The general idea of this trip was to spend some time relaxing around in Rishikesh and then travel to some small town or village up in the mountains for some more time.Weather in Rishikesh was not that hot after the pre-monsoon rains started, So even if we had to stay in Rishikesh only, we were happy with it. We took the bus and reached Rishikesh at around 7 am, 6 hours before checkin time and there was no room empty then. So we put our luggage in reception and had breakfast in the rooftop restaurant.

That hotel had some view of river Ganga and the mountains.  Not that great, but good enough. After breakfast, we walked out to the Lakshman Jhula area to wander around. Most of the markets were closed but there were a lot of pilgrims due to the pilgrimage season in progress. A riverside cafe was opening up for business and we found the spot with best view and settled in. Ordered some more food, tea etc and just lay there till afternoon. After lunch, we checked in to the hotel, had bath, a nap and went out again in the evening to another riverside cafe. Had dinner there and came back to hotel for sleep late night. Late in Rishikesh is around 10:30 pm. Hardly any shop stays open after 10.

Our next day was quite similar and we spent most of our time in the cafes, on river bank and walking around on the Laksham Jhula road in both directions. We had seen most places of interest in the city already and the streets had too many pilgrims for us to bother with anything else.

For next 3-4 days, we wanted to do some hike but all hiking routes were closed in monsoon. So we decided to go up to Chakrata. Our plan was to start early morning but could start early afternoon due to traffic. Our driver had very little knowledge of routes in the area and we had to rely on Google Maps to find our way. It worked fairly well, much better than our Meghalaya trip in 2016. There is quite a bit of road upgradation work going on and we were slowed  down quite considerably due to it. On the way, we saw Yamuna river (and some of it’s tributaries) as it flows down from Yamunotri towards the plains. It is much different there than it is in rest of it’s journey elsewhere. Proper hilly area started once we passed Vikasnagar and there were only a few small villages on the way for rest of our journey. Due to rainy season, there were a few seasonal waterfalls on the hills visible every now and then.

We reached Chakrata town just as sun was setting. Upon reaching there, we came to know that the guesthouse we had booked was still some distance away. On the map, location was 1-2 km from the local landmark and tourist attraction Tiger waterfall, which was 27 km from the town. But in reality, it was around 9 km from the town. We had chosen that place because of it’s location outside the main town. There were some  moderately fancy hotels and some “camp sites” with permanent tents.

The hotel was  2 -2.5 km from the main road but we found it without much difficulty. It was a small 8-9 rooms property in a small village, maybe Sawara or something. I never asked. Hotel staff were some people from the houses downhill. The guesthouse had nothing in room except for a bed and a fake fireplace, but the place was clean. We had only a few snacks since morning and the staff bought us a bowl of noodles and tea. Meal options were limited to some simple local daal, roti, sabzi, chawal kind of stuff. It was not fancy but adequate. We walked around a little bit to stretch our legs and went to sleep after dinner.

Tiger waterfall was 45-50 minutes drive or 3 km hike. But the trail started from the main road 2.5 km from guesthouse. So we asked the driver to drop us at start of hiking trail and we started to walk from there. Sun was already up in the sky and there was little shade ever now and then. Most of the trail passed through farms and grazing area for animals, but there were very few people around. Everything was covered in beautiful greenery. Most of people there own cows and some goats. It was a bit surprising to see a big animal like a cow climbing on steep ledges. Not a quick and nimble as goats, but still different than what most people think of them.

There is a ticket counter, parking area and a rest stop about 1 km from the waterfall. We stopped there for some refreshment and resumed the walk. It is a wide paved path from there with easy stairs. But that somehow was more tiring for me than the rough trail we passed earlier.  There were a few houses on the way and the villagers were working in their paddy fields.  The waterfall itself was pretty nice and closed from all sides except one from where the water flowed out. I don’t know if there is a word for this thing.  It was named Tiger waterfall because some people think that it’s sound resembles roar of a tiger.  It was not anything like that but with more water in monsoons and echo from nearby stone walls, it probably lives up to the name.

 At that time, we really wanted to take a dip but hadn’t brought any spare clothing with us. It was hard enough to protect camera from the water spray as it was.

 

After spending some time there, we walked up to the parking area and had lunch of rajma chawal. Driver reached there to take us back to the hotel. On the way, some local village children were selling some pears and we bought a few. They were absolutely inedible though.

