The Serene Binsar

Travelling in the hills with family is always a challenge. This time we were willing to take the challenge and targeted Binsar, Uttarakhand. I had an opportunity of a long weekend and after a few thoughts and hunting for suitable place to stay I decided to leave on Thursday afternoon. So I packed my camera, my wife Deepika packed other luggage, our kids Puru and Yohan got ready to leave.

Day1, we started at about 3.30 PM at Noida to hit NH 24 straight and targeted to reach Rudrapur by 8.00 PM. The road from Rampur to Rudrapur was in pathetic condition and we could reach Rudrapur at about 9.30 PM. Checked in to the hotel and after having dinner we retired to bed early to catch some nice sleep and start fresh next morning for the drive up in the hills. However, only after a couple of hours sleep, we got up hearing the heavy noise of wind. A medium heavy storm had hit the area disturbing our sleep. Anyways, we managed to sleep again.

Day2, Friday morning, after having the breakfast, we checked out and started next course of the journey in Uttarakhand. I was amused with the road conditions in Uttarakhand and expected a smooth drive. Very soon we were alerted by the bikers coming from the opposite direction not to head towards Haldwani through the highway. The storm had uprooted lot of trees and the roads were blocked. The locals suggested a detour which was not a highway and could not accommodate such a heavy traffic coming from both the directions. Thanks to Uttarakhand Police who were proactive in managing the traffic. However, due to this mess we reached Kathgodam by an hour late. Until Nainital I did not feel like driving in the hills.

After Nainital the drive in the lush green hills started through spiral roads and along the rivers at many places. Till Almora it was smooth. However after Almora I relied on the sign boards for directions and did not consult the resort owner. The sign boards led to a rough terrain which was running through dense forest. For next 15 kms we hardly saw any human being. Finally we reached at Binsar Eco Camp in Dhaulchina.

Binsar Eco Camp is situated up the hill covered with dense pine, fir and other plantations. The place is surrounded by lush green hills and valleys. The owner Ravi Mehra, his dog Sandy and other staff welcomed us and served Palash flower juice which was refreshing. As we were not tired and it was still sunny, Ravi took us for a nature walk immediately on the ridge just behind the resort. It was a nice short walk through the plantation and the view from the ridge was awesome. We could see the layers of lush green hills in all directions and deep valleys. Ravi pointed to snow covered mountains in the north. But due to clouds in that area the mountains were not visible. We spotted quite a few birds and Ravi told about vegetation also. There was aroma of Thyme in the air which grows wild in the hills. Also, there were few thick and tall Fir trees (Christmas trees). Puru and Yohan were all excited on the ridge seeing so many trees, butterflies and birds. The kids in excitement did not need any assistance while climbing or coming down the ridge.

Binsar Eco Camp: Clicked from the ridge

Binsar Eco Camp: The Lawn

Binsar Eco Camp: The Valleys

Binsar Eco Camp: Flower – Krishna Kamal

Yohan enjoying the blue sky

Later in the evening we enjoyed the bonfire with some nice wine. During the bonfire we met Shakir and Fatima who were on their honeymoon, Aditya was solo traveler and was enjoying the gap between the jobs and Matthew from England who was on a road trip on his Royal Enfield.

The camp has a small staff and all of them do everything like housekeeping, serving the food etc. The cook is a local guy and he prepares some local food. The food was very simple and fantastic. Tasted like home cooked food.

Nature Walk – Fir Tree

Couple : Rare Click     

       Family: While walking on the ridge

Monster Cloud: As Puru named it

Day3, Ravi took all of us to a river which was about 15-20 mins drive from the resort. The area appeared to be untouched and I think only the locals knew about it. The water in the river was very cold. While I was busy clicking pictures Deepika soaked her feet in the cold water and Ravi took Yohan and Puru in the water. Surprisingly, the kids wanted hot water for the bath in the morning and they were enjoying the natural whirlpool of the cold water. Ravi proposed a lunch at riverside and we refused as it was very difficult with kids. So we returned to the resort at lunch time and retired in our room for the rest of the day. Later in the evening the kids enjoyed playing in the lawn with Ravi and his younger brother Gaurav.

