Uttarakhand Diaries: Itinerary Planning

Hello everyone, after your overwhelming response to my previous post, I'm delighted to share my experiences with itinerary planning, just in case that helps you. Actually, the word "planning" sounds so trite these days, thanks to the corporate world for all those long and nonproductive planning meetings. But, when it comes to trips, ceremonies, or festivities, the same word feels so enlivening! Remember the school trips? As soon as the teacher made the most awaited school trip announcement, our discussions and planning would start. Amongst the things to be carried along, the thing of paramount importance would be the food. After all, the school trip was the only occasion when we could share things like cupcakes, chips (wafers, as we used to call them at that time), sandwiches, toffees, and chewing-gums with our school friends. Wasn't that exciting?

Image courtesy: https://twitter.com/poohbearwisdom/status/1220676113313280000

The process of planning the Uttarakhand trip was equally interesting. It was full of learning and excitement.

When we settled on Uttarakhand as our holiday destination, the air fares were quite reasonable. So, we decided to wait for 2-3 more days for the weekend to arrive. This would allow us to spend enough time on the rest of the planning and make the flight and accommodation bookings accordingly. But, to our dismay, the airfares soared by the weekend. As a result, we ended up booking the flight tickets even before we knew enough about Uttarakhand. Somewhere, we were sure that Devbhoomi had much more to offer us than what we could take in.

Where the sky bows down in front of the Himalayas that is Devbhoomi Uttarakhand - Unknown

Once the tickets were booked, we started exploring the districts in Uttarakhand. As a result, we came up with a simple holiday map that helped us focus on the districts we wanted to explore further. The kids really liked this map. It was nice to see my 5-year old locate the great Tehri dam on this map as a result of a curious conversation with my elder child! Learning can indeed be made interesting without paying hefty fees to the so-called premier schools!

As we talk about learning, how about giving your brains some warmup? Combining our uncommon reasons for visiting Uttarakhand with the above map, which districts do you think we would have shortlisted initially? 

And the answer is: Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Almora, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Pauri Garhwal

After dropping all the districts known only for religious or adventure places, we considered practical aspects like reachability, time and distance, etc. This resulted in removal of Pithoragarh and Udham Singh Nagar owing to their extreme locations. We also discarded Nainital considering  it's commercialization and crowding. With that, we were left with: Dehradun (arrival-departure), Tehri Garhwal, Chamoli, Almora and Pauri Garhwal.

Another factor that we considered was the type of accommodation. Let's take a look at the types and our viewpoints about them.

1. International Brands: Too dull to capture the vibrant India 
2. Local chains: Good as stop-offs
3. Boutique or concept hotels: Too cutesy for modest people like us
4. Hostels: Supercharged atmosphere lacking natural vibes (middle-age speaking?)
5. Ashrams: Too religious to fit this time's plans
6. Guest house/  Homestays: Offering authentic home-made food and engaging conversations with the owners, they were completely in sync with our reasons to visit Uttarakhand.
7. Havelies, forts, palaces, heritage hotels: Too royal for an inherently beautiful place like Uttarakhand
8. Yoga retreats, destination spas and wellness centres: Why visit Uttarakhand for these when we have Kerala in vicinity?
9. Tent stays: Naturalistic, good for a rough-hewn experience

Types 6, 9, and 4 fit well into our plans. When it comes to a distant and scenic place like Uttarakhand, a stay with good views and local experience is quite worthwhile. It helps one avoid unnecessary travel, especially while on a family vacation. 

We soon started picking Google Baba's brain for the information on such stays, situated in the districts shortlisted by us. We shortlisted a few and started making inquiry calls. During one such call, we came across Mr. Ayush of Travel Two Trip, who was thoughtful enough to understand our requirements and helped us finalise the itinerary. He assisted us in booking the accommodations and arranging transportation. The best part was the driver (with his own car) that he suggested to us, a very decent and well-behaved person. There was some miscommunication though, due to which Mr. Ayush missed booking a particular homestay that we had really liked and booked a regular stay instead. By the time we realised this, it was quite late. This meant pulling the plug on our plans to have authentic, home-made local food while having interaction with local people at a cosy home stay, something we always treasure. However, the alternate arrangements that he made later offset the loss to some extent. Afterall, 

“Life is not perfect. It never will be. You just have to make the very best of it, and you have to open your heart to what the world can show you; and sometimes it's terrifying, and sometimes it's incredibly beautiful, and I'll take both.” - Graham Nash (singer, song-writer and muscian)

The alternate stay was definitely not terrifying and left behind only beautiful memories for us. 

