Mussourie

at the beginning of august, i went up to the mountain town of Mussourie, which can be seen on a clear day from Navdanya. the trip up was breathtakingly beautiful.

when we got off the bus, our first task was a 2km walk down old camel back road to our lodging, the broadway hotel.

Mussourie was one of the favourite outposts of the british, and as such, it was one of the first settlements to receive electricity. here is evidence: a very old lamp post.

the trees were unlike any i had seen before...

and as we walked from one end of town to the other, we passed many indian tourists on holidays. something i found challenging was seeing all of the well to do tourists with very scrawny porters hauling their massive suitcases on their heads two steps ahead or behind their plump counterparts.

that being said, we had a really deluxe supper - a treat for being away from the farm i suppose, and an excuse to eat more varied things.

naan and palaak paneer!!

I taught our waiter how to make lotus blossoms out of napkins...i will be curious to return to the restaurant in a few months and see if this is their new decor. he was fascinated by it!

dinner epilogue!

the almost full moon guided our walk back to the hotel, where we slept in luxurious beds with heavy down comforters - it was colder up there in the foothills of the Himalayas.

the next morning for breakfast, we ate at The Green Vegetarian and ordered paranthas with curd all around (what a way to wake up!).

my lovely breakfast companions, enjoying the meal before heading out in the drizzle.

our main activity in Mussourie was shopping, as we stocked up on some warm stuff for the impending cold months (a bit hard to imagine even as i type now in t-shirt and skirt at 9:30pm).  Julia and Amy found an amazing invention: one single knitted piece that is both touque (hat) and scarf in one! We coined them scouques (pronounced: skooks).

When we got back to the farm, one of our dear friends was passing through with her mother as they were leaving the country in a few days. As part of a hope for auspicious travel, Amy applied mehindi (henna) to Kayla's hands.

It is now august, and this calendar is marking the days in our room as they fly by.  Can you guess which princess is Julia and which is me?

If you squint a bit and look way to the right and through the clouds, you would be able to see Mussourie.  It is the view I have out my bedroom window on a clear day.

 

finally, my henna-ed finger, courtesy of the lovely Amy.