                                                             Puru enjoying the cold water            

Yohan and Puru with Ravi

That evening I set up my camera with telephoto lens to shoot the moon. Settings did not work well and I could not manage to click good pictures. So I packed my camera and we spent rest of the evening with other guests while enjoying another session of bonfire and wine. The cook prepared chicken on special request and it was just finger licking.

Day 4, Morning Deepika and I tried clicking some pictures of birds. Later we decided to go to Jageshwar famous for an ancient Shiva temple. The place is about 30 kms from Dhaulchina and the drive was very smooth. The last few kms of road runs through dense forest along a river. That view through the windscreen of my car was a like a picture postcard. The sun rays were filtering through the dense trees, spiral road, small river and just a few locals walking on the roadside.

Road to Jageshwar

Russet Sparrow: The bird was sitting here for about half an hr

Found in abundance in this area

Red-Billed Blue Magpie

Black and White Robbin

  

The small campus in Jageshwar has few small temples. A small river flows nearby and the temple is surrounded by green hills. I did not carry my camera to the temple assuming they do not allow photography. From outside the temple I could not get a good view of the temple to click pictures. After spending some time in the temples we came back to Dhaulchina.

That evening I setup my telephoto lens early in the evening. I was able to zoom and focus the full moon and clicked few pictures. Other guests also got an opportunity to view the close-up of moon through my camera. Rest of the evening was usual with wine, bonfire and dinner.

My first attempt on lunar photography

Day 5, I got up early and Ravi & his younger brother Gaurav suggested me to go to the ridge as it was clear sky and snow covered mountains were clearly visible. So I immediately trekked towards the top of the ridge. By then the cloud formation had started but still it was clear. I setup my camera and clicked few pictures in close up and panorama. I came down and suggested Deepika to go up the ridge. She also managed to click few pictures of snow covered mountain. Meanwhile I took Puru and Yohan to the ridge and Puru was able to see the white mountains. He had been eager to see snow covered mountains for long.

Snow covered mountain

By 9.30 AM we were all ready and after having the breakfast we started our journey back to Noida. This time we decided to take another route hoping it to be better. Some locals suggested going via Kashipur. Until Kashipur the drive was excellent through hills and then through dense Jim Corbett National Park. After Kashipur the hell broke loose and the road was worse than Rampur – Rudrapur stretch. It was a mess until we crossed Moradabad to reach NH 24. After hectic 12 hr drive we reached Noida at about 9.30 PM.

Binsar is very beautiful with lush green landscape, fresh air and clear sky. We had a successful trip and this driving us to plan such trips frequently. Break in the journey really helped me in keeping away the driving fatigue. However on return journey I drove all the way to Noida in 1 day. Next targets could be Mukteshwar, Ranikhet etc.

Recommendations for other travelers

1.       The drive is long so take an overnight break at Rudrapur or Haldwani both ways. This will also save your mood as the roads are really bad in UP.

2.       Take the road Moradabad – Rampur – Bilaspur – Rudrapur. All the roads, until you enter Uttarakhand, are bad. This road is busy and you feel little safer.

3.       There is a bypass just before Kathgodam. Take the bypass to avoid city traffic. However the bypass is very long.

4.       Carry your toiletries, medicines as you generally do in all your travels. It is difficult to find doctors in nearby places in the mountains.

5.       Carry jackets or other woolen clothes. The evenings are cold.

6.       Almost at every shop I found only Frooty and Mixed Fruit juices. If you have special taste, carry the juices with you.

7.       Get your fuel tank full at Almora. Difficult to find fuel station after Almora.

8.       Try Bal Mithai. This is delicacy of hills and very very sweet.

9.       Don’t drink and drive. 

Bollywood ke Baap

Baap in Bollywood had always been an important role. Baaps are present in Bollywood from the era of Mughal E Azam to Buddha Hoga Tera Baap. Many Baaps are iconic and became role model for other actors playing the similar role. Here is my personal list of the Best Baaps of Bollywood

1.        

