Final leg at Binsar - Holiday Part IV

After our 3 days at Corbett, it was time to head higher up the mountain ranges to the hill station of Binsar. We realized how many resorts Club M has all over the place, when we actually passed another of them at Naukuchiatal on the way to Binsar :).

D used to be the badly car sick one in the family, but on this trip I started off the trend! The roads took some getting used to, but the view all along was lovely. It took us about 6 hours for a distance of about 240 kms.

And then we reached our room in the resort that had these beautiful climbing roses growing near the door! The whole resort had a profusion of the prettiest flowers I have ever seen, lots of close ups in my FB albums, but here are a couple of them.

The rest of Day 1 was at the resort as usual, and after a restful night we made a late start to go see Zero Point. This was the highest point of the mountain, from where we might (and that was a big might) be able to see the snow clad peaks of the Himalayas in the distance. This was situated inside the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary where there is also a rest house right at the peak that you can stay in. Without too much trouble, we reached close to the top where we had to park the cars and trek about 2 kms to reach Zero Point. Thankfully we knew about this and we were all in our shoes, else that would have been quite a terrain to walk on in anything else. The kids were pretty good with the walk, and we reached the top, only to find that the view was completely covered up with clouds!! I had been half expecting it, so we just sat in the peace of it all (we were the only ones there at that point), chatted along for some time, and then made our way back.

I had checked earlier about the sightseeing options and there were quite a few, but only on reaching there I realized that going somewhere 60 kms away from the resort was not quite the same as on roads that are on the plains. And also the locations such as the Paataal Bhubaneshwar temple which sounded interesting to me might not be as exciting for the kids, so it seemed unfair to subject them to the mountain roads. So we decided to make a quiet couple of days of it, only venturing upto Almora on Day 3 to check out their bazaar. The only interesting thing I saw was wool, which I picked up some of for my mom :). Anyway I was all shopped out from Delhi already ;).

One more day of uneventfulness and we were ready for the return journey. Just as I looked out for the tiger or lion in any safari I've been to, even when I know in my heart that it's an improbability, this time I looked out for the snow clad peaks. And imagine my excitement when I actually caught sight of them!!! The majesty couldn't be captured in a photo, which usually happens with natural scenes like this one, so though I clicked a few pics, the best picture will have to be in my memory (how corny!).

Back to Delhi for a day just to break the journey, when we actually managed to catch Iron Man 3 that had just released ;). And back to home sweet home by the Rajdhani once more.

Still at Corbett - Holiday Part III

And now it was time for that Canter Safari that was in a large 16-18 seater open vehicle.. we started off with a bit of hesitation as we were in the last row, and the seats and the state of the vehicle in general did not inspire confidence. Unfortunately our fears were confirmed and the next 6 hours were the most uncomfortable I have spent in recent times. I don't have any diagnosed back problems but have neck issues due to spondylitis, and I can't imagine what someone with an acute problem would feel like. Noisy vehicle, somewhat noisy (though not bad) co-travelers made it nearly impossible to come close to any animal except maybe the deer who were used to it all. 

I would definitely not recommend this for elderly travelers, there was a lady in the other vehicle who was finding it tough to even get in and off. Someone definitely needs to be held accountable for posting some health warnings here. It's just so easy to get away with stuff like this in India :(.

The male Chital is the one with antlers

Tailor bird nests if my memory serves me right

Desolate trees always seem to make for nice photos :)

Gharials sunning themselves, photo taken with super-zoom  as we were really far away

Large flocks of deer by the side of the water body

My back was feeling so stiff after this that I knew there was no way I could put up with a long drive to Binsar the next day(even in a comfortable Innova) if I didn't take some rest! So that's pretty much what we did :). All in all, with the absence of ever spotting any tigers or lions on all our holidays, and the discomfort caused by this one, we have decided that our next Jungle safari shall be a few years from now, and definitely in Africa ;).

