New Home in Mussoorie

On Friday we took the Dehra Dun Shatabdi train. It arrived in Dehra Dun about 12:45, where a taxi was waiting for us. [It is usually better to hire a taxi from Mussoorie who knows the road and school location than to take a chance on one that just happens to be at the station.] When we got to the school gate, the guard had the keys to our house ready for us. Mrs. Chelvam, the school hostess, had arranged for our stored boxes to be delivered to our house, so we headed down.

We are staying in Hill Haven, the lowest house below the back school gate. Someone commented, rightly, on my Facebook post, that it hasn't always been the lowest. There was a large house that went down the khud at some point, I think in the late 1960's around the time we first came to India. There is still a flat area that can be used for games just below us. Just above us is Eastwood Cottage, which has two apartments, above that Sunnywood, a two-story house. Above that is the "new" road that bypasses Mussoorie. Just above the road is Doshisha, also a duplex. The entire group of houses known as Eastwood Estate was owned by the Methodists in missionary times. This morning I walked up to Tehri Road just below the school and it took me about 17 minutes. That should come down a bit as I get used to the altitude and the amount of walking here. The majority of the path has steps, so it is quite steep. I've no idea how many feet up; I'd love to know.

Hill Haven is a roomy two-bedroom, two-bath house. It was great to have our luggage already here. Mrs. C. had arranged for a coolie to bring our trunks from the school attic and also to carry our suitcases down from the taxi. We had a flurry of unpacking and Dan made a quick trip to the bazaar to pick up a few items. We had tomato soup and peanut butter on white bread for supper. Today we got some brown bread and a few more supplies.

Front gate and door with luggage being delivered

Dan enjoying the living room

Dining room (kitchen off to right, living room to left)
The map on the wall is a 1968 map of all of Mussoorie

Kitchen view from door (that's a bag of fresh samosas in front of the stove!)

Kitchen (door on far right wall)

Bathroom -- can't see much, but tiling and shower are very nice