What’s the most experimental thing you’ve done on vacation? 

How about learning the art of cheesemaking and then perfecting your very own batch?  

At Himalayan Orchard, a homestay hugged by deodar and pine forests in the Rukhla village of Himachal Pradesh, a two-day workshop offers you a 101 in caseiculture (craft of making cheese), including lessons on fermentation, salting, brining, and creating starter cultures. 

Your tutor will be François Laederich from France, who picked up artisanal cheesemaking in Aurillac, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, before moving to India and starting his brand Amiksa. 

The workshop is practical, hands-on, and allows you a momentary escape to the French countryside with every bite of cheese you take. 

It’s one of the draws of this storied homestay nestled amid apple orchards. Devanshe Chauhan Lidgley (57) recalls spending most of her boarding school winter vacations here. Flanked by snow-capped mountains of Himachal, the place looked just like a postcard, as it still does. 

“I remember when the electricity would go out for days at a time, we’d sit in front of the fire and play board games.” 

And you’re now called to experience this.  

These days, dark makes an early stop at Himayalan Orchard under the guise of winter. But in the daylight hours, don’t forget to feast your eyes on views of the forest, and even hike through them. Reds, peaches, greens, and browns dance across the landscape in the form of the apple and pear orchards. Interestingly, these were also a conversation starter between Devanshe and Michael Lidgley (65) while they were lecturing in Japan. 

“I remember it was an email exchange about apples,” Devanshe smiles. “Michael did not know about my background at the time, that I’d inherited my ancestral property back in India, which had apple orchards.” 

But after that initial conversation, Devanshe told him about her growing-up years, how she’d grow her own food in the back garden as a child, and Michael, in turn, would recount to her his dreams of having always wanted to be a........

© The Better India