While on the subject of the resort, I must mention that we have been blown away by the food in a couple of the Club Mahindra destinations, especially Coorg & Munnar. The Zest resort at Pondicherry also had an exceptional spread. At Corbett, our experience was that while the rates for the "Fun dining" that is offered only to members remains the same, the quality and spread of food definitely doesn't. Maybe the rates should also be based on what is actually available? Just a thought. On the positive side though, they do not charge for young children upto the age of 5, and though S has turned 5 and we told them that, they took one look at his size and courteously charged us only for D.

At Corbett National Park - Summer Holiday Part II

So it was time for Leg 2 and we were going to spend that at Corbett National Park, at the Club Mahindra Resort located close to it at a place called Garjia. I had booked a cab from a company called Incredible Routes, whom I got to know of through (where else?) Facebook :). Kripi, who runs the company, was very polite and responsive to all my queries, and we struck a deal completely online, again a first for me. The very courteous driver along with his Toyota Innova were at our doorstep in the morning, and we were off. It took us close to 6 hours for the drive, along with a stop for breakfast. We made it a point to take it a bit slow, due to the kids having a bit of a history with car-sickness, and the bad roads at many points didn't make it any easier.

Our room was at the far end of the property, but the lovely view from the window made the walk worth it :). That is the Kosi river, which apparently has a lot more water in it after the rains.

As is usually the case with us, the rest of the day after a journey was spent relaxing at the room and the surrounding areas of the resort, to be fresh for an early morning safari the next day.

I had booked the safaris a month in advance, as this was recommended when we made our booking at the resort. There was a choice of a gypsy safari, something called a canter safari that was for a longer time and in a larger 16 seater vehicle (I got a warning about this from a cousin, but had already made my booking by then!), and an elephant safari. Now the last option was a big no-no for us as the elephant rides we have taken at various destinations have been no fun, not just in terms of comfort for us, but feeling very very bad for the poor elephant.

I should mention in advance, that this was our 3rd jungle/safari destination, and we knew that hoping to see an animal like a tiger or leopard was pretty futile, but did that make me hope any less? Of course not! Looking behind every bush, rock and clump of grass is what makes it interesting, isn't it :). Unfortunately the closest we got to the tiger were some pug-marks, which we were told were "fresh".

Hmmph.. that only made me search all the more and I finally found a stone that resembled a tiger ;).


On browsing through my photos, I find this eerie similarity to my pics from Kabini. Honestly in a few weeks, I think even I won't know which were taken where! Many instances of the 3 types of deer most commonly seen in Indian jungles - the Chital or spotted deer, the bigger sambhar and less common and very small barking deer. I think the most interesting event we saw that morning was a group of wild elephants drinking water from a watering hole. The news passes from one gypsy driver to another and I am sure every group that morning must have had a glimpse of these majestic creatures :).

The afternoon was spent visiting the local Garjia temple - we didn't actually go inside as there were these long snaking lines of people waiting to go in and then at the resort with such simple joys as the trampoline. Phew, seems like this travelogue is going to have more than 3 parts, rest of the Corbett leg coming up soon :).

Fastest Holiday Plan Ever!

So this is how it usually works.. I decide(ok with "some" consultation) where we should go a few months in advance of the holidays, research research research... and make the bookings whether on Club Mahindra and driving down as we usually do, or else go to a place like SOTC and make bookings through them with a clear idea of what we want to see and do. That is what we opted for, when it was our first overseas trip with the kids and I didn't want to take chances with making too many arrangements online on my own.

This summer holiday planning started the same way.. a few months back I decided that we could try to make it to UK/London/Scotland.. unfortunately only started checking out stuff properly a couple of weeks back, to find that it's pretty much too late to make any bookings in London through RCI which is what we wanted to do. So that put London plans on hold(hopefully for 2014) and started looking around for other ideas. To my horror, a lot of the Club M locations also were filling up soon. But thanks to their new and clear interface I could see easily exactly what was available where.

