29th July 2024, 22:07
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| Senior - BHPian  | Kumaon Diaries of Crysta & Tiguan (Part 1) - The Corbett Dream Note: This is Part 1 of our Kumaon journey covering Kolkata to Corbett. Subsequent episodes of this travel will be published as separate threads as and when I get time to compile and author them. Till then, Happy reading !! Background The summer of '24 was nearing and so was vacation time. Unlike our last summer's Meghalaya roadtrip (Discovering Meghalaya in a Toyota Innova Crysta)where we planned everything only a few months before the travel, this time we wanted to visit Kumaon and planning started all the way back in December of '23. A visit to this region has been long overdue after witnessing so many folks on this forum and outside in known circles venturing in and around this region. However, planning was not easy and Kumaon being full of exotic locations with each place having its own unique offerings, it was hard to exclude one in comparison to others. Itinerary and Planning After careful consideration of our vacation schedule - family / travel constraints - seasonal preferences, we decided to drop the Pithoragarh - Dharchula from the itinerary as it was hard to fit into our schedule based on available leaves. We decided to keep the Pithoragarh route reserved in favor of a future spiritual trip to Lipulekh pass for witnessing the sacred Kailash Parvat. Also our previous trip to Jaldapara and Hollong (Rendezvous Wildlife at Hollong and Buxa - A Crysta & Thar venture to Dooars) had made us fans of experiencing wildlife by staying within the core area of forest reserves. The worldwide acclaim of Jim Corbett National Park in offering probably one of the best wildlife touring experiences with core area stays compelled us to include Dhikala into our itinerary but it came at the cost of dropping some other prominent areas of Kumaon region. Our final itinerary stood like this: Day 0/1: Kolkata -> Lucknow Day 2: Lucknow -> Ramnagar Day 3: Ramnagar -> Corbett / Dhikala Day 4: Dhikala Day 5: Dhikala -> Kausani (via Ranikhet) Day 6: Kausani -> Munsiyari (via Chaukori) Day 7: Munsiyari Day 8: Munsiyari -> Dhaulchina Day 9: Dhaulchina -> Binsar Day 10: Binsar -> Sattal Thereafter Sattal -> Lucknow and Lucknow -> Kolkata The above plan leaves out a lot of other places like Muktheshwar, Nainital, Bhimtal and offbeat places like Sheetlakhet, Peora and even does not do justice with places like Ranikhet, Kausani, Almora, Chaukori, etc. Thanks to BHPian Sayakc and BHPian Dgoyle for the information around offbeat places, road conditions and recommended routes and thanks to all the BHPians who have ventured into this route before and have inspired many like me to venture on this journey. If someone does not wish to cover Munsiyari, they can make Almora as base and cover many of the places effectively in day trips, but of course if someone wants to see the sunrise and sunset on himalayan peaks exclusive to some of these places then nights stays are required. Just adding Munsiyari extends the itinerary by 2-3 nights including 1 additional night stay at Munsiyari. Misty Mountain at Jhaltola (a popular interim halt for BHPians enroute Munsiyari) was fully booked on our planned return day from Munsiyari since it was a Saturday so we decided to make the night stay at Dhaulchina situated in the buffer area of Binsar forest. The advantage would be the proximity to Jageshwar Dham and also would allow entering Binsar within daytime. We skipped the plan of going to Binsar directly from Munsiyari since the entry gate closes by 630 pm. It would have been risky to assume that we would be reaching Binsar by that time given the practicalities involved in travelling with families who would need a comfortable start from Munsiyari. For our final destination in Kumaon, where we may have to do some remote office work, we dropped the idea of staying at Nainital since it would be June - July peak tourist season with crowds and congestion. I also learnt that during this period in order to check traffic congestion, local police may randomly deny entry of Self -Driven vehicles into Nainital at a check post 10 KM away if they find out that the tourist has reserved hotel that does not have in-premise parking. The tourists would then be compelled to either turn back or leave their own car at a parking lot next to the check post and take a rented cab instead. Finally based on several recommendations, zeroed in on Sattal. It promised tranquility apart from being scenic and a major birding destination, but most importantly have good network connectivity in hotels to suit our remote working needs. The only aspect we missed to account was the heat. More on this later. The Team This time it was two BHPians and families in their respective cars. The usual myself, wife Tania and our little one Pupu accompanied by our dearest friend Baisakhi together riding in our beloved Toyota Innova Crysta  BHPian S_scorpion (Sandipan) with his wife Debasree and daughter Mithi riding in his dashing new Volkswagen Tiguan  An interesting fact about this combination is that there are 4 Pointers and 3 STCETians travelling together in this mix (those who know they know what these mean  )Booking process A lot depended on the successful booking of Dhikala Forest Rest House, an oasis within the wilderness of the core area of Jim Corbett National Park and 31 Km from the entry gates to the jungle. My sincere thanks to BHPian Ramnath_77 for his extensive thread (A winter sojourn to Jim Corbett National Park) explaining the booking process and tips and tricks which was our guiding light. Also thanks to our friend Baisakhi whose relentless persuasion and support to our entire group culminated in the form of this booking finally taking shape. I have a few minor things to add on top of what Ramnath_77 has already mentioned:- 1. There is immense effort put by the website authority in cancelling bookings made using auto complete tools, they put them back up for rebooking on the subsequent Mondays. 2. There is an OTP system that comes to the Whatsapp during the initial phase of the booking after selecting the FRH and room type for the designated dates. This OTP is aimed at locking the slot and allows more time to make the payment. The important thing to note here is that OTP does not come instantly and can get delayed up to 1 minute after clicking the Generate OTP button. It is advisable to refrain from clicking multiple times as that may interfere / freeze the screen navigation midway in the process. 3. We used PAN card as ID for the booking as it has shorter length than Aadhar 4. Every family focused on booking for themselves which saved time in form filling and increased chances for getting a confirmed slot (note that this will end up allotting dedicated jeeps for everyone, but we made great use of the 3rd jeep, more on this later). The risk of any one family not getting the booking did come to our mind but it was a risk worth taking. 