Road Trip To Dhanachuli from Munsiyari in a Suzuki S-Cross. From One Side of Uttarakhand (Garhwal ) to the other (Kumaon)
Good Morning Day 6. we’ve woken up really early today and the view of the rising sun with a backdrop of the snow capped Himalayas is nothing short of Spectacular. it is 6:30 Am and the sun ray’s reflecting off the Panchachuli peak’s at a distance are magical. 4 hours later, the feeling of having to leave munsiyari is slowly sinking in, we are done packing up and it is time to say by to Biju’s Inn. What a place this had been. Obviously we did not feel like leaving here any time soon, but we had to move on. it was 10:40 now and we were done loading up our stuff, Once again it was time to hit the road. we did not waste too much time and were soon on our way. we took a pitstop to soak in as much of the himalaya’s that we could. we were back on the narrow winding munsiyari Road, this time however the situation was very different. the sun was out and the weather was clear. this road was epic. by 1:30 pm we were at the end of the munsiyari road and were transported back into reality. there was major road work up ahead and the road was shut. after 3 hours of a blissful drive this was a buzzkill. with no other options at hand we got into the only shop that there probably was at Kwiti. We decided to explore the place, and set off on a trek. welcome to a place called DOr, we got off the main road and and followed an old path that led us to an ancient temple on the banks of a river (dont know which one) by the time we were done with this escapade and got back to the car, the road had thankfully cleared up. it was 4 pm and we were back on the road. 5 hours later we were approaching Almora, and thats when we got the cameras rolling again, the lights of the city at a distance could be compared to stars gleaming in the sky on these mountain roads. it was 10:00 pm by the time we crossed Almora, and our next destination dhanachuli was still 80 Kms away. The stretch from Almora to Dhanachuli was amazing, we did not see a single human being on this road, it was borderline spooky but equally mind numbing to know that it was just us and the road. we finally got to dhanachuli at close to 1:30 Am. We weren’t expecting food at this hour but our friends at Camp ArtScape were right up there in the hospitality department. After some rum and boiled eggs for dinner it was time to pass out. Day 7 Welcome to Camp Artscape at Dhanachuli, this was the last leg of our Uttarakhand Expedition. Dhanachuli is again at a height of over 2000 meters and is close to Mukteshwar. it was now around 10:30 am and our stomach’s were growling for food, the road to the dhanachuli market is a 15 minute trek from the campsite, and will give you a sense of what step farming really looks like. we got to the breakfast place by around 11:15 am. Nothing fancy for breakfast, but that doesnt mean that it was not tasty. The Next Stop was the BhaluGhad Waterfall. we got here by around 1:15 in the afternoon. yes there is a 10 Rupee per person ticket that you need to procure before you can head on the trek to the actual water fall. 15 minutes later we were on our way to the the waterfall. it was quite a distance. After half an hour of him leading the way, we finally got to a point where we came across the sign board that read “Water Fall” so it is true, there is a water fall. There was still some distance that we had to cover to get to the water fall, and some parts of this trek were trechearous. It was almost 2:30 in the afternoon now and we had made it to the Waterfall. While there may not have been too much of water rushing down the sides of the mountain, we were told that no one knows the exact depth of the water at the base. it looked like a little pond but we were warned and asked not to get into the water because no one was really sure about how deep it was and also a few people had drowned here recently. for once we adhered to the instructions given to us by the locals. in 40 minutes we were back to the gate and on our way to where the car was parked. We got to Camp Artscape at 4:15 in the evening, dropped our friends back at the camp and were now on our way back to delhi. An amazing journey from one side of uttarakhand to the other was finally coming to an end. The Land Of Gods and Temples was truly heaven on earth. We had mixed feelings, the Joy of having been there was now being mixed with the profound sadness of having to leave this enchanting place. Haldwani was where civilisation starts, we stopped off at a Pizza Hut there, had a coffee the first one in 7 days. And drove into the night.
