Hi guys!
I want to tell anyone interested about this great place I recently visited with my friends. It's in India, about 10 hours' drive from New Delhi. It's in the mountains and far from the crowds. Unlike other mountain towns to chill out in (I also went to Kasol town in Himachal Pradesh but it's crawling with tourists and food is a bit expensive) it's very peaceful and soothing. Basically, it's a hilltop farm and you stay in the most modern little Swiss cottage with modern bathroom and all around are vegetables and fruit trees. Right now, it's snow-covered and has a stark beauty. In summer, I was told, it's lush green and full of flowers. I plan to return in the summer. The reason I liked it so much is because it's so peaceful. The food served by the staff is grown on the farm. Very important, it's organically grown food which also makes it very tasty. I am a health freak so don't smoke grass or hash but a couple of my friends do and they were very happy because it's plentifully and cheaply available from the locals. In Kasol, the smokers have to be constantly on their guard because of the police. (Hash is supposed to be illegal in India, but it's freely smoked in all mountain villages.) Apart from the police nuisance, there are also cases of theft in Kasol, I believe. When we were leaving in the bus, the police stopped it and took away a youth. We asked the driver and he told us the boy was accused of stealing a camera from a foreign tourist. None of these problems exist in Hartola - the place we went to. We paid $50 for a couple for the cottage and $10 per extra person. There's a lovely loft in the cottage where the others can sleep. Since there were six of us, we paid $50 plus $40. It worked out to $15 per person per day with three homely Indian meals included plus bed tea and cups of tea a couple more times through the day. We relaxed in India's brilliant winter sunshine, read, walked a lot (there's a pretty dense forest nearby to explore, a temple and caves to see) and two of my friends enjoyed rock climbing on some crags nearby. There were clouds on the horizon so we didn't get to see the array of Himalayan peaks. We were told the panorama is spectacular and covers about 150 degrees on the horizon. I sure want to go back to see the view and take pictures.
Well, that's it, guys. I wanted to let people know about this place as I liked it so much. If you are in India or plan to travel in India and want to visit Hartola, you can send a mail to vivekmukherjee@rediffmail.com or vivekmukherji@indiatimes.com as these people arranged everything for us inclusive of getting there, liasing etc.
Have fun and be sure I'll tell you about more great places I go to.
Travel safely,
Yana