Hello Everyone,
Guys, it was all about my planning skills that I have made a 2-day trip to cover the most areas of Nainital and nearby Jim Corbett Park and that too with full enjoyment. So here is all about my and my hubby’s journey that starts from Noida. Previously, we were thinking to go by our car but I thought that will be costly and risky so I suggested to go by public transport as it can be more adventurous. I cover only 2 days as office work didn’t allow me to take leave on weekdays so me and my hubby thought of spending our weekend in near-by cool destination. We have already been to Mussoorie in Feb so this time is for Jim Corbett and Nainital. Below is the successfully executed plan:-
I have booked a Tatkal ticket from Ghaziabad to Ramnagar as Ramnagar is the nearest station to Jim Corbett. The Tatkal train tickets 3AC for 2 cost me about Rs. 2064. On 27 Jun 2014 after leaving from office, we reached to Ghaziabad station at 11:00 pm. Our train “Ranikhet Express” timings were 11:20 pm and the train arrived at Ghaziabad station at the right time. The train was in good condition in cleanliness.
On 28 Jun 2014 at 6:00 am, we reached at Ramnagar station. From there we took a shared auto till Ramnagar bus stand. As we decided to stay in a hotel near Ramnagar bus stand so that next day we can take the bus to Nainital easily. Ramnagar is a small town but it is good. The hotels are Ok Ok.
At 7:00 am we booked a room in hotel “Hotel Everest” for Rs. 1000 for one night stay. The hotel is nice and we ate breakfast near the hotel only. As we were having sufficient time so we thought to visit Garjia Temple and we took a shared auto to Garjia. It is 45 mins journey. It is situated near Kosi river. The river is so clean and many pilgrims were taking holy bath there. Then we visited nearby Jim Corbett Museum. And in 2-3 hrs, we returned back to our hotel and took the lunch and then took some rest.
Beautiful View of Kosi River
Pilgrims taking bath in holy Kosi river
For Jim Corbett, we have already booked a permit online on 23rd June 2014 for 1 jeep for Rs. 1000 as without permit, the park officials will not allow your jeep to enter the park. Near Ramnagar bus stand, there is Jim Corbett Park Director office and nearby there are some Jeep safari agents who will offer you to hire their safari jeep.
We are having options of Bijrani and Sitamani only as Dhikala had been closed on 15th June. Sitamani is not as good as compared to Bijrani or Dhikala so we have booked the permit for Bijrani. And on 30th June, all other gates also had been closed including Bijrani due to monsoon.
Then, we booked a Jungle Safari jeep for Bijrani as we were already having a permit for Evening Shift. Total cost: Permit(1000)+Jeep(1200)+Guide(400)=Rs. 2600 (All are Govt. rates).
At 3:00 pm we took the jeep and move ahead for Jim Corbett park Bijrani Amanda gate. As soon as we entered the gate, the guide Mr. Tiwari has been seated in our jeep. We were just feeling very excited to see the Bengal tiger and other animals inside the park. And as we are nature lovers so we are very curious to enjoy the beauty of dense forests. Mr. Tiwari who was sitting in the jeep told us about the species of animals and birds that we can see in the park. The roads inside the forest are very jerky. Only a Safari jeep can suffer this jerk. The most animals we observed were variety of deer as: Spotted dear, Sambar, Barking deer. However we didn’t get a glance of Bengal tiger after roaming about 4 hrs in the park. Only we were able to see the fresh footprints of the tiger and its cubs. It means we missed it for only a couple of minutes:( At most of the places, we have waited for minutes to see the glance of tiger but of no use. Anyways we were not feeling sad as the beauty of forests is so much lovable that we were totally lost in it. You can see a lot of deer and langoors in the forest.
On the way to Bijrani(Jim Corbett Park)
Spotted “Spotted Deer”
Bijrani Entry
“Langoor” inside the Park
Ready to be clicked “Sambar” deer
At 7:00 pm, the jeep driver dropped us at Ramnagar bus stand where we ate dinner in nearby restaurant and returned back to our hotel for an early sleep as were totally tired. And as next early morning, we have to catch up our Nainital bus.
On 29-Jun 2014 morning, we took the bus at 6:30 am from Ramnagar bus stand and reached Nainital at 9:00 am. There were some taxiwalas standing for sightseeing packages but we denied them and thought to roam around on our own. So we walked on our foot till Tallital bus stand and hired a bike on rent for Rs. 1000 and Security Rs.2000. Then we have gone for boating in Mallital and Tallital Lake for Rs. 210. We have done our breakfast and shopping on Mall Road itself which is near to Tallital bus stand.
Then we moved ahead on bike for RajBhawan(Governor’s House). Wow it is a very beautiful place and the gardens, the sightseeing near it is really awesome. The guide there guided us and told us about the history of this place. Then we headed towards Himalayan view point, Lover’s point and Suicide point. Awesome the weather, the scenery, the clouds coming over the hills, just WOW:) And then monsoon 1st rainfall started :D so we moved back to Mall road for some shopping near Tallital bus stand. We returned our bike at 6:00 pm and got our Security money Rs. 2000 back. There were tourists and tourists only all around on the Mall road. No vehicles are allowed between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm. The traffic management is very good. At 7:00 pm, we booked 2 seats in a Volvo bus. There were agents sitting in some shops on Mall road.
