01 · Cabin
The Orchard Cabin
A timber cabin at the top of the apple orchard, a bed under the roof and a stove below. The first sun of the day comes in through the gable.
Four rooms in a valley that keeps its own time.
Alder is an inn of two cabins and two rooms above the Tirthan river, in the hills of Himachal. Breakfast from the garden, a wood stove in every room, and nothing on the walls that glows.
The rooms
Two cabins in the orchard and two rooms in the house. Every one has a wood stove, a kettle, books, a window that opens onto trees, and no television.
02 · Cabin
The Red Cabin
On the meadow below the house, painted the red of the old barns. A big bed, a small one for a child, and the river loud enough to sleep to.
03 · Room in the house
The River Room
The ground floor room of the 1962 orchard house, with the deep windows the old builders made. Its door opens onto the lawn and the sound of the Tirthan.
04 · Room under the roof
The Loft
Up the wooden stair, under the slate roof: a desk at the dormer, an armchair for the afternoons, and the whole valley in the window when you wake.
The place
A side valley of the Beas at 1,600 metres, where the road ends and the Great Himalayan National Park begins. Apple country, trout water, and villages that still keep their wooden temples.
The land
A river you can hear from every bed
The Tirthan runs two hundred metres below the house, cold and clear, with a path along it that goes eleven kilometres up to the park gate. Deodar and oak above, apple below, and in the right week of May the whole hillside is in blossom.
The food
From the garden, the river and the village
Breakfast is included and long: eggs from the neighbours, apricot jam from our own trees, siddu steamed the way the valley makes it. Dinner is one menu a night, ₹900 a head, told to you at breakfast; trout when the river gives it.
The seasons
Open from March to June and September to January
We close for the monsoon, when the road is not to be trusted, and for a month in deep winter to mend things.
Spring: blossom, long light
Summer: the river, the shade
Autumn: apples, clear skies
Winter: snow, the stove
Apple blossom in AprilTrout from MayWalnuts in SeptemberApples in OctoberFirst snow in DecemberThe stove all winterFireflies in JuneNothing in August but rain
A day at Alder
Nothing is planned for you. This is what most days turn into anyway.
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07:00
Coffee at the window
A flask is left outside your door at seven. The valley is still in shadow; the ridge across is not.
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08:30
Breakfast on the terrace
Until eleven, for as long as you like. The day's dinner is told to you now, so you can say no to the trout.
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10:00
The river path
Down through the orchard to the water, then as far as you want along it. Two hours to the waterfall at Chhoie, four to the park gate. We pack lunch if you ask the night before.
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16:00
Tea, the stove, a book
The sun leaves the house at four in winter. Chai and something baked arrive without asking; the library is the landing.
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19:30
Dinner at one table
Everyone eats together in the kitchen, or alone in your room if you would rather. One menu, cooked by Rhea, ₹900 a head.
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22:00
The stars
There is no streetlight for six kilometres. On a clear night the lawn is the best seat; blankets are in the chest by the door.
Getting here
The valley is a long way from anywhere, which is the point. Tell us your day of travel and we meet you where the road ends.
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By road
Twelve hours from Delhi on the Manali road; leave the highway at the Aut tunnel and follow the Tirthan up through Banjar. The last two kilometres are a farm track: park at the temple in Nagini and our jeep brings you and your bags up.
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By bus
The overnight Volvo from Delhi to Manali stops at Aut around six in the morning. Say which bus you are on and we are at the stop with a flask.
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By air
Bhuntar airport is an hour and three quarters away. A taxi from there is ₹3,200 and we can book it for you.
Write to us
A question, a longer stay, the whole house?
For anything the dates module does not cover: a week or more, both cabins for a family, a dog, a diet, a birthday. We answer within the day, from the kitchen table.