This old man appeared out of the mist last night with over two hundred sheep and goats. He had just walked all the way from Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, and is going to spend the next six weeks camping on the meadows below Basunti, where he can be seen from the yoga shala. […]
The gates to Basunti swung open to reveal an oasis, we were welcomed into its core through the lush gardens teeming with bustling bees, soaring bird song and trees weighed down with golden pomelos and tiny limes swinging from branches like strikingly green baubles. The last of the season’s chillies clinging to twigs […]
Our second day at Basunti and it’s 8.30am, a temperate mist hangs over the garden but the stretch of mountains to the North are clear and crisp. The birds are washing themselves enthusiastically in the baths and Sumna pads across the veranda with warm chapatti’s and omelets for breakfast. It’s already 23 degrees when […]
This was supposed to be about the Gaddi Shepherds, who arrived back to Basunti three days ago, after an absence of nearly two years. I was hoping to get some photographs of them in traditional dress, leading the mixed flock of goats and sheep across the meadows. Went down this morning to find the […]
Decided to harvest the two beds of Chillies in the garden, as the evenings are starting to get quite cool and it is a good time to cut the plants back before mulching them in for the winter. Had a really good crop this year, with over six Kilos of Red Chillies and about […]
Andy Fish and Andy arrived after a very successful fishing trip in the Barot and Tirthan valleys, Himachal Pradesh. A tally of over eighty wild Brown and Rainbow Trout, caught in five days, made for two very happy fishermen. As the water levels have started to drop in the lake, they decided to try […]
It is bone dry Himachal Pradesh and most of the day at Basunti is now spent in the garden. The Monsoon is late this year and everything is desperate for water. The Indian Bean Tree though loves the heat and is presently in full bloom.
This is the time the Mango starts ripening and […]
Within ten days of hatching the Bulbul chicks were fully fledged and had left the nest. I do not know if this is a normal time span for the Himalayan Bulbul, or if it was helped by the fact that they had their own parents, plus the Oriental White-eyes feeding them…
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Decided to treat the next few days as a road trip with fishing thrown in. It was with great anticipation that we departed Basunti early in the morning and headed of, driving the back roads to Barot. About an hour from Basunti we were rewarded with the bizarre sight of a man […]
The last yoga group of the spring season departed on the 15th April, hopefully everyone left feeling happy, relaxed and well fed.
After contemplating my four and a half coming months of total freedom, decided to spend the first few days in the garden giving everything a much needed watering. Also started preparing all […]
