Day 3

Day 3 – Ranikhet – Betaalghat – Mohaan – Dhumakot – Nainidaanda – Haldukhan – Dugadda – Lansdowne

I had not imagined that the day’s ride would throw all the thrills of an adventurous roadtrip. Got ready and left the hotel for Ramnagar road at 0830 hrs. I missed the turn towards Ramnagar and continued towards Haldwani. After a little while I got suspicious that I was not on the right track...so asked for directions and came to know that I’ll have to take a deserted road through Betaalghat to reach the Ranikhet-Ramnagar road. This, however, turned out to be good. The road was bumpy but it was a very enjoyable ride, totally cut-off from the main road traffic. Although this route made me lose around 2 important hours but I was just happy to ride on such a road. Finally reached the Ranikhet-Ramnagar road junction and rode towards Mohaan.

Mohaan is the intersection from where one road goes towards Ramnagar and Jim Corbett and the other towards Pauri. It is here that the steep ascent starts and the region ahead becomes remote. While on my way to the next major village i.e. Dhumakot, I stopped for a photography break and it was here that the things, the ride and the plan for the whole day changed. Two gentlemen stopped their scooter on sighting a lone-rider… ‘Me’ … and started chatting about my ride plans etc. They told me that in no way I could reach Pauri on the same day as the roads would be steeper ahead and it was close to impossible. I was convinced by this as I had merely covered a small part of the journey and it was already 1o’clock. So I told them that I could reach Baijron and then go to Lansdowne the next day. This, according to them, would be useless as the next day was an election day in Pauri and wherever I go, I would be stuck there for the next day as traffic is not allowed to move on election days. This increased my confusion and I thought I would reach Baijron, take the turn towards Lansdowne and reach there by night. This, according to them was again close to impossible as it would take more than 6 hours to reach Baijron and then there is a 160 km ride towards Lansdowne. So finally, they offered me a plan which needed some real guts. They told me to take a diversion from Dhumakot towards Nainidaanda, continue towards Haldukhan, crossing a forest road,
reach Dugadda and then Lansdowne.

This was the only possible thing to do and though they warned me about the bad roads; the unavailability of petrol, food & help; the risky ride and the dense forest, I gave them a piece of thanks and said goodbye deciding to take the ‘dreaded route’.


I think it was around 1500 hrs that I took the diversion towards Nainidaanda and the terrain suddenly changed. There was no sign of tar and the road was completely stone-patched. I think I rode for about 1 and a half hour without a sign of the human specie. Finally reached Nainidaanda and continued towards Haldukhan. People were amazed as usual but I didn’t really understand the gravity of their astonishment at that time. This road shows you all kind of terrains…sometimes its dry and arid… while sometimes its moist and lively… sometimes there are small and lovely waterfalls… while sometimes there are bad water crossings… sometimes the road is all-stone…while sometimes its slippery clay… sometimes its beautiful and enjoyable… while sometimes its scary and spooky… I say scary and spooky because after Haldukhan I had to ride through the dense forest...Bhaidavan...for about 3 hours, almost in dark, before I could reach Dugadda, and I barely saw anyone on the whole track. It was getting dark and the road was too bad to move over 40kmph. Dugadda, which is a small intersection of roads to Lansdowne and towards Delhi, was still too far. The photographs of the forest road do not show even 10% of what you actually see from your naked eyes. Trust me, it sent chills down the spine in the real goddamn way…!!


Anyone who wishes to take an adventurous track and be a witness to nature's different colours...this one is surely for them...Trust me...if u happen to be in this region, just follow the route taken by me...and you'll never forget this ride in your lifetime...!!

Coming back to the point, I finally reached Dugadda at 1930 hrs and then Lansdowne at 2015 hrs... I was damn tired and the butts were cursing me to hell... Had nothing else in the mind but a few shots of 'The anti-fatigue syrup'...ya got it...??....a little food and zzzzzzz.....!

Trip Meter: 785 km