As well as comparatively luxurious bedded tents, Banjara's very extensive riverside apple orchard also features two cottages and The Retreat, a relaxed, upmarket hotel section with restaurant-lounge and 14 beautifully crafted rooms with excellent beds. The downstairs rooms share between pairs a terrace incorporating hammock and swing from which to ponder the idyllic scene, backed by spiky peaks. You'll need wheels.
It's 2km of hairpins below Km23.4 of the Chitkul road, 6km from Sangla. From the car park it's then a pleasant five-minute walk. Nearby across the river, Batseri village has won awards for cleanliness. Its Badrinarayan Temple burnt down in 1998, but has been rebuilt in full traditional style, even down to the band of erotic carvings on its outside wall.
