Travel Tales - the begining.....

Hi,

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine



It had been some time since I last travelled so recently I along with my family travelled to Kausani (कौसानी), please note that it is pronounced as kaU-sani and not ksauni (कसौनी). I say this because most of the people including me tend to use the two terms interchangeably. Kausani is a quiet little hill station in the kumaun hills in the state of Uttrakhand, formerly known as Uttranchal. Situated at an altitude of 1890 mts or 6075 feet ...the pleasant environs at Kausani offer a welcome break from the usual hustle bustle of Delhi coupled with pristine views of the Himalaya's.



Well my week long sojourn started on the 13th of July 2008 on a disastrous note...we had booked our tickets on the Ranikhat Express...a daily train that connects Delhi to Kathgodam (काठगोदाम). The train leaves Old Delhi Station at 22.30 hrs....I thought, though incorrectly, that if we leave for the station at say somewhere around 21.30 hrs...the Delhi metro should take us to the Delhi station comfortably within time...what I did not imagine was the technical problems at the station ...the token kiosk had conked off...leading to major snarls at the Chandini Chowk station ( you are supposed to get down here for the old Delhi station)....the long corridor that connects the metro station to the railway station is pretty long.......end result...we ended up at the station at 22.30 hrs!!....the stares from my parents and brother were taking a rather ominous look....fortunately enough for me...the train was late....by a hour or so....and thus we embarked on the journey to Kausani.... The journey nevertheless was quite comfortable...infact out of the two trains that run between Delhi and Kathgodam (KGM)...Ranikhet Exp..is the best option available. The train leaves Delhi at night and reaches KGM at 6.00 in the morning. Kausani is about 140 Km's from KGM. In fact KGM is where the landscape starts changing- the dusty North Indian plains give way to hillocks.

KGM is the last rail head on this route...and a major stop for tourists visiting Nainital, Almora, Ranikhet, Jageswar and Kausani.
Once you reach KGM/ Haldwani the touts for taxis start appearing from everywhere.....they can be qiute nagging and are more than happy to fleece unsuspecting tourists....the best policy is to befriend some local's..and let them do the bargaining.

The onward journey to Kausani has to be done in two trips , both tiring physically but a pure treat for the eyes in the form of lush green forests, bubbling mountain streams and deep gorges.

Will share more in later posts,

till then,
Cheers

Siddharth Tewari