India Travel

Nainital has plenty of places to eat, with restaurants and fast-food options along the Mall geared to tourists (some close in the low season), and everyday dhabas (which serve cheap and tasty fish curry) in the bazaars at either end.

Ashok. near the Boat House, the Mall, Mallital. Good veg dhaba; cheap considering its location.

Embassy, the Mall, Mallital. One of Nainital’s better restaurants with wood-panelled interior: serves pizzas and baked dishes, but strongest on Mughlai cooking. About the only place with a selection of desserts.

Kwallty, the Mall, Mallital. Lakeside restaurant: tables overlook the water. The usual standard mutti-cuisine.

Machan, just west of the Embassy, a new and well run upstairs restaurant that’s good for people watching on the promenade below. A clay oven, Bronze Age chic decor and dedicated management.

Rasoi, the Mall, towards Mallital. Mid-priced veg cooking but otherwise unexceptional.

Sakley’s, the Mall, Mallital. Versatile restaurant, with Western food on the menu, including passable pizza, plus a bakery and confectioners.

Sher-e-Punjab, the Mall. Good Indian food, halfway along between Mallital and Tallitai. A second, bigger branch, near the main bazaar of Mallital. is just as good, a bit cheaper, and popular with locals.

Shiva Bara Bazaar, Mallital. Cheap but good and popular dhaba in the bazaar with tasty palak paneer and the usual casual attitude to electrical safety.

Sonam Tea Stall, Tibetan Market. Mallital. Roadside cafe in the covered section of the market selling motnos (steamed meat dumplings) and thukpa (soup).

As a holiday town, Nainital is full of hotels; however, budget accommodation is hard to come by, and a hefty fifteen percent tax is levied onto prices almost everywhere. Rates are high between March and July, peaking between mid-April and mid-June, but you can normally find discounts at other cimes. On the whole, rooms are cheaper in Tallkal than in Mallital. The price codes indicated overleaf are for the low season but with an indication of the high season rates.

Alka, the Mall 05942/35220. Ornate, large and comfortable, perhaps a tittle heavy on the marble. with a restaurant strong on Gujarati and Punjabi lood. Rates are lower in the annexe, 300m towards Mallital.

Ankur Plaza, above Mallital rickshaw stand 05942/35448. Good value especially low-season, with friendly management. Vases of plastic flowers on the cisterns at least shows attention to detail if not great taste. The best rooms are off a great roof terrace overlooking the lake.

Armadale, Waverley Road, Mallital 05942/36205. Quiet location. Reasonably comfortable mid-range rooms and a good-value dorm (Rs100), with free transport on arrival.

City Heart above Mallital rickshaw stand 05942/35228. Upper rooms are overpriced during the high season, but have superb lake views. No food, but it’s close to amenities, and worth coming to just to meet the eccentric manager, a bass guitarist in a local band and wildlife photographer.

Claridges Naini Retreat Ayarpatta Slopes 05942/35105. Beautifully situated high above the lake, with extensive and immaculate grounds, and a great terrace for barbecues. The best Nainital can offer.

Evelyn, the Mall 05942/05942 or 2457. Overlooking the lake, with excellent views from the large roof patio. Some rooms have giant red beds. The claim made in hotel literature - “all rooms fitted with CCTV” is mercifully untrue. The cheaper rooms at the top have their own terrace. Popular with visitors to the Ramgarh ashram 25km down the road.

Grand, the Mall (05942/35406). One of Nainitals oldest establishments, where time seems to stand still - period atmosphere but a bit musty.

Kohli, Mallital 05942/36368, Well-located small-budget place. Rooms have a common balcony decorated with pot plants and satellite TV inside, unusual for the price range. Rooms at the top overlook the lake and are a little more expensive. Excellent value.

KMVN Tourist Bungalows, booked through Parvat Tours, the Mall 05942/35400. Two lodges with rooms and cheap dorms (Rs100) at either end of town, and a cottage at Snow View 05942/35772. The lodge at Tatlital is the most conveniently situated, near the bus stand.

