Day 1 – Hyderabad – Delhi – Nainital (17/05/2008)

Here I go with my trip details. I came home at around 12 in the night on Friday. We had a flight at 7 in the morning. As there was less time and we have to start by 5 to airport we thought we will not sleep. We just sat and were chatting. Suddenly at around 3 in the morning my bro and bhabhi (Raghav and Bhargavi) decided to join us and they immediately booked the tickets. Me mom and dad were really happy as this is the first time that they are accompanying us for a trip. Meanwhile by 5AM the cabs came home and we were all set to go.

There were 2 innovas and they raced with a speed of 120-130 Kmph and we reached airport in less than an hour. In the new airport even the domestic airport was good. This was the first time to this airport for mom, dad, uncles and aunts. They liked it a lot as it was aesthetically looking nice, well spaced with many number of checking counters. The check in was very fast and we had ample time to just sit there.

Check in Counters which were not yet open

Taking rest after doing the luggage check-in

I took some pics of the airport meanwhile. As the time was getting closer we went for security check and we reached the gate for the flight. There we got an announcement saying that the flight is delayed by nearly 20mins. So we thought we will just sit there and have some snacks.

5 Star Rates

The rate of a coffee or tea comes as a shock to us at the airport. The tea was Rs130 and coffee was around Rs.80. We took 2 coffee and we ate some of the snacks that we brought with us. Now we got the final call and we went and took our seats in the flight.

Coffee shop at the airport

Say No to Go Air

We went in Go Air flight and came back in Spice Jet. Long time back I have flyed in Go Air to Chennai for my visa and have found it not bad. But this day I thought never again say OK to Go Air. The flight was bad. Snacks (that we bought) were bad. Most important the accent of the air hostess who does the announcements is so tough to understand. When she came to us and asked if we would like to have a sandwich I had to ask her twice or thrice to understand what she was saying. Even while landing the flight gave horrifying jerks.

At Delhi Airport

We Landed in Delhi airport by 9.45AM. As I have been seeing Changi Airport and now the new Hyderabad airport, this Delhi airport looked awful. It was totally uncomfortable situation for me. I hate heat, crowd and waiting, and all these happened at this airport. Once we got down the plane we couldn’t bear that hot scorching sun above our heads. We got into the Go Air bus and reached the terminal. Meanwhile in the flight Urmila aunt bought ear rings and bag which they went to collect. We were waiting to collect our luggage. As many flights were delayed that day there was huge rush at the airport. Finally we got our entire luggage and we left the terminal.

Outside Airport

Once we were out of the airport it was a total chaos. We were waiting for the driver in the hot sun and the driver was sitting some where under the tree shade and was giving us wrong directions about where he was. So there was some delay in locating our vehicle. It took 45 minutes waiting. As there was terrible heat, all felt the sweat of hot summer. Two vehicles one Qualis and other Indica car have been sent by the tour organizers on the indent of Dad. By the time we sat in the vehicles we were totally exhausted and were desperately in need of food and water.

Journey Started to Nainital

After all these problems we finally started from Airport at around 11.00 AM to Nainital which is 300 kms on Lucknow high way which is under renovation through out. We were prepared for the bumps and turns on the way. Just outside Delhi we bought some snacks and cool drinks and water. We finished all of this in no time as everybody was hungry and were totally in need of some liquids too.

We stopped to buy some drinks and snacks

The Route we were going was Delhi - Ghaziabad - hapur - Garmukhteswar - gajraula - Moradabad - Rampur - Bilaspur - Kathgodam - Nainital

Route Map for Delhi To Nainital

On the Way

At around 1.30PM we reached the outskirts of Moradabad. We thought we will stop for lunch. So we told Drivers to take us to some nice dhaba where we can have good food. They took us to a road side dhaba by name "Unique Food Plaza". It was quite good. Atleast we got a break from this continuous journey since morning. We ordered for Roti, Mixed Veg curry, Dal Tadka, Jeera Rice, Curd Rice and dads special Mooli Salad. The food was less spicy and good in taste. We couldn’t expect more.

Dad and Uncle at Unique Food Plaza

Drivers

Both the drivers were good. The Qualis driver whose name is Rasheed was always smiling. While the Indica driver whose name is Khatam Singh (Finish Singh haha) is smoking beedi even during a small break. We have been asking them questions about the route and they have been responding quite well. I, Raghav, Bhargavi, Gopal uncle and Radhika aunt were in Qualis and we had no complaints about the driver. Where as Mom Dad Sheshagiri Rao uncle and Urmila aunt were in Indica and had a major concern about the smell of the beedi.

Drivers - You can easily say who is who

Now on the way we have seen some market, I dont really remember the place where we have seen that. Also we came across a railway gate where we had to stop for sometime. We once again utilized that time to buy a coke. It was like the brand name for the trip was COKE.

Some shopping mela

It was like evening 6.30PM that we reached a place called Kathgodam. There we had a diversion for two routes. Of which one would take us to Nainital and the other to Haldwani. Nainital was 35KM from that point. We were told that the entire 35 kms is Ghat Road with steep curves. We were actually prepared and were anxious to see such region. We all had some tea at the tea stall on the road which was ok.

Tea stall near Kathgodam

We then started off to the 35KM Ghat section drive. On the way there were places where there was no fencing to edges of the road which appeared dangerous. But the drivers were professional and skilful in driving this ghat road. The ghat road was beautiful with full of greenery and tall trees. Entire range of hills was covered by different variety of trees. We were able to see some monkeys on the way.

Trees

Monkeys

We were also lucky to see sunset and the moon in between the trees on those hills. You can see those pics of sunset and moon here. Overall it took us more than an hour to reach Nainital. By the time we reached the hill station it was 8PM.

The climate is very cold may be less than 15^o C. We were supposed to meet a guy from the travels office by name Mr. Krishna. We were actually supposed to get a room in some guest which this fellow didn’t knew and gave us accommodation in Coronation Guest House. This was also good. We got fresh and started taking some pics and video about the trip. Meanwhile we were called for dinner. There was another group who were accompanying us in this trip. They were 29 people coming in a bus along with us. They brought their own cook. So today’s dinner was prepared by this cook. Dinner included chapathi, upma, Jilebi and some curry.

After dinner we took a small stride on the road towards Naini Lake. But Raghav did not allow elders to come there as the road was very steep and distance was more than a kilometer and while coming back it would be tough. So all the elders stopped at the hotel. Me Bro and Bhabhi started off to Naini Lake. The road down to lake was uneven and sloppy. We three reached Naini lake and took some pics in the night mode. It was a great feeling when we saw Naini Lake, because since childhood we have been hearing about this place but never got a chance to really see it. While coming back it was really tough for upside route so I thought bro’s decision to stop them was correct. We had good sleep as everybody was tired because of the tedious journey.