We have been putting off a trip to the north wondering if the kids can take the longer distances involved, but within a few hours of checking out the resorts(we have visited most of their options in the south) - I made an impulsive decision that since S is going to be FIVE by this summer, it's high time we try it out! So with a short stopover at Delhi, we are going to be super adventurous and check out locations like Corbett and Binsar, and the great outdoors this April. Booked a hotel in Delhi solely based on tripadvisor reviews (not to mention their great responsiveness on their FB page - which is also a first for me. Not only that, we decided it's time the kids experienced a long train journey, so we are going by the Rajdhani!! Phew!

And this also always happens, that as I'm planning one vacation (where I may have missed the ball a bit with the planning in advance :( ), I start thinking about all the forthcoming vacations in the next couple of years and where all we might want to go. In that context, if someone has experience with planning through RCI, do leave me a message.

Dussehra Vacation at Ooty

I am not a vacation planner by nature - we decided to take a Club Mahindra membership a few years back - and this forces us to use up those vacation days once or twice a year or else they could just lapse - always better to have "I have paid money for this!" looming over your head to make good use of something :).

So this time our Dussehra vacation was to Ooty which is a popular hill station in Tamilnadu. Coming from a "non-vacation" family myself (We visited relatives during vacations as my dad was in the Railways and usually living away from the south), I was one of not so many South Indians who have never been to Ooty so I was really looking forward to this. I called ahead to check about the rooms, the weather (yes I have got better at this stuff with every vacation ;) ) and was told it was cold and raining most evenings. "Sounds like Bangalore" I said nonchalantly and took jackets and woollens for the children but decided just shawls would do for myself.

But Brrrrr - the first night caught me by surprize, the chill that the rain brought with it just completely floored me. To go to my parent's room which was 10 ft away I became a shivering mess! Maybe it was the tiredness of the journey combined with the weather, but I am definitely wiser about underestimating the weather anywhere now! And of course a learning for all parents - don't forget yourselves by just focussing on the children - you have to be in the best of health first in order to look after them well !

Okay this post is getting longer and longer so let me just give a recap of each day:

29th Oct (Friday) - We drove down from Bangalore. Left home in the morning by 7:30am and reached Derby Green, Ooty at 4 pm. Relaxed for a while and children played in the park right next to our rooms. Before we knew it, the rain came (refer above!) and just going to the restaurant which was 100 m away from the rooms for dinner was quite an ordeal.

30th Oct (Saturday) - This was designated the main sightseeing day. The resort arranged a car for us and we went to

• the Ooty lake where we were rowed on the lake by a very nice boatman who'd been doing his job for the last 35 years! He was of course an expert at taking the "Family picture".

• Doddabetta which is the highest peak - felt like we were in the clouds at some parts of the drive!

• the Botanical Garden which had so many flowers and plants in all their glory - this part was unfortunately cut short as it started raining :(.

• We also managed to fit in some shopping - where a sweater was one of my necesary purchases :).

31st Oct (Sunday) - We wanted to take the train (popularly called the Toy Train) to Connoor which left Ooty by 9:15am. Unfortunately we didn't anticipate the crowd as well as some last minute holdups with getting into the station and so didn't make it. Instead took the car to Connoor where we visited some family friends. They live in a quaint and wonderful house surrounded by plants and plonk in the middle of a tea estate. For the first time I saw and touched and smelt plants like Lavender and Elderberries and so on which I earlier had only virtual exposure to on Farmville!! I know it's a joke to compare the virtual game of growing these crops in a few hours to tending them in reality - the friends we visited had been working on this land for the last 7 years and boy it showed!! Once again by the time we left here it was raining so we suspended any sightseeing plans in Connoor and got back to Ooty and the resort to our heater warmed rooms!

Okay there's no hope of keeping this short so no more apologies on this! We spent both evenings in the warmth of our rooms or playing with the children in the Activity room of the resort as we didn't want to expose the kids or my parents who spent the vacation with us to the chill of the evening weather. Left early on Monday (1st Nov) and got back to Bangalore by 3 pm or so after extended stops for breakfast, lunch as well as shopping at our standard handicrafts shop in Channapatna (near Indradhanush restaurant).