Satbunga diary: In the lap of the Himalayas

Satbunga is in the middle of nowhere. Twelve kilometers to the north west lies the slightly more famous Mukteshwar, but this is a place of rare, heart-stopping beauty.

From Wincliff hotel, where I lodged, you can see 14 peaks of the mighty Himalayas. These include the one named after the patron goddess, Nanda Devi, herself.  At 7,400 feet the perch overlooks several valleys and rising hills that almost by magic become the Great Himalayan ice face.

You get to understand your place in the world.

 

As evening comes a calm descends and yet you salute a man called George Mallory; the terrain gives context to arguably the first man to climb Everest.  

The temperature rarely goes past 25 degrees in the summer.  Deep forests of Deodar and chir, heartbeat-hearing quiet, and the crisp mountain air all come together to create the perfect hillside hideaway. There are no video game parlors and no mall road.

There is very little to do.

You can take long walks. You can spot  colorful pheasants scurrying away. At night the Akashganga opens up - I have seen a super nova twice here.  A dozen different birds sing at daybreak. These are the happenings worth reporting from Satbunga.

My walking had to be re-jigged to local circumstances.

There was a leopard alert.  The spotted beauty had taken a young chap a few days ago - so early morning and evening were ruled out for walking.   The local legend has it that watching the stunning sunset from this hotel is auspicious for marriage and so couples flit in and out for selfies - about the only time you are reminded of people in the lovely - if slightly forlorn - place.

Eating in the mountains               

Farm to fork is a cliché in this age of globalized food chains. In Satbunga, though, farm to fork it is!

Folks. You trek down the Valley to the village of Supi to choose your cut of free range Jhatka goat meat. The weather means you do not need a fridge - so you buy only about half a kilo or maybe less. All that walking down gorgeous valleys (also up steep inclines) and drinking from Sots builds an enormous appetite.

Since I was staying for a week, time was not a factor. I slow-cooked with hand-ground local haldi and kali mirch, and after two hours and some of slow-fire cooking with the occasional stir in a copper bottom pot, I added the local Dhania - a final flavor!

As the stars came up and a thunderstorm broke mutton cooked in rich plum sauce was devoured. Satbunga is the fruit basket of the Kumaun region and plum is Rs. 20 rupees a kilo around here .

Beautifully cruel

For the locals Satbunga is one generation and a step removed. For on the main road they have sold their properties to “outsiders “mainly from Delhi,. For the next 12 kilometers this fragile Eden, belongs to people from GK II and civil lines in Delhi. The same luxury of food actually coming from farm to fork comes in the way of Satbunga’s prosperity.

I can have 10 huge fresh and delicious peaches for just 20 rupees. Only 5% of the 400 odd truck loads that depart collecting the tough up and down valley fruit pickings are refrigerated. The mark up by the time you dig into one in Delhi alone is 600%! The nearest hospital is 3 hours away , the kids though are busy thanks to the Airtel girl - for the first time in my 12 years of visiting, the 3G actually worked !!

This could yet jump start Satbunga.