Chaukori – 5th Halt in Our Uttarakhand Road-trip

Chaukori was our 5^th halt in the Uttarakhand road-trip. A halt, more to take a break and rest, than with tourist considerations. You see, Munsiyari to Chaukori is about 95kms. It took us a little more than 5 hours. Had we not taken the break, it would have been a drive from Munsiyari to Binsar which is close to 200 kms apart. That would have been a day long drive leaving us completely exhausted….

Drive from Munsiyari to Chaukori

We took the same road we had taken while driving up to Munsiyari (Read: Drive to Munsiyari). Which means, you drive down up to Thal and then drive up about 25 kms to a town called Udyari Band. Chaukori is only 3 kms away from Udyari Band.

Staying at the Ojaswi Resort in Chaukori

After the terrible stay at Milam Inn ( Read review: Milam Inn, Munsiyari) in Munsiyari, honestly, I was looking forward to our stay at the Ojaswi in Chaukori. Don’t get us wrong. We are not fussy travelers. However, a clean stay is what I consider basic and to that end, Milam Inn was terrible with house-keeping.

We had booked the Executive Room that came with a double bed room, a room with a single bed and a nice little balcony from where one can look out into the hills. Pity, the Himalayas weren’t visible at this level at this time of the year. Must be an awesome view during the clearer winter months.

The restaurant is housed in a separate building and the staff make everything that you may request. They ask you your preferences well in advance so that food is ready just when you want it. We were happy that they obliged with our requests of Bournvita milk and lemon tea too. No, there is no tea counter in the room. But room-service is prompt.

I loved the garden at the Ojaswi. So much so that I struck up a conversation with the gardener when I saw him the next morning. Huge roses, in a variety of colours, pansies, pitunias, marigolds…I brought back a few tips of how to ensure good growth and how to keep away pests.

They have free wifi at the hotel. We, however, used out own phone connections and data cards.

Sight-Seeing in Chaukori

Chaukori, once upon a time, was known for its tea estates. Very few of them remain now. The hotel staff advised us to go to a nearby deer park, but its opening time clashed with our onward travel plans. Hence, we gave it a miss.

Being a very very small town, all that you can do at Chaukori is to go for walks. We did that post lunch and a short afternoon nap. We walked down a boulders-filled road that had been recently levelled, found an ashram on our right giving sermons in loud-speakers (Gosh, why do they use loud speakers in the hills and kill the tranquility?), an old abandoned stone house that had an eerie life-size idol of Goddess Kali (we, of course, ran away from the place) and a school. We sat down on the slopes of the school’s grounds to see the sun go down.

The next morning, we set of for Binsar, our 6^th halt in the Uttarakhand road-trip…

For the complete Uttarakhand itinerary, where to stay, what to see and what to buy, read — An Uttarakhand Roadtrip This Summer