Himalayas are my happy place…No matter what brews in life, a visit to the mountains and it is all sorted. Maybe the Himalayas have some secret healing powers, you only have to open your senses for them to be able to reach you. Few days in the lap of mountains, and I came back ready to face life once again. Also to finally pick up pieces of this almost dead blog and start again. Because life may not always allow the luxury of time, but that doesn’t mean I give up. The Goat Village
Last month, The Goat Village, hosted me at their all-things-recycled Himalayan retreat at the quaint little village of Kanatal, two hours away from Dehradun. It was a sunny day in the mountains which soon transformed into a blanket of clouds as we approached The Goat Village after a short trek from the main-road.The Goat Village
Surrounded by lush green valleys, a small mud-cottage in the hills was supposed to be our abode for the next couple of days. Built in the traditional Himalayan techniques, these mud cottages are solar-powered and as eco-friendly as it can get- without an electricity connection, or mobile network to make sure there is no carbon footprint that you leave behind. The Goat Village
Though small, the cottages were much comfortable and offered best views of the terrace farms in the valley. A drizzle brought in a slight chill that we enjoyed with cups of chai and piping hot pakodas, which were so good they could just melt in your mouth. Made from home-grown potatoes, fields of which I could see till the far end of the valley. I had a book for company but then conversations took over, and I learnt so much about what The Green People are doing to make life in the Himalayas better (the Goat Village being one of their initiatives) along with making sure that development isn’t at the cost of the environment. The Goat Village
That conversation is fodder for another post though, for now I’ll concentrate on the two days I spent in the lap of nature here, along with many of nature’s other creations as well. A walk in the apple orchards later, I couldn’t stop myself from collecting a bounty of fruits from around the valley. The Goat Village
Apples, Apricots, Walnuts and Plums – they all tasted so different, and soon I realized the kind of fruits we get in cities is really just crap. I haven’t tasted sweeter plums ever in my life, and these ones will be remembered for long for the sheer joy of climbing the tree with a bunch of kids and coming back home with pockets full of plums. The Goat Village
While I was out climbing trees, we had a visitor who was enjoying her meal in the peace and quiet of the mountains that surrounded her. A friendly one, she gazed around happily, as I zoomed in on my lens to capture her various moods. Later I learnt, she belonged to our neighbors, a shepherd family from the mountains. They also had a cow, a calf, some chicks and a couple of dogs. This chance discovery lead to a discussion where I came to know that The Goat Village Kanatal sources its milk from its neighbors, and this becomes a win-win situation for both. The Goat Village
My parents enjoyed this escape so much, they wanted to come back already for a longer duration. With home-cooked simple meals, bird-song for entertainment, lush green valleys to stare at, mountain pathways for short walks around – they absolutely loved the place. I was a little apprehensive about the short, 800 m trek but then they surprised me with how they loved that one too. With no mobile network around, it was a time well spent with only real conversations. The Goat Village
The Goat Village is a part of an organization called Green People, which is working towards reverse migration of marginalized farmers via two channels namely ‘The Goat Village’ & ‘Bakri Chhap’. The former is promoting farm retreats/ home stays and reviving abandoned villages by leveraging their tourism potential and the latter by providing market linkage to indigenous farm produce from the community that we work with. To know more, click here. The Goat Village Kanatal still is one of kind, as this property operates on all things re-cycled.
VJ Sharma
That’s beautiful and I love the name 🙂
Looks like you had great time there.