6 Abode of Gods'-
flourishing agricultural country of Tarai with their usual seen-
ary of wide stretches of unfenced fields and land waste diver-
sified here and there with clumps of trees and cluster of mud
villages. The Tarai or the "fresh greenery" as the name imp-
lies, is properly the belt of grassy swamp which has been,
turned into rich fertile agricultural land. It owes its origin to
the marshy nature of the ground from which sluggish streams
ooze and flow lazily or stand in stagnant pools. Tall reeds and
grasses, higher than a man on horseback once used to cover
the soil, the remnants of which are still found occasionally
at some places. At the foot of the hills, thick jungle encircles
the Himalayan range, extending several hundred miles between
Garhwal, Kumaon and Nepal.
After crossing the Tarai, we enter the forest belt called the-
Bhabar, which has formed part of Kumaon and Garhwal king-
dom from earliest times, and immediately skirts the moun-
tains. The Tarai forests are clearly visible, now, presenting a
massive wall of forest clad slopes and heights rising steeply
from the vast plain which we have been traversing so long. We-
now pass through a thick tropical jungle, in which the sal
trees figure largely. The water courses have entirely disappea-
red. There are no pools.
After a rather tedious travel through north-eastern Railway
systems or through roadways with stoppages at small sleepy
stations, we reach Kathgodam or Rishikesh preceded by Hald-
wani or Haridwar in either cases. Here is the terminus of the
last railway station from where the tourists board buses or
hire taxis for their onward destination,
Climbing the heights
So much has changed in Kumaon and Garhwal but the
buses of KMOU Ltd., G.M. O.U. Ltd,, the T.G.M.O.U. Ltd.,
have not changed. Still they look like the wooden boxes with
their rickety structure and most uncomfortable seats. The tou-
rists or pilgrims are stuffed like luggage or sheeps, one over
the other. The bus starts, with a jerk, leaving a trail of burnt,
diesel.
As the bus climbs up, after leaving Kathgodam or Rishikesh
or Tanakpur or for that reason Ramnagar or Dehradun, while