Mieke Vanhauwere

Mieke Vanhauwere

Belgium

28-10-11

Kumaon - Wonderful Village Walks

Our India specialist Mieke Vanhauwere enjoyed a rare opportunity to discover the compellingly beautiful and remote region of Kumaon in the Indian Himalaya. The Himalayan part of Uttar Pradesh became Uttaranchal in 2007. It’s eastern part Kumaon is little known. Even to us. Unrighteously, and so Mieke has happily taken this chance to go and discover.

The Kumaon contains some of the most stunning mountain scenery, from the perennially snow capped peaks of the Great Himalaya range in the north to the pretty hill stations of Almora and Nainital in the foothills and the stunning wilderness of Corbett National Park where the hills meet the Indo-Gangetic plain in the south.

Few people have heard of the Kumaon outside of India and surprisingly the region escaped the influx of backpackers that characterised the recent history of parts of Himachal Pradesh and to a lesser extent, the Garwhal.

Mieke is undertaking part of the Kumaon Village Walks. The concept of which is to facilitate an authentic ‘underfoot’ experience and provide a ‘snapshot’ of rural life in the Himalayan Mountains of Uttaranchal. The walks traverse the terraced foothills with overnight ‘home stays’ in remote villages.  As an honoured guest, the villagers are keen to share their way of life with you enabling a true encounter of rural life as it is.  Accommodation is far from luxury, but it is clean and comfortable, and some general renovations do not detract from the authenticity of the experience.  Any shortcomings are more than compensated for by the genuine warmth of your hosts.

We invite you to have a look at the pictures above, and of course, to contact Mieke for a first hand report on her findings.

When to go:
October to May. The post monsoon months of October and November offer lush scenery and clear views with warm sunny days and nights that are getting increasingly colder. In December and January it becomes very cold at night, however the days are still warm and sunny and offer the clearest views of the mountains. From February, both the days and nights start to get warmer and between March and May, the rhododendrons come into bloom. The Kumaon region is largely dry between early October and late June, though the odd rain storm can hit at any time, clearing the air and improving mountain views.

Contact Mieke for a personal meeting at the office and your tailored Voyage to India.

India,  Uttaranchal,  Kumaon,  Trekking,  Homestay

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