Jakholi- district Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand- a quiet getaway for an extended weekend

We happened to stumble upon Jakholi, an absolutely 10 hut hamlet hidden away in the interiors of Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, around 400 odd kilometers from Delhi.

We left in the wee hours of the morning and were there at the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam GMVN run sole guest house, perched atop a hill a liitle post lunch. Since we had gone during the monsoons, we had large sections of bad roads, specially post Rudraprayag to the Tilwara  junction where we turned left and traveled for around 35 kms with absolutely breathtaking vistas all along the way.
The GMVN rest house has a dilapidated exterior and looks as if it has seen grander days, but once inside, its spotlessly clean and the service impeccible.

 The room rent for a super deluxe room was around  INR 660 two years back
What struck us as spectacular was the 360 degree view of the snow capped mountains, the thundering silence broken occasionally by the melodious tweet of some unknown Himalayan bird - the noise of the laptop keys clicking was hurting the senses in that silence. To break the silence one can actually try playing the filmy echo games. On an exploratory trail of the hamlet , we found that there is absolutely no scope for any shopping, unless one wanted to purchase cow bells in different shapes and sizes.

 Not many people know of the place, so we had the free run of the place as we were the only guests. The hotel is pet friendly. Our man Friday there was a local smiling hill boy, who took us to someones house to procure live barn fowl. The trussed up fowl was then dumped in the boot of the car and we partied that night on an extremely spicy fowl curry and local brew- the name of which no one was able to tell. For a place this sleepy and tranquil, we were surprised to find top class vet services- infact the vet out there, proudly explained to us that they were producing cattle through artificial insemination   with the help of cyrogenic- whatever that meant. The locals are very friendly and curious to know about the outside world and they readily welcome you to their houses and hearts should you be so inclined to mingle.

 Quaint british style lifestyle in this small hamlet,there is a dining hall and even a lounge to sit and enjoy steaming cups of Tea

The balcony which was all ours

Jakholi is a place that we would never forget as this was the first time we witnessed the fury of nature and the sheer helplessness of the highest animal (MAN)  in the face  of a cloud burst. It seemed that the lightening bolts were hitting us  from all sides and we would all be eletrocuted any minute.the eerie wail of the thunder, rattling of the windows,  and loud lightening made us realise how insignificant we all are in front of divine creations. No wonder people living in these terrains worship the forces of nature, rather than the standard religious creations by human beings.
The next morning a very subdued group tried to look brave as we walked to the level below where the car was parked, hoping that it didn't get washed away in the roaring Mandakini down below. 

The route we took to reach Jakholi from Delhi was via Rishikesh and Rudrarayag. We learnt that the road was washed away at different points - so we had to take a much longer route via Tehri. The journey was longer as we got stuck in an avalanche and the route was almost 150 kilometers longer.
Hills in the monsoon are probably at their pristine best, but definitely not for the weak livered and people who have reservations about flexibility. The entire Himalayas are green and lush, the clear skies offer spectacular snow views post the rainfall.Its as if the hills aquire an indentity of their own- sensual and raw and immensely dangerous. The thrill lies in conquering the unconquered and PashaTuks definitely recommends this place for all travellers who want to explore the untapped terrain.