With all our recent self discovery in spiritual northern India, we decided that we needed a few days back in reality to let it all soak in. As we missed our chance to bask under the coconut palms in the south, a British influenced hill-station in the mountains seemed the next best thing...

Nainital was a beautiful, cool, clean and well-organised village, developed around an emerald green lake. In other words, it was the total opposite to the rest of India! Before the British developed Nainital, only a few Indian farmers lived in the area. Now the British have almost completely cleared out, and what remains is a perfect honeymoon destination for lots of giddy newlywed Indian couples.

There aren't too many foreign tourists coming through, but the Indian tourists more than make up for this. As such, there isn't really a backpacker scene, so accommodation is expensive, Internet cafes and yoga classes are scarce, and beer is almost non-existent. Still, the food was some of the best we've had in India and it was fun to mix with all the hip young Indians of the 21st century.

The lake is the focal point, and the local authorities work hard to keep it beautiful. Oxygen is pumped through the water 24 hours a day, and dumping of rubbish into the lake is actively discouraged, which is pretty impressive for India. This has proved a good employment source for locals, most of whom spend their days rowing newly weds around on little wooden boats. We couldn't resist and hired a white swan-shaped peddle boat to get around!

There are also a number of neat tracks leading out of the valley that surround the lake, which we spent a couple of days wandering up and down. We watched on as most of the Indian honeymooners rode on horses around the steep cobbled mountain paths, which seemed slightly out of context... We opted to preserve our buttocks (and the horses knees) and instead walked through the forests of Oak. We even managed to find a quiet place to practice the yoga that we'd recently learnt!

One track the horses weren't pushed on led up to Cheena Peak. This was the highest point around, standing proud at 2600m above sea level. As Nainital is stationed at 2100m, it only took a couple of hours to climb the remaining distance and it was a great way to spend the early morning. Naturally the views were magnificent, and we could just make out the snowy Himalayas in the distance.

To complete the carnival-like feel of this classy getaway, Nainital also had a high-altitude zoo! We were too curious to pass it up, and it was actually pretty impressive. There were hundreds of brilliantly coloured pheasants from all over Asia, black bears, leopards and a couple of majestic Bengal tigers. They all looked healthy and well-fed in relatively spacious enclosures. The trees, shade and regular feeding hours also meant that there were plenty of the local and always-entertaining wild Langurs hanging around.

We finished our stay with a hot chocolate (having turned down the fairy floss) watching the village light up and reflect off the lake by night. Needless to say, our stomachs and incredible-scenery cravings were thoroughly satisfied. Now we have a few days left to spend in Delhi, before flying out of India for the next chapter in Israel.