The Kumaon Diaries - Day 4 (Holm Heritage Farm)

 Ranjan remembered the Holm Farm Heritage resort in Ranikhet, where he had stayed years ago and was keen to stay there. We entered Ranikhet and instantly realised it was an army town, the base of the Kumaon regiment, with the military trucks and establishments that showed up. We went up and down the one street town, mostly along army routes, and finally found the road less travelled that led to Holm Farm Heritage.

Holm Farm Heritage

View from the entrance

Another view

The lawns - colonial

A bit of history - built in 1870 by the owner Norman Troupe's friend Willy Holm

The dining room

The piano, pictures on the wall

Pool table

The resort, which looks very much like a colonial British bungalow, was steeped in history - built-in 1870, owned by a Padmashri awardee and a freedom fighter, inhabited by Pandit Nehru, Lord and Lady Mountbatten, Indira Gandhi, and more importantly offering a spectacular view of the ranges right upfront. A tennis court, a pool table, six suites in the main building, a cottage with two rooms, double seater huts (which we finally chose).

The two room cottage

The newly made huts for double seaters

Way up to the resort

Some fine sandwiches and pakoras and we drove into the town to get a sense of it, drove back, stopped and explored some hillsides and finally wandered back.

The hills behind

Ranikhet market

Walking down the pine forest to a stream

 The cold was getting under our skin and we were glad to notice that the rooms had electric blankets and heaters. A pool game was played by Vardha and Ranjan while I watched.

The view of the peaks from the cottage

As the evening descended a bonfire was lit, snacks provided, booze poured and a lively discussion on Modi and not Modi caught on. We stayed up till 9 pm and then headed indoor for some fine dinner polished off by rasagollas for dessert. Vardha and I were up till rather late in the night chatting about this and that. I realised later that author Anuradha Roy lives in Ranikhet and kicked myself for not trying to contact her and meet her. It would have been nice to say hello and make contact, especially since I have read her work. I met Anita Nair in Bengaluru like that and Ruskin Bond in Mussoorie and would plan to meet Salil Chaturvedi in Goa. Next time perhaps.

Tomorrow, after breakfast we would be heading back to Kathgodam and on to Delhi from there.