Mumbai- Haldwani-Jageshwar

In 2007 we had been to Nainital, Kausani Almora and Binsar.

The KMVN resorts at Kausani and Binsar displayed a poster of  lush green mountains several stone temples in the foreground. The temples of Uttaranchal and Orissa have a distinctive temple architecture. They have  a beautiful shikhar..a stone disc atop the temple sphire.     The temple complex in the poster was Jageshwar.

Another poster had a mountain range with five peaks bathed in a golden hue.  This was the Panchachuli range. And it was best seen from Munsyari.

We had decided we would be back some day and visit this part of Uttaranchal  -  Jageshwar, Chaukori and Munsyari.  It took us seven years to  honor this promise made to ourselves and we were back in  Uttaranchal, in the summer of 2014.

We reached  Delhi in the afternoon of  22nd  May.   From there,   the Uttarakhand Sampark Kranti Express took us  to Haldwani.  We were to stay the night with our Uttaranchali friends.

Staying with friends allows you a dekko into their culture, traditions, cuisine, which are so different from the ones you are born into..and sometimes very different from the ones you are familiar with.

I loved the way they dot their forehead with a red and  yellow teeka.  I loved the expressions on their faces when we undid our shoes as we entered their home.  "nahi nahi....aap yeh kya kar rahe ho" they had exclaimed !   At my home, we do not   walk in with shoes, which are worn outside the house. 

I loved the fuss they made over a garam roti.  Yeah, for them, 'atithi devo bhav' implied that the guest has to be served every roti straight off the griddle,  piping hot.  The Pahadi raita - a cucumber raita spiked with a liberal dash of mustard paste, seems to be a Uttaranchali favourite and it was served with minor variations at all homes where we dined.  I  just couldn't have enough.

Haldwani is a small town.  Beautiful, once you are out of the main market streets.  Lots of open spaces and a whole lot of bungalows - well designed ,spacious and lavish. Our friend too, owned a  sprawling home..Kothi is the term which comes to mind.  Well manicured lawns, rooms on two levels, drawing rooms -a  formal drawing room  and another  for the family. Huge rooms, high ceilings, a kitchen as big as my drawing room, a backyard, terraces... oooof ! so much space.!!  The baths were huge too and they all had a ceiling fan whirring above  :-)  The Haldwani experience was about everything Mumbai was not.

Haldwani is so named as it abounds in Haldu trees. Haldu Van - Haldwani. The Haldu tree looks like our peepal tree, only not as dense. The leaves which resemble the pipal tree are placed at a distance on branches and hang flat from them. they glimmer ever so slightly in the sun, and they are a beauty .

Haldwani is a couple of minutes away from Kathgodam. By rail, it is one station away. Nainital is a uphill drive, about 50 kms from Haldwani and 40 kms from Kathgodam.  On the other side of Haldwani, Jim Corbett Sanctuary is about an hour and a half away at a distance of   40 kms, if I remember right.

From  Haldwani , we drove towards Jageshwar.  It's a four and half hour drive, passing through Nainital.  The mountain roads are choc a bloc with traffic....it's vacation time after all !

Once again we found ourselves at the Fruit Market outside Nainital.  Fresh apricots had made an appearance at the fruit stalls, as also peaches and green plums.  The apricots were a delight, small yellowish fruits, extremely fragrant  and juicy.  The same fresh apricot, when purchased in Mumbai was nothing but a bland fleshy ball

The drive to Jageshwar is via Almora.   Almora is known for the Anand Shankar Institute of Dance and Music. Almora is also well known for the baal mithai . And while you are at the shop, the "toffee" is also a must try.

The four and a half hour drive towards Jageshwar was enjoyable.

Upto Almora we were seeing and recognizing landmarks from our trip of 2007-  "Do you remember this place… we had eaten lunch here"  … "but that one had a swell valley view".  One more sharp turn and Yippee!!     "Yeah this was the corner..the Himalaya View Point., where we had had  our first sighting of the Himalaya".. oh yes!!

Combined memories worked full time and we were able to recall quite a bit. This was fun..

All along the drive we were accompanied by the pines. Different kinds of pine. On one stretch, a heady fragrance ticked the nostrils….  smelt like frankincense.

Our driver,  as most drivers in the north tend to be ,  was chatty and  well informed . "Yeh pine ki khushboo hai, yahaan iska gond (resin) nikalte hain. Usiki khushboo hai. Taskari bi khoob hoti hai, par pakde bhi jaate hain. Khushboo hee itni hai ki chupaaye nahi chupti."  It was the resin/ gum which was being tapped out from the pine trees. And soon enough we found pines with gashes made on the bark and little holders to collect the tapped resin.

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After Almora, the fauna changed . Our friends had told us that as one approaches Jageshwar, the deodars would make an appearance.  The deodars...  tall conifers, with a wide girth. They looked imposing as they crowded the mountain slopes along the road.

The driver came up with another tidbit.  The deodars are a sturdy tree he said. "Sau  saal khadey, sau saal badhey,  sau saal sadey," they say of the mighty deodar. "Unki life 300 saal ki hoti hai"

The deodar forests  reminded me of our geography  class in school where we had learnt about  forests...deciduous, evergreen, coniferous...

The deodar also brings forth a childhood memory. We moved residence in 1980. The wood work in the new apartment was undertaken… wall units, show cases etc. I was   used to seeing  floral mica in blue pink and green on furniture, at my neighbors homes. But dad had insisted on using veneer.  Veneer looked elegant.... more different actually. I loved the grains on the veneer and I remember touching the sheets, and feeling the texture. "This is a deodar veneer",  dad had said.  "The bark of the deodar is compressed to form the sheet of veneer."  Well,  today when I saw the deodar forests… I remembered my maaika and the me of 1980.

And in all this, we reached Jageshwar

We are staying the night in Jageshwar, at the KMVN resort .   The temperature at Jageshwar is a very cool 12 degrees. The sweaters are out.. there is a slight drizzle outside and I can also here the gurgle of the stream which runs along the temple,  bang opposite the resort..

It's been 2 yrs since our family of 4 of us has been on a vacation together.  I look forward to the bonding which  will take us through one more year.  A 12 day trip where we make some more happy memories..

Amen to that!   Touch wood!!