Honeymooners and holiday makers look for places that are pleasing and comfortable but also exotic and different. India's hill resorts are the stuff of many dreams as are frequently shown in Indian films and TV programmes. Some of the hill stations and mountain areas are lovely but others are crowded, noisy, dirty and positively unpleasant.

The Kumaun hills are an especially attractive destination because unlike popular hill stations like Simla and Mussourie it is not just urban clusters perched upon high ridges but a huge gentle forested valley with a great many very attractive destinations. Even its best known hill station Nainital, with its exquisite lake, has very limited area for buildings and does not, therefore, get too crowded.

The region is full of many other pretty lakes like Bhimtal, Naukuchiatal and Sattal and the excellent mountain roads allow easy access to some of India's most breathtaking high mountain views with towering Himalayan peaks including Trishul and Nandadevi from horizon to horizon. Almora and Ranikhet are quaint colonial townships while smaller places like Kausani and Bhindsar are closer to the eternal snows. Lovers of history or religion will also find many ancient temple towns like the 8th century temple valley of Jageshwar, in the midst of a magnificent deodar forest near Almora. The more sporty can not only find many excellent treks and walks but also great opportunities for fishing, bird watching and photography.

If you are looking for a convenient springboard for travel into Kumaun but also something quite different `The Cottage' at Joelikot may be just the place for you. Few places can offer such classy style, well appointed comfort and truly gracious hospitality. It looks like a picturesque Swiss cottage on the outside but surprises you by being a virtual museum of the most exquisite décor compiled from ancient Kumauni carved doors and windows. These frame a fantasy of flowers and trees in an eight acre orchard where many exotic trees and plants abound and the meadows are ablaze with the flowers of the season. Away from all the noise and filth of a big city, your senses are lulled by the murmur of a small river a few hundred feet below and the twitter of hundreds of birds.

Joelikot is just half an hour's drive from Nainital. Bhimtal, Naukuchiatal and Sattal are just an hour away and so are the snow views of Ramgarh. It is located half way between Haldwani on the plains and Nainital. At an altitude of 4800 feet it never gets too cold in winter or too hot in summer. Getting there takes about 5 to 6 hours from Delhi by road or half an hour from the railhead of Katgodam (A daily Ranikhet Express from Delhi and a Shatabdi on Sundays in summer)

The Cottage offers the gracious comfort of a unique home where the hostess, Bhuvan Kumari, personally ensures a high standard of food and hospitality. She personally collected the old carvings from villagers who were discarding them while building ugly new cement houses. She has blended these into a most tastefully decorated house. It is situated just below the market and has it's own car parking and offers accommodation of four sumptuously decorated large double rooms with attached modern baths where pure spring water is always abundant.

The tariffs per couple range from Rs. 2,000 to 2,500 per day on twin sharing basis inclusive of meals. Prior bookings essential.

Contact Bhuvan Kumari at Joelikot (05942) - 44413.
FAX (05942) - 37070 &37823
or Vijayalakshmi Baig in Delhi 6967618 or 6854751

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