Ranikhet (many times)

Ranikhet is virtually in your backyard if you’re a Delhi resident. Over two decades we used to drive up to the hills frequently – not only to Ranikhet, but to Almora, Nainital, Munsiyari, Chaukori, Pithoragarh, Bagheshwar, Jageshwar, Badrinath, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Mussoorie, virtually every dot in the map of Kumaon and Garhwal and Himachal too. So, this time, when a friend invited us to go and stay with him in his cottage in Ranikhet, we accepted with alacrity and looked forward to a pleasant stay. He had lured us with whatsapp shots of gorgeous snow ranges visible from his cottage and also luscious lemons and maltas obstructing the views. Yes, these were there, but the trip turned out to be delightful for other reasons too. We were served delectable local Kumaoni fare slow-cooked on solar cookers to tease out the flavours of hill spices, serenaded with choicest classical music, wowed with Urdu shayari and Sanskrit verses, taken out on long drives through sun-dappled, pine-scented, winding lonely roads while Abida Parveen crooned through the stereo in the car. We could not have asked for more.