Hotel Filigree Mussoorie

... and had had to flee for his life to India when things got heavy (some of his friends had been caught and executed). He'd spent much of the next ten or so years floating around between India and Nepal, getting into all sorts of adventures and eventually getting mixed up in the Kathmandu hippy scene. He told me that 1972-1976 in Kathmandu was 'heaven on Earth', where there were no cars/bikes, lots of marijuana, lots of great people, no booze and no hard drugs. He funded his ...

... so I had he tailor it and put sleeves on it. Sometimes when you travel around in India you have be careful about sleeveless shirts. Goldie wore a sleeveless shirt to Rishikesh and she felt that a lot of people were looking at her because of it. The bag I'm holding in that picture I bought from this women who came to the language school at break. She's part of an NGO called SHRAM-Self Help-Recycling, Altering and Manufacturing-Group. They go ...

... Rishikesh. There are a lot less foreigners, but since it is a holy city and it is a holy month there are a lot of other Indian tourists. First we went up to a temple (forget the name) that is on the top of the hill. Usually there is a cable car, but of course it was closed (or broken we couldn't figure it out) so we had to take the steps up. Andrew was still not feeling very well. But then a group of Indian tourists saw him and went crazy for a ...

The hike started at six in the morning and we arrived in Mussoorie at 1030...the climb was an estimated difference in altitude of 2200 ft...it was a good workout, I wished it had been longer, but lunch was weighing heavy on my mind by the end... It took us from razor edged cutbacks, to wide green fields, filled with goats, to treacherous goatpaths overlooking potentially lethal ...

Moussori is a nice mountain resort, settled by the Brits 150 years ago ... and it's still like that... but very interesting to see and some great buildings, most of them turned into hotels. Yesterday a friend convinced me to use the time during this trip to start drawing again ... I think it's a great idea. Today I bought the necessary "utensils" and started ... I still have to practice ;-)

... inside of the temple was not as spectacular as I had expected, but there were many interesting shrines set up to different Hindu gods inside. We followed the line of people and did what they did. We gave some money as an offering at one of the largest shrines and the man collecting offerings dipped his thump in orange paint to give each of us a bindi on our foreheads. Behind the largest shrine, a man stood behind a counter grabbing neatly-tied red bags containing ...

... auf den Ansturm der Pilger vor. Am naechtsen Tag gehen wir zumHep Kund seh -- es sind auch schon einge Sikh Pilger dorthin unterwegs -- u.a. ein Sikh der einige Jahre in Deutschland als Koch gearbeitet hat und uns mit Vokabeln wie "ueberbackener Spargel", "Rehkaule in Rotweinsauce" u.ae. den Mund waessrig macht. Ab ca3800 hats Schnee und der See ist zugefrohren -- wasd einige eifrige Pilger nicht davon abhaelt den Turban ...

... in garbage and played with what they could find. We passed a wrought iron gazebo along the side of the road facing down the mountain, there an old man wearing a worn out black beanie sat with a telescope, asking for small change for the chance to magnify your view down the valley. We walked around the back side of the mountain and came to a tiny old church that seemed relatively well-cared for even though there was absolutely no one around. <br ...

... and almost going insane in Bodh Gaya, strechting our way to peacefulness in Rishikesh and being a tour guide for my mum in Kathmandu and Nepal. That doesn't sound like much for 7 months but there are so many little day by day occurences that are too numerous to include but make up the fabric of the trip--the different way of life is often in the little things so I thuoght I would try to sum up the expeirience of India. If you have been you'll know that I'm fighting a losing battle ...

... walk up a path by flashlight to get our stuff. We stopped at Woodstock to get Will's things and then went back to the Clareridge. Sonia and Joan were in the library having a glass of wine in front of the fire, which they had set just for us. Now that was more like it! We retired about 9:30. I slept well, but the others didn't. We awoke to a beautiful, cool, clear morning, with breathtaking views. We had a nice breakfast (great coffee!) and a taxi ...