A few nights in the cloud- Ramgarh, Uttarakhand

Tripoto
7th Jun 2017
Photo of A few nights in the cloud- Ramgarh, Uttarakhand 1/6 by Soniya Kanchan

After Palampur the next destination we had to go to was Ramgarh in Uttarakhand. The first time they told me about this I didn’t even know it existed, I had to google it. And it is not the place where Sholay was shot, they only share the same name. For our visit to Ramgarh 2 from or group had to drop out. The 4 of us then packed our bags and left from Ramgarh around 12 am from Delhi. For Uttarakhand we had to cross Uttar Pradesh and go, the highway and check points were quite haphazardly managed unlike Punjab and Haryana. Since it was Ramzan time a lot of shops were opened around 4 in the morning for us to take quick stops. We had to take a few turns as due to monsoon few trees had fallen down on the highway. But the best part of the drive was when we had to cross the jungles of Gim Corbett National Park, the road was both smooth and spooky. The 4 of us did not sleep for a second and kept listening to music in the entire drive. And at the twilight we reached Bhimtal Lake, we saw the sunrise from the lake. It was a little chilly there and the colour of the sky was gorgeous. On the journey we had taken some questionable substance due which our drivers took several wrong turns around Nanital. And soon they stopped to have quite a heavy breakfast in the car. As we entered the mountain to reach Ramgarh, we were welcomed with heavy clouds right in front and around us, the scene was just gorgeous, with lush green mountains all over the place and heavy rainy clouds around us. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we were driving inside this place, it was heavenly.

Photo of A few nights in the cloud- Ramgarh, Uttarakhand 2/6 by Soniya Kanchan

Ramgarh, was a hill station that Britishers had discovered. Therefore, most of the colonies and houses were designed in British architecture. The homestay we were going to stay at and renovate was a walk-able distance downhill from the main road. It was a small lane surrounded by houses both sides. The house we were supposed to stay in was quite old with wooden interiors, with balcony hanging over the hill. The main hall consisting for two contradicting decorations, one side had Chinese feng shui and the other had portraits of Rajput emperors.

Photo of A few nights in the cloud- Ramgarh, Uttarakhand 3/6 by Soniya Kanchan

The doors like old age had small entrances. The two rooms had window sill where one could see the mountain ranges. As you go down the stairs from the house there was a small sitting area where one could sit, read, party looking over the fields and the hills. The entire place was full of greenery. We all started exploring the place and got busy taking pictures of this beautiful place, and suddenly it started raining. This was the cherry on top, it started to get a little cold and with hot tea in our hands we sat down in the balcony looking at the glorious view. Ramgarh has fields of apples and apricots, the trees surrounded our house as well so we had a lot of access to free fruits for snacks.

Photo of A few nights in the cloud- Ramgarh, Uttarakhand 4/6 by Soniya Kanchan

Soon we left the homestay to explore the valley. We went to the Seclude hotel, the entire route was covered with trees, and there was a white beautiful tower on the edge of the mountain. The best place of the homestay was a fire pit, where one could sit for a bonfire looking over the mountain, listening to music. The place was also covered with marijuana plant, for the some that was a paradise. After a fulfilling meal, we headed over to our stay to renovate the place. We all took sand papers, paint brushes in our hands and let the artist in our hearts live a little.

Photo of A few nights in the cloud- Ramgarh, Uttarakhand 5/6 by Soniya Kanchan

While we were there we also got a chance to listen to the village stories. Apparently, few female bandits were around the area with their guns planning to loot a hotel. The person in charge of the hotel came to inform us to be safe and he himself was carrying a gun in case of emergency. We were all spooked, but it was getting a little difficult for us to believe. Well, nothing really happened while we were there but it the story made our stay a little adventurous.

Photo of A few nights in the cloud- Ramgarh, Uttarakhand 6/6 by Soniya Kanchan