Lansdowne
It has been almost a decade that I had rode down to Lansdowne, a tiny sleepy town just on the ridge of the Corbett national park, home of the Garhwal Rifles, away from the hustle and bustle of typical hill stations and yet with promising views of the Rudraprayag valley and the Shivalik mountain ranges.
So this weekend we decide to pay Lansdowne a short visit. There are three challenges though - one is that the route goes through the densely populated sugar belt of U.P. and the road surfaces near the sugar mills are especially tiresome. A quick call to a regular roadie confirms that the road has been better now for most parts and it is a good ride. The second issue is that one has to cross the horrors of Meerut and Najibabad. Apparently there is a long route from Khatouli, but I am unable to get more info on this, and decide to live with this hazard. Bad decision, as you will see later.
The third problem is more pressing. The town of Lansdowne has nothing - as it has the army cantt. There is one property run by GMVN (Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam) at Tiffin Top - a very nice observation point at Lansdowne, but apart from that there is nothing. There are barely half a dozen hotels in the vicinity. The hotels in the market - like Mayur etc. are places where one cannot stay with family. And for the rest, a weekend right in the middle of summer vacations is a goldmine.
After a frantic search on the net and multitudes of email exchanges - mobiles do not work in most of these places as there are no towers - most of which are in the negative, we find one Lans Castle offering their rooms at highly inflated prices. They are also candid that they have some logistical issues with the kitchen - later we learn that their cook has run away. Nevertheless, as we have at least one solution - not the best, but at least there is one - we decide to go ahead with our plan anyway and take the route to Gaziabad late Saturday morning (around 8:30am).
Gurgaon - Gaziabad - Meerut (90km)
The going through the city is always marred with boredom, but the feeling that the rest of the traffic is of office-goers, and we are not - gives us a perverse pleasure. We reach the border of Delhi to U.P, leave the highway and turn left. This takes us to the Sahibabad area. Further left takes us into the upcoming localities of Rajnagar Ext.
Here on we keep asking people for Meerut bypass, and the people on the road keep showing us the road to Meerut. We pass Modinagar and its marketplaces, which are surprisingly quite due to the Saturday morning. The road is paved on both sides with people selling Shikanji (lime-soda) and mangoes. The same road goes to Haridwar, but the traffic is manageable.
After about 70km from Delhi, a toll road goes straight, while a flyover to the right takes you to Meerut. When we ask the locals, they convince us that there is no bypass, and we need to take the flyover to Meerut. So, unsuspecting, we enter the chaos of Meerut. Later, while at Lansdowne, we come to know that if we had continued on the toll road further for 30km, we would had reached Khatouli, and a right turn from there would have brought to back on the road to Lansdowne. It is a longer route, but worth it. This is the one we try while returning.
There is only one word for Meerut - chaos. Utter madness. Most people drive like they are possessed, while the rest drive like they are exorcists. And to add to the general mood, they have some macabre flyover constructions, with spiky iron rods protruding from different angles. One cannot be too careful. I get hit by a tempo truck while I am stationary. By the time I figure out what has happened, the fellow is dissolved in the monolithic traffic.
Anyway, we find a mechanic that is barely open on Saturday - most of the shops are closed today. Thankfully there is not much damage. Only the headlight is dislodged. And there are some bruises that cannot be repaired here. So we spend some time getting the poor 'eye' back into the socket, and move on.
The town is so huge, it just does not end. Finally we get to the Meerut Cantonment - famous for its role in the 1857 uprising against the British. It is a pity that such a historical site is reduced to a filthy, ugly marketplace rather than being a monument of significance. In fact the entire route from Meerut Cantt to Delhi should have been like a passage to freedom, at least in my mind. But the current status of Meerut just fills one with dread. Yet another example of why we Indians are rightfully considered to have no regard for our history.
Anyway, once out of Meerut, we go towards Mawana - again known for its sugar. On both sides of the road, we see the green tips of sugarcane crop and buffalo carts carrying fodder. After Meerpur, there is a right that goes towards Bijnor. There are a few local dhabas here - quite ordinary. There is one called Monty Millions (!) - like a food court. Avoidable.
