Nainital

Placid, serene and really really lazy. That’s how I can describe Nainital. I was told it is the honeymooner’s paradise and when I landed I understood why. There is absolutely no urgency in the town and people walk around, sit and chat and do nothing for hours. I had gone on my school trip to Nainital with around 60-70 odd students from my school. Our journey from Delhi to Nainital is roughly around 12-14 hours. We left Delhi at 9pm and reached Nainital early in the morning. The drive up in a bus can be scary and nauseating for people who have altitude sickness so do not forget to carry medication.

We were singing and dancing all throughout and hardly had time to look out of the window. But very late in the night when the drives asked us to calm down and stay put in our seats is when I looked out to see we were passing through the dense Jim Corbett National park. Our Hotel was not the greatest and we did not care either. We went to Naini Jheel after freshening up. Nainital is full of beautiful lakes. The town was named after Goddess Naini and the biggest lake was also named after her, hence the names Nainitaal & Naini Jheel respectively. The lake did not have much activity then. There was boating only and we all chose our boats and decided to do what most honeymooners’ do, that is romance with nature! Our rower was an amazing singer and the value of the boat ride went up many times just because he was singing songs for us. We all felt like we were in Venice riding a Gondola and the rower singing romantic songs for us. The town is full of British architecture and the old houses are a reminiscence of the long gone era. Nainital was a summer escapade for the British evidently.

Our next stop was the ever green mall road. No prizes for guessing it was a stretch of road where you buy loads and loads of local art and merchandise to take back home. Nainital has some beautiful shops for Candles and wooden artifacts I would strongly recommend these. The Naina Peak also known as the China peak is roughly 8500 ft above sea level and is the highest point in Nainital. It’s a popular tourist point as you can see the China border from there and also see a fantastic view of the Himalayas. Its best to have a guide around here or else you will keep looking everywhere to see the China border and will return home looking at a cloud line and assuming it was the Border. For the ones who want to have a bird’s eye view of Nainital can also visit Tiffin Top which is oddly 2000 ft above sea level. Nothing too great about this place but just a quiet place to spend time alone.

Bhimtal is huge. It’s named after the epic character Bhim from Mahabharata, and I don’t know why. There are boating options everywhere in Nainital and Bhimtal is no different. There are plenty of farmhouses and resorts here.

Nainital was actually filled with lot of ‘just married’ couples who had come for a peaceful honeymoon secluded from the noise of big town. Owing to its proximity to Delhi, lot of newly weds from Delhi are a regular here. I don’t have any particularly amazing memory to take back from Nainital apart from all the fun we had together. Had it not been for those classmates, I would have been utterly bored here. But yes I would still rate 3 stars to this tranquil hill station for a cheap getaway.