आditi

A former garden department official working with the Uttarakhand government used his knowledge to transform a barren hillock in Chaukori village into a Kaaphal orchard, an organic garden complete with six cows for dairy needs, and domesticated bee colonies for organic honey. His eldest son opened this property for homestay, while his mother -Neelam aunty -the only woman in the family -dished out home cooked food for the visitors. Kaaphal Hill, the village homestay gave us a glimpse of the life in Kumaon hills, the cuisine, and left us wondering whether we are too meek to adopt the life in the hills. It was only alter that we realised that this was indeed the window to the Kumaon life Chaukori (Kumaon himalayas) We found Kaaphal Hill homestya on airbnb. Tarun, the eldest son in the family takes the bookings and coordinates with the tourists. We traveled from Kausani to Chaukori in our self-drive ZoomCar -the Jazz. As we were coordinating with Tarun for directions, h...

This is the trip on which we have spent the least time in planning and packing as compared to our earlier trips...thanks to the busy jobs and endless family functions to attend before we leave.  A trip of many firsts Ovee's first trip to the Himalayas and also the longest till date (almost 3 weeks). First trip that we are not taking our own vehicle, but hiring a self-drive car. Ovee's first air travel (We are flying to Delhi and starting the drive from there). First trip when we'll be staying at a King's palace. Not a palace-turned-hotel, but an actual palace of the current king of Askote . The itinerary We are covering only the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand in this trip and sticking by the rule of no religious places and no shopping. We start on May 7 and return on May 25 after visiting the following places: We are consciously  not vising touristy destinations -Nainital, Dehradun, and Mussorie Leaving out touristy places during our Rajasthan tri...