We had an 8.30am pick up for our 12.10pm flight to Pantnagar airport. It takes up to an hour to get to the airport and you need to be there 2 hours early for all the security and you might need a bus out to the plane.

The same driver that brought us from the airport was there to collect us. This was not an uneventful trip. At an intersection we got rear ended by another car and there proceeded half an hour or more of argument between the drivers on the roadside. We were all ok though got slightly sore necks from the impact. The car was still fine and the boot worked. I think there was actually more damage to the car behind.

I felt sorry for the driver as he seemed to indicate he’d have to pay and was worried about his job though it was certainly not his fault that the guy behind was not concentrating. That’s probably a bit harsh. How anyone completes a journey without crashing into at least one other vehicle is nothing short of a miracle. There are no give way rules. It is everyone for themselves and the ‘keep left’ rule is more of a guideline than a rule, especially on roads with a median (including motorways), which get treated as if both sides are two way.

We got to the airport eventually and managed to get ourselves inside the terminal and checked in ok. At the security line one of the officials told Craig “you have a very nice group. They are smaller than you.” Both Jen and Craig thanked him. We are definitely people of interest wherever we go and being the only westerners we saw in the entire airport we tended to stand out I guess.

The flight was Air India again. It was only an hour flight in a propeller plane but they still managed to serve water and a filled roll. In fact we all got offered 2 rolls as the plane was only half full.

Our driver was waiting at the airport. We had to ask the policeman where to get the bags as it wasn’t obvious and all the other passengers seemed to disappear. Our bags were all there (back outside the door we had entered) and off we set.

The driver got at least 3 calls from Bhagi making sure he had us and that we got there ok. Jen tried to reassure him we were fine (we’d reported the earlier crash to our group on what’s app) but he was not happy until we arrived.

The driver actually stopped the car to talk on the phone which was different. We had a few extreme overtaking moments but generally the 2 hour trip over the 70km went ok. The first half of the trip was over very fertile farmland.

The homes seem a lot more ornate and it seems like a wealthy area.

Then we hit the mountains and it was a continuous climb for nearly an hour up into the Himalayas. There is no snow, which is a bit surprising, and the air is cleaner.

Nainital is built around an alpine lake about 2000m above sea level. It looks white like Lake Bled in Slovenia, but without the island in the middle and the castle on the hill.

It’s about the same size as Lake Bled, smaller than Wanaka and Wakatipu, with mountains all around and houses and hotels built on the slopes. There were lots of schools in and around the towns on the way so I guess it is still a preferred area to send kids for schooling to avoid the Delhi and Rajistan summer heat.

We are staying in the Naini Retreat which is a heritage hotel first built as a Raja’s palace in 1927 and converted to a hotel in 1989. It is very nice in a colonial, woody sort of way.

We have a terrace overlooking the lake (through vegetation) and it’s very comfortable. There is a path down to the town which we’ll explore once we are all a bit recuperated. At present Craig and I have bad stomachs and Jen, Mike and I have sinus infections.

There was an issue with the room for Craig and Jen as it only had one bed. When they explained they were brother and sister the manager offered a split room that had a bed downstairs and a mezzanine with two singles upstairs. However, that is in a wing where they are revarnishing all the floors and woodwork and the smell was overwhelming (similar to our experience in Cape Town.). The next offering was an enormous suite with 2 double rooms that smells just fine although is difficult to keep warm. They have happily settled for that.

Mike Jen and I went to the bar at 4.30 where they serve snacks and chai tea. The snacked were: club sandwiches that had some kind of spicy green paste on them, sweet and salty biscuit things and some hot pakoras. A couple of pakoras and dip plus some chai tea was all I needed for dinner. Craig hadn’t had much to eat all day so ordered room service and then went to dinner with Mike and Jen. Probably not the best decision given a dodgy stomach but at least he was hungry.

Jen, Mike and I had some pre dinner drinks after snack time as dinner doesn’t start until 8pm. We ordered double gin and tonics and rum and cokes and literally got half glasses of spirits with the can of mixer. We will moderate our orders tomorrow.

There is a bonfire lit in a brazier outside the dining room and the view over the terrace to the lights around the lake is lovely.

Hopefully we will all be able to sort out our ailments tomorrow and get out and about on Monday.