Walking through the clouds – Panghoot
& around
 |
Garh Mukteshwar - now it looks like River Ganges
|
As usual the travel bug had started
troubling me and coupled with my agenda of ‘Having a piece of Heaven in Heaven’
(refer to my earlier blog by same title), we embarked on our journey to
Uttarakhand, during the extended weekend in August, 2012. We were five persons and one amongst us
arranged for an Innova for embarking upon the travel and another friend
arranged for the stay at ‘Ashoka’s Naini Chalet’ in Pangot. Although I had heard much about the place,
being a active briding site, but this was my first opportunity to visit this
destination. Panghoot is a village in the
Kosiyakutoli tehsil of Nanital District in Uttarakhand, India and the distance
from Delhi to Pangot is about 305 Kms.
Accordingly, we started early in the morning and got picked up from the
pre-arranged point’s en-route. By the
time we left Delhi it was almost 8.00 A.M, but luckily as it was a Saturday, we
did not face much of a traffic enroute.
However, the first topic was as to whether have B’fast at the famous
Skylark Restaurant at Garh
Mukteshewar or to partake the home prepared one. After much deliberation, it was decided that
we would take a break for the B’fast and as there were no good eating joints
beyond Moradabad, we would partake the home prepared meal for lunch. Thus, we took our first break at Garh
Mukteshwar.
 |
Just entering the Kaladhungi forest area
|
 |
Headed for the hills - monsoon magic
|
 |
Friends posing for a photo
|
 |
A small rivulet on the way
|
After having had some sumptuous Aloo
Pranthas et al, we embarked upon our journey further. I was pleasantly surprised to find the water
of River Ganges overflowing its banks at Garh Mukteshwar, as it is a mere
trickle during the summer season, when I usually pass by this spot. So I got down from the vehicle and took some
shots. We traveled at a leisurely pace
and as we drove further towards the Nainital hills, the cloud cover started
getting denser. We took a turn from the
main Highway towards Tanda and were flabbergasted on seeing the condition of
the road, to say the least, there was no road at all, but a series of pot-holes
of varying sizes & shapes. This
entrapment continued for about 16 odd Kms. and all our entire body parts were
put though a rollercoaster ride. It had
started drizzling and as we entered the Kaladhungi stretch, it started raining
‘cats & dogs’.
 |
View of Nainital lake from Kilbury
|
 |
One from the car - monsoon magic
|
 |
Birds galore - at Kilbury
|
We negotiated the roads slowly, till
we reached the Bara Pathar
crossing, wherefrom just after entering the Nainital, we turned left towards the Mall road
leading to Kilbury hills,
this road leads to Pangot. After
traversing some distance, we found locals armed with telescopes enticing
tourists to take a look at the panoramic view of Nainital lake &
surrounding areas below. We too got down
and took some photographs and also had a look through the telescope, so as to
understand the topography of the place @Rs.20/- for five points shown by the
vendors. It was still overcast and by
the time, we headed for Pangot, it was getting dark. We were driving cautiously, as the road was
winding and covered with Rhododendron & Oak forests of either side, it was
all the more darker. Suddenly, we
reached a clearing with a few shops on the road and the road sign read
“Panghoot”, as we slowed the vehicle and man came towards us enquiring as to
whether we were booked for ‘Ashoka’s Naini Chalet’ and led the way, which was
hardly 25 meters from the main road.
Thus, we reached Panghot/ Panghoot (as per the Post Office description
of name – both in English & Hindi) and checked into our rooms. The destination and ambience of the Resort
was magnificent and we ordered some Pakoras & Tea/Coffee for
refreshments. At night we had a game of
snooker & my friends enjoyed some drinks and I gave company partaking a
gallon of Cold drinks, I being a teetotaler and also arranged for a guide to
take me for some bird watching early next the morning.
 |
Panghoot village entry & market square
|
 |
Panghoot - monsoon magic
|
 |
Ashoka's Naini Chalet - view from Jungle lodge
|
 |
Ashoka's Naini Chalet
|
 |
Ashoka's Naini Chalet - view by night
|
We had a good night’s sleep and I
was awakened early hearing chirping of birds and some ruckus being created by
the Rhesus monkeys, who were busy eating moths & insects in the verandah,
that had been attracted to the lights during the night. I found that it was still raining and had to
postpone my sojourn into the forests for the time being. Panghoot is a nondescript but serene &
visually enticing village, tucked away into the confines of the Kumaon hills,
with forests of Rhododendrons & Oaks enveloping the hills in a ‘Chador’
of green coupled with echoing the tweets of many a colourful birds and with
little trails that disappear into interior of forests, that's Panghoot for all
the nature lovers. A birdwatcher's paradise, Pangot is 15 kms from Nainital and
the drive is through the bird habitats of Cheena Peak range forests via Snow View Point and
Kilbury. Some of the commonly encountered birds here are the Lammergeier,
Himalayan griffon, Blue-winged minla, spotted & Slaty-backed forktail, Rufous-bellied
woodpecker, Rufous-bellied Niltava, Khalij pheasant, variety of thrushes etc.