4. Also there is more rush for slots on weekends than weekdays. Other hotels were booked directly without using any booking aggregator websites. The Journey Prior to the travel we got our car thoroughly checked and serviced including the new Tiguan. We also carried the usual roadside emergency tools like Tow cable with shackles, Jumper cable, tubeless puncture repair kit, tyre inflator, car inverter, torch, swiss knife, mini folding shovel and duly got our cars checked at the service centers prior to the trip. Day 0-1 / Friday-Saturday / Kolkata to Lucknow We had an ambitious target to start by 9 pm, but those critical last minute inclusions to the packing after wrapping up a full day office delayed us. While Sandipan started around 11pm we started after half an hour and picked up Baisakhi in another half an hour from Tollygunj and headed for NH-19. There was sporadic congestion of trucks and cars at regular intervals along with diversions due to the ongoing road widening work which slowed us down so much so that we took 4+ hours to cross Durgapur. Meanwhile through continuous location sharing we finally caught up after crossing Bardhhaman and followed each other henceforth. We made an early morning halt around 5am at the Jubilee Petrol Pump, Gobindapur, Asansol, West Bengal for refueling and biobreaks   The moment we entered the state of Jharkhand, we noticed heighted security since the day was marked for the Indian General Elections 2024 in the state. We were stopped twice in security checkpoints along the NH-19 where we had to share contact number and allow the car to be searched, along with answering predefined questions like if we are carrying cash beyond threshold limit or carrying weapons or explosives. The process was quick and the security personnel were absolutely polite in handling the situation, probably more so on seeing we were travelling with families. We enjoyed the smooth tarmac of the Jharkhand roads but not without the diversions due to road widening work continued at few places, even in Bihar thereafter. We halted for a short tea break around 730am at Sakrej, Jharkhand immediately after crossing the toll plaza  In about an hour we halted for breakfast at a rather unexpected find, CM Mithaiwala in Chouparan, did not expect such a nice place amidst the crowd of Khirmohan selling shops. We got excellent hot Puri Sabji here. The owner was immensely cordial, we came to know from him that this family-owned business primary ran on supplying milk from his Dairy Farm having 400+ cows. However during COVID when supply lines were hampered, they switched to manufacturing milk products and resorted to this shop model which picked up pace gradually.  We initially had considered taking the NH-19 -> Banaras Outer Ring Road -> NH-731 -> Sultanpur / NH-330 -> Purvanchal Expressway -> Lucknow but Sandipan was not highly apprehensive of this approach since this would allow him only 100 KM of runway on the Purvanchal Expressway in order to stretch the legs of his new Tiguan. So we stuck to the diversion from NH-19 around Durganti and took the narrow NH-24 all the way to Mardah before merging into Purvanchal Expressway, this would give around 270 KM of Purvanchal Expressway to drive upon. But reaching to Durganti was not smooth as several traffic jams and diversions on opposite lanes throughout NH-19 slowed us down primarily in Bihar. In few congestions we came out to check the situation but hurried back inside our cars soon after as the soaring heat waves were untolerable being above 45 C. Our co-passengers compared our driving with that of slow test cricket batters  We finally reached Durganti past 3 pm. the initial entry to this road from the Durganti diversion was tricky and full of bad patches but we eventually managed to take that, google maps had got confused. The next 60 KM on NH-24 until we reached Mardah took us 2 hrs, primarily due to narrow lanes, frequent bumpers and slow moving goods carriers, thankfully afternoon hours helped keeping pedestrians away. We crossed the Ganga river around Ghazipur.  We had skipped a formal lunch courtesy to some on the go snacks. After some google map search we located one food stop in Mardah named Chat Adda just next to the highway and headed inside. It was past 5pm, the temperature had started dropping but the humidity was still nasty. The food joint, although Non AC, had some good chai and hot chats and tikkis which we finished fast and after an hour's halt here by 6 pm we resumed our journey and soon entered the Purvanchal Expressway.  Daylight was reducing and with the sun setting in the backdrop, the Tiguan set ablaze the tarmac and vanished ahead of us in no time   The evening drive through Purvanchal was steady for next few hours, leveraged cruise control to the fullest. Our two cars met again after few hours. The last one hour on the Purvanchal Expressway was spent on discussing and finalizing the hotel for our stay at Lucknow. Initially we had thought of staying at hotel Maple Leaf in Kaisarbagh at the heart of Lucknow from where all notable eateries are at stone's throw but looking at the watch we decided to head for Gomtinagar where we eventually booked hotel Nestway Inn in the Gomtinagar area.  Sandipan headed for the hotel directly and planning to opt for in-room dinning after the long drive. However with proven foodies on board the Crysta, it was a no brainer, we called the nearby Dastarkhwan and learnt they close entry at 10-30 pm. We hurried to the restaurant without even checking in to our hotel. Parking was ample and inspite of the Saturday evening rush we were lucky to get a seat fast. We tasted their famous biriyani, galaouti kabab with awadhi paratha, kadai chicken and to sum up the evening with their signature shahi tukra. Facing severe protests from daughter Mithi on finding out our hotel serves vegeterian food only, team Tiguan opted for Dastarkhwan too. It was almost 11 pm yet the folks accommodated one last order and we carried along that food back to the hotel. Our hotel was merely less than a KM drive from there and we reached in no time.  We checked in and went to our rooms and crashed soon after. Our room was next to the roads and the moon lit up parts of our room. Fell asleep gradually, staring at the moon, thinking about the last 23+ hours we have been on the move driving 1000+ KM from our home to this hotel, probably next time will improve this timing  Day 2 / Sunday / Lucknow to Ramnagar We had a filling breakfast at the hotel, their room service was good, and checked out by 9-30 am  We picked up some essentials from the neighboring LDA market of Vibhav Khand and headed for Ramnagar taking the Sitapur -> Rudrapur route with very good tarmac for the most part and scenic surroundings. On strong public demand, we had to make up for arriving Lucknow late last night and inadvertently missing the opportunity to explore Lucknow's street food. We halted around noon near Lachimanpur (Sitapur) for some streetside aam panna, mint cooler and fresh lime soda along with aloo tikki chat and pani puri. This helped us skipping a formal lunch.  