Weekend Getaways near Delhi

Third week of December 08 I was off to Bhimtal along with a my corporate group of about 90 people. We travelled overnite by Deluxe buses in the night. Stopped at Gajraula in the night for some tea, it was unusually warm that night, unlike the late December in North India. Early morning around Rampur there was a dense fog that made driving difficult. Still we could make it on time for breakfast at Country Inn, Bhimtal a nice resort with deluxe rooms,cottages, nice lawns, spa and a swimming pool. The rooms, cottages and the facilities at Country Inn are excellent and we had a nice breakfast after freshening up with a warm bath. Here it was not so cold,rather pleasant. Our team had arranged for training for the employees and some fun activities for the families and children. In the evening we had some nice old songs accompanied by guitar by the Fun rangers sitting around a bon fire. Next Day early morning we did some yoga under expert guidance and it was a refreshing and wonderful start ...

On Friday morning we headed for Corbett National Park in Uttrakhand with like minded friends of Rotary Akash,Delhi. After collecting all of them on the way in a deluxe bus we left Delhi by about 8 AM.We were a group of 25 including children.After stopping at Gajraula(Meriton) for some excellent breakfast (pre arranged)we could reach Corbett by about 2:30 PM for lunch in good time. The resort was a new one which we were trying out for the first one. It turned out to be an excellent choice as Tarangi, our resort, was a riverside affair and housing 21 beautiful cottages in 20 areas of vast Green lawns. At first it was difficult to find our way in the big resort. After taking a sumptuous lunch, we did not rest much and were by the river and then in the river soon. The river by the resort is Kosi and though it did not have too much water but enough for a cool dip. The cocktails were at the riverside lawns and every body was in the holiday mood. We had to retire early as we were booked for t...

On Monday I planned to go to Jaipur for some work and took the NH 8, Delhi-Jaipur Highway early morning. It was wonderful travelling on this wonderful highway as we made it to Jaipur with in 4 hours, but for entering main Jaipur, we took the Jaipur-Ajmer bypass and it was simply wonderful and even better than the Delhi-Jaipur leg. We travelled about 30 km on it and the part of the highway which passed through JAIPUR was on an elevated road passing through one side of the city giveing one a beautiful view of the pink city. Though we had work in Jaipur but the highway being so good we really felt like going all the way to Ajmer. Both sides are covered by a railing and there are no frquent gaps in the road giving a smooth and fast drive. By the way if you want to have some stay options in Jaipur you can look here Jaipur Hotels & Resorts . Around Delhi

Continuning from where I left from last time about Wildlife resorts around Delhi. Went to Sariska, near Alwar on 2nd weekend of October as one of my clients Mr. Minood was doing a workshop at Sarisaka Palace on 'Rebirthing'. Sariska is a cool 3 1/2 hours drive from Delhi via Alwar(190k). Sariska is famous for it's Tiger Wild life sanctuary. Sariska and gone out of favour of wild life lovers as Sariska had lost all it's tigers to poachers and other risk fastors. It was only recently in September that a Tiger and a tigeress were airlifted from Ranthambhore, another tiger sanctuary and relocated to Sariska. That has brought life back to this Sanctuary after a long time, making it the closest place to watch Tigers Delhi. So in a way it is 'Rebirthing' for this almost dead Tiger Sanctuary. Though there are only two tigers at Sariska, people have already had sightings and close to the metalled road for that. So does't matter if you only have two days with you, s...

Staying in Delhi give you a chance to have a look at lot of wildlife options not too far from Delhi. In August on the Independence Day weekend we visited the Bhartpur Bid Sanctuary and just last week to Sariska.( Guess what am visiting Corbett in month end, lucky me). Both the wild life and bird sanctuary we recently visited have seen revival of resorts this year. Bharatpurt or Ghana or Keoleaodeo Bird Sanctuary as it is called was almost bereft of water, swamps and birds for the last few years because of deficient rains. The migratory birds had almost stopped visiting the park and started looking at other options for nesting and laying eggs. On visiting this year it was heartening to see the park full of water and more of it still coming. We were told that they are going to start boating soon in the park, after a gap of 4-5 years. August is an early time of migration of birds but I was surprised to see the bird colonies of Painted storks, Ibis and other birds in large numbers. There w...

Hi, It's been a long time since I posted as last few months have been very busy due to the tourist season in North India. It's still season time as people from all over India converge to North India Hill Stations to beat the heat of the plains. The maximum rush has been towards Shimla and Nainital but lot of people avoid these main hill stations and head for off beat ones like Kantal, Chamba, Chail, Binsar and so on. I will probably give more info on these off beat hill stations in my subsequent posts. Meanwhile places in Rajasthan like Jaipur, Sariska and son on which are close to Delhi were shunned by the tourist lot because of the ongoing Gujjar agitation. I wish the matter settles fast. Bye for now. Around Delhi

Hi, This is Around Delhi, I am a travel enthusiast staying in Delhi and running a website by the name www.AroundDelhi.com for last 5 years. What started as a hobby-travelling by own car and sharing it with friends on the site has now become a full fledged profession of finding new and exciting new places and promoting them on the website. Though traveling is now a profession but the passion of discovering and unearthing new travel hot spots still remains. My original profession of Anaesthesia, putting people to sleep, has taken a back seat with this new found love. On this blog I will love to discuss various options of applying balm to your harried body, mind and soul by spending some time with near and dear ones at a worthwhile destination and accommodation. Also your valued suggestions are welcome about any destinations you have visited or stayed so as to share your experiences with fellow travelers. ArounD Delhi