It was a long weekend during Holi
and we had a Short crisp plan for just five days. Lansdown is the nearest hill
station from Delhi. I had been there for so many times but that was going to be
my first bicycle ride in that region. During my early touring days, I read one
cyclist blog who attempted the Lansdown ascent from Kotdwar side. Read was
interesting, but then I realized, he exaggerated about the steepness, as the
ride was smooth and moderate.
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| The Circuit |
This was Rajesh’s second tour.
And I was trying to make it little easy for him. Our Original Plan was to start
from Lansdown but Due to some safety issue for my car breaks, we decided to
start from Dugadda, where the actual uphill ride starts. We couldn’t get PWD
rest house for the night stay and contended with a home stay on the main road. For
rest of the journey we enquired about all the possible stays on the way. During
every such tour, it’s every evening adventure to get a suitable stay. Rajesh
was getting bit worried about the steep route for next morning, so we decided
to start very early.
In morning, after taking a light
breakfast we managed to start at 7:30am. Road was clean wide with mild traffic.
ORS solution was good idea for energizing ourselves. With 9-10 short halts we
managed to finish 25km steep ride in 3Hrs, last 5km from Deria khal were
challenging with more degree in slope. Lansdown is the headquarter for Garhwal
rifles. And they won first prize for best campus many times. This reflects from
the cleanliness of the area. We also saw a documentary on Garwal Rifles which tells about its history. After having a meal we rode up to the highest
point, Tip & Top. Over all the town is good but staying there on weekend is
expensive. Only few resorts like GMVN (at Tip & Top especially their tree houses) and Fairy Dale are worth staying. We had half day remaining so we
decided to stay at a place called Sisaldi, which was about 12 km away on
Tadkeshwer road.
It was a steep enjoyable downhill
ride for next 9 km. It’s mentally tough negotiating uphill at the end of the
day. Last 3km were bit tough. On the way we decided to take a shower from a tap
on the road which revitalized our body and soul. Sisaldi lies in the middle of
two valley vistas. We arranged our stay below a small shop which had a silent
surrounding. Village had a very picturesque location with small temple at one
corner hill and had a view toward Corbett national park. Locals cautioned us
about a man
eater tiger who took away a child recently. Fear is always
thrilling and we already had tiger reserve on our further route.
During breakfast next morning, an
old man asked our whereabouts and about our journey. I said “I’m a local boy
and Rajesh is from Dehradun. And we will be going to Dugadda via Rathwadhab
skipping Tadkeshwar Mahadev”. With a
Surprised gesture he asked why we want to skip Tadkeshwar as it’s a famous local
shrine situated in the middle of deodar forest. I replied “I am Aswal by the
way”. Old man understood the reason.
Every local was aware that Leaves of Sal Tree & Rajput Aswals were not
allowed in the temple due to old beliefs. This question was asked a lot of
times during this journey. Contrary to old beliefs, I already had visited
Tadkeshwar 15 years back when I was in college. That time I was not aware of
the local sayings.
From Sisaldi we had a steep route
ahead till the highest point called Chakuliakhal from where Tadkeshwar Mahadev
Temple was just 5km away. There was a dense forest of Burans (heritage edible
flower of Uttrakhand) on the way. And then came, the longest downhill ride I
ever had. Road quality was superb. From chakuliyakhal till Rathuwadhab there
was no uphill ride. There is a beautiful valley, Panisain on the way with lot
of flat surface along with rivulet.
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| Cycle Repair |
Immediately after crossing
Panisain Rajesh front cycle tyre burst. We had extra tube but small pump was
not working. Luckily, help arrived on a motorcycle. That person took Rajesh to
nearby house which had mechanical pump. We fall behind by one hour which cost
us lunch at Gadipul a small market. Valley opened up wide with oak trees. Soon
we joined up with the Corbett park peripheral road. Landscape with the wide
river on right and dense forest on the left was amazing. Ratuadhab was at the confluence of the rivers. At Forest rest house we requested Ranger for our night stay. He didn’t allow us for the Bunglow as the reservation was possible
only through the internet. And one has to reserve Bunglow as well as safari at
least 45days before for such deep forest Corbett properties. Somehow Ranger officer
allowed us to stay in the outhouse for the night as we didn’t had option as it
was getting dark. Outhouse was a mini zoo with lots of noise but we managed
that show with some volatiles.
Route for the next day was
through the dense forest. With initial gradual uphill for 10km there was smooth
downhill. We could have stayed at jungle rest house which was 17km away but there
were no supplies. There was a lot of variation in landscape at Sonn Nadi area
with flat grazing areas for elephants and narrow valleys with small rivulets.
We had our lunch at Dhontiyal, and steep uphill started after 3km for almost
10km up till Sendhikhal. PWD guest house at sendhikhal was in ruin, area was a
good camping site with water and views. After that there was a downhill stretch
till village and about 2-4 km uphill ride. And at last there was a steep
downhill maroon color road till Dugadda. This ended our circuit at around
3pm. Over all this circuit is good for long weekend trip.
