Uttar Mahayatra

Bird’s eye view: What a journey we had today! Just 135 km of mountain driving, but one which took us through safe two-lanes, risky single-tracks, tailgating Boleros, log-jammed towns, feisty waterfalls, sulfur hot-springs - all taken in stride with never a falter by our trusted Punch. We really lost track of time. Having left at 7.15 am, we reached our destination only at 3.15 pm, timings which seem to be becoming our benchmarks. Our route today would take us eastward to Askote town, where we will cross a cute river called Goriganga, and follow it northward to Madkote town, where we will cross back and start climbing for the last 20 kms to Munsiyari. Leaving Pithoragarh (7.15 am): Our hotel had just about opened her eyes after the wedding last night, that we demanded that we needed to leave, without breakfast, as usual. After packing the Punch, we rolled out gently into a traffic that was chock-a-block with school buses (read Boleros loaded with kids with school bags spilli...

Bird’s eye view: 180 km today, but that’s not bad if it implies driving mostly in the hills, where average speed is just 40 kmph. We left as usual at 7.15 am and clocked into our hotel at Pithoragarh at 4.15 pm. Roads were good, in fact it was NH9 which guided us all through. Some rains in Pithoragarh had been predicted, but as far as we were concerned, it was sunny all the way through. There were a couple of unplanned stops that made our trip today memorable. Leaving Nanakmatta/Khatima (7.15 am): I woke up in a chirpy mood, since yesterday’s clouds and thunder over my middle area had subsided, and all was quiet on that front. Otherwise we were quite prepared to stay back at Khatima for another day. Road trips are flexible that way. But we could leave as usual, after our ritualistic tea and Marie biscuits, planning to reach Pithoragarh after 4.5-5.0 hours. Visiting the Gurdwara at Nanakmatta (7.30 am): A friend had told us about this famous gurdwara at Nanakmatta town and w...

  Bird’s eye view: Today we travelled 300 km, leaving Lucknow at 7.00 am and entering our hotel at Khatima at 2.30 pm. Not every day has a Jhumritalaiya or Prayagraj break in the middle. This was a straightish drive, consequently more tiring. Nor did we have big breaks for breakfast or coffee, since I was harbouring an indigestion (the bane of bengalees). We just put our heads down and drove, intent on getting to the final destination alone, like Dhoni in the slog overs (oops, did I put my foot in it?) Leaving Lucknow (7.00 am): As planned, our choice of hotel allowed us to get out of our Lucknow stable pretty fast, and we hit NH30 again (the one that goes to Delhi). Today we drove mostly in UP and the last bit in Uttarakhand, but I must say that roads in this part of the country, be it NH, SH or simple roads, were very very good. Lot of truck traffic on NH30, of course, and one had to recall video-gaming skills in order to weave between divers vehicles in t...