Uttar Mahayatra

Birds Eye View: A travel of slightly more than 100 km today, as we abondoned the Kumaon region and entered the Garhwal region at Karnaprayag.  Now, when we had talked to locals in Kumaon, I had always felt a subtle sense of competition with Garhwal. Historically, lords and kings of the two regions used to fight like the dickens, of course, particularly during the Moghul times, and an aftertaste must still be lingering. A caretaker in the KMVN at Kausani said he had worked in all sorts of govt guest houses in Uttarakhand, and GMVN was always better maintained. Our guide from yesterday, Deepak (the mountain goat?), was all in favour of Kumaon roads during monsoons. “The soil here has more pakad (grip), you know. Those Garhwali’s keep having landslides.” They spoke highly of Kumaoni cuisine, their healthiness and simplicity, but were pointedly silent about their western counterpart’s kitchen. One of the hotel managers also commented on the nature of tourists: “Here it’s ...

Waking up (6.00 am): When I was small, one of the biggest luxuries in life was sleeping in on a holiday, and getting up around 8.00 am, when mother pushed me out of bed. A time has come now, I get up at 6.00 am, whether there is an alarm set or not. I don’t know whether to be proud of my mind’s discipline or to be resigned to an aging mind that cannot sleep. Either way, it was not much use today. Although there had been some growlings (thunder, not tummy) last night, the rain Gods finally decided to rain all around, like in Almora, Ranikhet, Mukteswar, Binsar, and held off on Kausani. Why? Pure cussedness, that’s why. So we were not greeted by a clear sky in the morning, and no Himalayan peaks. A few more Bengali families had checked in, in the rooms beside us and above us.We swapped travel tales of our respective trips and our self-drive trip drew the expected  surprise and admiration. Incidentally, we have just completed 20 days on our current trip and have 20 more ...

A rest day: What was Gavaskar’s occupation on a rest day in a 5-day test match? No doubt he would lounge on a chesterfield, sip a Virgin Mary, and gaze across the far pavilions. He would certainly not take out his willow and go prancing down the pitch. But not me. Rest day at Kausani meant we had to GO somewhere, even if nearby. Sort of net practice, I guess. The morning started without much of a brouhaha. We yawned and stretched at 6.00 am, rest day notwithstanding. It was gratifying to see the sun, our steady companion for the last two weeks, put on quite a decent show in front of our windows. Morning tea was promptly prepared, the yellow cup pic meticulously clicked, and the energising fluid appreciatively sipped while sitting outside our room, the sun in our faces. This time we had a ground floor room, and the path in front was lined with roses the size of soup plates. So, even at sunrise, Panna was over the moon. But, as I said, I had already ...