Enjoying boating in Nainital
View of Himalayas
At 8:30 pm: We have seated in our bus for Ghaziabad. 30-Jun 2014: We reached Ghaziabad at 6:00 am and took an auto for Noida.
And then back to office:):)
A very warm welcome at the outset. A very natural write-up. Your instinct is very pure and depicts in the log. Simple narration is always gracious and win hearts and so did your work here. I am pretty sure many-many more will admire you in similar ways. Keep writing & sharing your travels.
Keep traveling
Ajay
Thanks for the welcome part:)
Ya I love the simplicity and directness. Simple living and high thinking is base of my life. Anyone can understand the simple language and I will continue writing in the same way.
Thank you For updating your experience , I am sure it will be of great help for anyone who has a plan to go there.
Yup hope so and if anyone require more details then I will always be there to help out:)
A very informative and detailed post. I liked the way you tried to put the info as much as possible which will be definitely going to help to follow ghumakkars.
I wish that you could have added Temple pic and some info regarding the hotel.
Thanks for the appreciation of my first post.
Actually we didn’t click the temple pic that’s why I didn’t paste it here. And I think I have almost shared the Hotel details in my post: Name of the Hotel, Location and Price. Its not a 3-star or 5-star hotel. It is just a small hotel which is near Ramnagar bus stand. Ramnagar is not a very big city so the hotels were not of that standard type but yes you can spend atleast a night there. And the cottage price are too high for one day/night so we thought to book a simple hotel only. And at that time when we visited, the standard hotels were already booked so we have to choose this last option. Please let me know if more info required regarding this hotel.
You took train that really good , road btw Moradabad and Ramnagar is really bad more then Jungle safari. There is alternate road from Moradabad to Kashipur -> Ramnagar that is also bad.
Sitamani is not bad Jungle , it main corridor for Corbett NP. This May14 we meet DFO of Sitamani . She explained about Sitamani and Importance of this corridor for NP and off-course in June this corridor become more live when elephant move from Jungle to Jungle. Any way as a visitor , i would have also choosen Bijrani over Sitamani because this season there cont. sighting on Tigress with cubs.
Lovely post , you include costing and other details , that will really help to many reader. – TFS
Thanks a lot. As a visitor Dhikala is good because as per the guide, there is a plenty of water there as compared to other jungle areas so animals can be seen easily there in the summers. However as it had been closed so we have chosen Bijrani because after Dhikala, animals can be seen there easily over Sitamani.
Well written post and well-managed in short time both are appreciable. Your traveling experience by public transport will be helpful for all future travellers to the destinations.
Thank you for sharing, keep travelling and keep sharing…
Thanks a lot:-)
Welcome aboard Agrta.
You packed in a lot of stuff for a 2 day tour. I must have been to Nainital many times but didn’t know that one can rent a bike. Great idea.
Sitavani is a great place to be, it is a bit remote so it gets hard. We stayed there for a night about 15 years ago and it was completely virgin during those days. Your mention of Sitavani made me re-read my old story. It doesn’t seem like that old when I read it – https://www.ghumakkar.com/exploring-sitavani-and-mohaan-in-corbett/
Keep traveling and keep sharing. Wishes.
Thanks Nandan:). I wish we could roam more because we were having our bike but unfortunately heavy rainfall ruined it:( Anyways we with our friends are planning again to make a trip to Jim Corbett Park but this time it will be Dhikala sometime in November/December this year.
In Nainital, you can rent a bike near Tallital bus stand. There are not many who provide the bike/scooty on rent but yes you can find some. You can ask local people there.
A very well written detailed post. I have been there around 5-6 times and every time experience was excellent. There are TRC guest house in Ramnagar and it’s a nice place to stay specially of Mohaan & Dhela guest house.
I think Nainital deserve a night stay in place of Ramnagar.
Thanks for sharing the informative post.
Thanks Saurabh:)
Yes we were also thinking to stay in Nainital but it was not possible for us to go Nainital on Saturday night as we had evening safari and moreover feeling tired. On Sunday night cant stay as Monday morning we had to be in office:(
Welcome Aboard Agrta!
A nice post equally supported by beautiful pics. I hardly remember anyone could watch Royal Bengal Tiger in a day or two, even in Sundarban, however exceptions are always with the luckiest persons. Better luck next time.
Thanks for sharing
Thanks Anupam:)
Hmmmm morning safari people were lucky to see the tigress with her cubs. But then I thought that leave it if I was not lucky to see the Bengal tiger but atleast I am lucky to explore the beauty of these dense forests:)
Jim carbett is a place which been on cards for me since a while but hills always supersede them whenever I make the plans. There is a waterfall inside Jim Carbett, which would have been a great place to visit. Same about Nainital Zoo, which might have given you chance to watch Bengal Tiger and Leopards even if not in open, but from close distances.
While the post is simple, short and sweet, I would love to see how Governor house looks along with its Golf Course etc
Hi Nitish,
We didnt have so much time to visit Jim Corbett Fall as it is approx 1.5-2 hrs journey from Ramnagar so instead of it we visited Garjia Temple and Jim Corbett Reserve Museum.
Some years back, we have already been to Nainital Zoo so this time we thought to visit Rajbhawan. I am having some pics of Golf Course but not of Rajbhawan as the pics were not allowed inside it.
I am planning to go to Nainital from Delhi by I10 Grand……on Holi holidays….. Please advice on the following
1. Best route with good roads
2. Economical Hotel in Nainital
3. Places to visit Nainital
Please help…..Rgds…..r julka