Jim Corbett National Park, a part of the larger Corbett Tiger Reserve is the oldest national park in India & was established in 1936... Corbett National Park situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, located in Nainital district of Uttarakhand...
It was named after Jim Corbett who played a key role in its establishment... The park was the first to come under the Project Tiger initiative & honoured as the place where Project Tiger was first launched in 1973... Corbett National Park is one of the India's most beautiful wildlife areas & heaven for all the Forest Lovers!
When we think about Jim Corbett, the very first thing comes in our mind is "Jungle Safari"!!! When I came to know about Jim Corbett Mountain Biking, through YHAI website I was very excited to know about the route!!! Cycling on a SAFARI route!!! Wow !!! Quite Interesting...Finally I decided to go for Corbett Mountain Biking as this place always fascinated me... I reached Haldwani at about 4.30 AM in the morning on 30th Dec. by Ranikhet Express... At the railway station I inquired about Kaladhungi (chhoti Haldwani) & I was told to take a bus from the bus stand which is just about 5-10 mins walk from Railway station... after waiting for more than an hour at bus stand I got a bus for Kaladhungi at about 6.00 AM... It took half an hour to reach to Kaladhungi which was near about 20 Kms from the Haldwani... I reached there at about 6.30 AM in the morning & it was lil dark as it was month of December...
Now thrilling part was that I was not aware of the address of the base camp as it was not mentioned in the web site & I realized it when I got down from the bus... I saw 2 people nearby so I walked towards them & asked them if they know about YHAI base camp!!! But they were not aware about any such camp... It was really difficult to search for camp site early in the morning without knowing address or any landmark!!! One of them suggested to ask the person who distributes News paper, he might know about this camp...
Thankfully he was already there distributing News paper & when I asked about YHAI camp, he said most probably it should be near Govt. guest house... So I started walking with him for my destination, but it was quite long & unfortunately there was no public conveyance in the morning... on the way one of his friend was coming by two wheeler & he asked him to drop me near guest house... N finally I reached to the base camp just behind Govt. guest house...
Base camp : Kaladhungi (Chhoti Haldwani)
Cycling Route : Kaladhungi >>> Tedagaon >>> Pawalgarh >>> back to Kaladhungi
Altitude ~ 2,050 m [6,726 ft]
Best time to visit : Nov. to Feb.
Weather : Summer : 15°C to 40°C / Winter : 1°C to 18°C
30th Dec. 2015 - Reporting at base camp - Chhoti Hadwani
Day 1 - When I reached there, few of the group mates were doing their morning tasks n few were about to get up... I was told to wait there for sometime so that I can get enrolled myself for this expedition as I didn't make pre-booking... by the time I had tea I was asked to join morning exercise with the previous day batch... It was really refreshing walk n jogging on Nainital road, just before 30 Kms from Nainital...
As per the YHAI schedule 1st day was reporting day & 2nd day was supposed to go for Heritage walk (village visit of Mr. Corbett), as there was celebration going on (25th-27th Dec.) for the completion of 100 years of Chhoti Haldwani’s establishment by Jim Corbett & the efforts of Corbett Gram Vikas Samiti to conserve this legacy...As my 1st day n 2nd day got clubbed, same day after having lunch we all went to visit Corbett's Village... Though charge for this Heritage visit was 1500/- as a registration fee which includes bird watching, butterfly walks, Jim Corbett heritage walk & Hiking, but for us being a part of YHAI it was a very nominal charge of Rs. 150/- per person...
It was really nice experience to walk through the farms of this Heritage trail & to know about Mr. Corbett n to visit Moti's house build by Mr. Corbett... In winters, the family used to move to the foothills, where they owned a cottage named 'Arundel' in Chhoti Haldwani or "Corbett's Village", now known as Kaladhungi...
While coming back we were served tea n breakfast (delicious pakoras) at "Ittusa Restaurant" by our guide as it was included in our package of heritage walk...
Visited Jim Corbett museum & came back to our base camp by afternoon...
We got our cycles & other equipments n then we were supposed to go for a trial ride towards Nainital by 4 PM, but due to some real time scenarios we got late n could ride just for few minutes as it got dark by that time... After coming back we had dinner & then we had group get together in one of our tents... it was really great to know about everyone's talent as most of them were emerged as a good singer except me :( Finally we had bournvita n then lights off...
31st Dec. - Cycling towards Tedagaon
Day 2 - Got up early in the morning, had tea-breakfast n with packed lunch all bikers were set to go with our co-leader n our camp leader Mithun who was supposed to come with us mid way till the lunch point... Cycling all the way on the motorable roads, taking few breaks in between including a break at sugar-cane farm to eat sugar-cane was quite Interesting :)
Then comes our lunch point, which was in the middle of the forest near a small waterfall... Had a wonderful time in the midst of greenery sitting over the stones & sinking our legs in the water in front of the waterfall:) after having lunch we started for our 1st camp towards Tedagaon...
