On a sunny Saturday we managed to get off from teaching and headed for the hills. And these are some hills— the Himalayas to be specific. Actually we only made it to the top of the first range of the Himalayas to a town called Mussoorie (pronounced like the State). This is a resort town, full of back-packers and tourists as well as plenty of natives. And you have to have a professional driver to drive up those hills, as they are all S curves and mostly one lane. I’ll leave to your imagination how you get around large trucks going the opposite way. I’ll simply say, you need a strong stomach and nerves of steel. If not, don’t try this at home. NASCAR ain’t got nothing on these boys.
I’ll say one thing about Sherpas, they are not shirkers, and man they will carry anything, even huge loads.
And of course the closer you get to Tibet (which you can see from Musoorie) the more holy men, Buddhist monks, gurus, and swamis you find.
(And no, that is not Jesus in disguise). There are temples and shrines in this town as well.
When we were there, there was still plenty of snow to be seen, but mostly on the north side of the mountains and at the higher elevations.
Terrace farming is all that works in these mountains….
But at least that works…
But perhaps you fancy more fried foods. You can get them in the mountains as well. In any place you will find plenty of dishes called curry. Indians love their spices and use them in abundance.
Indira Gandhi got her education in Dehradun and is honored there and in nearby Musoorie.
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