Uttarkhand

The winding river











Views of our Bamboo cottage at Kaudyala where we spent the first nigh & again one more night on our return. Situated right beside the River Ganges, we could hear it gushing in all its fury through the night and early morning. This brand new cottage of which we were supposedly the first occupants had doors & windows which could not close. We were assured that Garwhal was very peaceful & we had nothing to fear. this was something we witnessed throughout our trip







The view across the river from our cottage at kaudyala- the local people informed us that a leopard stayed in this hill & frequently came down to the river for water. No luck for us though!








Kaudyala in the morning mist






river Mandakini at Chandrapuri










How to get there?
For both Indian & international tourists, New Delhi is the best place to start the trip. You may also consider Hardwar or Rishikesh as starting points. GMVNL - Garwahl Mandal Vikas Nigam provided us a Delhi to Delhi package that included a car and accomodation. Their Guest houses at a number of places provide good and reasonable accomodation with excellent views. We understand some of them even had dormitory accomodation.

Acknowledgements:
We are very appreciative of the efforts of a number of people who made are trip very enjoyable:

1. Garwahl Mandal Vikas Nigam & especially Mr. Sanjay Sharma PRO GMVNL Ahmedabad who made all the arrangements as well as helped in providing an alternative tour
2. The staff of the various guest houses for their excellent service with a smile. Our special thanks to Mr. Semliwal, Manager of Rudraprayag Guest house for going out of his way to help us in re-formulating our tour plans. The staff at Ukimath where we spent 2 nights even helped us spot birds!
3. Our drivers Nillu, Darshan singh and most of all Narendra Sharma who drove us through the hills amongst landlsides, shooting stones & the like. He displayed great presence of mind in dealing with tricky situations and ensured that the 3 ladies reached their Guest House safely for the night!
4. Mr Yashpal Singh Negi & his assistant Harish at Mandakini Magpie Birdwatcher's Camp for the warm hospitality and for taking us on an excellent birdwatching trail through the dense forest.
5. All the wonderful people whom we met on the way- this place is on the pilgirmage route we were regaled with many a folklore & legend of ancient times.
6. The animals, birds, insects, bees & all living beings which added colour & joy to our trip!