Heike I'm disappointed in you
buying a guide book before asking yer mates on the tree 
Anyway onwards, Getting to Almora is best done by the combination of train and bus/shared jeep/taxi
The daily
5013 RANIKHET EXP *DELHI 22:40 KATHGODAM 05:45
Serves you rather well in this!
It costs
1AC 905
2AC 534
3AC 386
sleeper148
Arriving in either Haldwani or Kathgodam is fine and there will be a range of transport opportunities in both but I think the bus is best picked up in Kathgodam
A shared jeep costs around 80-100 rupees and a taxi from 600-1000, KuluKid will tell you the bus fare as I've never used the bus, I prefer to relax!! I seem to remember it was about 55 rupees
Though Almora is a nice town I would highly reccommend you stay on the ridge high above town! In either Kaser Devi or Pappersalli. Lots of small guesthouses here that offer affordable acomodation, usually with your own wood burner, for those cold nights. The views up here of Nada Devi/Trishul are incredible, although in May the views are often obscured!!
On arrival in Almora take a shared jeep (your taxi would take you straight there but it will cost ya) to Papersalli (it's on the Binsar road) ask to be let of at Tara's restaurant/dhaba the jeep driver all know it, Have a cuppa then leaving you pack with the owners of the restaurant (very honest don't worry) see what you fancy, if you head left on out of Tara's walking uphill you'll see signs for guesthouses hung on trees, Just check them out an see what you like. Khims is my favourite which is about 300 meters up the road. On the right and over the crest of the ridge. With the right crowd this can be a friendly place to hang around, He's got a decent library internet and does set meals in the evening, and has a small menu for breakfast and lunch! As well as supplies things like Jam, peanut butter, packet soup and tinned tuna!
You could of course Stay at Tara's for the night until you track down what you want. Tara's has good rooms but it's on the main road and the views aren't that good, though it's a short walk to see them.
There's a road upto a couple of Shiva shrines opposite Tara's nice gentle walk amongst the Cedar trees!
Tara's also does ok basic India fare. And the Apple cinnamon samosas are yummy!!
Head in any direction for peace and quite though Kaser Devi does have a bit of a scene which might not suit you it does have some alternative places to eat and of course the temple. the views from here are even better. It's about a 5km walk by road a bit more using the goat herders paths on the other side of the ridge. just ask the locals to keep you on the right track!
Down in the valley there's a Bell temple for the local deity Dana Golu, it's a fair old walk of about 10-12Kms but you can get a shared jeep back home if you want!
Down in Almora itself the Glory restaurant does dam fine North and South Indian food. Almora is a sleepy little town that doesn't see as much tourism as other big hill stations, as such it's a nice place to wander around, the bazaar is very ambient place to explore but you'll be glad to retreat to your palace in the mountains after a while, trust me!
Getting to Kausani means getting to the bus station in Almora, from here it's around 2 1/2 hours to Kausani and about 50 rupees on the bus. The journey is breathtaking, as you follow valleys and rivers before climbing up the ridge to Kausani, I wrote a bit about it
here
I was only in Kausani for a day and a night unfortunately, but it struck me as a nice little villageif you get away from the main village then I'm sure you could find peace and quite even in the busy season you then have the added advantage of a lot of fine restaurants to choose form at night before retiring to bed!!
The views here are stunning, with a 350 km panorama of the snowcaps.
Other places to visit from Almora
Would include Binsar a beautiful forest area with lot's of peace and quite it's only 25 kms away and can be reached by shared jeep though the jeeps will not take you beyond the first checkpoint unless you have a personal taxi of course!
There is a way to get from Here to Rishikesh via Rudrapryag and Pauri, people with a better knowledge of the area can better advise but I know it can be done on the bus, as a friend did this last year!
Here's a link to a
map of the area
A for guide books I would try
this one
Available in good bookshops for 200 rupees it's a fairly decent guide to some parts of
Uttaranchal
Have fun and stick around there's quite a wealth of info on this area, from various Indiatree members!
Have fun won't you and just ask if we can further assist!
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KK
