Nainital is considered a hill station and everyone goes to enjoy summer vacation in the hills. We were a bit adventurous. I had not been on a trip since November 2019 so I was already craving for one. When a friend asked me to visit Nainital, I agreed for this long weekend trip. I did not get time to research because of pending work at office., so I only added Mukteshwar to the visiting list. My friend was responsible for all tickets and bookings. With last minute packing, I stuck with my basic travel list and started off my journey.
We started from bus at 10pm from Kashmere Gate to Kathgodam. The buses take you from Delhi till Kathgodam. Then the travel agencies take you in smaller vehicles or private buses to Mall Road of Nainital. If you book a bus till Nainital, they drop you at respective stops. We reached by 6am and then by a smaller vehicle to Nainital. We stopped at this location for a brief period of time. By the time we started from Delhi it was already raining and when we reached Nainital it was raining heavily. I was cursing myself for not checking the weather in advance. Anyhow we reached our hotel which was near the Mall Road. As adventurous as it can get, my friend had not made the bookings. Thankfully it was off season and we got bookings at a reasonable rate at 700/-INR per night. Hotel name is New Payal. We were already drenched and the rains stopped for a while.
The first day did not leave us with opportunities other than visiting the local places by foot as it was raining every few hours. The area around the mall road can be covered in few hours and you can also enjoy its beauty.
We visited Naini devi temple, the local shops and the Mall Road.
The main attraction is the lake where you can also enjoy boating. Also clicked few selfies along the way.
For dinner we stopped at Chandni Chowk Restaurant. I will recommend this place because of the food and ambiance. Do enjoy some badam milk.
By night, it started raining again and it felt like we are going to die. Thankfully, the people at hotel got some bonfire and we relieved.
Though the first day did not go as planned and most of the local tourist agencies denied going to Mukteshwar owing to heavy snowfall, we decided to take a tour around Nainital. But to add some excitement, we planned for a bike trip. You can easily rent bicycles, bike, cars or self drive them too. The rates are reasonable. We paid 800/- INR per head for all the lakes, nearby temples and the Himalayan point.
The roads to all the lakes are super smooth and highly recommended to get a breath of fresh air. However, the Himalayan point and snow point are having difficult route(too steep). Really thankful to our rider Mohit who helped us get the best experience of this one day trip.
Another luck that we had was it snowed the other day so got a snow experience here. This was least expected.
Third day was sunny and after talking to many travel agents, we chose the one which was safest and in budget for Mukteshwar. Checked out of the hotel and kept our bags at the travel agent's place. He was going to take us back to Delhi too so it was easy. The whole trip costed 1800/- INR for a small car. The route to Mukteshwar is also beautiful. And some small spots on the way too.
The first stop was this amazing temple. This temple is famous for its unique wish in the form of bells tied to the temple.
Next we visited tea garden. as it was not the season, didn't see anything except people wearing costumes and getting clicked.
We skipped the caves due to time constraints, but you can also visit it as it is a famous tourist spot.
Most of the lakes have same attractions - lakes, sport activities like paragliding, rock climbing, water zorbing, camping, local shops and food stalls. The main highlight of the day was the bike ride.
Mukteshwar is famous for its temple. Just close to the temple is the Chauki ki jali which is at a walking distance from temple. If you are going to Mukteshwar, do spend some time early morning or at sunset at this place.
On the way back, we decided to end the trip with a trek. The Bhalugaad falls are not exactly on the route to Nainital from Mukteshwar but you can cover it by spending few extra hours. The ticket price is 20/-INR and its a peaceful place.
It started raining while getting back. And at one point it was all foggy like the movie Raaz ;). Thankfully we were back safe and on time. By 8pm we got our bus to Kathgodam. To make things more exciting, we got the front seat with driver. As our enthusiasm wasat another level, asked him to play Punjabi songs. His reply was - "Madam, Delhi se ho kya(Are you from Delhi)? ". Anyways we got a comfortable sleeper bus from Kathgodam and we reached Delhi by 5am.
P.S. In case anyone wants to visit Nainital and take a bike trip, contact Mohit : 9411519458