The road becomes more scenic and greener, if that is possible. After a while, about 14 km ahead, we reach Barrage over Ganga. This is spectacular - Maa Ganga is wide like an ocean here. You can see fields close to the riverbed, people taking a holy dip at one side, and the vast expanse of the waters right till the horizon.
Bijnor - Kotdwar
Further ahead around 12 km on NH 119, after the Barrage, comes the town of Bijnor. There is another eating place here called Vyanjan Vatika (earlier called Palm Grove or something). The only reason I mention this is because there are very few options on the road for families, and all are veg.
Bijnor is a small town, spread out and lazy. From Bijnor, one needs to take a left before the traffic circle - not 'AT' the circle, but before it. This will take the road out of the town towards Kiratpur (15km). From Kiratpur, we move towards Najibabad. There is a lot of Muslim influence on the towns, with large mosques, men in white caps and kurtas, and women in black burquas.
Just before Najibabad, there is a sign that says 'Dhampur' to the right. One needs to take this to avoid the main chaotic town of Najibabad. We did not know it then, but while returning we took this road. While going, we end up going inside the town and get stuck at traffic junctions, railway crossings, flyover construction sites - the works. We ask our way to Kotdwar and finally emerge from the deep and treacherous by-lanes on to the main road.
The rest of the journey to Kotdwar (25 km) is pleasant and through the jungles. The location of Kotdwar is fascinating. Just as you emerge from the forest, you start seeing the mountain ranges. The town is right in the middle - jungle on one side and hills on the other.
At Kotdwar - which looks like a watered-down version of Kalka on route Simla - the road starts climbing. We see the mountain ranges at a distance, but it is hazy and the visibility is not clear. It is about 2:30pm, and we have not had much to eat since morning. So we try to find some place to eat - but there are none. So we push further from Kotdwar towards Dugadda (15km).
The road starts to climb the mountains. On one side there is a dried up river bed. On the other, the hills are starting to form their shapes in the haze. The going is good. Just 2km after Dugadda, there is a T-junction. One road says Lansdowne and the other Pauri (of the Pauri Garhwal district). You can take either for Lansdowne. Apparently the one to the left is longer, but wider - and is the same route to be taken if you want to go to Kedarnath. We take the one to the right.
Lansdowne is around 20km from here. The incline gets sharper. The road gets narrower. Within minutes we are really high in the mountains. The scenery has changed completely. There are tall, lean trees and reddish grass all over. In fact, the red grass makes the hill look like a brown furry monster (I am watching too much Sesame Street - thanks to my toddler kid)!
Around 6km before Lansdowne, we find Kasang Residency. They had told us on email that they are full. But when we check them out, they seem to have rooms. Since they are too far from the town, we give the place a miss, and decide to carry on further. At the border of the town (3:00pm), we pay taxes - Rs. 13 for a vehicle and Rs. 1 per adult - for a day !!! I wonder what they do with all this 'huge' bounty collected.
There is a Blue Pine resort just next to the toll booth. But it looks huge and too much of a hotel. So we go further. The road keeps curving. We start seeing the cantonment area, the office buildings of the army, the officer's canteen, and the residences -- also some posters celebrating the "Quasquicentennial" anniversary of Garhwal Rifles --- go figure what that means! ... (hint: it is more than 100 years)
The town of Lansdowne is not accessible to civilians, and so we cross it. If we had taken a left, we would have come to a roundabout where the buses from Kotdwar stop. Here, there is a marketplace, shops, restaurants - all very ordinary, but small-scale and less commercialized. But we go further, cross Lansdowne and move towards Jaiharikhal (4km).
Jaiharikhal
At Jaiharikhal, there is a market made of a handful of shops, and just after that we come to a nice, cozy place run by a couple - a retired army colonel - Col. Rawat and Mrs. Rawat. It is called Oak Grove Inn. A tiny house built on the side of the ridge, around 7-8 rooms, a deck with a view of the valley on one side, and very hospitable. The best part - they manage to conjure lunch for us at 4pm! ... And what lunch. Two veggies, some fantastic rotis, some daal that is out of the world, pickle, curd, the works!
