Back to Noida via Kaladhungi road

Kaladhungi road

Once upon a time the name itself gave us a thrill of driving through that road - Nainital via Kaladhungi road. The road is steeper than common route via Haldwani. It had less vehicular traffic and was not maintained at all. More over we were wary of any puncture in the tyres of our bikes because of bad surface. There was not repair shop midway.

We were young bikers then 25 years back. We used to travel Kumaon-Garhwal-Himachal himalayas on our bikes - Kawasaki RTZ, Yamaha RX100 even on Scooter Bajaj Priya or Vespa LML. Those were the days in BHEL Haridwar. 

I last traveled through this road in 1999 April while going towards Nainital. It was narrow road, not maintained at all. We came across not a single vehicle from Kaladhungi till Khurpa Tal. That is separate story.

Innova, which damaged my Alto badly

We were ready by 6:30 in the morning, as the breakfast service would start at 7:30am , we decided to skip that. We had already cleared our bills last night. So without delay, we loaded our Alto and found that an Innova was parked just by our side. It rubbed badly the right side of our Alto and the paints were peeled out. It was very bad indeed. The driver must not a hill driver and did not know how to park in a small space. 

The bumper which rubbed

Morning started badly..Anyway. after complaining with the hotel guy and cursing the bad driving skill of Innova driver, we started.

Morning was so peaceful. The mall road was deserted barring few morning walkers.

Slowly we traveled the Mall road, by the side of Nainital Stadium at Talli Tal, via High Court Road towards Sukha Tal. The high Court Road is one way.

Near Sukha Tal - a dried lake, there is a KMVN Guest House. Initially the road is ascending and then the driving was downhill.

Downhill drive started here after around 9km from Nainital 

At 11 km from start point we came across a small lake on our left. It is Sariya Tal. It was well-maintained with a park for kids, and boating facilities.

Sariya Tal - 10 km from Nainital on Kaladhungi Road

Some food joints were also there but unfortunately all were closed that time. We kept on driving. After a hairpin bend, we saw a signboard "Sariya Tal Water Fall". It was actually the overflow drainage of the lake over a rocky face.

Another bend and some minutes more, we were at the top of Khurpa Tal. A picturesque lake in the middle of pine forest. 

Khurpa Tal on Nainital-Kaladhungi Road

Being on the secluded road and off route, it was rarely visited by earlier tourists. However, now-a-days, local travel agents made this lake a popular tourist spot. Seeing the construction around the lake, one can see that the real estate growth in this region - hotels, resorts and all.

After Khurpatal, till Kaladhungi, the road passes through dense evergreen forest, with very less vehicular traffic. It is ideal place for bird watching. This is the eastern fringe of Jim Corbett National Park. So occasional visit of wild life are also not unexpected. The drive is downhill and the surface is very good.

From Kaladhungi the drive was through plain land and usual daily traffic. We crossed Bajpur, Tanda, Moradabad on the way. We had a break at KFC near Gajaraula at around 10:30 am. We stopped here as the toilets were clean. After getting refreshed we had our breakfast and relaxed for a while. 

Break at KFC

Another 100 km drive was boring. We felt the pinch of pollution due to burning of sugarcane. Irregular traffic as usual by the overloaded tractors ruled the road.

We reached home at 1:00pm.

In the evening we started planning for our next trip options.......