Dilip Kumar - Movie: Shakti, 1985 - Role: Police Commissioner Ashwini Kumar - Baap of the very famous Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) An honest cop, and an introvert father who does not want to betray the law under any threat, even the life threat for his only son. Knowing the fact that his own son has started hating him Ashwini Kumar still makes all the attempts to maintain a close relationship with Vijay and prevent Vijay from taking a wrong path in the life. Despite all the attempts, Vijay eventually becomes a criminal. This hard stoned, disciplined and honest father finally does not compromise with his principles and take the hard step of gunning down his own son. A very strong character beautifully enacted by Dilip Kumar.

2.        

Shashi Kapoor - Movie: Kabhie Kabhie, 1976 - Role: Vijay Khanna (an Architect) - Baap of so romantic Vikram (Rishi Kapoor) A romantic and rich Baap. I love this Baap who is so friendly with his son that he himself encourages Vikram to take the right path of accompanying his confused girlfriend and help her out. This Baap challenges his son to take difficult paths be it love or work. Remember the scene when he challenges Vikram to climb up the hill on construction site rather using a lift.

3.        

Naseeruddin Shah - Movie: Masoom, 1983 - Role: D.K (an Architect) - Papa of so sweet Rahul (Jugal Hansraj) I intentionally used the word Papa due to the intensity of humble role. A serious and rich Papa who has nice family. His life is shattered when he comes to know that he has a boy Rahul from his short lived extra marital affair. Rahul who is now almost of the age of his elder daughter is sent to live with his Papa. Rahul who is unaware of the fact tries to adjust in the family as a guest and Papa is struggling to settle the chaos due to his mistake. Papa is so attached with Rahul that he tries everything to convince his wife to accept the child. A highly emotional drama ends with Happy Papa and his family. This particular role of Papa is incomplete without Rahul and Indu (wife, Shabana Azmi)

4.        

Anupam Kher - Movie: Dilwale Dulahaniya Le Jayenge, 1995 - Role: Dharamveer Malhotra (an NRI Entrepreneur) - Baap of another so romantic Raj (Shahrukh Khan) This Baap is next in the league of rich and friendly Baap. The Baap is happy on his son’s (Raj) failure in studies, serves him Champagne and beer, he is willing to send his son on long vacations and enjoy the life as he could not do all this through his life. Finally he encourages Raj to take the difficult path of love and win his lover from the orthodox family. A nice friendly and comic Baap’s role beautifully enacted by Anupam Kher.

5.        

Amir Khan - Movie: Akele Hum Akele Tum, 1995 - Role: Rohit Kumar(an aspiring singer) - Papa of Sonu (Adil Rizvi) The Papa is an aspiring singer and Mom is an aspiring actor. Failures and frustrations spoil the marriage and mom moves on. Papa, despite all the difficulties and challenges in career, continues to take care of son Sonu. In a legal battle over the custody of the son he finally sells his compositions at very cheap prices to pay for the lawyer’s bills. A strong bonding between father and son very well played by both Amir Khan and Adil Rizvi

6.        

Ronit Roy - Movie: Udaan - Role: Bhairav (A factory owner) - Baap (Sir) of Rohan (Rajat Bermecha) The most arrogant Baap I have ever seen in any movie. The stern and abusive Baap sees the world only through his eyes. A bad dad who forces fitness, engineering and work on his son. The Baap is finally defeated by the son who follows his own dreams and saves his half-brother from his dad.

7.        

Sunil Dutt - Movie: Dard Ka Rishta - Role: Ravi Kant (A doctor) - Father of Khushboo A very emotional role. The father of a teenage girl who is ailing from leukemia. He does everything to save his daughter who is finally saved by his ex-wife (Smita Patil). A strong bonding between a father and daughter.

8.        