We are the last ones to get a room, and there are a few others who come just after us who are turned down. The room is large and clean. The place is nice, and the deck with the view is the best part. After the amazingly magical lunch of daal and rotis - which the caretaker boy kept bringing like a genie - I spread myself on the deck -- with a nice book and some chai. This is the high point of the day!
I want to make sure that I don't give any wrong impressions here. Lansdowne is no Manali or Shimla. It is not even a poor man's Manali or Shimla. It stands at an altitude of only some 5,700 feet. It does not have the spectacular views of the Himalayas. What you see is the Shivalik and Kumaon ranges. But it is not even Saat Taal or Naini Taal. The scenic beauty is nothing like those. So do not compare Lansdowne with these.
Lansdowne has its own charm - and the charm largely is due to its obscurity. There is nothing here to do or see - apart from a minuscule man-made lake, some 115-year old churches and one or two observation points like Tiff-in top. There are no markets to buy souvenirs No malls to walk along. No momo shops. Not even a petrol pump (the closest one is around 40km down near Kotdwar). So if you are looking for these, you are grossly off the mark.
But if your idea of a weekend well spent is lying idle in a hammock or an armchair, with some O Henry or Saki or Chekov, overlooking some green valleys and brown hills, and sipping some lemonade or tea depending on the mood and the weather - I think we are in business.
The other thing I like about the place is that it is clean - one because of the army, and second because so few visitors come here, as compared to other tourist places. Only about 350 km from Delhi, but the place is thankfully under radar from the crazy weekend crowds.
After a lot of while of lazing and reading and thinking (mostly) and drinking tea, we see the sun setting behind the hills. The weather becomes much cooler and there is a strong western wind. We decide to take a stroll in the Jaiharikhal market.
By the way in the local parlance the Jai Hari Khaal (jai = salutation, Hari = a name of Vishnu, Khaal = perhaps water stream) has become Jahari Khaal (Jahari = poisonous!).
There is nothing much here, and we climb further up to an observation post. The air is cool, the lights have come out, and the moon is pouring her silver on the valley. It is calming and very pleasant. We return to Oak Grove, have our dinner late, chat up with the owner couple who regale us with local stories, and then go off to sleep.
Day 2 - Return
The next day morning, I get up and hurry to the deck once again. The morning is bright yet cool, and the morning chai is absolutely welcome. After much loitering around, we take leave of our dear hosts and start off to do some site-seeing. Col. Rawat has pain-stickingly drawn all possible maps, and meticulously explains all directions to me before leaving. So we head towards Lansdowne again.
Just before the main town, we take a right that climbs further up. The road takes us to two churches - St. John (St. Thomas) and St. Mary. The first one is a practicing church, with parish. The second is maintained by the army and meant for tourists. They show a short video of the place for those who wish to see. The churches are nice, quaint and very old. My car gives a bit of starting trouble, and the caretaker at St. Mary's comes to aid. We find that the connection to battery is loose. So after screwing it tight, the car does good. The caretaker tells us to go to Kedarnath next time as it is more scenic according to him (naturally, since he hails from there!).
From here, Tiffin Top is only half a km. There is a GMVN property here, which is in shambles and is completely booked. The view is spectacular on one side of the valley. The good news is that they are coming up with some new log-huts, which are currently being built and will be operational from October 2013. This is by far the best location, so if the service is good and the huts are new, I will definitely try it out the next time.
We then proceed to Bhulla lake - a man-made lake created by fording about 30 fresh water streams and putting a dam on one side. There is a canteen called Kaludanda canteen - Lansdowne's original name - that serves some pretty ordinary food. The lake is small and very touristy - with peddle boating, children's park, rabbit farm, duck and swans - so if you like those kind of things you might enjoy it too.
