Is Almora worth visiting? Know the best places to visit around this region in Uttarakhand. You will find Maat Village, Crank’s Ridge, Chitai Temple, and Binsar in this travel guide.

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Almora, the ancient capital of Kumaon, is considered the cultural hub of the Kumaon region. On the one hand, it is one of the most populated cities in Uttarakhand, being the administrative headquarters of the whole district. On the other hand, as soon as you pass along the main market, a relatively calm and composed part of the town will greet you to its local warmth. The more you move towards the road leading to Kosi, the more local expression will find you. ‘Baal Mithai’ is a must-have sweet to try out in this town (even though I didn’t like it). The main market is vast and the assortment of regular shops in sequence makes up for the commotion of life. Although the central part is a hard-core city, there are some places nearby that are more on the quieter side and you must visit in Almora.

Best Places to Visit in Almora

1. Maat Village

Maat Village is not a general name you would hear in the travel guidebook. Kasar Devi is rather an obvious destination. On the edge of Kasar is the unmarked territory of Maat Village. A two-kilometer-trek through the jungle and you will stumble upon Maat Village in Almora. The women of the village have been conditioned to carrying heavy belongings from an early age. With the hefty weight on their heads, they run down the jungle trail in trepid agility. I don’t know how they do it! Women are highly skilled in all kinds of chores – from carrying wood to pinning nails to the wall, there’s almost no aberration in both the sexes, except in the nature of domination.

The village life hangs on a schedule, escaped sometimes through the puffs of fresh air in family gatherings (mostly family pujas ensuring the conservation of old customs). Chickens and goats are often decapitated to appease the needs of the dead souls. Charu, a village woman, runs the only homestay-cum-cafe right in the heart of this village in Almora. Visit The Himalayan Hippies Cafe and meet Charu for a rural experience.

How to Reach Maat Village

All the cities are connected to the main town via roadway. Take a shared jeep to reach Kasar Devi (Rs. 40). From Kasar, Maat Village is a two-kilometer-hike.

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Categorized as ‘man-like’ for her ‘masculine’ energy, she grew up concealing her ‘feminine’ side, owing to the prominent segregation that quavered around her. The blanket of ‘masculinity’ seemed warmer to her cold life. Today she is running the cafe on her own in Almora.

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Also read – Kumaoni Holi – The Festival of Colours in the Mountains

2. Crank’s Ridge

Crank’s Ridge. A tiny hike away from Kasar Devi Temple is a grim corner lost without a signboard. Walk for a few paces right opposite the temple and you will notice a tombstone in its smashed and vulnerable defense. The historical significance of Crank’s Ridge has been off-course to many, with the decadence of time.

Crank’s Ridge in Almora, also known as Hippie Hill, got its first taste of glory with the advent of Timothy Leary, even though a lot of luminary-heads already turned it into a cult for spiritual empathy. Alfred Sorenson, a Danish mystic, got the opportunity to live on Crank’s Ridge while spending himself in horticultural activities at Nehru’s sister-in-law’s place in Binsar. Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, D. H. Lawrence, and other counter heads of the ‘counter-culture’ stomped their feet in support of the Hippie Movement. Bohemian artists, mystic saints, and Buddhist monks came digging into the spiritual ground for solace. Yet currently unpreserved, Crank’s Ridge has become stripped of its faded history.

3. Chitai Temple

Chitai. 5 km away from Almora, Chitai is a small village without mentions. The name is famous for the existence of Chitai Temple, but very few people have explored the village of Chitai. This is the village where education is seeking light in its first dawn. Chitai Temple has a fascinating intonation, which amused me first when I was in Nainital. The man who was rowing the boat in Naini Lake shared with me his own entanglement with the temple. Ever since then, I have been curious to visit this temple in Almora.

The temple complex is a jut of letters, hanging from each comfortable and uncomfortable corner. Believers come from all over India, lugging around the urgency of wishes to the deity ‘Golu Devta’. They scribble down their wishes and demands on a piece of paper. Each time a wish gets its satisfaction, the worshipper has to dedicate a bell to the temple and hang it on the temple premises. The sheer volume of bells, both in number and size, is placed alongside the thick wall of letters.

How to Reach Chitai Temple

Take a bus from any major city. Shared jeeps are easily available from the town market (Rs. 40) to Chitai.

Also read – Best places to visit in the Pine Forests of Lansdowne

4. You Must Visit Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary

Binsar. Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1988 with the purpose of conserving the shrinking broad-leaf oak forests, Quercus, of the central Himalayan region. The sanctuary opens home to 200 species of birds, leopards, Musk deer, chital, gray langur, and many more, though I didn’t have the good fortune of coming across any wildlife. 20 km away from Kasar and 33 km away from Almora, the sanctuary stands on top of the Jhandi Dhar hills.

