Posted on May 20, 2008 - by rdilipk1

The Trip to Naini Tal

Naini Tal is a perfect weekend getaway, about 320 Km from Delhi, awal from the torturing heat in Delhi. This is an excerpt from a trip to Naini Tal’, ‘

The summers in Delhi was at its peak and the temperature was the highest in a few years. the heat was unbearable. That weekend for a long one for me as I was fortunate enough to get three weekly-offs together. This made it the perfect moment to plan for a weekend getaway to Naini Tal.

Naini Tal was about 320 Km from Delhi and the drive was joyous. We crossed villages in Moradabad and Hapur and saw some beautiful fields on the way before we reached Naini tal at around 0325hrs on 10th May 2008. We had started off for the trip at around 0620hrs the same day. We reached late by almost an hour because our car had a flat tyre twice on the way. Nevertheless the tiredness vanished at the sheer sight of Naini Tal. Surrounded by mountains on all the four sides, there was this beautiful town of naini Tal situated on the banks of the lake Naini. The weather was foggy bu we were there to enjoy. So we checked into our hotel and dropped our luggage and set off for a cool boating experience in the lake.

At around 1645hrs, we reached Hanumagarhi, which is famous for its sunset. The sunset was due at around 1845hrs, so we thought we would visit the Hanuman and Sheetla Mata temples on the hill tops. These temples were beautifully maintained. In the hanuman temple you would find an assorted collection of flowers that are rare to be seen including a few orchids. The Sheetla Mata temples is tituated at a height on a mountian. The view from this mountain is awesome and is worth a visit. When we finally reached the spot to see the sunset, it was almost time. That was when we witnessed a picturesque sky painted orange by the setting sun, providing an excellent canvas for the sun to set behind the mountains. We were awe-struck at the beauty of the setting sun.

The next day was even more happening. We started our day with a visit to the temples around the lake and then set-off for the Naini Tal Zoo. The zoo was on a hill top again and the climb was tiring. But the zoo was worth visiting. It had a variety of animals including tigers, leopards, bears, parrots and a few other rare species. The zoo was clean and well maintained by the authorities. From the zoo we drove out to see the cave garden which was a natural stone cave. The vistis to Dorothy”s seat, Tiffin top and land”s end was equally interesting, but what was the most adventurous was the horse-ride to the top of the Mountain. From the top you could see the beautiful Himalayas spreading around as if embracing you. The light fog engulfed the Himalayas as if offering them a blanket to cover themselves from the hungry eyes of we people. The land”s end seemed as if we had actually reached the end of the land.

In the evening at around 0445hrs we packed our bags and started our journey back to Delhi. As we sat there in our car and the car drove down the mountains, the far reaching Himalayas seemed as if they were trying to stop us from going. But we had no choice because there was that hectic week waiting for us. We had to go.

Trip to Naini Tal