We are fortunate that we’ve had three family road trips through Uttarakhand so far, and realized only this year that these spontaneous outings have become a sort of tradition. These road trips aren’t well planned. They are more like inner yearnings for the mountains which shift very quickly to loading up the car and setting off. They always occur in the winter months, when roads are empty and outside temperature are biting.
This year we were delayed by car trouble. Deciding that it was important to have a good set of working brakes for our drive, we had nearly let go of the idea of a trip all together. But then our family graciously allowed us to take their brand-new car on our trip, which we did with gusto and gratitude.
The route of our road trip in January 2023.
Our itinerary changed course in the hours leading up to the actual drive. We knew that we didn’t want to stay in Rishikesh this time, since our guide house is being built up on all sides with new construction. This translated to dust and no sunshine at our beloved guide house: no thank you. Instead we started off early from Dehradun and drove straight to Gopeshwar. As are most of our drives in the Himalaya, it was long but beautiful. We stopped at our favorite dhaba for breakfast and continued on until we reached Gopeshwar.
We are fortunate to have so many friends in the mountains. This time we took a trip to visit Pushpendra, an old school friend of Anvesh’s. They couldn’t remember the last time they’d seen each other, but as old friends do, they started talking as if no time had passed. Pushpendra runs a homestay in Gopeshwar called Peaches and Pears Homestay, a great little stop-over on the way further into the mountains, or a taste of village life in the mountains, if you prefer. The view from his place says it all:
The next day we spent the morning on the roof of the guesthouse. We danced and explored the garden.
In the afternoon we took a short drive up to Chopta, where Pushpendra runs Peace Trips Chopta. This was an adventure in itself. All they told me is that it will be really, really cold and that we would be staying in a small cabin. Being from the Pacific Northwest, and perhaps being of hearty pioneer Swedish ancestry, I imagined rough logs tied together, rats, and maybe a plank to lay on. When we reached, we found a cozy wooden hut, complete with a loft, electricity, running water and a flush toilet, a private wood stove and a warm white comforter. The folks who work there even turned down our room, so that after our scrumptious dinner we could roll down the hill into a warm, well-lit place and go straight to bed. We woke to a light sprinkling of snow the next morning. I sat outside, drank my chai, and soaked in the hills.
We drove up a little farther the next morning to the start of the Tungnath Trek, which is home to one of the highest Shiva temples in the world. While it is an important pilgrimage destination for Hindus, we only saw foreign tourists geared up in expensive attire, getting ready to hike. Not equipped for walking a few miles both ways with our 5-year-old, we opted for tea and biscuits at a local shack. The rest of the day was spent exploring the area and then driving back down to Peaches and Pears.
The next morning we took off toward Ranikhet, where it all began. Before reaching there, we stopped at the little haven of Fernweh Fair Travel. We had first learned about these folks in 2019, during the Outlook Responsible Tourism India gathering. At the time of our visit in winter 2023, there were no guests, but the site was inviting nonetheless. There we said goodbye to Pushpi and made our way on to Ranikhet.
Ranikhet is where Anvesh and I met way back in 2012, two skinny kids with a fondness for the outdoors, taking a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course at the NOLS-India base. These days, this is the name of the town that gets a raised eyebrow when we tell people this is where our story started. People usually think we met on a river trip, and we’re always happy to disrupt that cliché. Although Anvesh has been back to Ranikhet several times in the last decade, I had only been back in 2014 to re-cert my WFR. Generously hosted by Ravi Kumar of NOLS India, we stayed in his home on the hill while he and his wife, Sunita, were out of station.
The next morning we ventured to meet new friends at Needles to Say More. This organization, run by Dr. Mala Srikanth, currently works with 20 women and produces beautiful knitted garments, perfect for the mountain weather. We had learned about this venture from a mutual friend, Sophia, and wanted to see the good work in person. A generous invitation from Dr. Mala Srikanth and a helpful Google Maps pin led us there, and when we knocked on the door, who answered it but Sophia! We had a lovely visit with them all, met two of the women who knit, and purchased a few gifts to support their work. (Little did we know that another woman who had popped into say hello to them, and actually clicked these pictures, was Manjari Verma, the founder of Broken Compass, a unique travel venture which we’ve been following for some time. Check them out!)
Bhimtal was our next destination. We had heard of the Butterfly Research Center and Mr. Peter Smetacek, but we didn’t know what we were in for. As the road got narrower and turned from paved to rocky and caving in, I kept looking at Anvesh to see if he wanted to keep going. Fortunately the road was so narrow that we couldn’t turn around if we wanted to, so we plodded forward.
What awaited us at the end of the road turned out to be a gem of Uttarakhand. The bungalow immediately transported us back to another India. Mr. Peter Smetacek emerged with a warm greeting, offered us coffee and juice, and proceeded to share his wealth of knowledge on butterflies and moths until the patience of our 5-year-old wore out. We had come with a few basic questions to engage her: what is the difference between a butterfly and a moth? What is the biggest butterfly on Earth? What is the smallest one? But these simple queries got answered ten-fold, as Mr. Smetacek wove colorful anecdotes into his explanations and took us through the majority of his collection. Anvesh and I could’ve sat there for hours with him, and we had the sincere feeling that he would’ve also sat with us. Mr. Smetacek was humble, gracious and brimming with expertise. This place is absolutely worth a visit – you will not think of butterflies (or moths) in the same way again.
That night we decided to cut our trip short and venture out of the mountains. When we returned home to Dehradun the next day and were unpacking our bags, we found that our daughter had tucked away a little souvenir. A single pinecone lay at the bottom of our rucksack, a nice memento of our Uttarakhand road trip 2023.