 We reached guest house at around 4 pm and were fairly tired after spending all day out in the sun. On this trip, we encountered rain everyday apart from our time out that day. Anyhow we started a small chat with 4 young men from Lucknow who had driven there and had been there before we arrived. They told us about another waterfall in opposite direction which they had visited in morning with a local and were pretty happy about it.  According to their directions, it was about 2 km walk/drive on road and then some difficult climb up the mountain through jungle. I was intrigued but too tired to consider going there. It was  too late anyway. Our original plan was to go back to New Delhi next day, but after hearing good words about the place from those Lakhnavis, we decided to stay one more day and visit the other waterfall .

I woke up a bit early and got ready with a rain jacket, water and camera. Wifey was not feeling good that morning and she stayed back reading a book.  I confirmed directions with hotel staff but they had a pretty different take on it. In short, there was a trail around 2 km from the guesthouse and waterfall was uphill from there. I asked the driver to drive me on whatever trail came up at 2 km. If lucky, I’d find waterfall by myself otherwise I’d enjoy a solo hike after a long time. I actually found a small trail going uphill at around 2 km mark and sent car back from there. It was OK for a few meters , then I realised that it was just a temporary trail passing through the wooded area. Someone was cutting trees, most probably illegally and their passage had probably made the marks. I was essentially climbing the hill without any path, whichever way I found easier.

On the way, I saw a leech and made a mental note to be careful. The wooded area ended rather suddenly after a ridge and there was a trail going on from there, I could see 2-3 people further up with their cows and goats out for grazing. On the way, one hailed me from across the ridge and asked me about my destination. When I told  that I was going to Indrani waterfall, he said that I was too far from there. It was raining slightly at the time and the wind made understanding each other over distance difficult. He asked me to wait and crossed the ridge by almost running over it in less than 2 minutes. It’d have taken me atleast 20 minutes to cover that kind of terrain. He turned out to be brother of one of the workers in guesthouse. We had heard him playing flute in his house downhill previous evening.  Anyhow, coming back to story, I was on wrong trail and I offered him some money to take me there to which he agreed. He left his cows, umbrella and flute there and started walking in front.  He asked me a if I was afraid of leeches and  added that there will be lot of them on the way. I didn’t pay it much attention. I was wearing ankle high hiking boots and my feet , legs were covered by socks and hiking trousers. He was wearing simple shoes and he kept on checking  his feet every now and then. I found it odd but didn’t take it very seriously

 For a few minutes we kept walking on trail, but then he left it completely and started walking through dense tree cover and bushes up and down the hill.

Some of the bushes had wild berries and looked like kind of berries I remember growing wild in Jammu hills and countryside. But these were sour and a bit bigger.  My guide for the day (let’s call him N) kept snacking on them every now and then. We came down to the road after some time. It was not exactly in good condition but not many vehicles use it anyway. Only vehicles I saw were small 3 Mahindra load carriers locals use as shared taxis and a 2 motor bikes. Indrani waterfall was about 200 m uphill from the main road. It was much smaller with less amount of water, but still nice. The water here flows down the rock face on a gradient instead of plunging straight down.

I like waterfalls, but I like seeing them from their top even more. So I asked N if it was possible to go up. So we went up and found another smaller waterfall which was not visible from below.

While coming back, there was another mountain stream joining the one we were at earlier. I walked a few minutes upstream along the trail running beside it and joined back N a few minutes later. He told me that the road led back to the guesthouse but there was another waterfall on the way which he could show me. So we left the road again and walked through some really dense undergrowth to see another small waterfall. He asked me o walk in front to avoid getting leeches but there was absolutely no trail and I wanted him to stay in front to show me the way. This waterfall was only 12-15 feet high but quite nice. There I found a leech on my boots and it flicked it off.

After that place, he took my leave and scampered up the hill back to his animals. I walked on the road for a while to reach guesthouse in time for lunch. It was only then I realised why N kept asking me to be careful of leeches. When I took off my boots, I found a fat leech happily sucking my blood. There were 7-8 bite marks on both legs and all of them were bleeding. Looked like a scene from a gore movie. My socks and trousers were soaked in blood too. I took a shower, cleaned off as much as possible but it kept bleeding. It didn’t hurt at all though. I put some turmeric powder and cotton swabs but these leeches have some really good anti-coagulants. There was a bit of bleeding for about 24 hours even after that whenever cotton was removed.  As I write this post after 11 days, there are only a few marks left. So that taught me to be careful about leeches atleast. There was also some severe itching like sensation on my wrist after I accidentally brushed it against a nettle plant in the jungle, which locals call Bichhoo Booti (scorpion herb), That too went away by itself next morning.

There’s nothing much to write after this. We started back early next morning, drove through fog /clouds for a while and encountered a large landslide which delayed us by 5 hours as we watched it being cleared.