Ranikhet

Ranikhet- Why should Boys Have All the Fun

After lots of discussion and last minute planning we decided to visit Ranikhet as it was the only feasible destination for weekend vacation  We left Delhi at 6 pm in evening although we thought that we will leave maximum by 4 pm .

Ranikhet is a small hill station in Almora District of Uttarakhand. Unlike, Shimala and Manali, it is less populated and urban. In fact a perfect place to spend your weekend.   

 Four of us, all girls along with our driver left for Ranikhet. Driver was quite lucky to get a chance to drive a car full of young beautiful girls. All of us were super excited about the trip. Since we work in the same office so we gossiped about office, almost about each and every team member and when we were done with this interesting long conversation, we started enjoying the silly songs played by our silly driver. That was one amazing night of gossip, song and dance. After that when we were exhausted, two of my friends dozed off to sleep and I and one of them were wide awake almost whole night to enjoy the beauty of the full moon light and that too in mountains.

We reached Ranikhet by 5 am and then we started our mission to look for a hotel. At 5 am in morning most of the hotels were closed and people were sleeping. So, it was only after 6 am and a lot of failed trials we managed to get the hotel- The Moon Palace. We got a nice room with an amazing view. We freshened up, took a small nap, ate breakfast and after spending some time in the garden area of the hotel enjoying flowers and scenery we left the hotel for the city’s visit.

Our first destination was The Golf Course. The green meadow of the golf course at such an altitude is simply awe- aspiring. After a long photo session, we headed to Chaubhatia Garden famous for their extensive orchards of tasty apples, peaches, plums and apricots. We spend the evening in our hotel playing Ludo and eating Maggie as the sunset was followed by the hailstorm. The view from our hotel balcony was simply soothing and refreshing.  

It’s wonderful to explore the sharp paths going up and down, the public gardens just above the bus stand, the small stalls selling maggie and tea.

Next day after breakfast we headed to Almora and because of our over-smart driver who did not bother to ask the way, we got lost in the hills. It proved to be a blessing in disguise, we crossed some beautiful unexplored rural villages of the hills. We were so mesmerized with the refreshing cool breeze and nature’s beauty that we neither talked much nor clicked photos. We were just spellbound with the striking views of hills. I got to know that there is lots of diversity in hills also. I always visualized hills in a particular way, but this road journey broke my misconception that all hills look same. I love the small houses made of slates, the varieties of flora and each and every bit of the rural hill station. Fog clad mountains, beautiful stream with crystal clear waters, lovely woods spread over green veiled valleys, traditional cottages, virgin forest, each and everything that came to our eye sight was simply mesmerizing.

Suddenly we saw beautiful scenery and got out of our cab. It was a splendid view. On one side of the road was a highland and on the other side there was a spring of water. Two of my friend jumped on the highland and they got so very excited that they started dancing, what a delightful moment it was. After that craziness we went to the spring of water and spent a long time in photo session. We were behaving as if we are birds freed from our cage, in a way all of us are caged in our daily monotonous life. When we were done with a lot of madness and photo session we got back in our cab and headed to Almora.

But by the time we reached Almora it was already evening and it was time to return. By that time we were quite contended with our long road journey in hills. We halted at one stunning landscape to enjoy our sunset. Needless to say the view was simply hypnotic. After this we decided to leave for Delhi as our driver was already getting irritated by us. Though we started soon after the sunset we were able to see the beautiful night of hills.  When we crossed Bhimtal we were quite spell bound to see the beautiful lake on a full moon night, it was again simply awe-aspiring. And this was the last visual delight of our trip.

Silvery nights, bright and colourful days, lovely woods spread over green veiled valleys, distinct smell of nature and refreshing breeze are some of the amazing memories I have of that trip. And of course the girlish giggles, gossip and instant decisions was a distinct part of that amazing trip. I am sure we are going to cherish this enjoyable all girls trip all our life.