Once upon a time in the kingdom that I’d like to call ‘Far Far Away’ (from the movie Shrek), there was a British lady named Mary Budden. She found an estate in Uttarakhand’s Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary and the rest is history. After buying it in 1899, Mary Budden ran it as a missionary for orphans. A few years later photographer Serena Chopra purchased it and turned it into her home in the mountains.
I will not tell you that it’s easy to get there - it was a 14-hour car drive from Gurgaon. You need to make an early start because as Mary Budden Estate is inside Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, one has to enter the gate before 6pm. By the time I reached, I was dead with exhaustion. However, good things don’t come easy, right.
After wrapping up dinner all I wanted to do was hit the bed. It was raining that night and as I closed my eyes, I could hear the fire crackling and rain pounding on the roof. But suddenly that thudding sound turned into something light and soft. I knew it had started snowing – there were forecasts of snow - and I couldn’t wait for the morning.
The freezing breeze hit my face when I opened the door of my cottage room – but I hardly noticed it in my excitement at seeing the estate blanketed in snow. Squealing with happiness like a child, I immediately woke up my fellow travellers. That day was magical – it snowed three or four times and from the safe sanctuary of the verandah, we watched the remote estate turn a powdery white. It was the first snowfall of the season that year.
Sprawling over five acres, Mary Budden Estate has two parts – one cottage with three rooms that can accommodate six people and the lodge which has another three rooms. Both areas have a drawing room and dining area that is tastefully furnished. I was in one of the rooms at the cottage and was happy to see that even my bathroom had a small bukhari to keep me warm. Each night, apart from the fire what kept the cold away, a hot water bottle was tucked inside my quilt. These small things make a huge difference.
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Since it’s a homestay, thankfully there is no concept of an intercom. Instead, a kind of typical temple bell kept on the table outside your room gets you what you want. A piping hot cup of tea, lighting the fireplace and hot water for the bath would be my usual instructions each morning. The estate runs on solar power, so since it was snowing there was no running hot water, but the staff immediately gave us buckets of boiling water whenever we needed them.
The most restful part of Mary Budden is that you do not have an agenda. I am not ticking off things from a sightseeing list. There are several gardens and patios, so you can just move from one place to another for a change of scene whenever you like.
Apart from the excellent food (an article on that coming up soon), what I love about Mary Budden is that you get a clear glimpse of the sunrise and sunset - long my favourites. I enjoy the experience all by myself since others are lazy. There’s something mesmerizing about watching that faint glow on the horizon, seeing it get brighter by the minute and finally looking at a tiny head of the sun pop out. Within minutes its out in full glory – spreading its warmth on the world. Evenings here would usually be around the bonfire – exchanging stories and chatting away – with just lip-smacking food to distract us.
During my four-day stay, I went on a couple of treks. One takes you to Zero Point from where you get a mesmerising majestic view of a range of Himalayan peaks like Nandai Devi, Nanda Kot and more. We were lucky that it was a clear day. The path was laden with snow and it was taxing to walk through it because I didn’t carry my snow boots but it was well worth the effort. It was so calming to just sit there quietly and gaze at the range. Mary Budden knows how to reward you for completing a trek – with thick hot chocolate. The best part is that there is just one watch tower and no other crowded stalls like you find at most viewpoints.
The next day, I actually earned my lunch after setting out on another trek to a village called Dalar which is one of the smallest and oldest hamlets in Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary. We walked for about an hour till we reached a small home where a traditional Kumaoni lunch awaited us – simple yet bursting with local flavours. The sky that day was unbelievable – a clear and deep blue that we never see in the cities.
Like I said, Mary Budden just lets you be. And that is exactly what we need in this mad and rushed world. Read the first article (Mary Budden Estate: Part 1 – A balm for the soul) in this series to understand why you need to visit Mary Budden and what it did to me.
To know more details visit the website www.marybuddenestate.com
