Chakrata, Uttaranchal

Multiple trips in 2007

[About Chakrata] [Getting There] [Where to stay] [Hotel Snow View] [What to do] [Photo Gallery]
[Jagatgram] [Deo Van] [Koti Kanasar] [Daragadh] [Hanol] [Kathiyan] [Lakhamandal] [Sahia to Kwano]

Daragadh, Chakrata

[Getting There] [Where to Stay]

Daragadh is a small hamlet about 70kms from Chakrata town and 20kms from Tuni. We had to spend a night there, as the FRH we had planned to stay in at Koti Kanasar was under renovation. Daragadh FRH is on a hilltop about 2kms short of the village.
At present only Airtel Mobile works in these areas, the signal comming from across the border from Himachal Pradesh. A few BSNL towers are also under construction and are expected to start working in a year from now.
There is a PCO at the village of Sawdha, midway between Koti Kanasar and Daragadh. In Daragadh there is a small BSNL telephone exchange, which works via satellite and you need to trek up to it and if you are lucky you may even manage a call.

Getting There

For road map from Chakrata, see here.
It takes about 2 1/2hrs to drive down from Chakrata, as the road is narrow and not very good.
5kms from Chakrata is the Forest check Post at Aloo Mandi, a kilometer ahead is the village of Chona Bhatta and 15kms further down the road is the village of Jadi. Houses here are exquisetly built and the village has a beautiful Shiva temple.

Jadi House	Jadi House	children	Jadi Temple

A unique feature of Chakrata temples is the hanging of trophies on the walls of the temples. Matches between villages are played by teams of the local Gods and if the match is won, the trophy is given to the God !!
10kms ahead of Jadi, is the breathtakingly beautiful village of Koti Kanasar.

Koti Kanasar	Koti Kanasar

This was where we had planned to stay, unfortunately because of renovations of the Forest Rest House, we had to press ahead. To see how to book FRH at Koti Kanasar, see here.
5kms from Koti Kanasar, on a forest unmetalled road is another beautiful village called Bimson. Sadly this village has no electricity. This is where we held our Medical Camp.

Camp	Waiting Patients	Bimson Village	Map

Where to Stay

The only place to stay in Daragadh is the Forest Rest House. It is a beautiful 2 suite building. View around it is great and a cool breeze blows all day long. Unfortunately the present staff is very uncooperative and seeks to extract maximum money from helpless tourists.
Even though the FRH is callled Daragadh FRH,on either side of the FRH is Chillar Village, a cute and very scenic village. Daragadh village is 2kms further down the road. The Chillar village consists of a few dozen houses, a small shop and a Goverment School, uptil class 12. Most of the men of this village work in the plains and the village is populated almost only by women, hundreds of cute and energetic children and old men.

Road to FRH	FRH	Office

Chillar Village	View from the village	House in Chillar

Download small clip - 30 MB AVI FILE of the Sounds and Sights of Daragadh.

[About Chakrata] [Getting There] [Where to stay] [Hotel Snow View] [What to do] [Photo Gallery]
[Jagatgram] [Deo Van] [Koti Kanasar] [Daragadh] [Hanol] [Kathiyan] [Lakhamandal] [Sahia to Kwano]