By the evening we reached to our camp which was located in the farm lil down side off the road on the left hand side n there was a beautiful temple at the top on the right hand side... Our tents were surrounded by greenery - one of the best camp site I must say... in addition to that we were only two girls in our group, so we got lots of space in our tent... after having tea we had dinner early due to electricity issue...
By that time we were not aware how we are going to celebrate our 31st. as everyone got tired... But thanks to our Camp leader Mithun da, as only coz of him we could make our 31st Memorable... He was supposed to go from the lunch point but just for our comfortability he came with us till the camp n took all of us along with him for a night walk... Wow!!! just imagine silent group walk in the dark night under the shining stars in the Forest!!! Unbelievable!!! we started at about 8.30 PM - never thought of we will be out till 12.00 - 12.30 midnight just to celebrate our 31st. as it is the policy violation as per YHAI rules... But its always good to break some of the rules to make it more Enjoyable n Memorable...
We got one nice restaurant where we spent very good quality time by playing dumb sharaz & waiting for few of favourite dishes ordered by our group mates... That's not all !!! Owner of this restaurant added more spice to our celebration by arranging bornfire n thats how it became perfect 31st celebration in the jungle ;)
One of the Best n Unforgettable 31st Celebration till now:) All credit goes to Mithun da:)
Having lots of memories in our hearts n camera, we came back to our camp with few thrilling moments like - "hey all stop - "waha dekho kuch hai" "kisiki eyes shine kar rahi hai" n all that... as if really lion or tiger is there...lol... We all slept to welcome morning of the new year at this wonderful place...
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| Beautiful view of MOON from our tent clicked by Sumeet Gill |
Day 3 - Got up early in the morning with nice feeling about our 31st celebration, we had tea n breakfast... few of us went to visit a Beautiful temple... It was really Happy go Lucky feeling to have temple just opposite to our camp site as I always start my 1st day of the year by visiting the temple... Nice temple located upstairs...
Then we started for our next n last camp Pawalgarh where we had to reach by cycle riding on a safari route throughout... It was one of the exciting moment to cross safari route on Cycle!!! That day we had one Tempo Van with us arranged by YHAI to carry our rucksacks so that we can ride safely throughout our safari route...
And we got instructions that if we come across any wild animals we have to leave our cycles then n there & get up in the Van immediately... However fortunately or unfortunately we couldn't see any animal throughout our safari route :(
By the afternoon we reached to a beautiful river stream, which leads to an Ancient Temple of Sitavani - associated with the epic Ramayana... it is believed to be the place where Goddess Sita spent her days of exile during the Agnipariksha... An ancient temple devoted to Sage Valmiki is also situated in the reserve... Sitavani, known for a temple n river is also a famous zone for bird watching n it is the only forest in Corbett where tourists can walk inside...
There were so many tourists coming by their vehicles to visit the temple & all were passing through the river as it was the only way to reach to the temple...
We had our lunch sitting on the stone in the river - Joyful experience after cycling through safari route n then relaxation in the clean n clear water!!!
After taking some rest we started cycling for our camp by crossing through rough n raw routes - riding through water steams in between... It was one of the most Memorable ride ever...
Finally we reached to our camp, which was at the exit gate of Safari route... We were served welcome drink & then after getting freshened up we had tea n delicious pakoras... Both of us me n Sushweta went for evening walk just outside of our camp... After coming back we had delicious dinner n then bournvita... Finally lights off...
2nd Jan. - Back to the base camp
Day 4 - Got up early in the morning n got ready to go for Bird watching as few of us had already decided last night... So we all started walking in the pleasant morning with our guide, who was studying in the high school n doing it as a part time job as his hobby... Very enjoyable morning walk cum bird watching session which gave us a chance to see so many beautiful birds & listen to their chirping sounds...
After coming back we had tea n delicious breakfast... We all got ready with packed lunch to move back to our base camp... I must appreciate cooks of this camp for their wonderful cooking... All the time may it be breakfast, lunch or dinner it was super delicious food :)
Started with lil uphill till halfway on a very good motorable road n then downhill till the base camp - Very nice route for cycling!!! Midway somewhere near a small restaurant we had our packed lunch...
Then few of us left early n we few reached lil late by afternoon to the base camp as one of our group mate's cycle got punctured...
All in all we enjoyed a lot throughout our route with so many memorable clicks... Nicely n very well arranged camp sites except the base camp...
रोमांचक यात्रा विवरण .
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