After a gentle uphill walk to this quiet village in the Saryu valley, you will reach an outstanding example of heritage architecture – welcome to The Kothi. And guess what? You get to stay and sleep in this perfectly maintained century-old guesthouse.
There are whitewashed walls, stone roofs, and ancient wood carvings (likhai work) at every door frame. This is an example of a traditional ‘berklay’ home, and as you enter the house, it’s like traveling through time to a past where so much thought and consideration was given to every corner of a home.
Around the village, joint family terraced houses made from wood and stone will also give you a wonderful traditional Kumaoni experience. Each house is a canvas for families to experiment with colour – and they have done a fantastic job pairing blues with pinks, forest greens with mustard yellows, and other truly unusual, yet aesthetically gorgeous colour combinations.
Expanding valleys, rivers, waterfalls, and the majestic Nanda Kot and Kautela peaks are visible from The Kothi and higher regions of the village.
The mainstay here is farming; cows and buffalo are kept for milk, oxen for plowing, and goats and sheep are kept for grazing.
comforts
The Kothi has four bedrooms, and individual sitting rooms upstairs. Previously, the livestock and kitchen would be on the ground floor of the building, while the residential rooms would be above it. Today, the ground floor houses a roomy kitchen and a sitting-cum-dining room. The large double rooms on the first floor are for guests, and can comfortably house up to six people. The house was restored by highly skilled local artisans using stone and wood, with mud-plastered walls. The guesthouse comes with toiletries and solar heating for water. The house has been minimally altered to accommodate attached bathrooms, though, in these parts, people traditionally built their bathrooms outside the main house.
Beds have been provided with more than enough blanketing and warmth during colder months. There is also a lovely outdoor space in the courtyard to read, sip chai, and watch the terraced fields change colour from green to gold.
food
Delicious and healthy vegetarian meals are cooked using traditional wood-fired chulhas and produce hailing from the local farms.
Drinking water comes from local springs, and has been boiled and filtered. Simple, hot meals, packed with love and nutrition await you!
ideal for
The Saryu valley is a stunning example of village life – so if you’d like to understand Kumaoni culture, people will be happy to explain and show you how they go about their day-to-day.
If you have always wanted to experience living in a traditional home, there’s no better example than our beautiful guesthouse.
Birders looking to see Steppe eagles, Bearded vultures, Himalayan choughs, and majestic Monals will enjoy the avifauna. You could find porcupines, langurs, macaques, mountain goats, barking deer, and perhaps even a leopard in the surrounding forests!
Hikers have no dearth of choices while you’re here. Simply close your eyes, point in a direction of your choice and go!
getting there
The Kothi is accessible after a 6 hour drive from Kathgodam to the road head. From the road head to the village is a gentle 30 min hike. The Kothi is operational all year.
things to do
From here, experience marvelous views of the tidy, terraced fields in the village, and beyond to snow-capped peaks and valleys. Visitors can hike down to the Saryu river or to nearby streams for a touch of refreshing, brisk mountain air. There are also beautiful cliffside hikes to witness the greater Himalayan ranges.
Long walks up to the Chiltha temple, Pakhua camp, and to the last villages of India before Tibet can be arranged upon request.
The village is bustling with energy – you might get to witness a wedding or a procession. Don’t miss checking out the 300 year old (you read that right) temple that stands as a showpiece among the most colourful homes.
price
Prices are available on request. The shared prices would be inclusive of accommodation, all meals, nature guides for daily walks and hikes, and all applicable taxes.