We set a target to reach Ramnagar before 530 pm and the good (if not excellent) tarmac of NH-30 and thereafter NH-309 allowed to maintain steady speeds for us to advance as desired.  Around 5 pm we passed this road sign indicating we were finally nearing our destination  We entered Ramnagar a little before 530 pm, crossed the bridge over the Kosi Barrage and entered into the market area. We could see people getting down on the dried river bed as there was some park down below adjacent to the bridge. If someone has to stay at a happening place in Ramnagar then staying closer to the market is advisable however many of the luxury resorts are far from here, closer to the forest entry gates along NH-309. Usually irrespective of where you stay in Ramnagar the safari jeeps will pick you up from the hotel for some extra pay.  We reached our pre-booked hotel Le Reserve Corbett well before 6 pm. It was around 10 Km from the Kosi Barrage, in the Dhikuli area of Ramnagar among the last 1 KM of hotels and resorts. The next 8-9 Km until the Dhangarhi gate of Jim Corbett National Park there are no Hotels on NH-309. If someone wants to stay even closer to the Dhangarhi gate then Muhan can be an alternative which is around 3 Km after crossing ahead of the Dhangarhi Gate. We were up north from our usual latitude of Bengal, here days being longer, blue hour comes past 7pm in the summer, so it was still bright day. We liked being welcomed with Buransh juice, a first time for us and we instantly fell in love with it.  Even though the Kosi river during this pre monsoon time has a severely reduced water flow, we had initially thought to visit the nearby Kosi Deck restaurant of Riverview Resort just next door to us. It offers a river view dinning experience. But the hotel turned us down stating outside guests were not allowed. We made the best of our time sitting together in the open pool view garden of our hotel over some lipsmacking snacks and coffee  Our little ones got along really well  The hotel lit up in the evening with . . .  . . the stage set for the live music and singing event. Throughout the evening one after another yesteryear Bollywood gems continued charming us while our little ones enjoyed a playful evening. We had our dinner thereafter and called it a day. We drove a total of 400 KM for the day. Day 3 / Monday / Ramnagar to Dhikala FRH It was a leisurely morning, our jeep drivers had called to inform that they would picking us up from the hotel past 11 am and it will take around 3 hours to reach the Dhikala FRH with still having around 1 hour gap to settle down before the afternoon safari starts around 3 pm. The breakfast tables at the restaurant offers nice view of the garden and the pool.  After a filling breakfast we came back to our rooms to packup and get ready. The rooms had a retro decor in forest bungalow theme.  While we waited at the reception for our jeeps, someone was busy exploring the tourism magazines. In the meantime parking of our cars were sorted at the hotel for the next 2 days.  Jeeps arrived but not at the same time, so we departed accordingly, Sandipan and family had a head start while Baisakhi came along in our jeep and asked her own jeep to meet at the Dhangarhi gates. The drivers had also coordinated among themselves. We were surprised to see the additional luggage carrier at the back of the jeep that does not compromise with the seating space. The NH-309 hereafter was scenic and frequent glimpses of the distant hills and the Kosi river flowing at one side and the dense forest slope on the other side while travelling on an open top Jeep was an awesome feeling. We started to feel for the first time the heat outside in an open jeep but did not realize the effect as the cool breeze was compensating it to some extent.   We went past the Girija devi temple at a distance   By 12:30 pm we arrived at the Dhangarhi gate of Jim Corbett forest, the entry point for Dhikala zone. Just close to the gate there is ample parking space but these are open parking spaces as our driver had told us before. Hence we had decided to keep our cars in the hotel. The downside being on the day of our checkout we have to retract 8 km and come back again to head towards Kausani (via Ranikhet).   . . . continued in next post Last edited by haisaikat : 2nd September 2024 at 16:40. |
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29th July 2024, 23:12
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| Senior - BHPian | re: Kumaon Diaries of Crysta & Tiguan (Part 1) - The Corbett Dream Day 3 / Monday / Ramnagar to Dhikala FRH . . . continued from previous post On approaching the Dhangarhi gate of Jim Corbett National Park, the jeep drivers parked inside and completed the entry formalities,    We were waiting next to the statue of Jim Corbett right inside the gated premises, our driver Mehra ji on our request got us a rented binocular. We ditched visiting the Museum and the Souvenir shop here and proceeded towards Dhikala FRH, a 31KM journey inside the core forest area.  Following another Jeep has one big problem, it becomes too dusty for the ones behind.  Just a little way ahead we spotted the first wildlife, a sambar deer  We crossed several water streams some of which we were told remains completely submerged under water during the monsoon closure period  Hills in the backdrop kept reminding of being in the vicinity of Himalayan foothills   Twisting tree lines and . .  . . snake roads were common  I think at one point she fell asleep   Saw another large sambar deer   There were long stretches of tall Sal trees forming beautiful arches over curvy roads  Finally, after a 2.5 hours of mostly bumpy ride we saw our destination approaching, the Dhikala FRH   We entered through the gates and got down at the Jeep parking area, the afternoon sun was literally frying us.  Dhikala FRH is surrounded with electric fence, and along the fences we saw a large termite mound, several of them are there throughout the jungle.  We completed our checking formalities at the reception on the ground floor of the New FRH building, it also houses the restaurant and some rooms for staying. We got assigned our attendant from the Hutment building where we had booked two rooms, ours and Baisakhi's. Sandipan's booking was in Cabin 3 and he had already checked in, arriving earlier than us. We requested our attendant Mukesh ji to get few chilled water bottles for us. If someone brings their own water bottles, refilling of chilled water is available just next to the New FRH building in front of the ANNEXE building. While we waited for him to bring them along with unloading the luggage, we stood at the library and took a quick look inside.  Tons of wildlife related books available, if someone wants to get educated or refer a ready reckoner of the region's wildlife then this is the place.    