Tisha Srivastava
HT Persona; 20th July 2001

If you planning an exciting and action packed holiday in the Himalayan hills, then these are some of the questions that might stare you in the face.
Is it safe for the kids?
I've never gone camping in my life, but I want to experience the outdoors.
Can we honeymoon in a camp that might have too many guests?
Are bonfire fun and legal in terms of environmental consciousness?
For answers to all the above questions and more, there's one tailor-made answer:
The Banjara Camp.

Nestled in the state of Himachal Pradesh, the Banjara Luxury Tents and Camps take you to areas off the beaten track.

Camp by a lake-in what the Lonely Planet calls one of the loveliest valleys-or take a walk in lushly wooden environs. Live in picture-book, cedar houses with grand views and much more. For the more adventurous and hardy, there's an almost monastic retreat in Tabo, a place of great Bhudhist significance.

The Shoja spectacular, April-May as the peak season situated in Kullu valley. If you walk just 5kms further, you will find yourself in the timeless Jalori Pass, a majestic glacier. Nearby the Serolsar Lake glistens invitingly. At this Retreat, a cedar house will greet you, making a change from the usual tents. The USP is the wonderful view of the towering mountains and snow clad peaks, with the green leaves of tall trees dipping next to you. And if your tastes run more towards the arid majesty of deserts, then the destination for you is the camp at Tabo. Stripped of lush greens by the winds of time, rocky menhirs and mud scuds dot this high altitude desert. Here you will see how brown, yellow and ochre shadows sprinkle the landscape, and hold a peculiar rugged charm of their own.

The world knows Tabo as one of the most vivid and significant art treasures of the Tibetan Buddhist world. Local have a more affectionate term for it - "The Ajanta of the Himalayas". With a minimum elevation of 3000 metres, Tabo in Spiti, unfurls in this north-eastern corner of Himachal Pradesh like a flower. In the Retreat the feel is in conjunction with landscape. Situated at a walking distance from the monastery, the Retreat boasts a peaceful calm.

The signature song of the Sangla Camp is Sang Chalo Sangla ! This was where it all started, Grand, bare peaks enclave a riot of apple orchards, while the lovely Baspa river flows by. The interesting part is the local populace, which boasts a talent for local ale that earned the place the sobriquet of the "Scotland of the east"�! As far as the eye can see, the local crop goes berserk in all its pink and yellow finery, August onwards. Breeze moves a sweetness and fragrance that is way beyond any 'Oxygen' café. All-night dancing sessions by the villagers, treks up to nearby meadows to peep at Mount Kailash-is what life at Sangla Camp is about.

While there, don't forget to check out the 700-year old Kamru fort, now a temple. Fish walk, laze, play croquette or volleyball, claim your favourite hill or hill-child, grow roots in your hammock by the river, go kiss the Tibetan border, or demand your sixteenth plate of French fries! Or perhaps check out how the camp bakes its bread, do some river crossing or get cross-eyed consuming the eclectic rations in the library. Or take a walk down a forest path where sweet nothing come as spontaneously as the view-there's much to do here or even nothing. Its really all up to you.