It’s the people that make India for me
Henrietta Loyd, Destination Expert.
I had been fascinated and intrigued by the Kumaon village walks, the planning of which we had helped formulate a few years ago and finally I was there - amongst the hills, fields and people of the foothills of the western Himalaya. And like my visit to Rajasthan two years previously, it was the people, as ever, who made our trip and kept us mesmerized every step of the way.
Salil, our guide was a quiet font all of information and paced our walks in time with our group. We walked through endless small villages set in stunning terraced scenery, stopping to absorb their way of life and continually moving off our track to let a lady pass, bent double with half a hay stack on her back, or a herd of much prized cows coming up the path.
The villages houses themselves were wonderful, simple but very comfortable with hot bucket showers and a flush loo. Delicious local food was eaten in the open air dining area, surrounded by a jungle of marijuana (which grows like a weed) and the resident villagers carrying on their daily life, seemingly oblivious of the westerners in their midst. Their acceptance of us being there was humbling.
I had been longing to do this trip and it surpassed my expectations, made by the people of the region and by not once in a week seeing another tourist. How spoiling is that?
