Nainital: Mesmerizing Beauty in the lap of Nature
Last summer, we went to the most popular tourist destination of Uttranchal, the city is known as Lake City, Naina Jheel is the heart of the city & that’s why the city is known as Nainital. My friends planned to go Nainital from Lucknow, the heat was on the top and the May month was almost burning. We reserved our tickets in AC 3 tier before 15 days because it’s difficult to get reservation for Nainital in summers; then we thought of booking hotel because in summers, the hotels of Nainital are almost full, so we searched a lot and then we booked Alka Hotel at Mall road facing Nainijheel. After a long wait the Day Come and we set out in
The sun was far up in the sky, and the cool, fresh mountain air seemed like heaven's nectar after the poisonous air of Lucknow, and I wanted to relish every drop of it. It was such a fresh and beautiful morning, our taxi were riding on spiral shaped road, one side mountain and other side was “Khai”, it was thrilling to see below and enjoy the hight. Then we stopped at “Dogaaon” for Breakfast and from there you can actually see the proper shape of Nainital city and people say that in the night the lights of Nainital City takes an “OM” shape.
Returning below, we went boating in the Naini Lake. In the twilight, the moon was as beautiful as you could possibly want it to be. The boat slowly eased out into the lake and the rhythmic lapping of the oars against the water's surface held us spellbound. The air was light, cool and refreshing, and yet it sent an occasional chilly shiver down one's spine. The sound of silence was deafening; its spell broken only by the melodious humming of a Kumaoni tune by our boatman. The lake was larger than I had expected, and our hour's ride had quickly trickled by. On one side the imposing hill rose steeply, like a gigantic sentinel on guard. The other bank was dotted with numerous lights from endless shops, as if in festive celebration. The moon seemingly smiled down at us and nobody, save the boatman, wanted the ride to come to end. The air was now distinctly chillier, and the brisk walk on Mall road thawed our numb limbs. Returning to the hotel we sang around the bonfire warmed by the bonhomie of shared moments.
Next day, we did horse riding and went to China Peak and had Chai there and clicked lots of photographs and in snaps we locked our unforgettable Masti and the nature of God. In the evening we planned to go ARIES, a state observatory to enjoy stars and moon. It’s an awesome experience to see big domes and telescopes and see stars and planets and can feel you can touch them.
Last summer, we went to the most popular tourist destination of Uttranchal, the city is known as Lake City, Naina Jheel is the heart of the city & that’s why the city is known as Nainital. My friends planned to go Nainital from Lucknow, the heat was on the top and the May month was almost burning. We reserved our tickets in AC 3 tier before 15 days because it’s difficult to get reservation for Nainital in summers; then we thought of booking hotel because in summers, the hotels of Nainital are almost full, so we searched a lot and then we booked Alka Hotel at Mall road facing Nainijheel. After a long wait the Day Come and we set out in our train Lal kuaon Express at Aishbaag Station.
After a one night journey we finally reached at Lal kuan Station and then took one full Taxi but there are individual taxi is also available but at station it is very important to bargain, the approximate fair of one individual is Rs.150. And full taxi cost almost Rs450-550 . But if you want to get cheaper vehicle, you can also take “Government kumaon bus which charge only Rs.45-50”
The sun was far up in the sky, and the cool, fresh mountain air seemed like heaven's nectar after the poisonous air of Lucknow, and I wanted to relish every drop of it. It was such a fresh and beautiful morning, our taxi were riding on spiral shaped road, one side mountain and other side was “Khai”, it was thrilling to see below and enjoy the hight. Then we stopped at “Dogaaon” for Breakfast and from there you can actually see the proper shape of Nainital city and people say that in the night the lights of Nainital City takes an “OM” shape.The ride was rendered thrilling by the antics of our driver who, with unbridled enthusiasm, accosted the hair-pin bends with speed and dexterity. The endless valleys, green with lush foliage, bathed in the exuberance of the cool, summer sun was a delight to our city-bred eyes.