The road from Bhulla Lake to the Lansdowne market (Gandhi Market) takes us through the town and for the first time we see the actual town. It is quite clean and nicely spread out. Lots of walking trails too. We pass the only SBI ATM here, and then start our decent down by around 2:30pm.
The road is nice and smooth, yet narrow and curvy, and has the squad of tall, narrow (pine?) trees lined in attention. The brown furry hill monster is back. We cross the almost-dead town of Kotdwar without any incident (Sunday afternoon is siesta time!), and head towards Bijnor.
Kotdwar is known to be close to the ancient site of Kanva Ashram. This is the same Kanva rishi who found Shakuntala, wife of Dushyant and mother of Bharata from the Mahabharat. The Ashram apparently is around 15 km from the town. However, we decide to give it a miss this time.
After Kotdwar, we take right and move further on the NH 119. At Najibabad, we follow Col. Rawat's directions exactly - and come out on the other side without having to get into the crowded town.
From here, the road to Kiratpur, and then to Bijnor, is nice - with long stretches of sugar fields on both sides. At Monty Millons (Meerpur) - after having some 'Modinagar's famous Jain Shikanji' (lemonade) at a nearby dhaba, instead of taking left, we take the right to Jansath. This goes through some towns, fields, markets and finally opens up at the Haridwar expressway at Khatoli - near the Triveni sugar mill. The route is longer by about 40km, but it wins on two accounts. First, it helps you to avoid the chaotic traffic of Meerut. Second, it is wider and newer. So for all practical purposes, this is the 'official' route henceforth.
There is one more reason to take this route. The market places in the smaller towns have great veggies, fruits to buy. At Khatoli, we stop by the road, and get some farm fresh gourds for Rs. 10 a piece, watermelon, mangoes, fruits, and also jaggery - sold on some carts along the road. We enjoy haggling with the locals, and the locals hold their fort, although marveling at the ability of us 'firangs' from the city in their own game.
Thus, without much hurry, we cross the towns, canals, bullock-carts, some lassi samples at padamshree dairy, traffic snarls in Modinagar, and finally reach Gaziabad before 9pm. The road hereon is through the city, and we are already home.
Overall, a nice find for a relatively short drive and a lazy weekend - Lansdowne will see us more often - maybe after the monsoons. The road is good, the scenery pretty, the place hospitable and yet quaint and memorable.
Peace
Shreekant
25 May 2013
So this weekend we decide to pay Lansdowne a short visit. There are three challenges though - one is that the route goes through the densely populated sugar belt of U.P. and the road surfaces near the sugar mills are especially tiresome. A quick call to a regular roadie confirms that the road has been better now for most parts and it is a good ride. The second issue is that one has to cross the horrors of Meerut and Najibabad. Apparently there is a long route from Khatouli, but I am unable to get more info on this, and decide to live with this hazard. Bad decision, as you will see later.
The third problem is more pressing. The town of Lansdowne has nothing - as it has the army cantt. There is one property run by GMVN (Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam) at Tiffin Top - a very nice observation point at Lansdowne, but apart from that there is nothing. There are barely half a dozen hotels in the vicinity. The hotels in the market - like Mayur etc. are places where one cannot stay with family. And for the rest, a weekend right in the middle of summer vacations is a goldmine.
After a frantic search on the net and multitudes of email exchanges - mobiles do not work in most of these places as there are no towers - most of which are in the negative, we find one Lans Castle offering their rooms at highly inflated prices. They are also candid that they have some logistical issues with the kitchen - later we learn that their cook has run away. Nevertheless, as we have at least one solution - not the best, but at least there is one - we decide to go ahead with our plan anyway and take the route to Gaziabad late Saturday morning (around 8:30am).
Gurgaon - Gaziabad - Meerut (90km)
The going through the city is always marred with boredom, but the feeling that the rest of the traffic is of office-goers, and we are not - gives us a perverse pleasure. We reach the border of Delhi to U.P, leave the highway and turn left. This takes us to the Sahibabad area. Further left takes us into the upcoming localities of Rajnagar Ext.
