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.    

The Kumaon Diaries - Day 4 (Enroute Ranikhet)

Kausani to Ranikhet

The day was bright and sunny and the ride was highly enjoyable. We passed by little villages, people sunning themselves in the tranquil countryside. Quite a bit of the journey was on flatland and then we climbed some hills again.

The long and winding road to Ranikhet

 We stopped midway in a nice place in the hills since we had a lot of time on our hands.

Pondering on going up the hillside

Mr Naidu, Ranjan and me

 Ranjan wanted us to experience how life is in the hills - he pointed out to the valley below and said that they would keep climbing down to get to their project sites.

Diwan and Vardha down the valley

Ranjan and I up the hill

Me 

 Vardha was led to some distance down the valley by Diwan while I chose to stay back. The forest was full of pines and Ranjan and I climbed a hill on the other side. Mr Naidu shared some of the Malta fruit he had with him.

A discussion among colleagues - Mr Naidu, Ranjan and Jitendra

Old friends chatting away

We chatted, clicked pictures, walked up into the hills, and then headed onwards. Another relaxed stop at a tea shop where we ate a bakery item called fan biscuit and then we hit Ranikhet.

A meeting among colleagues - Jitendra, Ranjan, Mr Naidu and Diwan

 Now Ranikhet also is known for its snowfall, hosts the Kumaon regiment and is a typical hill town. 

The fan biscuit and chai

Onwards then to Ranikhet.

The Kumaon Diaries - Kausani

 Day 4 (Kausani)

The morning at Kasauni was as expected freezing. But when we stepped out at 7 am, woken up by Ranjan, we saw signs of a clear sky and the promise of sun.

Freezing cold at 7 am

 Some hot tea which quickly grew cold and then there were signs of sunrise. 

Sun lighting up the peaks

That's when we saw the Trishul peaks - the sun's rays lit these tree peaks to our left and it was breathtaking to see the Himalayan range and its size and beauty.

Spectacular sunrise

 As the sun appeared over the mountains it was a sight to see and we trekked up the nearby hillock for a better view and also to get a sense of the hills.

Up on our hill

 There were tea gardens down the road. Vardha and I tried to jog a bit just for the feel of it and it was good fun.

Heading back - the hotel in the background

Vardha jogging away

We returned to the hotel and ate some breakfast. I stayed with toast and omelette which is what my body seemed to want and it was good stuff.

The Trishul in the background

Old friends from second class

 We were all set for a 50 odd kilometre drive to Ranikhet but before that, we were taken to Gandhi ashram in Kausani - a place where Gandhiji had apparently visited and named 'Switzerland of India'.

Gandhi ashram

 The ashram offers spectacular views of the ranges and lists some 9 ranges from Nanda Devi, Trishul among others. It is a well kept, quiet place on the edge of the mountain.

Vardha and the Bhotia dog

Inside the ashram

We sent some time clicking pictures, petting a Bhotia dog which apparently is a great sheepdog and one that fights with the big cats themselves if need be.

 

A monkey, the ranges in the background and Ranjan

 A Burhans flower was picked and I kept it as a souvenir of the trip. After half an hour here, we headed out. Ranjan bought some cold weather wear and then we hit the road.

The Kumaon Diaries - Day 3, Almora

 Day 3, Almora

The ride to Almora from Neem Karoli Baba ashram was very pleasant. The gradients were gentle, the roads wide and it never felt like we were driving in the mountains. The road started climbing a bit as we approached Almora. We lost Mohan and his jeep and wondered if they took the bypass. Mr Naidu was keen that we buy the famed Bal Mithai of Almora - but we finally could not get it owing to parking issues.  Ranjan was keen to see his house and so were we so we told them to drive on while we stopped to see the house.

Almora

Almora is a town that seemed to have grown on the ridges of the hills and it overlooks the valley. The ridges go all round the mountain like a tea cup. It's pretty well developed as could be seen - a mall with Pantaloon written boldly over it. The main road wound through, narrow and impossible to park, so we gave Bal Mithai a miss. Ranjan searched for Pandey Khola, which was where his house was and lo, we found it.