We checked in at hotel Alka to enjoy a relaxed bath and lunch, before setting out to explore the beauties of nature that Nainital had in store for us. We stepped down from our hotel and we were at Mall Road, which encircles the Naini Lake at the heart of the town, and is dotted by numerous shops, many of them selling decorative candles for souvenirs. We went by foot from mid mall road to MalliTal. When you enter in to city the place is known as Tallital and from there you can see the Nainilake and the both side of lake there are two roads, one is Mall road and other side is pedestrian road know as Thandi sadak. No shop is at Thandi sadak and often people go there for walk and worship. And from Tallital you can take rikshaw or you can also go by foot to enjoy the beauty of lake or also you can take boat from Tallital to Mallital and experience unforgettable thrilling boating.
Naina Devi Temple and Gurudwara are situated just big Tibetan Market and the side of lake and just in front of Temple after crossing Tibetan Market and playground; a huge beautiful Mosque is also situated. Raghav, Preeti, Nirmal and me decided to go to Temple and Ahmed went to Mosque.
At Tibetan Market we bought some cothes and had delicious & mouth watering Thai food, Thppa & Momos. Then we decided to walk on Thandi sadak and do lots of Masti and sat on an old bench and were reading tourist guide book, about Nainital and what is its History?
Background Of Nainital city: In Indian mythology, Nainital is regarded as one of the 64 'Shakti Peeths'. Legend has it that a grief stricken Lord Shiva was carrying Sati's body and one of her eyes fell here. The Nainital Lake is shaped like an eye and the town derived its name from the combination of Nain (eye) and Tal (lake). The Naina Devi temple is located at one end of the lake.
The place lay undisturbed till an English businessman chanced upon the location while hunting. The businessman, Mr. Barron, a sugar trader got enamoured of the place and decided to start a settlement on the side of the pristine lake. The British had occupied the area in 1815 and the first recorded reference to the township can be found in a journal entry in 1841 in 'Englishman Calcutta' which mentions a lake being discovered in the area. The English settlement soon had lovely cottages on the hillsides around the lake. Sometime later, a number of wealthy Indian families from the old town of Almora shifted to Nainital and the town flourished. Nainital was, at one time, the summer capital of Uttar Pradesh.
After getting loads of knowledge about Nainital we queued for the joy-ride on the famous rope-way that carried us to Snow-view peak, high up in the mountains from where the view of the valley and the town spread in its lap, is breathtakingly beautiful. The surrounding thick fog made visibility poor. We tramped around awhile, and relaxed with a refreshing cup of tea at the garden restaurant.
Returning below, we went boating in the Naini Lake. In the twilight, the moon was as beautiful as you could possibly want it to be. The boat slowly eased out into the lake and the rhythmic lapping of the oars against the water's surface held us spellbound. The air was light, cool and refreshing, and yet it sent an occasional chilly shiver down one's spine. The sound of silence was deafening; its spell broken only by the melodious humming of a Kumaoni tune by our boatman. The lake was larger than I had expected, and our hour's ride had quickly trickled by. On one side the imposing hill rose steeply, like a gigantic sentinel on guard. The other bank was dotted with numerous lights from endless shops, as if in festive celebration. The moon seemingly smiled down at us and nobody, save the boatman, wanted the ride to come to end. The air was now distinctly chillier, and the brisk walk on Mall road thawed our numb limbs. Returning to the hotel we sang around the bonfire warmed by the bonhomie of shared moments.
Next day, we did horse riding and went to China Peak and had Chai there and clicked lots of photographs and in snaps we locked our unforgettable Masti and the nature of God. In the evening we planned to go ARIES, a state observatory to enjoy stars and moon. It’s an awesome experience to see big domes and telescopes and see stars and planets and can feel you can touch them.After getting lots of information about astronomy, we returned to the hotel, and packed our stuff to catch our train from Kathgodam Railway Station and reached at station once again train set in motion but I left something of me behind forever in the lap of nature.
Photo credit: Google.com
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