Kandakhal, a Road Less Travelled

Come June every year, and the wanderlust bug bites all of us, the entire family goes into the wanders’ mood and everyone can be seen planning for the trip. We mostly head North to the mountains and our destinations are usually off-beat locations where we can expect a degree of privacy. Not for us are the overcrowded Mall Roads, nor the overhyped goods that sell two to three times their actual price! Nor for us is the desire to bump into other human beings, nor is it our desire to appreciate fashion in others or perhaps even to be appreciated ourselves.

The sight of a Munnia munching on succulent seeds can be wholesome!

A mere week after our return from a village resort in the Jim Corbett Park we headed once again to another off-beat destination, though this time in the company of my brother in law and his family. He came up with the idea of visiting a less known place called Khandakhal a place up in the mountains parallel to Lansdowne, in Uttarakhand, 278 kilometres from Gurgaon. We would stop for a couple of days in Ghaziabad at my Brother in law’s house and then drive to the hotel/resort that bore the name Hinvil Valley View Resort.

A Typical Garhwali House

The drive itself took us through the interiors of Uttar Pradesh, parallel to the Ganges Canal onto places like Khatouli and Bijnore. We did not enter Meerut. On the trip to Kandakhal we left Ghaziabad at 4:30 p.m. and reached our destination at 10:30 p.m. (something that I would avoid in future as the last thirty to forty kilometres wend through zones that see animals, especially elephants). The roads, moreover are narrow and liable to see rockfalls and avalanches and other obstructions that narrow down the road further.

A Himalayan Jay, curious about the lens?

Thirty-five kilometres before the destination, we did ask a shopkeeper in a major town about the directions to Kandhakal and he advised us to break the journey and instead continue in the morning. The reason he gave us was that it was a road less travelled. Later we learned that it was risky to drive at night as wild elephants were liable to make crossings at night and that the forest rangers could rescue stranded cars only during day-time.

The Hinvil Valley View Resort in the background

The Hinvil Valley View Resort/Hotel that we checked in is a no-frills hotel in the midst of rolling mountains commanding a grand-stand view into the distant mountains. Also amazing is the view of the firmament with a canvass of stars sprinkled on it. The rows of tall pine trees, winding river-beds, and the chirp of birds along with the lone chameleon gazing silently at the human visitors is an inspiring moment.

All Smiles for the clean air and peaceful surroundings

While no doubt you are in the midst of nowhere, the closest to visit destinations are Dugada, Lansdowne, and a waterfall an hour’s trek or twelve kilometres drive by car. For us, what mattered most was just staying put or else trekking to the top of the mountain. For me, the greatest Pass-Time was bird watching and insect spotting. The most interesting of all was spotting a white-headed Bulbul and a rather colourful Himalayan Jay. Among the insects that I spotted, the most awe-inspiring sight was to see a spider wrap her victim inside a white silken cocoon prior to feeding on it. I was also able to capture three beetles in different states of movement!

A Non-Veg Dinner for a hungry spider

The three states of  Beatles

The landscape, of course, was simply amazing. I used a variety of lenses to capture some amazing scenes. While the 55-250 mm lens was too narrow for the landscape shots, the 18-55 mm lens was much better, though I guess a wider-angle lens would have been better!

One most revealing moment was the realisation that most of the human being’s hairstyles, especially the punk hairstyle and the crested hairstyles might have been copied from birds especially the Bulbul bird.

A Model for Hairstyles

The Punk Hairstyle

A White-headed Bulbul, rarely seen!

But then, how could I forget that chameleon that would visit a particular tree-stump in the mornings to heat itself up! I wonder who was more surprised, the chameleon or I.