Skip to content
Menu
Travel Tales from India and Abroad
Travel Tales from India and Abroad
Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India

Deoriatal, Uttarakhand Trip- Day 1

Posted on November 19, 2013May 9, 2021

My Deoriatal trip happened at a short notice. I knew there was no teaching in the week following Diwali at my workplace as it was off for students. But I was procrastinating about taking the whole week off. Then my institute declared it a holiday for everyone! Now here I was with one week of leave and no plans for travel!

I had just come back from Madhya Pradesh and my back was protesting against my constant short trips. I almost decided to take it easy and not travel anywhere. But my husband really pestered me to take Chhavi out on a trek and Deoriatal happened. He could not join us as he had some work.

The first task was to try and secure a tatkal (current) ticket for Haridwar. Now there are plenty of buses to Rishikesh but with a child it is easier to travel by train. I dutifully tried logging in to IRCTC at 10.00 am a day before so that I could book  the tatkal tickets but I had no luck initially. I could not even log on to the site till about 11.00 am. But even at 11.00 am there were 122 seats available in the Dehradoon Shatabdi for the next day. I was able to book two tickets easily. Now we were traveling the day after Diwali and my father told me it would be very difficult to book a local cab as no drivers would be available. I tried my luck with Meru cabs and there was no hitch with the cab.

Soon Chhavi and I were at New Delhi Railway Station, sitting comfortably inside the train. I have been with her to Pushkar before and I knew her penchant for “mummy kaab aayega” (are we there yet). I warned her it was not a question be to be asked this time. She asked me anyway but not her usual 160 times but only 30 times are so. I am be patient 30 times and we had no major fight over it. This time thankfully slept off as well.

We arrived at Haridwar relatively fresh. We took a local bus to Rishikesh which Chhavi called khadbad khadbad bus (rattling bus). It was a run down local bus alright. She went quite wide eyed as we entered but sat quietly by the window for the entire journey. People who know her know what rarity that is!

At the Rishikesh bus station we hired an auto and asked him to take us to the Lakshman Jhula area. He deposited us at Hotel Shivanta (which is on the road and opposite a small police station at Muni ki Reti). They had a big and reasonably clean room for 600 rupees which I took. The auto driver and the hotel boy had a chat and suddenly the hotel boy told me he misquoted the price. The room was really for 1200. I told him I knew of no one who was that absent minded. I would rather walk away than pay the inflated price. The room rate was settled at 600 rupees.

In a while we walked down the Lakshman Jhula lane looking for food. We went in a cheerful looking restaurant called Divine Cafe. It was full of foreigners. By now it was approaching 2.00 pm and I was really hungry. There were only 3 tables going and yet no one from the standing army of waiters was attending us. I actually got up and asked the person at the cash counter why were taking so much time when only three tables were busy? After that I got good and prompt service.

We attacked our food (which was more for the palate of foreign clients) as we were hungry and it was OK, passable roti and kofta. Chhavi wanted a pastry and she got it. It was also just about OK. Stomach full, I was looking forward to sleep.

Hotel Shivanta, Rishikesh
Hotel Shivanta, Rishikesh

I was happy that the room at Hotel Shivanta had a table and chairs. I put on Doreamon for Chhavi and gave her strict instructions to do her drawing only on the table. Then I dozed off. Chhavi was quite excited with a toy she picked up from roadside. She kept jumping from the bed to the table and in the process kept kicking me. I still dozed off.

Then in the evening we went to the Lakshman Jhula and got lost! After we reached back to your hotel area we went for an early dinner. Both Chhavi and I didn’t eat well. Then it was time for cartoons and sleep.

The next day we were headed to Sari Village via Rudraprayag. We were getting up at 5.00 am or so.

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

14 thoughts on “Deoriatal, Uttarakhand Trip- Day 1”

  1. Shilpi Dutta says:
    November 19, 2013 at 11:08 pm

    Yeah I read that prev post where u had got lost..So this is how u reached Rishikesh..pretty kool 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      November 24, 2013 at 4:43 pm

      Thank you Shilpi.

      Reply
  2. Nisha says:
    November 19, 2013 at 11:36 pm

    The room is quite clean and it’s big for 600/- 🙂

    Just one question… How do you wake Chhavi up in the wee hours? Isn’t it difficult?

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      November 24, 2013 at 4:43 pm

      No Nisha she wakes up without any trouble and goes to sleep when she can find a comfortable seat next to me. Let us see how long this lasts 😀

      Reply
  3. Lady Fi says:
    November 20, 2013 at 1:09 am

    Sounds like a great trip!

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      November 24, 2013 at 4:42 pm

      It was a wonderful trip Lady Fi.

      Reply
  4. Harsha says:
    November 20, 2013 at 2:10 am

    IRCTC at tatkal time will take forever to open a Page…
    And the Hotel Room is quite big and This was the Hotel you were talking about in your Previous Post–Finding Directions to this Hotel

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      November 24, 2013 at 4:41 pm

      Yes Harsha this was the hotel we were searching for. I agree about the IRCTC bit but I was happy it worked in the end for me.

      Reply
  5. My Unfinished Life says:
    November 20, 2013 at 10:05 am

    You have given another destination idea from Haridwar….how long it takes from there to Deoriatal if I don’t want to break journey in Rishikesh?

    http://www.myunfinishedlife.com

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      November 24, 2013 at 4:39 pm

      It depends on whether you take public transport or not. It would take at least 8 hours or so to reach Sari village. And when you want to go we can chat and sort it out 😀

      Reply
  6. Paresh Kale says:
    November 20, 2013 at 11:30 am

    Informative Mridula 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      November 24, 2013 at 4:38 pm

      Thank you Paresh.

      Reply
  7. preethi says:
    November 21, 2013 at 9:11 am

    seems like a lovely start for a mother daughter trip. Waiting to hear more 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      November 24, 2013 at 4:37 pm

      Thank you Preethi, I will continue soon 😀

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me

I am Mridula Dwivedi and I started this blog in 2005. It has been an amazing ride. I have visited 33 countries till date! I have worked with many tourism boards and prominent travel companies. My blog was featured on the BBC and the Guardian.

I did my Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur. I worked full time in academics till 2015! I quit my job as a professor, thinking I will take a break for one year, which turned into five.

Subscribe to the blog!

Subscribe

* indicates required

Support provided by Credible Content Writing & Copywriting Services

©2025 Travel Tales from India and Abroad | Powered by SuperbThemes