Q: We are a group of four families who wish to visit the Kumaon Himalaya in end September. Our travel plan (ex-Delhi) is 10 days and our budget is ₹50,000 per family. Please suggest an itinerary including details, transport and places to stay. We would prefer lesser known places with basic comfort.

Marco Says:
I’ve said it before in these 17 years of being OT’s resident troubleshooting guide and I’ll say it again: my core competency is as a troubleshooting guide and not travel agent. Thus, I find it very difficult to come up with a travel itinerary, especially when not equipped with information on a traveller’s interests. Kumaon is a very rich region, and it’s possible to design trips around places of religious interest, bird-watching, trekking and hiking, and more. Since the only information I have of your travel focus is ‘lesser-known places’—which is obviously a subjective affair (what is less-known to one person may be very well-known to another), I suggest that you spend some time doing some research on the region. A good starting point for the budget traveller would be the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam website (kmvn.gov.in), and build an itinerary depending on where they have their generally well-run and affordable resthouses. Off-hand, places such as Mukteswar, Munsiyari and Champawat are considered off the beaten track and are certainly not over-run with visitors. The best way to travel from Delhi would be to take the New Delhi-Kathgodam Shatabdi, and then hire a taxi for the hill journeys.