Wednesday Storm

The past couple of days it has turned colder and threatened rain. Finally today about 3:00 it let loose. It got very dark, the rain was heavy and interspersed with hail, and it was very windy. When I got back to our apartment (I am happy that it is under cover between the office and home!) there was a leak in our kitchen window. I think it was because the wind happened to be blowing in that direction. By about 6:00 it had cleared up and I got this shot toward the west from our balcony.

Last evening we walked to the top of the hill to have dinner with friends. This gorgeous lampshade is made from camel skin, painted and with many tiny holes punched in it.

Visit to Dehra Dun

On Sunday we took a taxi down to Dehra Dun to see our friend Ajit and his sister. We had a lovely visit over lunch at the President Hotel restaurant. The trip down was interesting. Our driver took the road through Barlowganj, which avoids all the bazaar. It is narrow and steep, with many switchbacks, several of which require three-point turns. It is a little harrowing, but I try to stay mellow and just enjoy the scenery. I did take quite a few shots out of the window and, as expected, they didn't all turn out. But here are a few of the best.

Once we got to the main road, there was a lot of traffic. Fall weekends are a popular time to visit Mussoorie, and this is not unusual.

Near the bottom of the hill, there is a huge Shiva temple, a popular stop for travelers. There are food shops on the street level.

This is where the road ahead goes to Rajpur and the turn to the right is the Diversion Road into Dehra Dun. For many years travelers to Mussoorie had to go through Rajpur. In fact, before the road was built, they had to walk or be carried by dandy or palanquin up the mountain.

This shot shows one of the many, many luxury apartment blocks being built along the Diversion Road. It is getting completely built up, with many schools and colleges as well as flats.

Here we are in the restaurant. Ajit has been ill and lost a lot more weight, but is doing well now. His sister teaches Indian dance at Woodstock one day a week.

This week is Activity Week at Woodstock. Students are heading out in all directions. This page shows  the destinations.

Saturday

Hello out there! Not very much new to report. But we are going to Dehra Dun on Sunday to visit our old friend Ajit Singh and I promise to have lots of pictures to share tomorrow. Here are a couple of miscellaneous shots.

On Friday there was a delivery of new chairs for the dining room in the Quad. After the boxes were emptied and school was out for the day, a number of children were enjoying climbing into the boxes and playing around.

On the pushta beside the main school gate, there is a new planter. It is large plastic piping hung on ropes with plants inside. Attractive and ingenious! At first I thought it was a small ladder.

Still Here!

When someone asked if I was unwell because I hadn't posted for several days, I decided I'd better get something up! The past five days or so have been pretty quiet and routine, without much happening outside of going to work and relaxing. Dan went to Dehra Dun twice -- once for a full day trying to get the scooter repaired, and another day to get it once it was finally fixed. Gandhi's birthday was on October 2. We did do something special -- dinner with some friends at Oakville. The weekend was extremely busy in the bazaar as many Delhi-wallas took advantage of the long weekend to head for the hills.

The winterline is clearly out these days, although it looks a bit blurry between these trees. I'll try to get an open shot in the next day or two. But I love the look of the dark trees.

Our friend Mary Ellen spent some time in Italy last summer (as did we) and came back with a pasta maker and other Italian goodies. We took them some olives, which went well with the puttanesca sauce and fresh bread. The bread was a bit over-risen (is that a word?) but delicious. I'm sorry I didn't get a shot of the fettucini, which was absolutely delicious.

This shot is on Mullingar Hill, looking up from below the hawa ghar at the corner. These banners were posted all over the bazaar; evidently some guru is coming, but it was all in Hindi so I couldn't figure much of it out.

This is taken from the Kulri Chowk, where Camel's Back Road takes off to the right. Looking up the hill you can see the red front of the Agarwal Restaurant, where we have our poori khana. We sit upstairs where you can see the windows. Another banner was strung here. Notice the number of people, quite a few for a late Sunday morning.

The Agarwal Breakfast Menu. The rupee is just over 60 to the dollar right now, so you can see how inexpensive this place is. The photo below is the other page showing the drinks. I usually have a fresh lime soda.

Thursday Dinner Out

Wednesday Dan went to Dehra Dun to get the scooter repaired. It took all day and still wasn't fixed, so he came home by bus quite late. Thursday the office was closed, as everyone was taking a holiday. Today (Friday) is Gandhi's birthday, a national holiday. It is the end of the week-long fall break.

Thursday we didn't do much, but did decide to go out for dinner. This time we went to Doma's Inn, owned by our friends Momo and Tsering. It is not far above Mullingar Hill. After a beautiful sunny day, it was a nice clear evening.

On our walk up the hill, this man was climbing a light pole. When he got to the top, he had a strap he hooked to the top of the pole, but it still didn't look very safe. There were no pegs on the pole; he just used his bare feet and hands to climb.

This is a good view looking back to the Landour Community Hospital. You can see the shops and homes below. The shops are on the top floor of the building and sit directly on the road. The homes beneath back right into the khud (hill).

The painting inside Doma's Inn is as fresh as it was when it was first done, nearly five years ago.

One of Dan's favorite dishes in Thailand is Khao Soi, a northern specialty. Here they have Burmese Khaosuey on the menu and he had to try it. It's not quite the same, but he enjoyed it.

I like Thukpa, Tibetan soup. This is PC Thukpa, similar but with dumplings. (These were stuffed with minced chicken.)

Momo was there and we had a nice long conversation. Just as we were finishing, his dinner of a burrito was delivered. 

On the way home, we had some good views. The first is looking to the west and the town of Mussoorie. The second is a view from above of Mullingar. It seems to be mostly populated by Tibetans now; notice the stupa on the left.

