Kasauli retreat

A man cutting & bundling hay in sheaves

Kasauli is a village at the top of a highly populated valley off of the road between Chandigarh and Simla. It's full of vacation homes and hotels of every kind and class. My initial impression was that the road was very narrow and highly trafficked. At the top of the hill in the village was a very European looking stone church. Apparently Kasauli was a popular retreat for the British in colonial times. There are scattered stone buildings and an exclusive club.

My room at La Pinekonez

We were refused entrance to the Hanuman temple area because it is a restricted military zone and my visa prohibits my entry. It seemed like it would have been well worth the effort of the short hike but several armed men behind stone bunkers and perched on tanks wouldn't let me in. So it goes.

La Pinekonez Veranda

We hiked out to the sunset point instead and it offered us a beautiful, if rather smoke hazed sunset. At this point it was getting dark and the others wanted to get back to Chandigarh. My plan was to stay somewhere in Kasauli in a south facing room where I could watch the sunrise and write the last third of a first draft of a short story I'm working on.

Day dawning over Kasauli

After passing on a few overpriced hotels we drove by a small home stay perched on the mountainside whose sign read "for nature lovers". Aman and I had agreed he would probably get the better deal so he ran inside to take a look. He returned minutes later saying I should take it. We all went in to view the room and it was just what I was looking for. A nice, comfortable room with southeast facing room looking down over the valley. The door opened onto a veranda with chairs and a table so you could eat inside or out, depending on your preference and the weather.

Village Temple Tickethatti near Kasauli

Pathway below La Pinekonez

La Pinekonez was more or less the perfect place for my purposes. The food was excellent, simple vegetarian fare. The owner Arvind Attri was friendly, helpful and chatty, someone who obviously got into the hospitality business because of his love of people. He was previously a professor at an art college in the area and it seems he still has a great many other occupations besides running his homestay. The maid who brought my food was friendly and curious and spoke to me in Hindi despite me understanding one word in fifty. I am ashamed not to have learned any Hindi yet...

Pawan Kumar and Family Tickethatti

The next four days I wrote in the mornings, went for walks in the afternoon and then wrote again in the evenings. The day began with a lovely sunrise and the day was punctuated by breakfast, lunch and dinner. At the end of the walk the sun was usually gone and I was able to write a bit before dinner.

Sunrise from my balcony

One evening the other room on my floor was booked by a trio of road trippers from Pune. They came equipped with a guitar and a relaxed state of mind which I found entirely copacetic.

I am not sure when I'll be in Kasauli next but when I am I'll definitely return to Arvind's homestay.