Manu Maharani, Grasmere Estate 05942/37341. Standard luxury hotel, with all mod cons, including the only bar in town, a discotheque, and good Szechuan food in the Lotus Garden restaurant. Excellent buffet breakfasts.

Swisa Mallital 05942/36013. Popular family-run converted Raj mansion Huge old-fashioned rooms with giant cupboards, wood panelling and eccentric plumbing, they vary widely so ask to see a selection. Atmospheric if chaotic.

Vikram Vintage Inn, Mallital 05942/36177. Full-featured hotel: billiards, snooker, and smart comfortable rooms. No views, but surrounded by pines and away from the bustle .

Youth Hostel, Mallital 05942/35353. Forty-four dorm beds (Rs42) in a charming secluded spot above Mallital: with lovely gardens and friendly staff. Likely to be either deserted or jammed with schoolkids. Slightly more expensive for non-YHA members. Excellent value but no generator.

Two main highways approach Nainital from opposite ends; one arrives at Mallital from Ranmagar and Corbett National Park, the other, which brings in most of the traffic, comes in at Tallital in the south. Buses and taxis from Tallital travel with great frequency to the closest railhead at Kathgodam near Haklwani, 40km south. The nearest airport, at Pantnagar, 72km south, is rarely used and best reached by taxi.

ParvatTours and Tourist Information Centre,Tallital (05942/35656), run by KMVN, organizes tours, car rental and books accommodation at all KMVN lodges. Cars can also be rented from agencies along the Mall, such as Hina Tours & Travels (05942/35860), though cycle rickshaws are the most convenient means of local transport. The UP tourist office, on the Mall near the Mallital end (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm; 05942/35337). hands out leaflets and has a KMVN representative who books tours. A tourist office by the bus station sells leaflets and book hotels but specializes in being patronizing and unhelpful. For specialist advice on trekking and mountaineering, call in at Nainital Mountaineering Club, CRST Inter College Building (05942/36209) or their representative Anit Sah at the Allied Stores, the Mall, Mallital. Banks m town include the State Hank of India and Allahabad liank, on the Mall in Mallital. It is advisable to change travellers’ cheques here if you are moving on into the mountains, as it is very difficult to find any authorized exchange outlets further north. Cash advances are accepted at the Bank or Baroda. Internet access is available at the Cybercafe by Shakley’s Restaurant (9.30arn-10pm; Rs120/hr).

Most of the activity around the lake of Nainital takes place along the 1.5-kilo-metre-long Mall, a promenade of restaurants, hotels and shops selling souvenirs and jumpers. Cycle rickshaws charge a standard Rs5 to go from one end to the other. Basic boat rental starts at around Rs30 per hour out of season but can shoot up to Rs200 per hour in the summer; dinghies (or yacht, as they are locally called) arranged at the boat club on the northwest comer of the lake in Mallital, cost in the range of Rs75 per hour. You can join the club on a three-day membership for Rs750 for a couple, for which you get access to the elegant old colonial clubhouse and all its facilities, including the card tables and billiards room.

The boat club stands on the large plain known as the Flats, the result of a huge landslide in 1880, which buried the Victoria Hotel along with 150 people. Now the area hosts sporting events, and you are likely to catch a football or hockey game. Also here, the Tibetan Market sells clothing to shivering tourists up from the plains. The name is a little misleading - there’s nothing ethnic for sale; it’s mostly expensive fake designer fleeces.

A ropeway climbs from near the Mayur restaurant on the Mall to Snow View (2270m); the return ticket covers a one-hour stay (7am-1pm ” 2-6pm; Rs50 return, Rs35 single). Otherwise it’s a two-kilometre hike along a choice of steep trails, which can also be undertaken on ponies for Rs40. At the top, which gets overcrowded in season, you’ll find a promenade, cafes and a viewpoint; views of the snow peaks are most assured early in the morning. Trails lead on for five kilometres to Naina Peak (2611m) one of the best vantage points around, and to the isolated China Peak (pronounced “Cheena"), the craggy rise to the west. About halfway up to Snow View, conspicuous thanks to its abundant prayer flags, lies the small Tibetan gompa (monastery) of Gadhan Kunkyop Ling, which has recently been rebuilt in traditional gampa style. Three kilometres out of town along the Almora Road. Hanuman Garh, a temple full of monkeys and young priests monkeying around, is a popular place to watch the sunset.

