We drove upto Binsar from Ramnagar, Uttaranchal crossing Ranikhet on our way. Ranikhet is known as “mini Kashmir”. Oddly enough, I forgot my camera in the car because I had to rush for a loo-break during our pit-stop. So no photos for you! What I can tell you is that we had great tandoori chicken, a relieving loo break and bought some gloves and hats for the bone-chilling cold!

The drive up the hills takes us through twisting turns which leave you with a serious jaw-ache after the first 2 hours - you’ll be saying “wowwww” at each and every turn up.

Twisty roads

The Himalayas play peek-a-boo with you going in and out of sight behind the trees bursting with vivid red rhodendrons - spring time is perfect for the flowers. But more than the Himalayas, it is the awe-inspiring vistas that greet you with every kilometre you go up the hills. Every new turn gives you a view of stunning layers and layers of hill-land.

Layers of alpine beauty!

Evening light

Rhodendrons

The way to Binsar takes you past the outer limits of the town of Almora, which is also a popular hill-station where broadband is more freely available than fresh water. We reached the hills overlooking Almora at around 6PM and the moon was just rising out of its slumber. The deep blue dusk sky, the unusually large moon, the pine trees and the colorful town of Almora were enough to make us stop in our tracks and click off some shots.

Oh little town of Almora, how still we see thee lie

The big moon of Almora

Dusky layers!

We were now on our final stretch upto the Binsar peak but along the way we had to stop for two other irresistible photo-stops. The forests along the Kumaon region are sometimes burnt down to keep the ecology in balance, we were lucky enough to sight a forest-fire from our unbeatable vantage point high above the forest.

Forest fires!

A little further along the way, we got our first sighting of wildlife. Really wild. And very dead. The carcass looked atleast a day old and we guessed it was a leopard kill by the sheer size of the prey.

Dinner is served!

We finally reached the govt-owned KMVN rest-house high above the Binsar Retreat and other private resorts. Here, you get the best panoramic view of the 300km long Himalayan peaks from ‘Zero Point’; a place which is only a short trek up from the rest-house (2kms). Electricity lasts for only 6 hrs per day (generated from solar panels), and there is absolutely zero cell-phone coverage. Hot water is available only on request and that too only in the mornings. But you’ll forget all these amenities once you start discovering Binsar.

KMVN Rest house

The next morning we caught sunrise over the Himalayas and started off for a 6km trek down the hill.

Another wild-life sighting! The leopard in the KMVN rest-house.

Sunrise layers!

Sun rays kiss the peaks of the Himalayas

Our trek took us through the actual forest part of Binsar leading down the hill we’d driven up the previous day. The story is best told in a few photographs:

Look up!

Droopy Owl - our only bird sighting apart from the usual eagles was this. Binsar is home to more than 200 species of birds!

Yet another wildlife sighting! - the pink creature to the right is my dear friend Tanvi. She had to endure putting up a fake smile for the 1000s of photos I clicked!

Langurs - these buggers were everywhere and they are quite a scary lot too!

At our chai break, I took some time off from the lens to take in the sights while Tanvi took a shot at some shots.

That’s our guide Sunder Singh to the right and to the left is me gingerly finding my way across the slope and makin an arse of myself

We also found a drinking water source dating back to 1907 and a temple by the way. Sunder Singh got us a bottle of full of fresh drinking water from the well, and guess what? It was actually better tasting than your regular Evian! This was pure bliss.

The 1907 water source and the lonely temple

Lunchtime went by at the KMVN resthouse and we lazed around the resort till sunset. We trekked the short walk up to ‘Zero point’ to catch the sunset and returned to the rest house with only 2 hours of electricity left. As the camera charged and we finished dinner, we realized how being completely isolated is never really a bad thing. In the one week I spent in Uttaranchal, my phone was switched off for the entire time and I lived without electricity and broadband all through. We ensured that our short vacation was not made shorter by the mundane routine of our urban lives. We did not capture leopards, birds, bears but we did find peace.Pure and undisturbed peace.

In the end, those two days spent in Binsar will always be permanently stuck in my mind. More than just seeing these photographs, I can smell the fresh air, feel the soul-awakening breeze run against my face, hear the crackle of leaves under my foot in the forest, see the sky change a million hues from dawn to dusk and transport myself back to Binsar with my memories.

Just two days spent on the hill-top but enough memories to last a lifetime; where have you bin’sar?

At the end of the day…

Cheers!
Joe

PS: All the best to all the teams for the auditions, can’t wait to see you guys!

PS 2: High res versions of these photos are available for download here.

PS 3: More such photographs available on my regular flickr page here.