Mukeshji accompanied us to our rooms assisted by Kushal ji. This is the elephant boarding tower, probably for officers only as elephant ride is closed for tourism  We saw several service elephants roaming in the premises on our way, under supervision of course  The temperatures were soaring as high as 44-46 C as we walked into the Hutment at the fag end of the tourist accommodation zone, although Dhikala FRH extended further with the officer's zone starting right after as seen from our room. Before leaving Mukesh ji told us to ensure to keep one of the doors with wire nets always closed to ensure monkeys do not get accidental access to our rooms.  It was 230 pm, we settled into our rooms, decided to skip lunch and rather cool ourselves down, thanks to loads of chilled water. Wife and son fell asleep while I did some unpacking. The service elephants were being given a gala bath to relieve them from the heat.  Although the designated afternoon safari starts at 3 pm in the summer, we decided to wait out the afternoon heat a little more. Baisakhi was all geared up to get going before any one of us.  We eventually started a little before 4 pm  We were thrilled while heading towards the gates, thinking that our long awaited dream of Corbett Safari was finally turning to reality. Canters full of tourists had also come here and were leaving at the same time, about to head back for the Dhangarhi gate.  Last edited by haisaikat : 2nd September 2024 at 15:16. |
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29th July 2024, 23:19
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| Senior - BHPian | re: Kumaon Diaries of Crysta & Tiguan (Part 1) - The Corbett Dream Day 3 / Monday / Dhikala - Jeep Safari 1 . . . continued from previous post The heat was still bothering us a lot, so we put on caps and sunglasses and took loads of freezing chilled water. We met our guide Chandu, recommended as per our request by Mehra ji. We headed out through the high bank road, behind a few canters, they are even more dusty to trail behind than jeeps. Suddenly Mehra Ji and Chandu stopped at a turn seeing all the tourists from one of the canters ahead looking out for something. They guided us towards a particular area along the banks of the river Ramganga, first look it was all stones . .  . . a closer look through the camera after Chandu used a stick to make me point at the right direction, woww there is indeed a tiger there, dipped in the water with just its head out, probably cooling off in the extreme heat. Chandu was repeatedly asking if the animal had a injury to the side, this may be the Pedwali. A lady, also a senior citizen, from the canter had been requesting to show her too, I decided to hand over the camera for a brief moment. There was a huge uproar from the crowd on the canter showing their excitement in seeing something that they otherwise cannot visualize with naked eyes. They were grateful, I collected back the camera.  We stood there for 10 more minutes during which only once the tiger lifted its head out of water, although the captures, owing to the distance, were not that sharp but helps just enough to tell the story  A few metres downstream these sambar deers chilling in the river water had no idea what lied just a little far ahead of them. The mynas and deer share mutual benefit.   We created distance with the canters to get away from the dust trail. We proceeded along the sambar road where we saw several spotted deers . .  . . and lot of commonly available birds like Himalayan Bulbul, Asian Green Bee Eater with a catch, Spotted Dove. An Oriental Magpie Robin seemed to have converted a woodpecker cavity in the thick Saal tree trunk as its nesting place  This spotted deer instantly sprinted away seeing our Jeep approaching  We gradually advanced and crossed the wooden bridge over to the Paar region, just wide enough for a Jeep (and not Canter) over the Ramganga river. We spotted several elephants along the banks, the Dhikala FRH visible at the backdrop on high grounds on the opposite bank.  We spotted an Oriental Magpie Robin with a caterpillar catch  Near the river bank there were some high grasses where we spotted Male and Female Pied Bush Chats. A little ahead around a small pool of water we found this Asian Paradise Flycatcher with its wavy long tail  I was almost close to 6 pm and sun was going downwards, so we left the denser territories and came out near the banks again, several jeeps were waiting hoping to catch a glimpse of the Paarwali tigress here, all drivers and guides asked their guests to stay quiet   I could see Mithi on the other jeep growing impatient in the heat and humidity. But even after 20 minutes or so waiting, all we saw were more elephants. Our guide said if elephants are here, it is less likely for tigers to show up.  We decided to return back when all of a sudden at a distance Chandu and Mehra ji spotted a group of jeeps in a formation indicating some kind sighting. We hurried there and saw . . .  . . . at a high ground above the road two young sub adult tigers (one male and another female) possibly siblings of the Paarwali Tigress. The siblings were resting, and not in hunting mode  One of the jeeps got a mouthful from all fellow drivers for going dangerously close to the tigers, but eventually got pushed out of danger zone. The one on the left was more timid and being somewhat ignorant of the hoard on humans standing jeeps taking interest in them  But the one on the right had some character, being observant and vigilant . .   . . while licking and cleaning its paws . .   . . or yawning  Kept getting a lot of attention from the tourists  Debasree from the other jeep was busy clicking an elephant roaming behind us at a distance We stayed there for almost half an hour, it was getting late and we were reminded that all jeeps need to return to the FRH by 7 pm sharp or the gates will close, any jeep left out will face consequences. So we headed back towards the FRH.  The roads were getting darker and few random jungle inhabitants crossed our paths, like this colorful jungle fowl  We continued our return, several others seemed to be rushing back to get in by the 7 pm mark. While these tall arches of Sal trees look wonderful, going under them requires careful observation to dodge the hanging caterpillar larvae (Sal ke Keede is what Chandu called them), they stick easily on skin, seat or bags and although apparently harmless can cause some minor itching.  A deer standing under the Sal tree arch.  The jungle turns mysterious as it gets darker and darker  We came in finally just 5 minutes prior to the 7pm mark, the sun was about to set   . . . continued in next post Last edited by haisaikat : 2nd September 2024 at 15:50. |
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29th July 2024, 23:34