The Zero Point of Binsar Sanctuary apparently provides a clear view of the Himalayan peaks such as Kedarnath Peak, Nanda Devi, Trishul, and Shivling. The view was lightly obscured by foggy clouds, yet the range was subtly visible through the transparency of the fog.

Ticket: Rs. 150

How to Reach Binsar in Almora

Buses will take you as far as Almora. From there, the shared jeep will drop you off in Kasar. You can hire a cab or scooty from Kasar to reach Binsar.

Where to Stay in Almora

The Himalayan Hippies Cafe and Homestay

I met Charu while volunteering at The Hammock Cafe in Kasar. I like to think of The Hammock as one of those little grey tunnels that take you to the other side. You have to take the tunnel, or else you won’t reach the other side. After being accused of practicing black magic at The Hammock, I needed another place to crash, because I didn’t want to leave Almora without exploring it to its and my prime potential. Charu and I had already communicated during the Holi party, as I was not enjoying volunteering for The Hammock at that time. She was in dire need of a volunteer, I was in dire need of an experience; so that decided it.

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The women of the village have been conditioned to carrying heavy belongings from an early age. With the hefty weight on their heads, they run down the jungle trail in trepid agility.

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Charu and the Cafe

‘The main road of Kasar feels like Goa’, said Charu on the very first day. Homestays and cafes are ample and more than necessary in numbers for such a tiny and intimate place. You will always find the locals lamenting over the growing business-like environment in Kasar. And this is the land that was once lightened up by the knightly presence of Bob Dylan, and many more bohemian artists standing up for the iron-red Hippie Movement.

Charu’s previous cafe-cum-mudhouse in Almora used to be a hip and happening gala for musicians, artists, and also drunk men looking for lavish opportunities to fight their way through. Utterly disgusted by the verbal abuse of the landlord (he would start swearing every time a guest visited the cafe), Charu shifted her cafe away from the jostling tug-of-war and re-established her home in Maat Village, which is 1.5-km-trek away through the jungle. A vicious step, indeed, from a business perspective.

When a village woman goes out of the way confuting her family heritage, to open a cafe (which is a ‘hotel’ to the villagers), men are reluctant to be ‘under’ her supervision. No man wants to work ‘under’ a woman who runs a ‘hotel’. She has been connecting all the threads by herself – from cooking to legal paperwork, from cleaning to paying the bills. Categorized as ‘man-like’ for her ‘masculine’ energy, she grew up concealing her ‘feminine’ side, owing to the prominent segregation that quavered around her. The blanket of ‘masculinity’ seemed warmer to her cold life. Today she is running the cafe on her own in Almora.

Also read – Volunteer Tourism And How It Can Shift Your Travel Experiences

Volunteering at Charu’s Cafe in Maat Village

Maat Village girdles the rural culture of Kumaon. May it be old customs of hospitality or the worship of an ancestor who cursed the family a century back. Goats are being slaughtered to please the spirit of the old lady who is supposedly the genesis of all the sufferings still prevailing in the family.

The trek amid the pine trees (and the notorious forest fires in Uttarakhand) and the familiar faces in the distant huts became our day-to-day excursion. For any minimal ingredient requirement at the cafe, we would have to get to the shops on the main road.

Living in a village that centers around the whirlwind of both the daily caricature and the peaceful bearings and sleeping inside the café at night laminated my three weeks with glue and strength. To escape the chaos of the regular parody, we would ride to Binsar, Almora, Chitai or if nothing, the nearest market. But we would always come back to the cafe.

Why You Should Visit The Himalayan Hippies Cafe in Almora

• To please your taste buds. As you will go through the handmade menu in this little cafe, you will realise you have every reason to be there. Before lockdown, Israeli people, in particular, used to come to the cafe quite often. Charu learnt Israeli recipes from them as well. Try out Shakshouka with Tahini Sauce and Israeli Salad. But beyond that, of course, ask her for some Kumaoni dishes!

• To be one with nature. Every cloud formation, every nook and cranny, and every sunset will make you circle back to the next sunrise in this hidden village in Almora. There’s a library in the cafe that preserves books from three generations back. If you are an artist, you can paint the walls or engage in stone art. If you are a musician, there’re eight to ten musical instruments kept there. If you are a dog lover, Lucy will have tasks for you.

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Here is how you can directly connect with Charu – 8449837738 or Instagram. With that, here it ends. I hope you have found all the places to visit in Almora, and a local homestay for a humble Kumaoni experience.

Are you planning to travel to Almora anytime soon?

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