Location: Kanatal, Uttranchal, India
Stay at: The Terraces
Average Tariff: INR 5600 per couple per night with complimentary three major meals.
Access: The nearest railhead is Dehradun (70km) or Haridwar (100 km). The nearest airport is Jolly Grant Airport, Dheradun (90km). Contact Air Deccan and Indian Airlines for air booking. If you wish to travel by road then drive or take a bus till Dehradun. From Dehradun the uphill road to Mussorie is 30 kms. And short of Mussorie is a bypass to Kanatal. This is at a junction where the road goes to Barlowganj and the one above it to New Tehri is the bye-pass. This bye-pass, about 9 kms long, leads to Suvakholi, then to Buraskhanda, followed by Dhanualti, Kadukhal, and finally Kanatal.
Friday Travellers Area Guide:
Kanatal - a lake that mysteriously died. A hamlet still relatively unknown to the outside world, untouched, untamed and totally undefined. Where crisp winds invigorate and mingle with clear sunny blue skies. Where nature is in view in it's myriad compositions. Glorious sunsets screen deep forests. The silence is impregnable. Nowhere at sight are bustling shopping malls or the noisy humdrum of daily life. It's just simple natural pleasures, reflective thoughts, and secluded walks.
So laze around here! Watch poetry unfold before you. Listen to the birds chirping in the forest. Look at the elusive snow capped Himalayan peaks peeping through the trees. Catch up on your reading. Take a beautiful morning walk down a pathway and watch the sunrise paint the Trishul, Chaukhamba and Bandarpuch peaks of the Himalayan ranges. And you could take longer excursion to :
Kodai Jungle - km on the road towards Chamba, turn in on the track on the left. Take your packed lunch along. A leveled walk of 7 to 8 kms will see dense forests, suddenly opening up into a vast expanse of undulating hills and valleys. Tiny, gurgling natural springs come along the way. The track is also jeepable. If you are lucky you could spot Kakar (Barking Deer), Wild Boar Ghorals and Deer. A wide variety of birds can be seen and heard and medicinal plants abound.
Surkhanda Devi - 8 kms on the road towards Mussoorie to Kaddukhal, you have a 2 kms trek on foot to the little temple at a height of 9995 feet. Dedicated to Shankar's consort Sati Ji. Legend has it that Shankar brought her dead body here on his trishul from Hardwar. You get a 360 degree view from the top of the temple. Ponies are available in case you do not feel like trekking up.
Tehri Dam -The famous Tehri Dam at New Tehri merits a visit. While at New Tehri, also visit the Pant Research Institute where various kinds of fruits and plants are grown.
