Meraki Pahadi House - Run for Nature!

Travelling is always a good idea. I have been travelling to different places across India and internationally since 2014. Locally, Himachal Pradesh is my personal favourite destination. While Uttarakhand is my native place, I see myself more inclined to Himachal. There’s always a new respite of thought with it. However, just to get a little breather from the regular hustle and with limited time at hand, I considered exploring some offbeat places in Uttarakhand.

So, here’s the story of my weekend getaway with friends to this pristine land- Kanatal and Ranichauri.

Kanatal is a small village in the state of Uttarakhand, 78 km from Dehradun. It is on the Chamba-Mussoorie road. It's a pleasant drive from Dehradun. At about 10 am, we took some munchies and started the journey. Oh, by the way...this was in January 2019. Like any other hill station, we came across amazing Maggi points. We were heading to this vintage property called “Meraki Pahadi House”. It was at about 2:30 pm that we entered the property.

This was my first visit to this side of Uttarakhand. I have been to Dhanaulti earlier, but couldn’t really explore further.

Meraki Pahadi House has its own charm- it's rustic, it's isolated, surrounded by lush green and uphill farms. This beautiful property not just caters to your comfort needs, but also has well-mannered staff for a healthy homestay. This property is very pet friendly, hence my friends could adjust :p. Jokes apart, they had two very adorable dogs and both of them actually kept us occupied. :)

The property is fairly scattered and has a small trekking spot. By the evening we sat there and did some photography.

What you can’t miss is the Surkanda Devi temple, situated close to the small resort hamlet of Dhanaulti, in the village Uniyalgaon in Tehri Garhwal district. It is close to the nearby hill stations of Dhanaulti and Chamba.

Another place you can’t miss is the Tehri Dam- the highest dam in India, and one of the highest in the world. It's a great tourist destination. People visit the place to witness the scenic beauty of the hilly area alongside, around which they get to indulge themselves in activities like jet skiing, water zorbing, and rafting.

Whilst returning from Tehri dam, we got the news of “Meraki ” moving to Ranichauri- another quaint village in the region. We gladly grabbed the opportunity to explore this village too. In the excitement of checking the new property, we headed towards Ranichauri. At some point, we had to park the car and walk towards it. The entire area was widely getting developed with different concepts and themes of resorts. We had to walk close to 300 or 400m.

If you have a knack for some odd and such beautiful destinations, do step out of your comfort zones and land yourself here. You will breathe freshness and life!