May 31, Wednesday, Mussoorie
Since we got to the Dev Dar Woods Hotel at 1:30 in the morning and to bed by 2, we had breakfast at 9. After Indian omelets and tea and toast with good TangiJi peanut butter and jam made at the Prakash store. We walked over to office of Mussoorie Gramin Vikas Samiti and met the MGVS staff and were told about their projects. And then we went to a nearby village for lunch. We went out the Tehri road and then walked down a very steep path (even steeper coming up) to a village where we were garlanded and then told about the village and were invited to a wonderful meal as we sat on the roof of a house with views everywhere.
It turned out be a wonderful event. We, with our marigold garlands around our necks. The children, excited by our presence, sat in another and the women dressed in their bright best, who ate last, sat in another line on the flat rooftop with no railings. They were curious about us and we were curious about them. But the climb back up was a different matter. At 6500 feet we were immediately out of breath and the rocky path was so steep that we were slowed to a crawl. At the road we boarded the taxies and were soon back at the Dev Dar.
Some went to Mussoorie to shop, some walked around the top of the hill. In the evening we will packed for our long bus trip tomorrow through the mountains to Gangotri.
May 31
Monday, June 5, 2006
