Family road trip: Binsar to Sattal in our Toyota Innova Crysta

It was irreparable and I did not want to go through the hassles of raising an insurance claim considering I needed the replacement immediately.

BHPian haisaikat recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Note: This is Part 3 (Conclusion) of our Kumaon journey covering Almora, Sattal, Nainital and return to Kolkata.

Here is a quick peek into this concluding episode (Part 3)

Earlier to this we had driven to Jim Corbett, Kausani, Munsyari, Binsar from Kolkata and had a fabulous trip.

To recap, we are two BHPians with families driving our respective cars.

Myself, wife Tania and our little one Pupu driving our beloved Toyota Innova Crysta.

BHPian s_scorpion (Sandipan) with his wife Debasree and daughter Mithi driving their dashing new Volkswagen Tiguan.

A quick look at our overall itinerary for reference:-

Covered in Part 1

• Day 0/1: Kolkata -> Lucknow
• Day 2: Lucknow -> Ramnagar
• Day 3: Ramnagar -> Corbett / Dhikala
• Day 4: Corbett / Dhikala
• Day 5: Corbett / Dhikala checkout

To read Part 1 of the travelog, head over here.

Covered in Part 2

• Day 5: Dhikala -> Kausani (via Ranikhet)
• Day 6: Kausani -> Munsyari (via Chaukori)
• Day 7: Munsyari
• Day 8: Munsyari -> Dhaulchina (via Berinag and Seraghat)
• Day 9: Dhaulchina -> Binsar (via Chitai route)
• Day 10: Binsar morning birding and checkout for Sattal

To read Part 2 of the travelog, head over here.

Covered in this episode (Part 3 and final part)

• Day 10: Binsar to Sattal (via Almora)
• Day 11 onwards at Sattal (birding),Nainital and thereafter return to Kolkata

Happy reading!

Day 10 (continued) / Monday / Binsar to Sattal

After checking out from KMVN Binsar TRH, the descent was uneventful and thereafter we split up deciding that Sandipan will drive to Sattal directly in his Tiguan. Naveen, the manager of Sattal Forest Resort where we were prebooked for next 4 nights, has been in constant touch with us regarding our arrival.

As for me, we had a couple of items to knock off our checklist at Almora.

It was past 1 pm when we made a halt at the Kasar Devi temple on our way towards Almora main city. This temple was on our list for long owing to its significance of being in the magnetic line of the field of Earth, termed later on as Van Allen belt. Owing to the cosmic significance of the place, Swaami Vivekananda meditated here more than 100 years back.

In order to reach the hilltop where the temple resides, there are multiple trails of steps and slopes. We took one of the newer trails having a gradual and easygoing slope combined with stairs where the older trails were only stairs. A pitstop to catch our breath.

After a 15-minute ascent, we arrived at the entrance.

We offered prayers at the Devi temple which is beneath a rock, surprising thing observed here was the daughter of the priest has taken over the Puja supported by her father seated opposite to her.

Not sure about the exact feeling but the place does have a calm of its own

Then we went further up towards the 2nd temple, a Lord Shiva temple

There were a few of them around but peaceful types (almost)

The secret whispers to Nandi in front of the second temple

We completed our darshan and roamed around the place. The top was windy and tourists all around including us thoroughly loved it.

A few steps further from the temple is the designated place where Swami Vivekananda is said to have meditated, we could see a symbolic Aashan placed inside the cave down below to indicate the exact location.

Like many other tourists he did not leave his chance to pose, however he diligently chanted the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra.

The place at the top also offered a panoramic view of the Almora. Several groups of people seemed to be making a long stand here, enjoying the positivity and view around.

It was almost 2 pm when we decided to head back to our car.

We had a small refreshment halt at a local shop on the road. Our second item on the checklist being the long pending task of buying a replacement tyre since it would not be practical to travel somewhat 1500+ KM back home without a spare. Madho Singh from Kumaon Automobiles (the Toyota ASS in Almora) had been in touch for the last couple of days. They have procured a 205/65/R16 Bridgestone Turanza as per stock specification on my Crysta. We had to go in circles a couple of times since Google Maps still had the older location (they have shifted from there) and also faced the hassles of a few one-way roads that the local police were actively blocking. We finally arrived by 330 pm.

On our request, Mr Madho Singh promptly arranged another Innova to drop wife and kid at the nearby Raghunath Mall while I waited at the service center watching the progress. The faulty tyre was irreparable and that is when I decided to dump it there in spite of having Tyre and Alloy protect coverage in the insurance since depreciation would kill the value of replacement mostly (this being a stock tyre almost 5 years old) and I did not want to go through the hassles of raising the claim considering I needed the replacement immediately.

After the new tyre was fitted on the rim, they inspected all the remaining tyres and performed a rotation to ensure optimal placement, along with...

...Wheel Alignment to seal off some additional peace of mind.

Thereafter they carefully lifted the spare back to beneath the chassis. This time they took extra care to ensure that the hanging portion of the chain from the pulley do not get trapped in the rim of the stepney. This is the very reason why we had to remain stranded for hours during the tyre puncture on our way to Kausani. Somehow, I feel, this concept of hanging the spare underbody may not have been implemented in the best way in the Crysta, unable to comment about other cars though with a similar setup.

All things settled at the Toyota workshop before 5 pm, I thanked them for their support and headed out for the mall where wife and kid were concluding their small shopping spree over some pizza at Dominos.

Dark clouds were seen engulfing the Almora skyline as we arrived at the rooftop parking.

The parking offered a panoramic view of Almora city and being close to the Almora stadium. We resumed towards Sattal which was almost 60+ KMs away and would be a 2–3-hour journey.

We exited Almora soon after...

...the orange skyline post sunset was beautiful.

It gradually became darker as we approached NH627 when it started raining finally. We also met Roopesh (owner of Binsar Eco Camp, Dhaulchhina) on our way driving his Red Thar and heading out from Almora back to his resort.

NH627 was fantastic to drive in the rains, the tarmac looked to be fairly new.

We kept followed this route while it gradually became darker.

We had been in constant touch with Sandipan (Team Tiguan) and Naveen (Sattal Forest Resort Manager) for road updates, apparently, there was an ongoing storm at Sattal. Naveen was tracking our live location and gave out instructions on the right diversion to take after crossing Bhimtal to arrive at the resort. The final few kilometers were pitch dark but the road was good.

This junction, a few hundred meters from the resort entrance has the upward route going to the resort and the downward one on the left leading into an offroad trail that goes directly to the Sattal Lake, more on that tomorrow and in Sandipan's account.

It was almost 9pm, after almost a 3 hours' drive, we checked in to Sattal Forest Resort. Their resident driver Dheeraj along with housekeeping staff unloaded our luggage and drove up the Crysta for parking securely towards the main complex which had the restaurant and some more rooms.

While we checked into the duplex cottage next to the entrance where Sandipan and family were waiting for us. We had dinner soon after and called it a day.

Here is a selective dump of clips from the dashcam from our drive along the NH-109 via Bhimtal to Sattal

We drove a total of 112 KM for the day. Also a word on the hotel selection, KMVN Sattal was next to the Sattal Lake right in front of the Ram bridge that separates the twin lakes of Ram Tal and Sita Tal. But they could offer us only one suite type of cottage and was not suitable for two of us working remotely. On the other hand, Sattal Forest Resort understood our needs and offered us options that suited best to our needs.

With this, I am handing over to Sandipan to narrate his experience regarding the drive so far after leaving Binsar KMVN on Day 10 clubbed with Sattal touring planned for tomorrow.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.