Prithvi Raj Kapoor - Movie: Mughal E Azam - Role: Emperor Akbar - Baap of Saleem Maybe the first arrogant Baap of Bollywood. The emperor loves his son but does not agree to his love affair with a dancer. A ruthless ruler, who takes on the war against his rebellious son, arrests him and announces death sentence for him for the rebel against the empire. A justice loving ruler exempts the dancer from death penalty and excuses the son. However, he still retains the honor and succeeds in separating the dancer from his son.

9.        

Amitabh Bachchan - Movie: Buddha Hoga Tera Baap - Role: Vijju (A hitman) - Baap of ACP Karan Malhotra (Sonu Sood). An angry old man who defies all the rules of being old. Vijju rides bikes, flirts, fights and an expert shooter and proves himself to be Baap of everyone and still young. This Baap comes to protect his son, who is an honest cop, from the mafia.  Young at heart Baap also sets up the girlfriend for his son.

10.    

Kamal Hasan - Movie: Chachi 420 - Role: Jai\ Lakshmi Chachi - Papa of little girl Bharti Papa is a middle class man and Mom is from rich family. Middle class life challenges spoil the marriage leading to divorce. A father goes extra mile to stay with his little daughter and takes a job of nanny in a disguise of an old woman. A middle class man, after separation from wife, takes this job and balances disguised life with his original life. The happy ending and family unites again.

                

A trip to Andaman: A mesmerizing treasure of India

I always had fascination for Andaman Islands from my childhood. After waiting for so many years and unsuccessful plans, finally I was able to visit this spectacular place in Dec 2011 with my wife Deepika and kid Puru for a week vacation.
The planning and booking started in July 2011 so that I could get cheaper air fare for the peak season (24 Dec – 31 Dec 2011). The cheaper air fare was still very expensive and ate about 50% of my vacation expenses.

The travel started early morning from Delhi and we had a 1 stop flight, via Kolkata, to Port Blair. The JetLite flight was good and we were expecting to enjoy a lot of scenic beauty of Andaman from the window. Soon we got the news that a cyclone had hit Andaman. The turbulence increased my anxiety of possible return of flight to Kolkata. But we were fortunate enough and the flight landed in Port Blair in first attempt. We could enjoy the scenic beauty from a few thousand feet above only. From flight I could imagine how wonderful my vacation would be. I could see the excitement in my family and Puru was showing all his excitement to the co-passengers.

We had our taxi waiting outside the airport. I had booked my suite in Sea Princess resort at Wandoor. The hotel staff suggested refreshing at another hotel in Port Blair and visiting a few tourist places in Port Blair before going to Wandoor.

So we visited Mahatma Gandhi Marine Museum , an aquarium, some local handicraft shops etc.

Skeleton of Whale: Naval Museum

After visiting a few spots we reached at Cellular Jail. A huge 3 stories building was very well maintained. A part of it has been converted into civil hospital. Walk around and from the roof of the building you get a spectacular view of the sea. The sea was rough due to the heavy winds of cyclone that had started engulfing the island. Well later in the evening they had Light and Sound show. It started drizzling but the show was breathtaking. The arrangement of colorful lights and sound effect was great. Although we were very tired due to the travel but we enjoyed the show. And later we moved to Sea Princess resort at Wandoor. It was already dark and it was still drizzling. I could not see much on the way. But I could understand that we were passing through forests, a couple of small villages. From most of the places the sound of sea was audible. Wandoor is about 30 min drive from Port Blair.

Amar Jyoti : Cellular Jail

Cellular Jail

Cellular Jail : A view from top

Corridor: Cellular Jail

Light and Sound Show

The welcome at the reception was warm. A special barbecue party was arranged in the lawns near the beach. We had a nice dinner and we retired soon in our room. The whole night I could hear the soothing sound of sea and heavy rains. One thing I always see as advantage on sea beaches is you get up early in the morning and don’t feel sleepy throughout the day.  So we were up before 6.00 AM and from the veranda of our room we could have a nice view of sea through the coconut and beetle nut trees. I walked around the resort a bit and I must say the resort was more beautiful than the pictures on the website. 

