Plan a trip to Corbett & Nainital !

This post will serve two fold purpose, one as a travelogue and two as a guide for a tourist to Jim Corbett National Park and Nainital. We took our own taxi so the trip was flexible. Also all the references, prices & rates mentioned are as on 10th April 2011.

Preparations:

1) For Jim Corbett: There are some things you ought to know about Corbett.

Stay: should actually not be a big problem because there are a number of hotels, resorts( and so called resorts) around Corbett. KMVN hotels are reasonably priced but the Ramnagar location is not great. There is a new KMVN forest resort under construction do try that out. You can stay at Ramnagar which is 19kms. away from from the Dhangarhi gate of CNP(corbett national park). Corbett has two other gates Bijrani and one more. Staying inside Corbett [at Dhikala] is something you should strive for, but for that you will have to book in advance. Not sure how many days...but smone said 3 months which sounded unreasonable.

Inside Corbett : You have two options for going inside the CNP

a) Going by a hired gypsy [These are licensed by CNP authorities] - This is 'the' option for you. A gypsy is 6 seater including driver. There are two timings for entry into the park -> morning 6 am and afternoon 14:30. For booking the morning gypsy one has book in advance at least 15 days. The afternoon gypsy can be booked a day in advance. The price of an entire gypsy with passes, guide, hiring cost is around 3000-3500 for 5 people. If you are less than that you bear the extra cost. The resort people[if you stay at one] may be able to club you together with other people if you are willing to do so.

Timings : 1. 6:00 morning from any of the 3 gates of Corbett.

2. 14:30 afternoon.

b) Going by a Govt. CANTER - This a service is being run to 'befool' people. The timings are same as those of gypsy. This will cost you 1125 /- per head if you book it at the govt. office counter. If you book it from a hotel they will charge you nothing less than 1500/-. The govt. office is in Ramnagar near the KMVN Hotel. It runs from 6:00 to 16:00 hrs. For morning Canter you should book it the previous day.

For the afternoon trip the window opens at six in the morning the same day...people starting queuing up by 4:30 or 5:00 depending upon the season.

My advice: DON'T GO BY CANTER, it is noisy, uncomfortable and a waste of time and money. It is like sitting in an old TATA truck...you will have to sit on a pillow the next day just like Saif in DCH.

2) Nainital: You can easily book your rooms in advance, online in case of good hotels & KMVN properties. The room rents are as low as 1200 for a very decent 4 bed in off season i.e. nefore April ends.

Trip details:

Day 1: Start at Akshardham, New Delhi

The start was late[ around 10:30 am] but it was a saturday so the traffic was not much. Our route was Delhi - Ghaziabad - Pilakhua - Hapur - Garhmukteshwar - Gajraula - Moradabad - Thakurdwara - Ramnagar - Corbett. We reached Ramnagar at 16:30 [ approx 5.5 hrs. of drive because of a 30 mins. stoppage that we took on the way]. Refer to the map below for the route. These are large images download and expand them to get a better idea of the route.

You can also use mapmyindia.com [this link will automatically give you the route]

We took a room in a resort[mid tier] which was en route from Ramnagar to Corbett. The name was Wild Trail near Safari Park. Charges were 2000/- for 1 night for 3 people i.e. including an extra bed. The room was air conditioned with a nice TATA sky connection LCD. Running Hot water was available. River Kosi flows right behind the resorts and you can walk down to Kosi for a splash with your friends.

Map Delhi to Corbett - part 1

Map Delhi to Corbett - part 2

TIP: For McDonalds' fans there is a McD at Gajraula....we picked up a quick lunch from there. And the best part is that it is a DRIVE-IN :)

Day 2 : At Corbett

We went inside by the Canter owing to our lack of knowledge about how useless it was. Also we did not have any other option since we wanted to leave Corbett in the afternoon, so the afternoon gypsy was not an option for us, morning gypsy as I have already mentioned has to be booked 15 days in advance which we did not know. It gets pretty hot [late March to early April] in the afternoon but that is when you have greater chances of spotting animals coz they venture out for water from Ramganga river that runs through Corbett. CANTER is always a no-no. You can go for the afternoon gypsy if you like but be ready to sweat it out :)

We started at 05:30 Ramnagar(boarding happens near the ticket counter itself so you may have to start from ur resort at 04:30 or 05:00 unless you stay at Dhikala inside Corbett which would be awesome) and came back at 12:00. We were not in a position to leave immediately for Nainital as planned coz of the godforsaken canter ride lasting 60 kms. and 5-6 hrs of bumping, jumping which would scare the animals away from miles.

So, we left from our resort at 14:00 after resting for 2 hrs. From Ramnagar we took the smooth road to Nainital via Kaladhungi which has a lot of picturesque views en route. The route is Ramnagar - Kaladhungi [visit Corbett's home here which is a small museum now]- Nainital. Distance 65kms. Time around 2 -3 hrs. depending upon the number of times you stop on the way to click snaps.