We stopped at a subzi stand to get some bananas. While Dan was paying, I took this snap of a small chicken shop.

I'll leave you with this picture taken earlier looking toward the Tehri hills. This is a nostalgic view for most people who have been here.

Back to the Bazaar on Sunday (again)

Last Sunday Dan was in Dehra Dun visiting a friend, so we didn't have our usual poori khana. This week we went again and did a bit more shopping. We got some Kashmiri pillow covers to perk up our living room. I took a number of random shots that I found interesting.

Power Break

This manhole cover is laid about three inches lower than the road surface. Cars straddle it and motorbikes must go on one side or another. Hitting it on a bike would not be a good idea.

Nirula's has shrunken to a very small space where they are just selling ice cream. Up until last year, they had a large space where they also sold snacks and meals. Now Domino's has moved there from the nearby space they had occupied. That was the old Kwality Restaurant. The top level is still Cafe Coffee Day, but the lower level is sitting empty, at least for now.

I had berry ice cream with chewy dried fruit bits.

This peek inside the Cambridge Book Depot is meant to show you how full it is. There are two aisles like this. If a person is in it, such as the man shown below, no one else can get in. But if you ask the owner about a specific book, he knows just where it is.

We came down the back side of Kulri from Windy Corner. This hotel is now abandoned. It was still open just over a year ago. I suspect someone will grab it and renovate it before long.

This shows the terrace dining area of the Hotel Shiv Continental, just below the road above Picture Palace. The plantings are lush and beautiful.

I generally try to avoid the many stray dogs around; they don't usually bother people, but they are often mangy and there are too many. But I liked this mother and her pup sleeping on the road.

Between the hospital and Mullingar they are digging a ditch. An old pipe is visible inside. I'm not sure what they are digging for, probably some new pipes. In the back you cake see the pile of rocks that are being broken up for building pushtas.

Quarter Break

Friday was the last day of classes before a week-long quarter break. When the students return, they will have another week of classes, then everyone will head off for Activity Week. Last year these two weeks ran together and it was complicated!

No students were allowed to leave school until Saturday morning. Friday evening was the high school talent show, an annual event. Around 5:00 several vendors set up tables in the Quad where they were cooking fresh snacks. Students and staff swarmed around until nearly 7:00 when the show started. We got several things and ate them for our supper.

Papri chat, covered with dahi and other sauces

Aloo tikki, similarly covered

Chicken frankie (I unrolled the chapati to show the inside)

Making aloo tikki (sorry it is a bit dim)

Saturday morning I walked over to the vegetable shops below the hospital to pick up some subzi for supper. I got carrots and parsnip to cook with potatoes in preparation for a frittata for supper (starting with sautéed onion and green pepper).

On the way, I passed these men cutting down the overgrowth on the pushta below Woodstock Villa. Just around the corner is where I took the picture of dahlias yesterday.

One of the shops below the hospital sells meat. I don't think these roosters were going to serve as alarm clocks, although one of them was crowing as I walked by.

Thursday

Thursday was a fairly ordinary day for us -- I spent most of the time in the office, Dan helped with a few string classes and went to the bazaar to get some produce. Over lunchtime and into the early afternoon there was a College and Career fair in the Quad. Representatives from many universities were there. The UK, India and Australia had the most representatives, but there were some from the US as well. It was interesting to walk around and look over the information they had brought.

Looking down into the Quad

In the evening we had one of our regular suppers, tomato soup enhanced with sautéed onion and dried peppers and sandwiches with some Darjeeling Gouda Cheese Dan had gotten at Prakash. We get pre-sliced brown bread that we use for our sandwiches. We like to put dahi (yogurt) in our soup.

Back to the Bazaar

First:  I have added a box to the right so that you can subscribe to my blog by email, if you prefer. Sorry it took so long to add it!

Wednesday night was our "regular" night out for dinner. (I used quotes because weather and other things sometimes interfere and change the date.) It was a cool, damp night, with mist swirling around through the town. As we sat in the upper level of The Tavern, we could see it wafting through the street. I suspect we may be going directly from monsoon to winter. The rains appear to be gone and I'm hoping the mists will dispel soon.

When our friends the Lals lived at Woodstock Villa, Brij could often be seen on the khud below tending the flowers. The entire pushta is now covered with dahlias in bloom at this time of year. They are quite lovely and I know this picture doesn't show the full extent of the lushness.

Patches of blue were showing through the clouds as we walked along Tehri Road.

Near the hospital, they have trucked in more huge river rocks to be hammered into smaller ones to be used for building more pushtas.

I loved the sign at this little shop just above Picture Palace. "We have what you need best." It might be an exaggeration.

A glimpse inside Picture Palace, which is now full of arcade games and other amusements.

I mentioned last week that The Tavern has a new cafe at street level. We stopped in to see what it is like, and were quite impressed. It is small and sells more snack-like food than upstairs. The menu boards were fun -- they are using the names of local places and celebrities to describe their foods. Brentwood is the name of the hotel owned by the same people, Capt. Young was the first English resident of the town, Vincent Hill was the Seventh Day Adventist School, Steve Alter is a Woodstock alum and writer who lives here. Don't you love the Missionaries Delight Chicken Wings?

We did eat upstairs. First they brought the condiment tray -- fresh coriander chutney, pickled onions, and achaar (a type of pickle).

Dan had mutton biriani with raita (yogurt), one of his favorites.

I decided to have American Chop Suey, one of the first dishes we ever had there back in the 1970s. For some reason there is a fried egg on top. Crunchy noodles are on the bottom, and the sauce is chicken, mutton, and lots of sweet peppers. It turned out to be very sweet, almost cloying, which I didn't remember. Otherwise it was pretty good. I brought half of it home. It doesn't seem particularly American or Chinese.