If relaxation is what youâre looking for, head for the hills. Â Â Â Â
When bhaiya made bookings for Early July, we thought we had enough time on hands to do all the packing & preparation stuff required. Only that we did not realize, it was to take more than mere bookings to get going. The entire holz were spent my whiling away time at the computer, writing furiously, this & that while mom kept busy with household chores and dad & bhaiya happy in the belief that I, the most dependable creature in this house would be obviously making all the arrangements.   Â
Well, it was close to the end of June, 3 days left precisely, when mom yelled that if I was not interested in going, I should not have asked for the trip in the first place. Â Â Â Â
After quite a many frantic running around, mad yellings, trunk & box checkouts for some woolens that should have been thrown in but couldnât be traced, airbag stuffings, listings and relistings later, we finally had half the house in small measures being carried by us.   Â
Not that we didnât have a reason to, every single thing would be required, keeping in mind the varying temperature conditions and mom-dadâs health.   Â
We had packed the car like a caravan the day we began. Finally we had to move the next day, at the break of dawn. I messaged my friend:Â Â Â Â
âyeah, right now am about 70 Km from Delhi , at my home in UP. đ We’ll b moving from here for Naini tomorrow morning, 4 am. Logging out now. đ Take Care!â   Â
While my friend wished me a safe journey and an awesome trip, I wondered if Iâll manage to get up that early.   Â
Manage I did, to wake up the first at 3 in the morning and then it was a wild wild time, hurrying with a quick poha & dhokla breakie and preparing sandwiches, paranthas & tea for the route.   Â
At The Crack of DawnÂ
The next thing we knew was we were on our way smiling with a thankfully clouded sky and cool weather. First blessing! đ We spun the car towards Garhmukteshwar…   Â
 The weather was great for travel in the summertime. On this day, it was not our hottest day yet… rather very comfortable. I tried to take photos from the car but they were bad as the car sped at a speed of 110 Kmph. I needed to add them as the experience was a real good one.   Â
Garh was fast to reach, what with empty roads at the break of dawn.Â
The Mighty Ganga flows below
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 After reaching Garh, we bowed to the mighty gracious Ganga (river Ganges), and then traversed the following route:   Â
[Uttar Pradesh]–> Garhmukteshwar –> Gajraula (pretty decent road and negligible traffic ) –> Amroha via NH 24 (kids picking jamuns & mangoes from the trees lining the roads) –> Muradabad by-pass (full of people selling Jamuns in donas made quickly from some large leaved plant growing close by) –> (famous for its mango bagheechees) –> Rampur Shajahanpur via NH 87 (established for its sarees & chakoos ~ knives) –> [Uttarakhand] –>  Rudrapur – Kashipur (brilliant basmati rice fields) –> Udham Singh Nagar (known for its Pant Nagar Agricultural University and airstrip visible from the way) –> Haldwani (several small temples dotting the route with numerous bells hanging in abundance in each), Kaathgodaam (literally stands for The Wood Godown), and then finally Jyolicote were to fall enroute to Nainitaal.
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My friend messaged me : July 2 at 8:31am    Â
Guess you must be well on your way now..actually expect you to be fast asleep by now.. đ Should be an awesome journey..and am sure a blog update about your trip is imminent đ   Â
I wrote back : July 2 at 11:31am
Sleeping??? No wayyy! I didnt blink a single wink, you talking of 40 ? đ I took pics, vids (though I am no good at them), commented along, as we drove through the floating clouds, felt the rain, ate lots đ & finally about to reach the hotel ! đ
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And my friend shot back : July 2 at 11:42am
next time I think the train would suffice..drivin thru the countryside..am sooo jealous of you đŚ
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Hahahha! I was having the last laugh! đ