Wandoor Beach: A view from cottage

We packed our luggage and started our trip to Port Blair to catch a ferry to Havelock Island. To our disappointment all the ferries were cancelled due to the rough sea. We did not have option but come back to Sea Princess resort in Wandoor. Luckily I had booked the resort both in Wandoor and Havelock from the same group of hotel. On our return to resort we were welcomed again with same warmth and were given the suite again. We just relaxed at sea beaches for the rest of the day. Fortunately the sea was not rough in that area. The Wandoor beach was like a picture postcard. Nice sand, tall trees, few rocks, sea shells, small islands at some distance. The big trees that were uprooted in 2004 Tsunami are now lying on the beaches and they add to the beauty of beaches. Puru had a great time playing with other kids on the beach and collecting the sea shells.

Wandoor Beach

Wandoor Beach: Full View

Wandoor Beach: The remains of Tsunami

Well, I thought of following the news on cyclone on TV channels and surprisingly there wasn’t any news on the channels. I later relied on my mobile phone to check the weather update. I could imagine, reading the forecast, that there would not be any ferries at least for next couple of days.

The sleep in the night, in fact for 2 consecutive nights, wasn’t pleasant. The heavy rainfall was scary, especially when you are 100-200m away from the sea shore. There was no power backup and during the power cut in the night it was complete dark. I could not see anything lying next to me. It was scary but enjoyable.

Sunset at Wandoor Beach

Next day I contacted the hotel booking staff to check if we could travel the Havelock. I got the expected answer “No”. Alternately, they sent us to visit Chidiya Tapu. It was again breathtaking travel along the beaches and through dense and peaceful forest. Since I had a driver I could enjoy sipping beer. Puru was all excited to see tall trees and rough sea.

On the way to Chidiya Tapu: Effect of Cyclone

Magrooves : Chidiya Tapu

Chidiya Tapu has a zoological garden that has a rich collection of birds and small beach. Well, due to the rain we could not spot any birds. The sea shore was great with mangroves and small islands at some distance. All we could do is get wet in sea water.

Beach: Chidiya Tapu

Lucky enough to find a closed Sea Shell

On return to Wandoor we stopped in Port Blair to have lunch at a much known restaurant “Annapurna”. It is a vegetarian restaurant and I must say the food was really good. We also tried the Lemon Tea which was freshly prepared (must try).

We were back to our resort in Wandoor. The hotel staff was pissed off due to heavy rush and chaos created due to cyclone. Mostly tourists were after hotel staff for arranging site seeing and ferry to Havelock. While I and my family remained calm and I left everything on hotel staff. Next day they managed to get the permission for limited guests for a visit to Jolly Buoy Island. The Jolly Buoy island remains closed during that period of the year. But the hotel staff and other tour operators pressurized the forest department and they agreed to open the island for limited duration and limited number of guests. It was sunny day and I was relaxing on the beach and the resort manager came running. He had a short time to take us to the boarding point for Jolly Buoy Island. We were instructed not share the information with other tourists (an advantage of trusting the hotel staff and booking directly with them).

On the way to Jolly Buoy Island

Jolly Buoy Island

Beach: Jolly Buoy Island

The bottom glass boat ride was the first experience of my life and we could see the marine life in their natural habitat. It is even important for small kids as they cannot do snorkeling or scuba diving. Well later I did snorkeling and I paid extra to the instructor to take me for a longer distance. It was one experience and I got to see so many colorful small and big fishes, colorful and different shapes of corals. The instructor spotted an octopus which was hiding inside the coral and I had a clear view of the octopus. The 15-20 minutes of snorkeling was one experience. There was something enigmatic about it.

Deepika, after some apprehension, agreed for it. On her return she was all excited. The excitement of Puru on beaches and then seeing Deepika’s expressions after snorkeling paid my vacation.

