Venue: Fagu, Himachal Pradesh

While going through our travel pictures folder we came across some amazing shots from Fagu. This place has drawn us more than once and these photographs clearly indicate why. Fagu is heaven on earth. It is about 23 kms away from Shimla but a far cry from any urban din.

Truth be told, the first time we landed up at Fagu was sheer accident. A random decision and we started driving for Chindi, a place we had read about in a travel article and got all excited. All we knew was that the route to Chindi was via Shimla. But even at Shimla, nobody had any clue about this place! Prudence prevailed and when we checked at the HPTDC Office just before Shimla, they recommended Fagu. These helpful folks in fact called The Apple Blossom, the HPTDC resort at Fagu and confirmed that there were rooms available. This worked out very well for us. We had no desire to stay among the din in Shimla.

We happily drove on the highway bypassing Shimla city and in an hour reached The Apple Blosson, Fagu. The scenery changed soon after Shimla and concrete gave way to pristine nature – shades of green punctuated with pink, red or orange flowers. Apart from the occasional rhododendron, we could not recognise any other variety.

The Apple Blossom is a stately looking property. More like a multi story bungalow in white with green border, it reminds of green apples. The rooms are spacious, high ceilings, British era heavy wood furniture and a fire place. We were taken back to another era and it was hard to believe till early that morning we were in Delhi!

The best thing about Apple Blossom is the huge patio outside. We got a panoramic view of the valley from here – almost 360◦! It was late monsoon and low clouds surrounded us. There is not shopping mall or market place and we were happy about that.

The hotel chappies were most co-operative and they laid out our drinks on a table in this patio that evening. It was one of those moments when we sat in silence totally consumed by the sequined dark blue sky above. The lights of Shimla city looked like fireflies from here. It was getting cold and we had to bring out our jackets later.

Next afternoon, we went out for a walk among the apple orchards and had some mountain goats for company. The hotel concierge told us that there was a Durga temple some hundred steps up. We did that trek and thank God for that. The small fuss free temple was perched high up the hill and it was misty all over. The view from here was even more breathtaking and the dense flora was a sight for sore city eyes. We spent more than a good three hours in this process. The climb up is quite strenous and can be attempted by people with reasonable fitness.

The food at The Apple Blossom is basis and very HPTDC – home style. They have a big restaurant and if you are here, do try their French Toast. They make sweet versions of this breakfast item and top it with powder sugar. It’s a piece of heaven in the mouth. Truth be told this dish was one reason we came back the next time.

And we know we are going to come back to The Apple Blossom and Fagu yet again