Travel Diaries – Rajaji National Park

We visited Rajaji National Park in January this year. After the adventurous trip to the jungle described in Jungle Diaries – Elephant Trail, we checked into this beautifully done V Resorts property in village Ganga Bhogpur in Gauhari Range. We met their Head of Quality Service Assurance/Operations, Mr. Siddhartha Banerjee, who was there for the weekend.

And this is what we woke up to the very next morning. Bliss!

We fell in love with the property the moment we entered it. There was more to come. Two cute little elephants (stuffed toys) welcomed us in our smartly done room and the girls did not leave them for a single minute till we left the resort on day two. There were enough swings in the play area to keep the kids engaged. And if you didn’t want to do anything, you could just lie down on the grass basking in the sun. Peace!

There are sixteen rooms: eight on the ground floor with a private balcony and an inviting splash pool to revitalize your senses and eight on the first floor with a balcony opening to an awesome view of the Gauhari range. There’s also a swimming pool and a convention center with enough facilities to accommodate a corporate conference or a small family or friends get-together. Added attractions are a snooker table and a table tennis court.

Once it starts getting dark, you need not worry about having to cuddle down in your rooms. The lawns are lighted up beautifully and preparations are on for a bonfire. While you enjoy the warmth around the bonfire, the little ones can play on the swings to their heart’s content. If you still feel like resigning to the room, there’s an LCD with access to satellite channels.

Apart from the jungle safari on the elephant trail, there is more to this place that we loved. The proximity to our base town Delhi, being closer to temple towns Haridwar and Rishikesh and most of all, a perfect peaceful weekend getaway spot on the map.

After the hundreds of elephants and about sixteen tigers refused to meet us even from behind the thick bushes, we were a bit gloomy. But the morning sight elevated our spirits again and we were ready for the day. We decided to set out on a trek through the village just outside the resort. In the evening, as Siddhartha joined the husband on a short biking trip to the river bank, we decided to once again go for a walk around the village.

The animal lover all set with sticks to protect us from elephants that might have attacked us. Li’l Love walking behind for fear of being attacked.

The lush green wheat and paddy fields were welcoming us with their vastness. In between were the beautiful yellow flowers of mustard contrasting with the greenery around.

These trips are also a way to educate our children about the difference in rural and urban lifestyle. While for many things they must be thankful for the kind of lives they have, we do pick and highlight the other things that we lack as city-dwellers.

We made lots of friends and Suman, Swati and Manoj even posed with us. They also offered to click a pic of me with the girls. Even toddlers aged around five were warning us to avoid going further. Almost all the gates of the village houses are broken. Thanks to the elephants we didn’t meet.

This man would have been in his eighties. We saw him walk down to Ganga canal, which is a few minutes from the resort, and take an express bath. Of course, it was pretty cold early in the morning.

And even this did not excite the wild animals to come out and meet us.

And we saw this young boy helping his grandma take the bundle of leaves to their home for their cattle.

Villages are incomplete without a deity to worship. And that too in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. I couldn’t find anyone to ask why this idol was a beheaded one.

The peaceful atmosphere, the lazily ruminating cows, cozily cuddled cats, spot-me-now kingfishers, sunbirds, magpie-robins, owls and much more…

And then we were stopped by him. He asked us not to go beyond his shop as there are no more houses and it was an open jungle. Dusk was falling. He mentioned how the elephants in hundreds attacked the fields just the previous evening. He was courteous enough to offer us some tea. Sensing the curiosity in the girls, he explained to them the functioning of the manual machine that removes husk from the grain.

We were to leave the place the very next morning. And that’s when Siddhartha informed us of their newly acquired property in Pauri which was just 120 kilometers from Rajaji. We made a promise to visit as soon as possible. And true to our words, we visited V Resorts, Pauri in the first week of March. Details of our visit to Pauri in my next post.

A special mention about the extremely courteous and helpful staff at V Resorts. The food was awesome and we got to enjoy a special tricolor menu on Republic Day.

Are you planning a short distance weekend trip?

Don’t miss checking out on this destination.