A sandalwood and ivory palace once stood here-for a few minutes, when the timeless ?baba? (saint) showed off his powers to his stellar pupil. If you've read the Autobiography of a Yogi, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, it's still a lovely walk to the dense grove of oak and rhododendron, within which lies the Pandukholi temple.

The two-to three-hour climb is one of the easiest escapes into wilderness-with green meadows, jaw-dropping cliffs, vistas of valleys way into the south, and head-on views of the Trishul peak. Road access, too, is painless, a gentle two-hour (56km) drive from Ranikhet, by way of Dwarahat and Dronagiri temple.

Though you can easily walk up to Pandukholi and back in a morning, I would recommend you leave Ranikhet after an early lunch, walk up in the late afternoon and enjoy the sunset views. Carry a small stove, as you need to be self-sufficient for food. The meadows make for great camping, but you can also sleep in the pilgrim shelter or in the temple verandah (check the whereabouts of the keys to the shelter at Kukuchhina, the roadhead).

The walk is well enunciated, and the only fork you need to watch for lies 15 minutes up the trail, at an outdoor shrine under a gnarled oak. Take the right fork, which heads into the forest. For the next hour, the path climbs in a northeasterly direction, and the forest grows denser and denser. As you get closer to the top, look for glimpses of Trishul to the north (your left).

When the trail flattens, watch for the vast oak roots over which you can trip. Head right for the camping grounds to the east, or stay in the ridgeline, where a low wall outlines the main temple compound.

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