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| Senior - BHPian | re: Kumaon Diaries of Crysta & Tiguan (Part 1) - The Corbett Dream Day 3 / Monday / Dhikala - The evening after Day 1 afternoon safari . . . continued from previous post All the Jeeps lined up in the parking area next to the gate inside the wired electric perimeter of the FRH. Unlike some other forest rest houses, this place has a happening evening life. The block behind this building has a theater where wildlife related short documentaries are shown from 730 pm onwards.  Yet we decided to skip that and headed for the small canteen which serves tea - coffee - snacks - maggi in the evening hours. It was quite crowded, we finally managed to find a place and had to quickly wrap up.  We took a stroll to the main deck which gives a panoramic view of the Ramganga riverbanks and the distant paar region and beyond  The blue hour is indeed beautiful to watch from this deck as the sound of the evening jungle begins to build up gradually. The temperature had already started coming down post 5 pm and after sundown it became pleasant.  We came back to our rooms, taking bath again and drinking lots of fluids, thanks to ORS sachet we were carrying. The other main job is to clean up all our bags and gears, the thick layer of dust that accumulated on them during the jeep safari needed to be cleaned, more so with zoom lenses that extends externally. If you are wondering about the odd placement of this chair - table setup under the open sky, let me clarify its not for garden / lawn dinning. There are several such markers throughout the FRH, they signify hotspot location for somewhat reliable cell tower reception, in rest of the area there is erratic to no cell reception. The one in the photo was next to our Hutment and Jio / Airtel / BSNL worked best here. Many tourists were seen crowding around these hotspots making calls to their home in the evening, so did we.  We were informed that 9 pm to 4 am there will be no running water in our room attached bathrooms, hence we had to fill up the buckets provided before heading for dinner. Dinner was served in the main restaurant under the new FRH building near the entry gate. Run by KMVN unlike the other small canteen, they served pure vegetarian buffet but the food was really tasty. We finished our dinner by 10 pm.  The open deck was still crowded, tourist groups chit chatting and relaxing . Since morning safari would start at 6 am, Mehra ji had informed us to be at the parking lot by 530 am, we headed back to our rooms and crashed.Day 4 / Tuesday / Dhikala - Day 2 Morning Safari Last night it took us some getting used to sleeping in our rooms as they were not AC, but surprisingly our kid seemed to adjust quite well in the wilderness of Dhikala. The weather gradually cooled down post midnight, so much so that we had to put on blankets at some point. I got up early to witness the sunrise, the chirping of birds and sound of the wild made it a great experience  The sun rise over the landscape of Dhikala was indeed beautiful Attachment 2638380 We got ready and went past the old FRH towards the parking lot  We headed out in our jeeps through the high bank road into the Sambar region, the cool breeze was such a soul soothing affair to feel at this hour  Owing to the surrounding dense forest, sunlight did not seem to enter easily inside the forest in morning hours. We spotted an Indian Grey Mongoose, it instantly went into hiding spotting our advancing jeep.  We were headed for the Paar region on the other side of the Ramganga river, crossed a few smaller waterlogged sections . .  . . before crossing the wooden bridge on the river  Where there is water there are lots of king fishers, we saw a White-throated kingfisher getting warmed up in the first rays of sun  As we advanced, several birds of prey were seen gearing up for morning hunt. Here is a Black-shouldered kite  And close by we found a Brahminy starling  Next up, a grey-headed myna  Over the next 1 hour while scouting the Paar region we found Oriental Magpie Robin, Stork-billed kingfisher, Female Asian Flycatcher (we had spotted the long tailed male yesterday) . . .  . . . Indian Pitta, Hair-crested Drongo, Common Emerald Dove, Streak-throated Woodpecker  Gradually we entered the denser areas of the Paar region, Chandu standing next to us scouting around, it was such dense that . . .  . . that even past 8 am its dark  There was suddenly a commotion among jeep drivers and they were rushing ahead, our jeeps also followed the pursuit, we were charged up too for a surprise  At a turn on the road suddenly the jeeps stopped. The driver in the jeep in front of us suddenly said to us in low voice "Jaldi gari piche lo, sher aa raha hai" (Back off, tiger is coming). Before we could even react an adult tigress came out of no where right in front of our jeeps and even prior to we can react to that 3 cubs followed her.   Our jeep braked instantly and started backing off as the tigers were walking towards our jeeps, I could hear the fearful grasping on our jeep  The tigress was approaching a tree and the cub followed her too, motherly intimate touch  Two of the cubs had already got off the road taking a detour, but the mother still stood ground observing the jeeps . . .  . . like eye to eye  Suddenly the tigress stepped out off the road too following her other cubs and took the lead again through the bushes and jungles.  The cubs obediently followed the mother along the jungle route. We were told this is Chhoti Paarwali tigress along with her 3 cubs. There was a 4th cub too but unfortunately that was eaten up by another male tiger supposedly.  As the group of tigers walked ahead the jeeps kept following while maintaining safe distance, they were watchful of us all the time  . . . continued in next post Last edited by haisaikat : 1st September 2024 at 22:44. |
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29th July 2024, 23:42
| #5 |
| Senior - BHPian | re: Kumaon Diaries of Crysta & Tiguan (Part 1) - The Corbett Dream Day 4 / Tuesday / Dhikala - Day 2 Morning Safari . . . continued from previous post This cub was quite cautious in his approach, treading steps while keeping the jeeps in close watch    It was a remarkable sight watching multiple tigers roaming around freely in front of us . .  . . while the harder part was to keep the jeeps under control and organized, this forest officer did a relentless and fabulous job in handling the matter. He ensured a safe distance is maintained all the time. At a broad level, jeep drivers were responsible.  Gradually the cubs advanced climbing slopes avoiding the regular roads, the jeeps also tracked them, this was another one of them . .   . . and another  . . and another  And eventually the family reunited and sat down on one place by the side of the road and rested. We observed them for some time and decided to head back. This overall sighting lasted for more than an hour.  Expression of what good looks like after a successful tiger sighting   We wrapped up the morning safari and headed back, the temperature was gradually rising. On reaching the FRH we had our breakfast in the restaurant, it was nice again. We spent some time in the balcony of the restaurant, on a rainy day this would be the next best place to enjoy the vast Dhikala landscape, of course unless one is staying in the VIP Old FRH or the rooms in the new FRH facing the river. Baisakhi, after a filling breakfast!! Happy to have discovered the new drink of the land, lime water available at the restaurant mixed with Limca to make an awesome Lime Soda. She decided to skip lunch.  