Here on we keep asking people for Meerut bypass, and the people on the road keep showing us the road to Meerut. We pass Modinagar and its marketplaces, which are surprisingly quite due to the Saturday morning. The road is paved on both sides with people selling Shikanji (lime-soda) and mangoes. The same road goes to Haridwar, but the traffic is manageable.
After about 70km from Delhi, a toll road goes straight, while a flyover to the right takes you to Meerut. When we ask the locals, they convince us that there is no bypass, and we need to take the flyover to Meerut. So, unsuspecting, we enter the chaos of Meerut. Later, while at Lansdowne, we come to know that if we had continued on the toll road further for 30km, we would had reached Khatouli, and a right turn from there would have brought to back on the road to Lansdowne. It is a longer route, but worth it. This is the one we try while returning.
There is only one word for Meerut - chaos. Utter madness. Most people drive like they are possessed, while the rest drive like they are exorcists. And to add to the general mood, they have some macabre flyover constructions, with spiky iron rods protruding from different angles. One cannot be too careful. I get hit by a tempo truck while I am stationary. By the time I figure out what has happened, the fellow is dissolved in the monolithic traffic.
Anyway, we find a mechanic that is barely open on Saturday - most of the shops are closed today. Thankfully there is not much damage. Only the headlight is dislodged. And there are some bruises that cannot be repaired here. So we spend some time getting the poor 'eye' back into the socket, and move on.
The town is so huge, it just does not end. Finally we get to the Meerut Cantonment - famous for its role in the 1857 uprising against the British. It is a pity that such a historical site is reduced to a filthy, ugly marketplace rather than being a monument of significance. In fact the entire route from Meerut Cantt to Delhi should have been like a passage to freedom, at least in my mind. But the current status of Meerut just fills one with dread. Yet another example of why we Indians are rightfully considered to have no regard for our history.
Anyway, once out of Meerut, we go towards Mawana - again known for its sugar. On both sides of the road, we see the green tips of sugarcane crop and buffalo carts carrying fodder. After Meerpur, there is a right that goes towards Bijnor. There are a few local dhabas here - quite ordinary. There is one called Monty Millions (!) - like a food court. Avoidable.
The road becomes more scenic and greener, if that is possible. After a while, about 14 km ahead, we reach Barrage over Ganga. This is spectacular - Maa Ganga is wide like an ocean here. You can see fields close to the riverbed, people taking a holy dip at one side, and the vast expanse of the waters right till the horizon.
Bijnor - Kotdwar
Further ahead around 12 km on NH 119, after the Barrage, comes the town of Bijnor. There is another eating place here called Vyanjan Vatika (earlier called Palm Grove or something). The only reason I mention this is because there are very few options on the road for families, and all are veg.
Bijnor is a small town, spread out and lazy. From Bijnor, one needs to take a left before the traffic circle - not 'AT' the circle, but before it. This will take the road out of the town towards Kiratpur (15km). From Kiratpur, we move towards Najibabad. There is a lot of Muslim influence on the towns, with large mosques, men in white caps and kurtas, and women in black burquas.
Just before Najibabad, there is a sign that says 'Dhampur' to the right. One needs to take this to avoid the main chaotic town of Najibabad. We did not know it then, but while returning we took this road. While going, we end up going inside the town and get stuck at traffic junctions, railway crossings, flyover construction sites - the works. We ask our way to Kotdwar and finally emerge from the deep and treacherous by-lanes on to the main road.
The rest of the journey to Kotdwar (25 km) is pleasant and through the jungles. The location of Kotdwar is fascinating. Just as you emerge from the forest, you start seeing the mountain ranges. The town is right in the middle - jungle on one side and hills on the other.
At Kotdwar - which looks like a watered-down version of Kalka on route Simla - the road starts climbing. We see the mountain ranges at a distance, but it is hazy and the visibility is not clear. It is about 2:30pm, and we have not had much to eat since morning. So we try to find some place to eat - but there are none. So we push further from Kotdwar towards Dugadda (15km).