Day 3: Nainital

Food: No place is great in Nainital. we tried a bakery which cost us 200 per head for dinner. But the food was sheer disappointment. You could try Annapurna a small shop for reasonable paranthas. Food is not great at these places so don't go there for a gastronomic extravaganza. There is only 1 bar in entire Nainital and only one liquor shop. So, carry your own stock in case you like to have a drink or two in the chilly weather.

Stay: We stayed at KMVN, Tallital hotel. Charges were very reasonable 1680 for a 4 bed suite. These were off season rates which change drastically from 30th April onwards. check out the kmvn website for more details : http://www.kmvn.gov.in/Default.aspx

You can book rooms online but the website is little erratic and may get stuck occasionally.

The location is amazing and you get longer view of entire Naini Lake. Another KMVN hotel is there at Sukhatal (called sookha tal) but the location is not as great. There are some caves near this hotel which also a tourist spot but I would suggest staying at tallital hotel, in case you stick with KMVN.

There are umpteen number of other options in Nainital with a huge variety of rates and qualities. Elphinstone, Alka and some other good hotels are there on the road along the lake but they have slightly higher rates.

In KMVN be ready for smelly blankets but a reasonable service. There are some amazing Royal double rooms and Royal Suites whose location within the hotel are superb. Book them for a nice stay. The food is just ok. Don't expect anything great.

Warning: The hotels along the Naini Lake in Nainital do not have elevators so be ready to climb up 100s of stairs each time you try to reach your room. Or book your room with caution in a bigger hotel which has elevator. This is especially important for elderly people.

Going around: Nainital has some nice spots in an around. You will find scores of agents flocking you with 7 locations that you must see. If you feel like seeing the same place from different angles then do go for this. At 400 bucks you can hire a small cab for 3-4 people( alto or maruti van)this is not a bad deal at all. If you do have your own car, each time you enter the municipal limit it will cost you 100 bucks, so it is advisable to hire these cabwallahs. Also mostly you will be on foot or rickshaw because a car once enters the limits and leaves you will have to shell out 100 bucks and parking is either not allowed or very high rates are applicable.

Ropeway to snow view point: Ropeway cost is 150 per head for a to-n-fro ride. You can also reach there in your own car but the ascent is steep so the driver must be adept. Peaks are visible on clear days only. But the view of the hill city and lake is enchanting while the rope car ascends and descends. See image below.

This snow view point is one of the points on the itinerary of the local trip cabs which charge you 400 bucks for entire cab for 2-3 hours.

At the snow view point also there is a bar don't know the rates. You can get some refreshing juice, ubiquitous maggi, chai etc. stuff is available. A small KMVN resort is under construction for tourists. You can get your pictures clicked by professionals in the local ethnic wear. There is some shady go-karting and electric cars for children which will not amuse a city kid.

We took a walk along the other shore of the lake...called the thandi (cold ) sarak (road). Very nicely made especially for walkers. We started from tallital side and went up to the Tibetian market where you could find local souvenirs and wax items which are a speciality of Nainital. You could also find smuggled stuff like elctronic items, cosmetics, clothes which find their way from Nepal into India.

We reached back our hotel enjoyed an IPL game snuggled comfortably in our warm blankets.

Day 4: Last day

We sacrificed our plan to visit Naukuchiatal (the lake with 9 corners) and Bhimtal (which boasts of an island in the middle of the lake) due to some unavoidable reasons. If you have time please keep half a day or may be a day for them. Instead we went to the local zoo of Nainital situated at the peak of a hill within Nainital. It has a decent collection of animals and will not take more than an hour. Opens at 10:00 am in the morning till evening 5:00 pm and remains closed on Mondays.

A splendid view of the Siberian tiger at the zoo helped us overcome the CANTERized frustration of Corbett :D

We left from Nainital for Delhi at 12 noon. You have two options of going back from Nainital.

1. Via Haldwani - Kathgodam - LalKuan- Rampur and then the usual route of NH24.

2. Or the other option is from Nainital - Kaladhungi - Bazpur- Doraha - Kashipur - Thakurdwara - Moradabad and then on NH24.

Warning: DO NOT take the straight route from Doraha via some small villages to Moradabad, use the suggested route via Kashipur. Village route might seem shorter on the map but the road is pathetic, in fact there is NO road.

We took the 2nd option as the kaladhungi route is cleaner and has lovely sights on the way. You should prefer the other route if you plan to visit Bhimtal and Naukuchiatal. You would not find too many dhabas on the way until you reach Moradabad.

We reached Delhi in little over 5.5 hours around 17:30.

This blog answers
> How to reach Corbett
> How to reach Nainital
> Where to stay in Corbett
> What to do in Corbett
>What to do in Nainital
> Where to stay in nainital

#Nainital#Corbett#JimCorbett