Chakrata Uttrakhand

At times it becomes imperative to just pause our chaotic life, look around, appreciate little things around us, acknowledge the people who love us and love them back, do things we love to do and thank God for blessing us with this beautiful life. With these introspecting thoughts in mind, I planned a trip to Chakrata and this place proved to be one such (much needed) beautiful pause for me.

Chakrata , famously known as the Jaunsar area, is a small cantonment town in Dehradun district. From Dehradun it could be reached via Mussoorie or Vikasnagar. Our Chakrata trip was supposed to be a secret mission- With my HUGE close-knit family scattered all over Dehradun it is almost impossible to sneak through without being known. “ Chakrata?  What’s there in Chakrata? Stay here in Dehradun”, they would have said for sure. “I won’t tell anyone we’ll be crossing Dehradun and no we won’t halt there”, I vowed to my partner before booking the ‘Himalayan Paradise Hotel’ in Chakrata. Now did the trip remain a secret after all? Of course not!

 We left early in the morning from Gurgaon, and only after we left Gurgaon I called my mom and told her about the trip requesting her not to tell anyone in Dehradun. No sooner I hung up the call,  dear mother called and told my nani, my nani told my aunt, my aunt told my other aunt , she told my uncle and so on. Soon everyone was calling us to visit and we promised to visit them on our way back from Chakrata. It was funny that I even thought of keeping it a secret.

We reached Dehradun by afternoon and took the Vikasnagar route. The drive after Vikasnagar was very scenic but after Kalsi the roads were in pathetic condition. I have heard Mussoorie route is better. As we were driving through the narrow rugged roads, I kept thinking why I never visited Chakrata earlier when it’s so close to Dehradun and about the hardships of life (I was in a sulking mode, yes) My thoughts were interrupted with a sudden jerk; a gigantic black snake was lazily slithering right in front of our car. It took its own sweet time in crossing the road and soon disappeared into the thick jungle. From Dehradun it took us around 3 hours to reach Chakrata.

The beauty of Chakrata is simply breathtaking. Lush green forests with oak, rhododendron and conifer trees are a sight to behold. It is a paradise for solitude lovers as well as adventurous souls. There are some amazing treks in and around Chakrata. Bird watching is another lesser known activity in Chakrata. The thing that I loved the most was that there were hardly any tourists around- tranquility at its best!  We stayed there for 3 days and every moment spent there was soul-refreshing. What an experience it was to wake up to the chirping of beautiful birds, spend the day in the arms of nature and sleep listening to the lullaby of the gurgling stream. There were so many awesome things to do, yet to do nothing and gaze into the majestic Himalayas was equally refreshing.

We trekked to some most picturesque too-beautiful-to-be-true meadows, visited nearby attractions, strolled around the villages, played in the waterfall and lost our way into the jungle! Chakrata trip was no doubt one of my most happening trips and this makes it my favorite weekend getaway so far.

As promised we visited my folks in Dehradun. As I hugged my nani she said, "What’s there in Chakrata to visit? You should have stayed here in Dehradun". We burst out laughing.

Places I visited:

Tiger falls:  Tiger falls are the cutest waterfalls for me so far. A moderate trek of around 4 to 5 km from Chakrata amidst dense forest and spouting streams would lead to these pretty waterfalls. By the time we reached Tiger falls, the sun had begun to set and the temperature dipped significantly.  Although we wanted to hop right in, the chilly breeze was holding our daring thoughts back. We were in a dilemma to step in or head back but the small crystal clear pond that the waterfalls formed was too pretty to ignore-without thinking further we jumped right in. It was crazy! The water was ice cold. It was absolutely hysterical, silly and purely refreshing. With chattering teeth and shivering hands we sipped our tea afterwards and just couldn’t stop laughing at our stupidity.

On our way back to the resort I thought how I’d been wasting my time worrying over petty things in life- All that stress I burdened myself with since so many days seemed so pointless. I tried to remember the reason behind all the chaos but I couldn’t – I was that happy. This was an absolute joy of life.

Budher Forest and Caves: The place is for adventurous souls. Budher meadows are beautiful. We drove up till the forest outpost which was around 30 km from Chakrata and then trekked our way to the caves. It was a moderate trek and took us around 3 hours to reach there. These limestone caves have a narrow entrance and to crawl in for around 150 meters was a lot of fun. There are some temples nearby. We had our lunch at the outpost and headed back to the resort.

Devban:  We drove around 15 kms to reach Devban and trekked a small distance to reach Vyaas Shikhar. Being the highest peak in Chakrata , it offers a breathtaking view of the Himalayas. It was a serene experience, exactly what I had expected and was very glad to be there.

My 2 Cents:

1.       Foreigners are restricted to visit Chakrata. Beyond Kalsi to be precise.

2.       Do NOT visit Chakrata if you tend to get bored after sometime looking at the mountains or you do not enjoy solitude because that’s the best thing this place offers.

3.       A comfortable pair of walking shoes is a must. You have to trek through the forests to reach all the beautiful places. No other option.

4.       Changing room is available at Tiger Falls. Do not hold yourself back from taking a dip.

5.       A pair of binoculars if you’re a bird watcher.

6.       Do carry your food along when you leave from the hotel for your excursions. There are hardly any options available.

7.       There is no help/ first aid of any kind available at the caves. Would not suggest for kids.

8.       We missed going to ‘Bittoo Cave’. The owner of our hotel discovered this place. Have heard it is an awesome adventure activity. Do take out some time to visit.

9.       Do buy some famous Chakrata Rajma and kulath daal.