We freshened up and took some rest, completed the usual chores including cleaning up of bags and gears. We had come for lunch at the restaurant and discovered from other experienced tourists (they seem to know the restaurant staff by name) a survival technique to counter the heat, especially in the upcoming afternoon safari. They were filling up loads of chilled nimbu paani in thermally insulated flasks. Some were even filling up regular bottles and stacking them inside insulated ice cooled boxes to take out along in the jeep. Our regular chilled water bottles kept in open jeep held up against the heat for an hour only. At lunch . .  It was past 130 pm and we were about to head out from the restaurant when a gathering on the deck drew our attention, some of them were already there even when we came into the restaurant a while back  On approaching we came to know that some FRH staff (possibly from a high elevation / watch tower) had spotted a tiger walking along the banks of the river and eventually entering into the shallow water, probably to get some relief from the heat. The news spread rapidly and from the past 2 hours ignoring the heat these folks have been standing there, hoping to be able to spot it rise out of water.  Some folks were even taking turns and doing the watching over  , one such kind hearted soul showed me the exact location through his tele zoom equipped camera's screen. The head was clearly visible in the photo below, similar to our sighting yesterday afternoon. In Dhikala it seems we are surrounded by tigers all the time. Although we wanted to stay a little bit more, we were compelled to head back to our rooms as we needed to take some rest before getting ready for the 3 pm afternoon safari. Also our little ones in their playful mood were quite noisy which was ending up in disturbing the watcher's solace.  Mithi with the service elephants   Sandipan in front of his cabin  Day 4 / Tuesday / Dhikala - Day 2 Afternoon Safari Around 3 pm, bearing the heat and motivated by the morning session sightings we boarded our jeeps and headed out again, this time we also carried ORS water to keep us hydrated and also kept them in a bag under the seats, away from the direct exposure to sunlight.  We stopped at the same turn as yesterday where we had spotted the first tiger dipped inside the water and Chandu and Mehra ji both stood up to see if we can get a glimpse of the same tiger again  Nothing was visible to my naked eyes so I aimed with more focus along the direction of their finger and clicked a photo.  Then Chandu took the camera and zoomed in the same photo but at a different area, and there was it !!!! a sleeping tiger. We did not wait further and advanced, today we had planned to explore the Sambar road. We spotted a Serpent Eagle on a tree along the banks  Soon after a Yellow footed Green Pigeon was seen  Over the next 1 hour we spotted Oriental dollarbird, Himalayan Flameback, Hill Myna, (could not identify with certainty the blue species at the bottom), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  We advanced forward ...  . . and adjacent to a forest officer's facility, we spotted a few Eurasian Hoopes on the ground  At a nearby perch saw this chestnut bee eater.  . . . continued in next post Last edited by haisaikat : 2nd September 2024 at 16:52. |
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30th July 2024, 00:37
| #6 |
| Senior - BHPian | re: Kumaon Diaries of Crysta & Tiguan (Part 1) - The Corbett Dream Day 4 / Tuesday / Dhikala - Day 2 Afternoon Safari . . . continued from previous post Near to the wooden bridge that connects the paar region, above a small water body found this Asian Paradise Fly Catcher, Chandu told its nest is here  After roaming around for some more time we were heading back towards the FRH . . .  . . . when the call of a barking deer made us come to a halt  Our focus was at the other end of the Sal tree arches, some deers were crossing the road but something in the deep jungle was distracting them evident from their anxious looking around every now and then    After some tense moments we could not spot anything interesting, so we decided to move on. It was past 530 pm and Mehra ji wanted to give us a tour of the grasslands, on the other side of the FRH. Sandipan decided to roam further in the sambar region only. Unlike the dense forested terrain of sambar road this area is open with high grasses and beautiful array of hills on the backdrop.  The grassland is full of wildlife and many a time their curious looks at oncoming jeeps makes it obvious we are breaking into their peace but the way they get back to their chores signify they are used to this  At a distance we spotted this area with multiple standing barebone tree trunks  Mehra ji told us this place became popular after getting featured in the Bollywood movie Kaal Further ahead we spotted a herd of elephants grazing   A sub adult tusker in the mix  The mother feeding her cub  The open grassland is so huge that whichever direction you turn to, some group of animals will surely be spotted. A group of spotted deers out in the field  We came close to the edge of the high bank grassland, from where onwards the lower banks of the river with regular green grass starts. Numerous elephants were grazing there   We wanted to watch the sunset from here and asked Mehraji to turn off the engine. The forest sounds were such soothing, cannot be described and the cool breeze blowing was the icing on the cake  We spotted several bird species in the grassland: painted stork, parakreets, chestnut tailed starling, red wattled lapwing, black necked stork  The gradual site of setting sun was majestic as we patiently waited and enjoyed the moment  Mehra ji, inspite of being here numerous times seemed moved by the sight  On our request he advanced the jeep gradually to position us better  The landscape was amazing with elephants grazing by the river and the sun setting gradually over the hills     We wanted to stay a little further but the 7pm deadline was approaching so had to turn back for the FRH  Meanwhile Sandipan and team saw the Pedwali on their way back, she seemed to have changed location to rest near a bush closer to the river  After returning, we sat out in the open lawn in front of the Hutment, enjoying the last light of the day. We avoided the evening crowd at the canteen by having wonderful cup of coffee, sitting out in the open  The day faded out gradually into the dusk.  Pupu and Mithi decided to keep themselves engaged in games within the room . .  . . . while, we met a wonderful couple hailing from Gujrat who were hobbyist birders staying in the adjacent rooms. We chatted for hours exchanging experiences sitting out in the porch. We wanted to have dinner earlier since some packing was to be done considering our checkout tomorrow. When we were about to head out, Mehra ji paid us a visit and we engaged in talking sitting out in the lawn. Suddenly he made us focus on listening to the calls given by barking deer coming from outside of our fence towards the banks of the river. He said such frequent calls mean the tiger is also nearby, may be the same one whom we saw from the deck in the afternoon, tigers prefer to remain within their territory. On repeated persuasion, Mehra ji agreed to join us for the dinner in the main restaurant. At the dinner table he told us many incidents about wildlife encounters in and around Corbett, we of course did not forget to have our mix of lime water and Limca . Post dinner we headed out for a night walking tour of the Dhikala FRH guided by Mehra ji and finally around 10-30pm we returned back to our rooms.Last edited by haisaikat : 2nd September 2024 at 15:32. |
