Summary - Inclusions Almora, a small town in the state of Uttarakhand is known for its heavenly peace, Lush green mountains of Binsar forest, View of White Snow Mountains of Gangotri ; I am sure these were the points that inspired Swami Vivekananda ji to meditate here for a month. Below I have tried to make easy, simple, step by step itinerary to Almora. Below #itinerary is planned in a way that you save time , money while travelling without missing out on anything. #Hotels, #Transport #Restaurants are suggested below. Each and every cost mentioned below is incl. #food , #stay , #ticket, #fuel , #car . You can choose hotels as per your #budget. My suggestions are based on my budget for the given trip and given day.
1) It was a day of Holi and a long weekend. Due to National Holiday there were limited options of inter-state transport nor did we had any concrete plans of where were we heading to. It was impromptu decision to travel and we headed to the Anand Vihar Bus terminal. We only knew that we will board the bus that leaves 1st to any other state. When we reached there were 3 buses that were suppose to leave in an hour's time. I) Heading to Nepal II) To Ajmer III) To Almora we had never heard about this place, I just asked the driver "Waha Pahadi hai" he said "bohot hai" and that's how we choose Almora.
Bus Time - 5PM , Ticket 700/- PP
2) We reached Almora bus stop at 4AM . There was no transportation available at that time to reach our Airbnb that we booked on our way up Almora. I called up the host and he was kind enough to pick us on his scooter. He took us to his home which was 4-5Kms from the actual Airbnb.
3) When we reached at his place , we were shocked to see his daughters studying at 4:30 in the morning :-)) He asked us to freshen up have tea , breakfast post which he will drop us once the sun comes out a bit.
4) We left from his place at 5:30AM and check-in to our Airbnb. It was nice peaceful place with 2 cottages , valley view and Himalayas on the left. It had a nice veranda , a beautiful fire place and Kitchen. All this at just 799/- per night. You can use my referral link to get discount. https://abnb.me/e/UG3EVFMQm9?suuid=935f8342-7277-4176-92ae-13303ee7a0e8&slevel=0
5) 6AM - 8AM As we were sitting in the Veranda. Slowly the clouds were clearing up and we were about to see peaks of himalaya
6) 8AM - 10AM - Slept for couple of hours as we were tired after 12hrs journey.
7) 11AM - 1PM - We went on a walk to Eco park which is a part of reserved forest and full of deodar trees. You can have a stroll in the forest for hours.
9) 3PM we reached Golu Devta temple, It is the most celebrate deity in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand.
10) Lunch
11) We headed back to hotel after walking for 10-12Kms that day, on the way back we bought some chicken meat and beers for the evening. The air was so fresh that it did not feel like we had walked for an entire day.
12) We reached hotel at 5PM . It was perfect time to sip on some beers and game of Chess.
13) Evening the temperature started dropping until it was 4° . We made some Chicken curry and rice for the dinner and opened Old Monk to make us feel better in cold.
1) We woke up at 6:30AM to see the sunrise and the himalayan range. We headed to Kasar Devi Temple one one of the most prettiest , scenic and peaceful temple I have ever come across. Kasar Devi Temple became known in the Kumaon region when Swami Vivekananda ji stayed and meditated here for over a month. We spent our morning here just enjoying the calmness of the place
2) Post lunch 3PM - We checked out from the hotel. Took a taxi to Hanuman Garhi View point.
3) As we had our return bus on Day 2 night from Nainital. We headed towards Nainital at 5PM. We had previously visited Nainital. So, we were spending time around it rather than going in the town.
4) Took bus at 8PM from Nainital and reached Gurgaon at 7AM