Only if you were in heaven would the clouds come to wish you
Good morning as soon as you open the windows to your room. Or, if you are too
lazy to go to heaven, you could take the 14 hour train journey from Delhi to
The Misty Mountains Retreat in Jhaltola, Uttarakhand, with a stoppage at
Kathgodam. Talking from experience, you get the same felling! I visited this
retreat with a huge group of friends and was taken aback by the warmth of the
staff, in complete contrast to the cool ambience of the place! This retreat is
a quintessence of tranquility.
The Misty Mountains Retreat offers you a perfect view of the
mighty Himalayas on one side and the forests on the other. On days when you are
very lucky, you can spot a leopard on the rocks near the retreat. An offbeat
location, the retreat is a perfect getaway from the hustle bustle of the daily
life. As you walk through the dining hall from your cottage, towards the
innovatively designed auditorium, you can hear the breeze singing in your ears.
Be it adventure sports like rafting/ rappelling, the discovery of the rich
flora and fauna of the Kumaon hills, the Patabhuwaneshwar Temple and the
Jageshwar Temple or simply the intent of reading a book from the small library
in the star shaped hall, you can count on the retreat to offer you that!
While you wake up to the site of cotton clouds floating
beneath your waist, the dimly lit houses below you resembling fireflies in the
night can just make you gaze at them for hours. If you are an early riser, you
might want to look out for the bench in the retreat which provides a perfect
view to the pristine sunrise. Well, if you are not, the sunset point is not so
far away I say! Well, there is no point going there expecting a full - fledged
continental menu which provides you with bizarre choices you cannot choose
from. With a menu decided at the discretion of the guests, the hosts take extra
care of your hygiene and food standards. And if you are lucky like us, you
might also experience cooking your own Himalayan Maggi and eating it from the
huge cooking pot!
Three years down the line and each memory of this place is
imprinted in my mind. Be It the long informal conversation with Mr. Madhur
Chhabra during which he did not cease to inspire us with his life story, or
those nights at the amphitheatre listening to the music played on the guitar,
or the bonfire in front of the auditorium and the treasure hunt for a wax
banana, the stairs of my cottage that I couldn’t get over or that night when
the houses looked like fireflies to me! Not to forget the successfully
misleading plankchit game, the walk to the sunset point, the afternoons that I
spent just listening to the wind and the favorite walk from the cottage to the
dining hall! It is one of the very few places I would want to go again
sometime, at the right time. With the right people. With the right companion-
solitude!
Picture: view of the Himalayas from the retreat
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