All set and excited for the trip, we started dreaming about the holidays. Especially with this being our longest family vacation, our first time away from the south, we were a little anxious. How did Uttarakhand treat us? Did it offer us what we were really looking for? Let's chat about all that in my upcoming posts.

Meanwhile, I am mentioning the itinerary, some important things to carry, etc. below in case that helps.

Our Itinerary

If the following itinerary suits you, you can directly contact the stays (using the links) and book your accomodation without the help of any third party. For the driver details you can email me at mugdha.bapat@gmail.com.  

Day 1: Arrived at Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun. Stayed at Massoorie (Hotel Mussourie Gateway). Explored Mussourie in the evening.

Day 2: Travel to Kanatal. Explored Dhanaulti on the way. Checked into a resort (cannot disclose its name as of now as it is temporarily closed due to some logistical issues, but trust me, it was the best place we have ever stayed at.) 

Day 3: Explore Kanatal and Tehri. 

Day 4: Travelled to Auli. It was a very long journey and took almost the whole day. Checked in to Shivalik Camping and Cottage to experience the tent stay and amazing views.

Day 5: Went to Badrinath and Mana village

Day 6: As per our original plan, we were supposed to move to a homestay ( Himalayan Abode Homestay) for authentic food and interactions. But due to the abovementioned slip-up, we ended up checking in at Himalayan High, located just a few minutes away from the previous stay, which had the same views and the same regular North Indian food, which made this movement unnecessary. We explored Auli on that day. 

Day 7: Started towards Chopta, explored the area, and checked in to The Bunker Cafe by evening. Residents of a place like Bangalore, hosting a countless number of good cafes, we were hesitant to stay in a hostel/café in Uttarakhand. But this place, suggested by Mr. Ayush in order to compensate for the goof-up, delighted us in many serendipitous ways. How? We will discuss that later. Why take the lid off so many things in one go? 

Day 8: Left for Rishikesh. Explored Rishikesh in the evening.

Day 9: Started the return journey.

If you don't want to experience different things like tent stay and homestay in Auli, you can continue staying at one place for all three days. A place closer to Auli (the higher part of the hill) will provide you with amazing views of snow-clad Himalayan peaks. A place closer to Joshimath (lower part of the hill) will help reduce the travel time and will be in proximity to the town. You can choose the option that best suits you.

Things to carry without fail (specific only to Uttarakhand):

1. Winter clothing: Although it doesn't snow during the months of September and October, it gets quite cold as you travel towards the Himalayas. So, carry a good amount of winter clothing. Especially for kids, you'll always need clothes that cover their whole body. 

2. Plenty of clothes: As per our itinerary, we were constantly on the move, so there was no opportunity for laundry. So carrying at least one set of clothes per day helped.

3. Umbrellas: Yes, the Bangalore rains were to follow us all the way to Uttarakhand as per the predictions, and they really did. 

4. Dry snacks: Places like Auli and Chopta are quite remote, and there are hardly any decent road-side restaurants on the road. The ones that are there are quite crowded. Hence, it may get really late by the time you eat your meal. So, it is better to keep some dry snacks and fruit with you, especially when on a family trip. 

Trivia Time!

Do you know the name of the Dehradun airport? It is Jolly Grant. How amiable is that? Any guesses as to why it is named so? The answer is that the airport is named after the village of Jauligrant, in which it is located. Amusing? I'm sure no one's guess was even slightly close to this; mine wasn't either!

Finally, some food for thought (and action):

Stop dreaming about your bucket list and start living it - Annette White (professional travel blogger)

because

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (civil libertarian)