The road starts to climb the mountains. On one side there is a dried up river bed. On the other, the hills are starting to form their shapes in the haze. The going is good. Just 2km after Dugadda, there is a T-junction. One road says Lansdowne and the other Pauri (of the Pauri Garhwal district). You can take either for Lansdowne. Apparently the one to the left is longer, but wider - and is the same route to be taken if you want to go to Kedarnath. We take the one to the right.
Lansdowne is around 20km from here. The incline gets sharper. The road gets narrower. Within minutes we are really high in the mountains. The scenery has changed completely. There are tall, lean trees and reddish grass all over. In fact, the red grass makes the hill look like a brown furry monster (I am watching too much Sesame Street - thanks to my toddler kid)!
Around 6km before Lansdowne, we find Kasang Residency. They had told us on email that they are full. But when we check them out, they seem to have rooms. Since they are too far from the town, we give the place a miss, and decide to carry on further. At the border of the town (3:00pm), we pay taxes - Rs. 13 for a vehicle and Rs. 1 per adult - for a day !!! I wonder what they do with all this 'huge' bounty collected.
There is a Blue Pine resort just next to the toll booth. But it looks huge and too much of a hotel. So we go further. The road keeps curving. We start seeing the cantonment area, the office buildings of the army, the officer's canteen, and the residences -- also some posters celebrating the "Quasquicentennial" anniversary of Garhwal Rifles --- go figure what that means! ... (hint: it is more than 100 years)
The town of Lansdowne is not accessible to civilians, and so we cross it. If we had taken a left, we would have come to a roundabout where the buses from Kotdwar stop. Here, there is a marketplace, shops, restaurants - all very ordinary, but small-scale and less commercialized. But we go further, cross Lansdowne and move towards Jaiharikhal (4km).
Jaiharikhal
At Jaiharikhal, there is a market made of a handful of shops, and just after that we come to a nice, cozy place run by a couple - a retired army colonel - Col. Rawat and Mrs. Rawat. It is called Oak Grove Inn. A tiny house built on the side of the ridge, around 7-8 rooms, a deck with a view of the valley on one side, and very hospitable. The best part - they manage to conjure lunch for us at 4pm! ... And what lunch. Two veggies, some fantastic rotis, some daal that is out of the world, pickle, curd, the works!
We are the last ones to get a room, and there are a few others who come just after us who are turned down. The room is large and clean. The place is nice, and the deck with the view is the best part. After the amazingly magical lunch of daal and rotis - which the caretaker boy kept bringing like a genie - I spread myself on the deck -- with a nice book and some chai. This is the high point of the day!
I want to make sure that I don't give any wrong impressions here. Lansdowne is no Manali or Shimla. It is not even a poor man's Manali or Shimla. It stands at an altitude of only some 5,700 feet. It does not have the spectacular views of the Himalayas. What you see is the Shivalik and Kumaon ranges. But it is not even Saat Taal or Naini Taal. The scenic beauty is nothing like those. So do not compare Lansdowne with these.
Lansdowne has its own charm - and the charm largely is due to its obscurity. There is nothing here to do or see - apart from a minuscule man-made lake, some 115-year old churches and one or two observation points like Tiff-in top. There are no markets to buy souvenirs No malls to walk along. No momo shops. Not even a petrol pump (the closest one is around 40km down near Kotdwar). So if you are looking for these, you are grossly off the mark.
But if your idea of a weekend well spent is lying idle in a hammock or an armchair, with some O Henry or Saki or Chekov, overlooking some green valleys and brown hills, and sipping some lemonade or tea depending on the mood and the weather - I think we are in business.
The other thing I like about the place is that it is clean - one because of the army, and second because so few visitors come here, as compared to other tourist places. Only about 350 km from Delhi, but the place is thankfully under radar from the crazy weekend crowds.
After a lot of while of lazing and reading and thinking (mostly) and drinking tea, we see the sun setting behind the hills. The weather becomes much cooler and there is a strong western wind. We decide to take a stroll in the Jaiharikhal market.