The dramatic crater lake of Nainital (tal means lake), set in a mountain hollow at an altitude of 1938rn, 277km north of Delhi, gives its name to the largest and most important town in Kumaon. Discovered for Europeans in 1841 by

Mr Barron, a wealthy sugar merchant, NAINITAL swiftly became a popular escape from the summer heat of the lowlands, and continues to be one of India’s main hill stations. Throughout the year, and especially between March and July, hordes of tourists and honeymooners pack the Mall, the promenade that links Mallital (head of the lake), the older colonial part of Nainital at the north end, with Tallital (foot of the lake).

Nainital’s position within striking range of the inner Himalayas - visible from vantage points above town - makes it a good base for exploring Kumaon: Corbett National Park. Almora and Ranikhet are all within easy access. When the town’s garish commercialism gets a bit much, its always possible to escape into the beautiful surrounding country, to lakes such as Sat Tal where the foothills begin their sudden drop towards the plains to the south, or to the forested ridges around Kilbury.

The Shaivite temples of Kumaon, such as Jageshwar. Bhageshwar and Baijnath, do not attract the same fervour as their equivalents in Garhwal. Instead they remain frozen in time, undisturbed by the throngs from the plains. In fact, the Kumaon’s comparative unholincss is probably an advantage as there is much less tourist traffic, so villages are largely unspoilt and trekking routes unfiltered. Hill towns like Almora, Ranikhet and Kausani have a charm of their own, with views towards the snows, while in Corbett National Park, southeast of the resort of Nainital, vast jungles continue to protect tiger and huge herds of wild elephant. To the east, Kumaon’s border with Nepal follows the Kali valley to us watershed with Tibet; threading through k is the holy trail (closed to foreigners) to the ultimate pilgrimage site, Mount Kailash in Tibet, the abode of Shiva and his consort Parvati. Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam. or KMVN,- are m charge of tourism in Kumaon, providing a similar (and equally patchy) range of services to GMVN in Garhwal. The electricity supply is capricious, with cuts occurring almost daily, so hotels without generators are listed. Note too that the only places to change money are Nainital and Almora (which won’t change cash). A few places offer internet use but the nearest server is in Dehra Dun and the connection is tortuously slow.

The high mountain lake of Roop Kund (4778m), a few days out of Gwaldam, lies in the lap of Mount Trisul. Though it is the goal of the Raj Jat Yatra, a pilgrimage from the village of Nauti, led by a four-horned ram and held every twelve years, Roop Kund is not one of the most attractive spots in the mountains: during the short summer thaw, when the snow and ice on its surface melts, it reveals a grisly secret. Three hundred skeletons, thought to bo six hundred years old, can be seen in the water. Some say that they are what remains of the army of a Dogra general. Zorawar Singh, who tried to invade Tibet, bu: they probably belonged to a party of royal pilgrims caught by bad weather while making the Nanda Jat pilgrimage to the lake of Horn Kund, 13km away, to propitiate the goddess Nanda Devi. The route from Gwaldam to Roop Kund passes through Wan and the beautiful alps of Badni Bugyal. taking in some of the finest scenery of the region and should not be attempted without a local guide and adequate supplies.