Almost 150 bird species have been recorded at Panghoot and its surrounding
areas. Life in this quaint little
village is tranquility redefined; the activity of villagers either remains
restricted to the confines to their homes or at the small market square, with a
laid back life style. As soon as the
rain took a breather, we embarked on the trek into the forests for shooting (I
mean photographing) the birds. It was
steep climb through the forests and the first bird sighted was a Blue Whistling
Thrush, but due to dense fog the reduced visibility the Camera could not
capture a good image, the next bird I spotted was the Niltava but again the
light played truant and due to slow shutter speed, the photographs were not
good. However, having trudged some few
hundred meters, we heard a loud tweeting sound, I started emulating the same by
whistling similarly and as the bird descended, I found that it was a Striated
Laughing Thrush. I could hear many birds
chirping but due to dense fog and tree foliage, could not spot them and as I
had to return back for the onward journey, I retraced my way back to the
Resort.
 |
Another birder's group in discussion in another Resort
|
 |
Rofous sibia - right at the Resort itself
|
 |
Monsoon magic
|
 |
Panghoot - bird pecking on fern spores
|
 |
Another warbler - Panghoot
|
On the way back, I encountered my
friends who were eagerly waiting for me for the scheduled visit to Chorsa village and they
chided me for delaying them and I quickly had Breakfast and we were off. We crossed Nainital, which was not all that
crowded because of the intense rain that had precipitated in the region during
the previous night and reached Bhowali. However, the
person who was scheduled to meet us there had not arrived and informed us that
he was near Sattal
for running an errand, we took our vehicle and headed there to bring him back
so that he could guide us. The road to
Chorsa village is being newly constructed and runs from below the Bhowlai
Sanatorium gate. The road is unpaved and
due to rain there were quite a few potholes, however, enroute we met the JCB operator,
who informed us that road upto Bhowali village was reachable, but beyond that
the road was almost non-existent. We
therefore, drove till Bhowali
village and thereafter, started the 13 Kms. trek to Garam Pani, having asked
the driver to reach the Highway at Garam Pani and wait for us there. There were several landslides on the way,
with hardly any space to squeeze across huge boulders that had slid down the
mountain side at many a places and accompanied with water & sludge, through
which we had to slog. However, finally
we came to a point where the road was totally blocked and we had to slide down
the mountain side and cross along the old bridle path that lay below. The valley was totally untouched and
pristine, it was nature’s best display of wildflowers and birds et al. But due to the intensity of the trek and
treacherous paths, I could not photograph them (only a handful) but it was a
trek to remember. The rain Gods who had
been playing spoil sport till now, had relented a bit and it continued to be
clear till we reached Chorsa village, but as soon as we started with our
descent, it started drizzling again. The
villagers are always welcoming and warm hearted and they insisted that we wait
for some time at their house for the rain clouds to pass through, and we were
pleasantly surprised at having been offered tea, to totally unknown persons and
it was a very pleasing experience. I was
feeling a bit soggy in my right leg and took the opportunity to check out my
shoes, thinking that they might have developed some hole or something of the
kind and rain water had soaked in, but to my disgust I found that my socks were
drenched in fresh blood. We found out
the culprit too, it was the Leech that had hitched on my legs, either en-route
during the trek or while I was in Pangoot forest. The descent thereafter, was uneventful and
after long 5 hours journey, we reached Garam Pani and by this time we were
totally famished as well as dead tired.
 |
Panoramic view of Bhimtal lake
|
 |
Bhowali village
|
 |
Wild flora
|
 |
View from Chorsa village
|
 |
Lemon rumped warbler
|
 |
Grey headed yellow warbler
|
 |
Long tailed Minivet
|
 |
Nainital by night
|
 |
Getting the corns roasted
|
As I have narrated hereinabove that
it had started raining as soon as we started our descent from Chorsa Village
and by now it had become unrelenting. We
stopped by at Kainchi Dham
and had some Pakoras and Tea, but I especially had the famous ‘Lime/Nimboo Water/Pani’. Thereafter, we slowly made our way back to the
Resort at Panghoot, crossing by Nainital and had a beautiful view of the lake
by night. Early next morning we started
our journey back to Delhi and had a break for some fire roasted corns, which is
a specialty of the hill regions and shot some photographs also of more birds
that were chirping about. The remaining
part of the journey was very pleasant till Delhi, with the rains following us
all through the way – we were, in a way, the harbingers of the rain clouds from
Uttarakhand to Delhi.
WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE DESTINATION -
