Last year ( November) went to Binsar. Never thought i would be going to the mountain again so soon …. and that too with more time and many places : stayed at Bimtal – visited Sattal as well. Went to Binsar – on the way stayed at Almora. Also stayed at Dinapani and visited the Jageshwar temple …. in short – this was the entire trip.

Now let me start from the beginning … we (me and my uncle) left home at 11 am on 31 October 2012. We stayed overnight at Moradabad (Rahi Tourist Bungalow) as uncle (jethu) wouldn’t be able to cover the distance from Delhi to Bimtal at one stretch. From Delhi to Moradabad – it was uneventful but not boring as we’re yet to discover new places and the uncertainty of what we’ll discover – kept us happy and lively. Rahi Tourist Bungalow at Moradabad was okay – staff was okay too. Not a bad place to stop for overnight halt. It’s difficult to reach this place though …. because when one travel from Delhi – they mainly follow the NH 47 which bypass Moradabad and heads towards Bareliy. This Rahi Tourist Bungalow is on the old Delhi road …. and there is no sign board giving direction to Rahi Bungalow from NH 47 – so it’s pretty difficult to get there.

Next day (1st Nov. 2012) -we started our journey for Bimtal. Road condition was quite bad till we reach Rampur and Rudrapur ….. but when the roads got better – we got stuck in city traffic jam. After crossing Pantnagar bypass – the journey was better …. no traffic only planted forest on both side of the road. Bought some fresh Guava by roadside vendor …. which were naturally very delicious. At Kathgodam – we had our lunch and moved on for Bimtal.

We reached Bimtal at around 4 pm – we stayed at KMVN Rest house. We realised that staying at KMVN is always a better decision. The TRH (Tourist Rest House) in general are built at a better location with beautiful view of the town or the valley or the tal …. in Bimtal too the TRH was built on the hill facing east – so it gets sunlight from morning till late afternoon. This makes the place warm and lively. More plus point of TRH is that they’re spacious and their services or the staff are in general very good.

After reaching TRH …. i had little rest and jethu had his tea and then we went out to see the surrounding. We walk down hill ….. had a great view of the lake – adored the wild flowers along the roadside. i should have taken a closeup of these flower – but i guess i was busy enjoying it …. forgot it completely. The redness that covers the roadside is created by a wild flower – it’s a creeper that has little red flower (funnel shape). This creeper was all over the place.

And off course this magnificent lake. Actually – Bimtal got named after one of the Pandav Brothers …. who was huge and very strong and so is the lake – large and beautiful. In fact it’s the largest lake in the Nainital District.  It’s 170 mt. long and 454 mt. wide. There is a islet in the lake. It’s now used as an aquarium and is open to public. It’s a different thing that we didn’t visit it …. first – i m afraid of water and the boats were very narrow. The thought of getting in was scary. Secondly – taking a boat to the aquarium would have been an unnecessary expensive affair. Though i haven’t even asked the price but it’s a tourist spot – it has to be very expensive.

Well let me get back  to the islet in the lake – because of this islet – the lake looked complete and beautiful. It’s emerald green water and the giant mountains around it  …. somehow gives the place a very calm and quiet surrounding. One can hear the swam quaking from the Rest House.

On our way back to the TRH …. we stood and watched the road being repaired. Traffic was stopped at a little distance and all those people waiting in their car patiently. No one using bad language …. which normally would have been used in northern plains. Work was slow but very neatly and perfectly done – no “rafa dafa” work. i guess all this is possible because man and work management was better.

Next day we went to Sattal … one could also visit Naukuchiya tal – but we could go to only one of them. One of the staff from the TRH suggested we visit Sattal as it was a quieter place. As we got closer to the place – we realised that the man was right about the calm and quiet fact. The road that wind down the valley to reach the tal was surrounded by trees on both sides ….. words really cannot describe its beauty – it was incredible green and peaceful. At one point of time – i was actually worried about safety in visiting such a lonely place ….. i assumed it would be a lonely place as the roads leading to Sattal was “empty” – it seemed as if only we’re going there ….. i was wrong though.

When we reached there – many tourist were preparing to leave and many has just arrived …. like us. We walked down from the parking area – there were many eaters and emporium (private) selling Kashmiri stuff in Uttrakhand ….. people would rather buy the local specialty. There’re many boat’s man waiting at the shore of the lake. In fact they’re calling out to the visitors – if anyone was interested for going on a boat ride. Of course we’re not – so we did what we loved the most ….. Walk ! we crossed a bridge and went to the other side and walked along the lake side. Needless to say that it was pleasant walk through the nature. We met few workers …. who were collecting composed manure (decaying leaves mixed with soil – perfect manure) for the garden that they’re constructing on the main shore ….. right then the main shore was covered with pebbles and sand.

Sattal … which means “seven lakes” : Pania – Nal Damayanti (it’s twin lake) – Sita – Ram – Laxman  and Sukha tal. They’re small but very lovely lakes surrounded by tall pine and oak trees. We visited the Nal-Damayanti lake. The gardener we met earlier – told us that there’re many variety of fish in that lake and one can enjoy fishing as well but they need to get written permission from the authority.

Later we stopped near Sukha tal (which is next to Nal Damayanti tal) ….. jethu had his green tea and i took some more photograph. We spend few hours at Sattal but actually one can spend a whole day there …enjoying the sun – the greener – the birds – the calmness – the peace – the blue sky – the emerald water …. and so the list is endless.

We returned to Bimtal TRH – had lunch and some rest. In the afternoon we went out for a short walk around the lake. We walked passed by the quaking swan – we passed a barrage and a temple. From this barrage – water is being supplied to many far villages for domestic use and for irrigation purpose. In hills – there’s crises for water …. i will write about it in little detail when i get to Dinapani. We walked for another 1/2 km and then decided to return as it was getting dark and also because Bimtal lake was a huge lake – we couldn’t have manage to circle it …. at least not at once.

The next day we headed for Almora !