studying the Indus valley civilisation at school. We adults enjoyed the sculptures and artefacts too. The intricate designs on ivory being the most stunning, of course not the use of ivory.

Day 2

After a good night's rest, we were off to catch the train to Katgodham in the wee hours. This Chair car Shatabdi takes close to five and a half hours to get to Katgodham. Our tickets were spread apart, the kids sat together, while we adults split apart. The view from the window was of fog covered countryside and we were glad to be out of the cold and indoors for a few hours. A lot of eating, jokes and of course a lot of napping later, we were at Katgodham at noon. Our drivers were ready at the station, waiting for us.

After loading up our luggage and ourselves into our car (after some friendly fight trying to grab the front seats), we were off to Binsar, our first destination. But first, some food! We stopped at a restaurant right opposite the Bhimtal lake. The kids went for Chinese, while we adults stuck to the good old Indian fare. After a solid meal ( a mistake in hindsight) we were off to Binsar.

Driving through gorgeous pine trees on the winding roads, left my son nauseous and we had to stop multiple times for him. Watching him, his friend started having sympathy nausea which was a funny situation for the rest of us. At one point, due to a vehicle falling off the road, we had to wait for a long time on the road. By the time we got to our beautiful and cosy rooms at Itmenaan estate in Binsar, it was late evening.

We had to walk a kilometer downhill to our cottages from the road. The staff helped us with our luggage and greeted us with hot cups of tea and lemonade. After settling in, we gathered around the bonfire singing songs, dancing and having the best of time. We asked the staff to bring the kid's food up to where we were sitting along with some snacks for us, while some of the adults had a few drinks.

When it was time to wrap up, we asked the staff to get our dinner upstairs too. They requested us to come down to the dining hall if we didn't mind, and that's when we realized! The dining hall was so far downhill! The staff hadn't complained at all and were going up and down getting us everything we asked for!! We were in awe and deeply impressed with their service.

Along with some delicious food, we were greeted by the cutest puppy in the dining room. We had some pasta, stir fry veggies apart from a lot of other dishes. We soon wrapped up and went to bed to get a good night's rest.

Day 3

We had planned to go on a hike to the Ghantika temple in the morning. We were up and ready by 6:30 am. Out of the four families travelling together, two of us woke up for the hike, while the other two chose to sleep in a little longer.

The initial incline weighed heavy on our calves, but the walk was overall fairly easy. We picked pine cones, enjoyed the majestic view of Nanda Devi and played games as we walked. The sunrise was stunning and we stopped multiple times to soak it in.

The view on top was spectacular and we took as many pictures as we could. Walk back down was easy and quick, and we were greeted by some adorable and very well trained doggos of the property who were on their morning walk.

We got to see the gorgeous place we were staying at finally in daylight. Fruit laden trees, colourful flowers and a stunning vista!

Some more puppers greeted us in the dining room, and after a breakfast of poha, puris, fruits and juices, we decided to walk around, read and put our feet up for a while.

Some of us wanted to go to Mukteshwar, a popular temple among pilgrims. While I am not interested in the religious aspects, I do love to visit temples for their architecture.

We drove through some scenic and quiet roads and passed by some other temples. The floor of the temple at Mukteshwar was frozen and it was an experience to walk around!My feet were hurting and I kept walking around, taking pictures. I quickly came back and sat where I could find a sliver of sunlight. Some of us were praying inside and I went in to see for 10 seconds, and then walked out not wanting to be crushed in the crowd.

Right by the gate, two young men were playing some music, so my husband and I sat around listening till our friends came back.

Back at our stay, a scrumptious local meal with the most spectacular view was waiting for us. We couldn't get over either! Our favourite was the bhaang ki chutney, a chutney made out of hemps seeds and the fresh salad! The radish were just so flavourful!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, playing with the kids and pups and of course ended with a bonfire in the night. This was the last night here and we spent it singing, dancing and eating an incredible meal as always!