By the way in the local parlance the Jai Hari Khaal (jai = salutation, Hari = a name of Vishnu, Khaal = perhaps water stream) has become Jahari Khaal (Jahari = poisonous!).
There is nothing much here, and we climb further up to an observation post. The air is cool, the lights have come out, and the moon is pouring her silver on the valley. It is calming and very pleasant. We return to Oak Grove, have our dinner late, chat up with the owner couple who regale us with local stories, and then go off to sleep.
Day 2 - Return
The next day morning, I get up and hurry to the deck once again. The morning is bright yet cool, and the morning chai is absolutely welcome. After much loitering around, we take leave of our dear hosts and start off to do some site-seeing. Col. Rawat has pain-stickingly drawn all possible maps, and meticulously explains all directions to me before leaving. So we head towards Lansdowne again.
 |
| St. Mary's Church Lansdowne |
From here, Tiffin Top is only half a km. There is a GMVN property here, which is in shambles and is completely booked. The view is spectacular on one side of the valley. The good news is that they are coming up with some new log-huts, which are currently being built and will be operational from October 2013. This is by far the best location, so if the service is good and the huts are new, I will definitely try it out the next time.
 |
| Looking over the Shivalik Ranges - Tiffin Top Lansdowne |
We then proceed to Bhulla lake - a man-made lake created by fording about 30 fresh water streams and putting a dam on one side. There is a canteen called Kaludanda canteen - Lansdowne's original name - that serves some pretty ordinary food. The lake is small and very touristy - with peddle boating, children's park, rabbit farm, duck and swans - so if you like those kind of things you might enjoy it too.
 |
| Bhulla Lake Lansdowne |
The road from Bhulla Lake to the Lansdowne market (Gandhi Market) takes us through the town and for the first time we see the actual town. It is quite clean and nicely spread out. Lots of walking trails too. We pass the only SBI ATM here, and then start our decent down by around 2:30pm.
The road is nice and smooth, yet narrow and curvy, and has the squad of tall, narrow (pine?) trees lined in attention. The brown furry hill monster is back. We cross the almost-dead town of Kotdwar without any incident (Sunday afternoon is siesta time!), and head towards Bijnor.
Kotdwar is known to be close to the ancient site of Kanva Ashram. This is the same Kanva rishi who found Shakuntala, wife of Dushyant and mother of Bharata from the Mahabharat. The Ashram apparently is around 15 km from the town. However, we decide to give it a miss this time.
After Kotdwar, we take right and move further on the NH 119. At Najibabad, we follow Col. Rawat's directions exactly - and come out on the other side without having to get into the crowded town.
From here, the road to Kiratpur, and then to Bijnor, is nice - with long stretches of sugar fields on both sides. At Monty Millons (Meerpur) - after having some 'Modinagar's famous Jain Shikanji' (lemonade) at a nearby dhaba, instead of taking left, we take the right to Jansath. This goes through some towns, fields, markets and finally opens up at the Haridwar expressway at Khatoli - near the Triveni sugar mill. The route is longer by about 40km, but it wins on two accounts. First, it helps you to avoid the chaotic traffic of Meerut. Second, it is wider and newer. So for all practical purposes, this is the 'official' route henceforth.
There is one more reason to take this route. The market places in the smaller towns have great veggies, fruits to buy. At Khatoli, we stop by the road, and get some farm fresh gourds for Rs. 10 a piece, watermelon, mangoes, fruits, and also jaggery - sold on some carts along the road. We enjoy haggling with the locals, and the locals hold their fort, although marveling at the ability of us 'firangs' from the city in their own game.
Thus, without much hurry, we cross the towns, canals, bullock-carts, some lassi samples at padamshree dairy, traffic snarls in Modinagar, and finally reach Gaziabad before 9pm. The road hereon is through the city, and we are already home.
Overall, a nice find for a relatively short drive and a lazy weekend - Lansdowne will see us more often - maybe after the monsoons. The road is good, the scenery pretty, the place hospitable and yet quaint and memorable.
Peace
Shreekant
25 May 2013
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