Straddling a pass between Garhwal and Kumaon, surrounded by pine forests 61km east of Karnprayag, the peaceful hamlet of GWALDAM looks down upon the beautiful valley of the Pindar, a world away from the hectic yatra trails. This picturesque spot, with stunning views of the triple-pointed peak, Trisul (7120m), used to be a tea plantation: now, thanks to its position on the main road to Almora, 90km southeast, it makes an ideal base for treks, especially following the ten-day Curzon Trail across the high mountain bugydls of northeastern Garhwal, over Kuari Pass to Tapovan and Joshimath. The unassuming little Buddhist Khamba Temple, or Drikung Kagyu Lhundrup Ling, stands alongside orchards in the middle of a Tibetan settlement about 5km from Gwaldams mam crossroads. On the ridge above the village, the small shrine of Badhangari. dedicated to the goddess Durga and not far from the remnants of a Chand stone fort, commands superb views of the mountains of Kumaon and Garhwal. To reach it, take a bus for 4km to the village of Tal, then trek another 4km - some of which is quite steep - through rhododendron forests.

The GMVN Tourist Rest House, above the crossroads in Gwaldam, has an old cottage equipped with two exceptionally comfortable suites, and a new block with ordinary rooms and dorms (Rs50); only limited food is available. This is the place to arrange guides for local treks. Alternatively try the good-value Trishui, where a pleasant little garden offers views of the snows. The new extension upstairs is more luxurious but less characterful.

The majestic twin peaks of Nanda Devi - at 7816m, the highest complete mountain in India - dominate a large swathe of northeastern Garhwal and Kumaon. The eponymous goddess is the most important deity for all who live in her shadow, a fertility symbol also said to represent Durga, the virulent form of Shakti. Surrounded by an apparently impenetrable ring of mountains, the fastness ot Nanda Devi was long considered inviolable; when mountaineers Eric Shipton and Bill Tilman finally traced a way through, along the difficult Rishi Gorge, m 1934, it was seen as a defilement of sacred ground. A string of catastrophes followed; as recently as 1976, an attempt on the mountain by the father and daughter team of Willi and Nanda Devi Unsoeld ended in tragedy, when Nanda Devi Unsoeld died below the summit after which she was named.

The beautiful wilderness around the mountain now forms the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. In theory, it’s a magnificent place to camp, but it has been closed since 1983 for environmental reasons. Although the Indian Mountaineering Foundation in Delhi has declared the sanctuary open, local wardens do not allow access into the inner sanctuary past Lara Kharak and the Dharansi Pass. As the entire area lies comfortably in India, away from the Tibetan frontier, there is hope that the current easing of border tensions may soon lead to the reopening of the sanctuary; check with KMVN or GMVN in Rishikesh (who also arrange a 15-day trek to the Nanda Devi base camp in the sanctuary), and don’t try to go it alone. If the trail does reopen, be prepared for a gruelling sixty- kilo metre haul from the village of Lata, on the Joshimath—Malari road.

Starting from the hamlet of Govind Ghat, 28km south of Badrinath on the road to Joshimath (local buses will stop on request), an important pilgrim trail winds for 21 steep kilometres up to the snow-melt lake of Hemkund (4329m). In the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, Govind Singh, recalled meditating at a lake surrounded by seven high mountains: only in the twentieth century was Hemkund discovered to be that lake. A large gumdwam (Sikh temple), and a small shrine to Lakshmana. the brother of Rama of Ramayartd fame, now stand alongside. However, to protect the deodar forests along the trail, visitors can no longer spend the night.

Instead, the overgrown village of Ghangaria. 6km below Hemkund, serves as a base for day-hikes. It has several chai shops, basic lodges, gurudwaras and even a GMVN Tourist Bungalow, complete with dormitory (mid-April to mid-Nov). Govind Ghat too has a large gurutiwara, run on a donations system.

An alternative trail forks left from Ghangaria, climbing 5km to’the mountain bugydi of the Bhyundar valley - the Valley of the Flowers. Starting at an altitude ot 3352m, the valley was discovered in 1931 by the visionary mountaineer. Frank Smythe, who named it, not surprisingly, for its multitude of rare and beautiful plants and flowers. The meadows are at their best towards the end of the monsoons, in early September; they too have suffered at the hands (or rather feet) of large numbers of visitors, so camping is not allowed here either. As a result, it is not possible to explore the ten-kilometre valley in its entirety, in the space of a day’s hike from Ghangaria.