?Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.?
Itmenaan Estate is the perfect getaway where one can immerse themselves in the silence & sounds of nature and leave with the satisfaction of having written a love letter to oneself.
The estate is a magical 10 acre property surrounded by virgin Oak, Rhododendron & Pine forests. It faces the surreal Himalayan range where in the summer you are offered the view of mountains & woods blanketed in 50 Shades of Green. While the winters your senses are treated with the panoramic views of snow brushed Himalayan peaks including the majestic Nanda Devi.
In the villages of Kumaon, traditional bakhili homes are quite popular where one massive structure houses multiple families in different quarters. Itmenaan Estate?s main house is a 100 -year-old traditional Kumaoni style stone house which has been painstakingly restored and offers 3 tastefully designed en suite bedrooms. The roof is made of pine logs that were embedded in mud and then laid with local slate and sealed with mud. This method is called kori chinai ; locals
stack stones andw make the house without using any cement. In the good old days the open fronted ground floor used to house the animals and would keep the dwelling place of their owners above warm and cozy!
But today, the ground floor has been restored into a cozy seating area with board games and cushions where you can either play or just relax!
A unit of Itmenaan Lodges ARCHITECTURE OF THE ESTATE, ARCHITECTURE OF THE BUNGALOW
The courtyard is neatly paved with slate slabs, and stone stairs lead from there to the first floor. It which overlooks the entire mountain range and is a perfect place for lounging around, reading a book, gazing at the blue sky in the day and counting stars at night. In Kumaon even the wood
carvers/ carpenters add their unique touch to their work where they almost never forget to make closed nestles for the birds, so while you there look out for the nestle and who knows you may even wake up to the light thuds of the resident woodpecker if you are lucky.
The vast expanse of the estate gives one an opportunity to explore, have an adventurous yet therapeutic experience with the nature. One can visit the nearby villages on hilly narrow paths and get transported to another time. All our walks are guided ? most often you will be accompanied by our beloved chachu a resident of the nearby Naugaon village who with his mysterious mountain metaphors would sweep you away! For those who are not comfortable with Hindi, our manager would also accompany totranslate the mo untain philosophy!
Bird Watching
Kumaon is a paradise for Bird lovers. The area is green and thickly forested and offers excellent for bird? atching and photography. Approximately 350 species of birds visit Itmenaan during a year, most visitations taking place in the summer months.
Cycling
Himalayas, is often referred to as the Land of Gods (Dev Bhumi) due to the many important pilgrimage centers found throughout the state. Magnificent views of the Himalayan peaks, amazing setting of the small villages dotted on the hillsides and charming local cultures ? provide the perfect blend for a memorable Himalayan bike tour. The highlights of this bike tour are magnificent views of Himalayan peaks, cycling through A unit of Itmenaan Lodges quaint villages, valleys and forests andlose interaction with friendly village folks or tourists.
Itmenaan Estate?s main house is a 100-year-old traditional Kumaoni style stone house which has been painstakingly restored and offers 3 tastefully designed en suite bedrooms called Oak 1, Oak 2 and Kafal room. All three rooms are ensuite and comfortably equipped with creature comforts albeit
devoid of gadgetry and Wi-Fi.
Built under the three rooms are two adorable mini rooms?one a library, the other a lounge area. These two rooms are tiny with low roofing, and appear almost like dollhouses, their exteriors covered with creeper plants known as ?ChipkaliBel?.
Outside the main house is a courtyard where one can enjoy breakfast, overlooking the ravines and in the distance, the mountain peaks of Trishul, Nanda Devi, Maiktoli, Nanda Kot and Panchachuli.
A standalone duplex cottage called Deodar cottage has been painstakingly built in the local style. It offers a a lounge room downstairs, with a spacious bedroom with attached bathroom on top. The lounge area has no sofas or chairs but floor-strewn mattresses with diwan pillows, mimicking seating style in traditional Kumaoni homes. A modest collection of books beckons the book worm.
The bedroom itself is airy and uncrowded?wooden flooring and a pine log ceiling; a metal space heater; a large sofa set lining one of the windows; Pine trees. The Bathroom construction at the estate is a stunning example of traditional local architecture that involves stacking local stones one above the other without using any cementing material in a ?dry stack?, locally called?kori chinai?.
Large bathrooms, with a glass roof to allow sun light to come in, are fitted with all modern fixtures and have running hot and cold water at all times. You can say its arguably oneof the best bathrooms in the Himalayas
Itmenaan Estate is an easy reach from key Kumaon tourist destinations.
You may break your journey at Bhimtal (2.5 hours), Nainital (4 hours), Corbett National Park (4.5 hours), Ranikhet (2 hours), Almora (1.5 hours) or Jageshwar (45min).
By Road
From Delhi, Itmenaan Estate is 375 km / 10 hours.
By Air
Pantnagar, near Kathgodam, is the closest airport (135 kms). Air India operates a flight between Delhi and Pantnagar, 4 days a week. For updated flight schedules please refer to Air India site.
By Train
The nearest rail head is Kathgodam (3 to 4 hours) which has regular train service from Delhi:
National Tourism Award Winner [Eight Times]