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30th July 2024, 00:42
| #7 |
| Senior - BHPian | re: Kumaon Diaries of Crysta & Tiguan (Part 1) - The Corbett Dream Day 5 / Wednesday / Dhikala - Day 3 Morning Safari Last night we had a wonderful sleep since we finally got the hang of forest rest house staying . All the doors and windows have dual panes, one with glass and another with metal wire nets (its fixed), so we kept all glass panes open and only locked the net panes where required. This made the trick.Woke up at early hours of dawn, it was not even 5 pm, between the array of tall light poles along the perimeter fencing, the sky had started to light up.  Came out in the lawn, to hear the forest, about to wake up  This is the time when the fresh mind with no rush enables breathing in that forest kind of smell  Gradually the sun came out from behind the Lesser Himalayan range of mountains bordering this region   Wanted to get ready for the safari, packing for the check out was almost completed last night. A shocking surprise, this monkey staring inside our room, wanted our little one to wake up and see who has come to greet him, but seeing us on the move the monkey ran away.  Our little one was still feeling sleepy, nevertheless we made him sit out in the corridor hoping to charge him up  as we bid goodbye to Baisakhi who had a flight to catch from Pantnagar airport.  The 3rd jeep came handy here, as it allowed her to leave independently without any dependencies. The sky had nice cloudscapes today  While standing on the lawn suddenly our eyes fell on the river banks right in front of us, several groups of elephants . . Attachment 2634332 . . grazing on the grass.  Dhikala FRH location-wise was indeed full of surprises.  We headed for the jeep parking, went past the post office inside the premises of the FRH and probably meant only for officers, always saw it remain closed on previous occasions.  These direction arrows provide a clear idea of how the various types of rooms are placed. On the right ANNEXE being next to the restaurant block which also has the New FRH rooms, followed by the old FRH, then comes the cabins, and finally the Hutment where we stayed. On the left side there is the log hut and dormitory before the library block.  As soon as we set out, Mehra ji and Chandu requested for our preference of the day, we unanimously voiced "enough of tigers so take us anywhere you like", probably a reaction biased by seeing tigers in all 3 of the past safaris  . They smiled and said let us then get you another glimpse of the grassland. Just behind the FRH there were deers grazing.  Soon after saw this Asia Green Bee eater  We advanced through the beautiful forest roads that lead to the grasslands  Elephants every now and then  Deer and Myna seems to be close friends, always together  We saw tractors plying for transporting workers, many of them had masks which they wear on the back of their head to ward off tigers by confusing them into thinking that the person is looking at them.  Sandipan took his jeep towards the open grassland by the river banks.   While us on the other hand had been making slow advances through the southern side road of the grassland (Dhikala FRH on the east) when all of a sudden we saw two jeeps halted ahead and focusing on something inside the dense and tall grass area.  On our way Mehra ji slowed down our Jeep, showing us tiger pugh marks along the road . .  . . the marks seemed to be over the tyre tread marks, hence high chance these are fresh and from the same one sitting inside the bushes. Attachment 2638957 Some gesture communication happened between guides and drivers and Mehra ji said there is a tiger close by inside the high grass attempting to hunt. Chandu told Mehra ji that we should not position on this side as it will only choke the road and make it crowded, better to go to the opposite side and wait for a sighting Moreover around similar times Sandipan's jeep was returning back and they spotted the tiger inside the bushes. Mehra ji reversed the jeep and started heading towards the opposite (northern) side. We halted at a point on the other side, saw a big bird . . .  . . . a male Black Francolin. All this while tracking a herd of deers inside the grassland, probably the targets on which the tiger was expected to prey upon.  One of deers may have spotted the danger and started giving alarm calls. This made all other deers alert. They became all ears and started looking around  Within a moment, the deer herd started exiting the tall grassland  Soon they crossed over the road on our side and headed into the adjacent grassland  It was a moment to withhold, the hastened road crossing of the deer herd.  Chandu was quick in spotting that the jeeps stationed on the other side has started to disengage from their position. He deduced most likely the tiger has started moving. He asked Mehra ji to take the jeep towards the eastern perimeter of the grassland. This intuition driven move of Chandu paid out really well. Just as we were driving by the eastern side, we finally spotted the tiger at the edge of the road, seated on the ground and waiting to cross. But it was tracking our jeep.  It was the male tiger nicknamed Romeo, and also alleged with eating one of the cubs of Chhoti Paarwali tigress whose family we had met yesterday. After the above incident it is said that the tigress shifted its territory  He was only 15-20 feet away, and seemed in no rush or fear, probably a display of his confidence Attachment 2638955 . . continued in next post Last edited by haisaikat : 2nd September 2024 at 03:19. |
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30th July 2024, 01:02
| #8 |
