I explored a lot of possibilities for this blog: how to road-trip with your 4-year-old, dogs of the Himalayas, environmental tragedies of the mountains, best remedies for motion sickness, spouse versus Google Maps for wayfinding, and best Maggie recipes among others. The truth is that this is largely documentation of my unabashed process of falling in love with a new place: Uttarakhand. It is a starry-eyed journal entry, sometimes superficial, with below-average photographs. At the very least I hope it will make you curious about this beautiful state and you’ll want to explore on your own.

You may notice that I am starting with Part 2. Part 1 is documentation of our first road trip as a family through the state and has yet to be written. We took that trip in February of 2019, when our daughter was very small. My recollections are largely of her vomiting all over everything. But I do also remember some magic. I’ll go through some pics, pull up the itinerary, and write that blog soon.

But first things first: Part 2.

In Dec 2021, our little family undertook a six-day road trip in Uttarakhand. The original plan was to visit Munsiyari on the Kumaon side, a trip we’ve been wanting to take for a really long time. Fate intervened (yet again) and said it wasn’t the time. Instead we headed up toward Uttarkashi, near Harsil and then over to Rudraprayag. The trip was only six days in total, from Dehradun to Dehradun. It was a lot of driving but that wasn’t unbearable, even for our 4-year-old.

We were privileged on multiple fronts. First, we had the time and means to take a week to go exploring. Damn, let’s never take that for granted. Second, we had our own car, this time in good working condition (see Part 1, later). Third, although it was cold, it was quite possibly the best time to travel the roads we did. Anvesh talked about what a different experience it would be if we were in amongst the pilgrims on yatra.

Day one was a leisurely drive from Dehradun to Rishikesh. We picked up a friend in Dehradun, fellow adventurer Vishwas Raj of Adventure Sindbad. It had been too long since we had seen him and the laughter flowed. This is one nice guy, Bangalore-based but mountain-connected. That afternoon, after a plate of steaming hot Maggie at our guide house, we visited the Rishikesh Festival hosted by Been There, Doon That. We blissed out on Sufi music as the sun set on the banks of the Ganga.

Day two we climbed above Rishikesh to catch spectacular views of the valley below. On the way we passed the palace of the Maharaja of Tehri Garhwal, built in 1911, which is now part of a sprawling, fancy-schmancy destination spa called Ananda in the Himalayas. We didn’t stop, as we weren’t sure if there was a museum to look at anyway, no to mention its unwelcoming fence, dormant artillery, and guards staring us down. We kept driving.

By afternoon we had reached our destination: Kuflon Basics. This lovely oasis is hidden on a steep hillside with the Assi Ganga River flowing below. The owner, Anil Kuriyal, and Anvesh go way back, and hadn’t seen each other in about 20 years. The reunion was as if no time had passed.

Landing in Kuflon Basics after a long drive feels like rolling into someone’s living room where you can immediately make yourself at home. Its main pagoda is part kitchen, part game room, part library. After the six hour winding journey from Rishikesh (note: time based on Anvesh’s driving), we settled in to enjoy Maggie and milky chai which is quite possibly the perfect meal in the mountains. Our daughter played with the two puppies, climbed the rocks, and plucked oranges from the trees. By evening we were roasting marshmallows around a small fire before settling under electric blankets to sleep in our little cottage.

The next morning we woke to see fresh snow on the high peaks in the distance. Does it get better than this? We took a drive toward Harsil. It was another winding drive, but dramatic in its beauty. The area is famous for its apples, introduced by an eccentric British character, Frederick E. Wilson, known as the “Raja of Harsil”. Kuflon Basics had some great books on him, so I read up when I got back that day. You can learn more at this blog. Now I’m looking for one of Wilson’s coins!

We returned to Kuflon in time for lunch and spent the afternoon exploring the land: what was growing in the greenhouse, the water source and systems, and how Anil had developed the site over time. We also glanced through their guest books where we saw familiar faces, including Anvesh’s own father who had visited in 2005.

It was hard to leave Kuflon Basics. Anil told us that many people want to have a hamlet in the mountains but very few can really survive mountain life. I resolved that I’d at least like to try, at some point in my life. Let’s see.

The next day we foolishly followed Google Maps and went on a curvy, round-about adventure from Kuflon Basics to Rudraprayag. We ended up driving about eight hours that day. We travelled up one valley, over and into another, and then toward civilization near Rudraprayag. Along the way we drove the length of Tehri Reservoir, and Anvesh told stories about kayaking here when the Bhagirathi River was still free flowing. I flashed back to my college days when I read about the famous Chipko movement. One of its many legacies was activists’ protests of the Tehri Dam being built on the Bhagirathi.

Unfortunately day four brought forth lots of vomit. Our sweet daughter is an incredible traveller, but winding mountain roads do her in, poor thing. Fortunately the roads were mostly empty, allowing us plenty of stops on the side.

We rolled into Shivanandi River Lodge by early evening, where our friend Shalabh had plates of spaghetti waiting. Again: simple carbohydrates + mountain weather = unexpected deliciousness. Longtime friends, Anvesh has stayed at Shalabh’s many times over the years. When we were dating Anvesh took me to visit Shalabh and his family at the lodge, where we swam in their eco-pool and went for a hike with his family.

Although Shalabh was already making plans for us on the first night, it turned out that all we needed was to do nothing at Shivanandi during our time there. Even Shalabh and Anvesh’s kayaking plans dissipated into thin air the next day. Instead, we spent the day on the gorgeous, pristine beach in front of his place. When the sun hit the valley by around 11am, it was actually warm, and our daughter played in a small stream flowing into the Alaknanda until the sun disappeared again at 3pm. Shalabh and Anvesh took turns instructing young trainees in the art of kayaking. I sat on the beach and absorbed the absolute beauty of the place, with occasional dips in the water.

Over dinner, we were warned not to let our daughter go to our room alone, as there was a leopard nearby. One of the dogs had been clawed just a few days before. They showed us the collar that the dogs wear to protect their necks from leopard teeth. We decided to stay safely around the campfire together. Our daughter played with the dogs, while Anvesh and Shalabh poured drinks and let the kayaking stories flow.

On the final day of our trip, we drove from Shivanandi back to Dehradun, with a quick stop at the guide house in Rishikesh. In subsequent days in the big city, we scoured bookshops to find “Raja of Harsil” and finally connected with Book World, which requested that the publisher reprint it. Anvesh washed the car. We treated ourselves to a coffee and cake at Café Laata. We discovered Natraj: The Green Bookshop and bought a book on architecture in the Garhwal Himalayas. We enjoyed the city once again, but after a few days, we could already feel the mountains calling…