Pangoot:- A Hidden Gem in Kumaon Hills

     

                                    Pangoot:- The Lost Hamlet in the Valley Of Imagination

For most of our corporate life, we work so hard on our deadlines and projects that we almost wipe out our work-life balance. We work in shifts, work on Saturdays and Sundays and what not, so when an opportunity knocks our door to explore or regain your work-life balance, then you should be game for it.

We got that “opportunity” when a long weekend around the Republic day came. The destination was well discussed and sorted. We were heading Kumaon hills this time. In terms of the exact geographic figure "18Kms from Nainital”. Nainital is a most common hill station in the north, but the place which we were visiting was a bit unexplored. A small town called “Pangoot”.

26th January 2017:

11 people, 1 driver, a tempo traveler, lots and lots of snacks and at full swing; we left Gurgaon (Read Gurugram) at around 3:00 AM in the morning. Routes were simple, take NH24, Cross Moradabad and then take the outer road of Nainital and reach Pangot. Simple, isn’t it? Wait for it!!

As most of us were exhausted with the office work from 25^th Jan, after few round of name guessing game, we passed out. Around 9 AM in the morning, we took our first stop for breakfast.

We were now on the Nanital road and in no time we were in the hills. Roads in Uttarakhand are not as good as you will find in Himachal Pradesh. So, after numerous rounds of antakshari and completely out of sync singing later, we reached outer of Nainital.

View of Naini lake

Drive from this place till Pangoot was quite rough. We saw the beautiful view of Nainital city from a point. Roads became narrower. We reached Pangot at around 3:00 PM in the afternoon. But, that was not it. We had to drive down to our camps in the valley. And from there on, the "simpler" part of the journey took a U-turn. The road condition was horrible. No sign of any living creature at all.

Road from Pangoot city to the Camp

After about 3-4 Km of driving in nowhere, we reached our destination: - “Hidden Valley Camp & Resort”. It was literally hidden in the valley. All the pain that we took for last an hour or so were gone by seeing this place. There were tents with all sorts of amenities. And bang opposite to your tent, you will find beautiful valley view. This place is what you want to get that calm and serene feeling. Away from everything, even no cell phone coverage. Just magical!! 

Staffs at the camp were very supportive; they took order for dinner and provided us with a guide. Our guide took us for a stroll in the valley. The more you explore, the more you fell in love with this place. It seemed we were the only tourist in the entire valley. It felt like we own it. How amazing it was!

After a lot of photo session and a beautiful sunset view later. We decided to return to our camp as it was getting dark. As we reached our camp, the staffs were preparing food for dinner. They were also setting a bonfire for us. Bonfire, music, awesome food, amazing company, and the stargazing, what else you want apart from cherishing and savoring those moments.

It was getting colder as time was passing. Some of the staff members told us that it might snow tomorrow. And after some time, the heat from the bonfire was not even able to keep us warm. We decided to have our dinner and go to our tents.

27th January 2017:

I was the first one to wake up. It was 5:30 AM in the morning. And guess what, the valley which was green 12 hours before had white snow on top of them. Our plan was to stay for 2 nights at Pangoot, but one of the staff and our driver warned me that if we stay there after 11 AM then all roads will be blocked and we had to extend our stay for 2 more days. That was not the plan at all; I waited for an hour and woke everyone.

We left Pangoot by 10:30 AM through the same route. We decided to go to Mukhteshwar and then stay back at Nainital. As we were leaving the Pangoot city, there was snow all over in the valley. We got lucky by an hour max; otherwise, the road would have been blocked easily. 

Just 5 Km before Nainital, it started snowing heavily and traffic got heavier and resulted in the jam. People were in no mood to clear the traffic. So, we took charge and cleared almost 4 Kms traffic on our own. Oh yeah!! Cheers Guys 😎😎😎

Our trip after that went quite smoothly. All in all one of the best trip I ever had in my life. It's been a year now, but I am still in love with this place. If you want to re-energize yourself and want to visit a secluded place, go to Pangoot.  

Pic Credit :- Surya
Title Credit :- Utkarsh