| Senior - BHPian | re: Kumaon Diaries of Crysta & Tiguan (Part 1) - The Corbett Dream Day 5 / Wednesday / Dhikala - Day 3 Morning Safari ... continued from previous post By this time other jeeps also arrived including Sandipan's and took position waiting to see the tiger crossing the road. Within a few minutes, Romeo came out  It was a majestic walk, flaunting his animal masculinity  For a brief period the sound of numerous shutter clicks took over signifying how much craze among the tourists he carries along, it was similar to a notable celebrity being chased by Paparazzis.  He walked slowly . . .  . . over to the other side and slowly vanished into the dense forest there  But surprisingly soon after that we saw one of the Dhikala FRH service elephants heading towards the same direction. On inquiring Mehra ji said, there is a commissioned work of forest department going on nearby and to ensure the tiger does not go near the workers, the elephant will help drive him away  We were also told how some time ago in a similar incident a tiger ended up attacking and injuring a worker close to the FRH boundary.  While some of the jeeps decided to continue tracking the tiger, we dropped the ball (once again ) and requested Mehra ji to head elsewhere. He decided to take us towards the sambar road, some other jeeps were also headed that way As we crossed the FRH and came on to the high bank road we halted our jeep, Tania spotted a peacock at a far away spot on the opposite side of the river  But the real reason we halted was the battle of two adult tuskers  A fight to prove worthiness of being included in the herd is what we were told    The heavy weight's clash caught attention of a lot of tourists  From locking trunks to . . .  . . . pushing one another with their heads, its a different type of combat  Suddenly Tania exclaimed that the peacock has opened up its train, we were confused which way to keep our focus on.  Eventually the challenger tusker lost to the herd leader and got pushed out of the territory . .  The winner stood ground while triumphing with another adult from the herd  The losing tusker came out into the water stream of the Ramganga river and sprinkled water all over it in an attempt to cool down. Probably it seemed to be gearing up for another take at the battle but we decided to move on.  As we advanced through denser forest areas found . .  . . such water bodies where animals come for drinking water, like we spotted this deer  While making headway into the Saal forest zone, Chandu spotted this Streak throated female woodpecker.  Thereafter Mehra ji gave us a tour of some more deserted denser regions in the Sambar area. Since we wanted to check out as early as possible for reaching Kausani, on our request Mehra ji dropped us at the FRH by 9 am. We had a filling breakfast again at the restaurant and . .  . . posed for a click in the deck of the restaurant. We thanked all the staff at the restaurant for taking good care of us during this short visit and headed back to our rooms.  We freshened up and completed check out formalities, bid good bye to Mukesh Kaushal and Chandu. Mithi behind the old FRH building, ready to get-set-go  Chandu stayed back at the FRH for attending guests in the next shift. The attendants loaded our luggage into the jeeps and we headed out by 10 am We witnessed several herds of deer along our way, ditched all the bird sightings since I had tucked all the camera gear inside the luggage. Mehra ji tried to show us some crocodiles but at the designated spot nothing interesting showed up.  Finally, we came out through Dhangarhi gate by 12 noon and headed for our hotel to transfer luggage and board our cars. A momentary stop at a souvenir shot at Ramnagar.  Finally our much awaited Dhikala Corbett trip came to an end with memories to cherish for lifetime and kind of converting us into wildlife addicts. We have started considering Mehra ji's invite to come back in the winter for Leopard spotting.  Here is a compilation of several smaller clips of wildlife spotting and Dhikala landscape that we recorded during our safari, the true sound of the forest I hope the information presented here is helpful and you enjoyed reading it, still learning to get steady, sharp photos on focus, hope you can pardon me for the blurry and noisy images. Until the next thread for Kausani and onward part of our journey into the Kumaon, signing off !!  Last edited by haisaikat : 2nd September 2024 at 17:20. |
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2nd September 2024, 18:54
| #9 |
| Team-BHP Support  | |
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3rd September 2024, 10:38
| #10 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Re: Kumaon Diaries of Crysta & Tiguan (Part 1) - The Corbett Dream Quote:
We've been to Corbett quite a few times but was graced by Mr.Stripes only once! And we could never get accomodation in Dhikala as it was always unavailable whenever we tried to book. One question: For Dhikala: where did you park the Innova? Beside the Dhangarhi gate, in the parking lot? or elsewhere? I believe the forest authorities do not allow private car entry from Dhangarhi to Dhikala (that's only for the forest deptt. Canter's and Gypsy's) Congrats once again for the lovely writeup. Keep travelling and sharing! Best, Arjab | |
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3rd September 2024, 11:44
| #11 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Aug 2023 Location: Bangalore
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| Re: Kumaon Diaries of Crysta & Tiguan (Part 1) - The Corbett Dream These pictures and narration are simply amazing. I expected maybe one sighting of the tiger if not none, but you were blessed with multiple. There are so many pictures that is worthy of a full sized poster. You could even make a full album with all of the remaining . Thanks for the travelogue. |
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3rd September 2024, 12:57
| #12 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Apr 2020 Location: Burdwan
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4th September 2024, 00:17
| #13 | ||||
| Senior - BHPian | Re: Kumaon Diaries of Crysta & Tiguan (Part 1) - The Corbett Dream Quote:
Quote:
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Regarding parking, there is open paid parking next to Dhangarhi gate, your driver should be able to guide you of you wish to avail. We parked in our hotel, they allow usually in Ramnagar as many opt for this. But our hotel was 8 KM away from Dhangarhi gate and towards Ramnagar market. Since we wanted to head for Ranikhet / Kausani it was on opposite side. So we lost 1+ hr going back to our hotel, taking our car and then coming back again along the same route which if we had opted for open parking beside the gates or stayed in hotels ahead of the Dhangarhi gate like in and around Muhan we could have saved. Jeeps anyway do not charge lot if they have to pick up and drop you to the hotel and the added plus is city ride in open top jeeps Quote:
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4th September 2024, 02:26
| #14 |
| BHPian Join Date: Dec 2021 Location: Vadodara
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4th September 2024, 07:45
| #15 |
| Distinguished - BHPian   Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Namma Bengaluru
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| Re: Kumaon Diaries of Crysta & Tiguan (Part 1) - The Corbett Dream Saikat da, excellent narration of your wonderful experiences at Corbett, I’m sure it was a dream come true including the tiger spotting in every safari. Wonderful pictures and videos too, thanks for sharing The smile on the faces says a lot about the overall satisfaction and contentment derived from the trip |
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