On our return from Jolly Buoy Island we could see a small island from a close distance. This island was also visible from Wandoor beach. The golden sand glows in sunlight. This island is under Forest Department and tourists are not allowed to visit. The island stands in the middle of sea giving a nice picturesque view.

Property of Forest Department

After another relaxing day, when the cyclone was faded out, ferries started plying we started our travel to Havelock Island. Despite the heavy rush the hotel staff could manage to board us in government ferry. The first I did, after the ferry started sailing, to reach at the upper deck. Next 2 hours Deepika and I just enjoyed the sound of sea waves hitting the ferry, the splashing water, immense blue water till horizon, dense forest on visible small islands. Later near the Havelock Island, when ferry slowed down, we brought Puru on the upper deck as well to enjoy the wind, sun and splashing water.

Havelock Island, a mesmerizing and breathtaking island with immense blue sea and dense forests. We checked in our resort Silversand Resort. As the name suggests the resort was on a beach with silver sand. Unfortunately, the effect of cyclone was clearly visible with fallen trees and branches of coconut trees, dirty beaches etc. Well blame it on the cyclone.

Sea Princess Resort : Havelock Island

During sunrise at Havelock Island

Afternoon we visited Radhanagar Beach. It is claimed to be Ranked No 2 beach of Asia after Bali. It was huge beach with golden sand. I think it would take about 1 hour to walk from one end to another end of the beach. A place for complete relaxation. It was a peak season and the beach was crowded. All the families were discussing about the disruption in their travel plans due to cyclone and cursing the tour operators for mismanagement. Well I was lucky enough that we were taken a good care by the hotel staff.

Radhanagar Beach

Sunset at Radhanagar Beach

The next day we wanted to go for scuba diving but the bookings could not be arranged. Due to the cyclone the sea had become dirty (the sand had not settled down till then) and because of this only fewer spots were open for scuba diving. And the operators were not taking new bookings. We regret missing scuba diving till date. To settle down alternately they sent us for other water sport like snorkeling and Jet Ski. But again the water was dirty as the sand had not settled down, huge crowd and Jet Ski operators were busy negotiating. We decided not waste time there and returned to our resort and relaxed for rest of the day.

The next day, we had to return to Port Blair as we had a flight on the following day. It is always advisable to return earlier to Port Blair as there are risks of cancellation of ferries. So we were back to Wandoor and the same suite was ready for us. In the evening the Hotel Manager arranged for a special Barbeque only for us and another family from Europe.

The next day we had our return flight to Delhi. I thought of extending my holidays for a couple of days but rescheduling the flight was not an option for me.

In all it was a 7 days trip and we felt that Andaman is not a place for 7 days vacations. We needed at least 15 days to enjoy Andaman fully. 

Our holiday was very well taken care by the Sea Princess Resort, Wandoor and Silversand Resort, Havelock. The Andaman has occupied a special place in our hearts and picturesque landscapes of dense forest, immense blue sea, silver and golden sand beaches are always to remember.

On our return we realized that indeed the place is a treasure. We will certainly visit Andaman again and again. Yes for sure we will not visit in peak season as it is more expensive during peak season and very crowded. Also the locals suggested that the month of December is never great as generally the cyclones hit the island during that month.

The only thing I felt bad is Indian tourist care little of the treasure. They litter waste anywhere and you can see polythene bags, plastic bottles, beer bottles etc on roadside, beaches and in still sea water near shore. The place is not dirty yet. But if the administration remains lenient, in few years the place will lose all its beauty.

After a couple of days of our return to Delhi I saw the news on TV that briefly covered the cyclone in Andaman. As you can judge from my story above the cyclone had faded away about a week ago. Such ignorance by the media of a great treasure of ours is disappointing. Whereas, the same Indian media gives a full live coverage on the hurricanes in US. 

Special Thanks to Vibha Malhotra (Founder Literature Studio : http://literaturestudio.in/) for guidance in editing the content of this story.

Rajat Rajvanshi