Path to Ranjan's ancestral house

The house

Empty and unused, but beautiful in its construction

The house, perhaps a century old, was built in a 1920s styles, and overlooked the valley. Everything about it was so quaint, the design, the architecture, the windows and doors, the terraces, the views. It was unoccupied and surprisingly in good and clean condition. As with all houses there, it slid down the valley along the steep slope, because there is not too much flat land there and one has to construct along the contours of the mountains.

Looking down at Almora

Wonderful staircase

Overlooking the valley - and yes, it's green!

We walked into the house where Ranjan's father grew up with his four other brothers and the rest of the family. His father moved out in search of a job, went to Bombay, then came to Hyderabad to work in Hyderabad Asbestos, where he retired.

Reminds one of those Italian villas

A view from the side

Another view - love those windows

Looking down

He was a cricketer, captain of the asbestos team, and definitely a dashing personality. He still is. Ranjan looked at the property, and as always wondered if it could be developed into a resort, which it certainly lends itself to.

A cute staircase leading up

The house

Another pic of the house - wonder what lies in its destiny

 After clicking several pictures there, and after Ranjan met some local person, we took off towards Kausani at about 430 pm. I was bracing for the cold. The weather said 2 degrees.

Leaving 

Enroute Kausani

The road was narrow and we climbed and descended. The sun set and it grew dark. After some searching, we found the place we were to stay in Kausani - Heritage Resort - which overlooked the mountains. Apparently we see mountain peaks shaped like a trident in the morning when the sun's ray light them up. The cold hit us like a wall the moment we stepped out - Vardha confirmed it was two degrees. Kausani was called by Gandhiji as the 'Switzerland of India', offers 300 km wide views of the Himalayas including peaks like Trisul, Nanda Devi and Panchchuli. Right now we could only feel the cold.

Heritage Resort, Kausani

We shivered our way into our rooms, checked out the heaters, figured the sleeping arrangements and had a cup of tea. There was a brilliant moon, that suddenly came up - one moment it was not there and one moment it was there - huge and red, like the blood moon.

Ranjan holding up the moon, as he does so many things

Tea, cold (pic by Jitendra)

 Ranjan got a single room, Vardha and me took one and Mr Naidu and Jitendra took one. The rooms had a mezzanine loft in case there were families I guess but owing to the cold we both decided to take the bed on the ground floor. A bonfire was soon arranged, booze was quickly brought out and we sat around the bonfire, munching on some snacks.

Bonfire (pic by Jitendra)

A couple of young boys, twenty-five or so, asked if they could join us. One was a CA working with PWC and another working with OLX, and the two Delhi boys were travelling in their car, staying where they pleased. They were coming from Mukteshwar, where it was minus three degrees they said. It was nice to see the freedom they had, the life they were now living. To have a car at twenty-five was not possible twenty-five years ago, nor was the freedom to travel and explore like they were doing. One drank and smoked, one didn't. They were school friends from fourth class (Vardha said he and Ranjan were school friends from second class), and they had had three more with them, until the others left, They'd check in one place, then look around for another, find it online, and then book themselves there. Thanks to the internet they were fully clued in - maps, hotels, information, bookings. Lovely.

Banter around the bonfire

The talk around the bonfire was lively. Jitendra told us some local facts. He is full of enthusiasm and all sorts of mountain tales (he once told me about the sal trees - sau saal pada, sau saal khada). The cold was something else and we finally moved indoors to get some dinner. The service was really good, food pretty nice. The tap water was freezing cold and we finally called it a day - well before 10 in the night.

The rooms faced east, sunrise was at 7, so plans were made to wake up early. The challenge was to sleep in the rather cold bed with a heater that worked not so well. A couple of covers at night and more t shirts and I was set. This was probably the worst it would get in terms of cold. Kausani apparently is known to have snowfall every year.

Good night and god bless!