Nainital (Tal being the hindu word for lake) is one of several small villages settled in the hills/mountains (depending on your standards, to me they are mountains) east of Jim Corbett national park.
How to get to Nainital / Bhimtal from Ramnagar / Jim Corbett national park
Nainital is the main village in this region. I stayed in Bhimtal, which is a bit smaller and quieter.
To get from Ramnagar to Nainital, there are direct buses – an easy process as usual: go to the bus stand and ask around until you are pointed to the right bus.
To get from Ramnagar to Bhimtal, you either have to take a bus to Haldwani, then proceed by taking either a public bus (again, ask at the bus stand) or join a shared taxi (that’s what I did; they squeezed 14 passengers into an 8-seater – an experience in itself, especially on the small winding mountain roads. But at only 30 INR, it was very cheap and quicker than a bus). Alternatively, you could also take the direct bus to Nainital and then find transport to Bhimtal from there.
Whatever route you choose, there is always a way to continue moving forward – just ask people and you will either find a taxi or a private person willing to give you a ride for some rupees. During my stay, I even had people on scooters taking me along (make sure they have a helmet for you).
Nainital and its surroundings
Nainital is beautifully set in the mountains around a lake – the same description is true for all the other “tals” I visited in those days (Nainital, Naukluchiatal and Sattal). In all these locations you find opportunities to do things like renting a paddle boat, or trying paragliding. In Nainital especially, the offer on this things is quite abundant. Since these locations are all set in their own valleys they are separated by the hills in between them. Since the temperatures are more bearable here (below the 30° mark), this invites to do nice hikes between the villages, offering splendid views. I visited many places by just walking there (I think I did over 20 kms on each day I was there) and then took whatever mode of transport I could find to get back or move on to another place.
In Nainital is also the so-called “Snow View point” from where you can apparently see the Himalayas if the weather conditions are right (it was cloudy during my visit).
In Ghorakhal (not a “Tal”, not a lake) is the beautiful “Golu Devta” Temple. It is believed that, if you write a wish on a note and attach it to a little bell in the temple, that wish will eventually come true. Hence, the temple is fully covered in bells of all sizes which gives it indeed a very unique and beautiful touch.
After visiting this temple I wanted to hike back to Bhimtal (which can be seen from the temple in the distance), it is an about 5 km downhill hike. After a while a local man asked me where I was going, and after I explained my way to him, he was very concerned, saying I had to cross 2 km through an area which would be very dangerous since there are tigers and leopards. It seemed exaggerated to me so I told him I’d take the risk (another chance to see a tiger eh!) but after 5 minutes he caught up with me and insited that I should take another route (several km detour) or that he’d bring me down on his scooter. Well since the man seemed so concerned I took the offer, expecting that it was just another ruse to get some money out of me. Once we had passed the “no mans land” as he called it, he told me I could continue from here and that there was no more danger here. To my surprise he did not expect any payment, even when I asked how I could show my gratitude he declined. He told me that I am a guest in his country and he sees it as his responsibility to make sure I am safe. Wow!
Click on one of the pictures below to see the Nainital gallery:
![Naintal India solotravel backpacking travel](https://letzexplore.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PXL_20240404_061035192-scaled.jpg "View over Naintal form "Tiffing Point"")
