Glimpses of Uttarakhand: Sample Travel Plans - Pictorial Travelogue, #11

This book is on travel in Uttarakhand, also known as Devbhoomi, or the land of Gods, which is a Himalayan state in northern India. There are 13 hilly districts, Dehradun, Uttarkashi, Tehri Garhwal, Rudra Prayag, Chamoli, Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal, Bageshwar, Pithoragarh, Almora, Nainital and Champawat constituted this State of Uttarakhand. Though the state is small, it is world-famous for tourism. People call it the heaven of Earth.
It is known for its untouched natural beauty and spirituality. It encompasses the most picturesque landscape involving mountains, forests, meadows, valleys, waterfalls, rivers, river confluences and flowers, all nestled in the lap of the majestic Himalayas. The state is in two parts, Garhwal and Kumaon. Dehradun, the state's largest city and its only railhead, is the winter capital, and Bhararisain, a town in the Chamoli district, is the summer capital of Uttarakhand.
Legend says that Gods lived in Garhwal Himalayas and Tehri with its flowers and fruits, green meadows was its Eden. Haridwar and Hrishikesh are the abode of the sages and the most attractive holy places for tourists. Haridwar is the gateway to Uttaranchal. The most sacred Teerthas of Hindus is the Chardham, consisting of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, making Uttaranchal attractive to the pilgrims.
Similarly, the famous Sikh pilgrimage, Hemkund Sahib, is also there in Uttarakhand. Tourists arrive at Uttarakhand to enjoy the snow view of the Himalayas. There are more than a dozen hill stations, like Nainital, Almora, Binsar, Kaushani, Ranikhet, Lansdown, Pouri and Moosouri and six National Parks in Uttarakhand, including the first Indian National Park of Jim Corbett. The rail network in the state is minimal.
The rail is connected only to Dehradun, Haridwar, Hrishikesh, Kathgodam, Pantnagar, Lalkuan, Haldwani, Roorkee, Kotdwar and Ramnagar. But the extensive road network connects all the state's cities and villages. Uttarakhand has about 2, 700 km of roads, of which about 1, 300 km are national highways and 1, 600 km are state highways. The State Road Transport in Uttarakhand is known as the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC).
It is a significant constituent of the transport system in the state. UTC runs about 1000 buses on 35 nationalised routes along with many other non-nationalised routes. In addition, private transport operators also operate about 3000 buses on non-nationalised routes and other highways in Uttarakhand. For local travelling, auto rickshaws and cycle rickshaws are available. In addition, vast network of crowded share jeeps connect remote towns and villages in the hills to important road junctions and bus routes.
The cheapest way to travel in Uttarakhand is by bus. But this may be time-consuming and require more time to cover the State. Hence, the best way is to hire a rental car. This book presents most of Uttarakhand's well-known and off-beat places.