Catching Up

I've covered a lot of ground since leaving McLeod Ganj and feel like I'm titling my posts ahead of my thoughts and photos shared. This time, while waiting for the 10:30 p.m. train to Haridwar, the town where the River Ganges emerges from the mountains to the plains, I'll try to catch up a bit on where I've been and what I've seen along the way.

I spent a weekend in Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. It's a city built along the steep sides of five foothills of the Himalayas. Everywhere one goes is either up or down steep and winding switchback paths. Cars and other vehicles can only navigate so far and after that, you're on your own two feet. Accompanied by troops of monkeys, it's rather daunting to be trekking home at half past ten at night, hoping you're on the right road and that the creatures are sound asleep.

Morning sounds in Shimla include: many dogs snarling and fighting in the streets below (everything is down from where my hotel was located), water being poured over terraces after morning bucket baths, a troop of monkeys scrambling, running and screaming their way across the corrugated hotel rooftop as they jump to nearby trees for breakfast among the branches, the clearing of a thousand throats accompanied by spitting to clear one's lungs of the polluted air collected from dirty air breathed in on the previous day, a dozen construction workers dressed in sandals and no hardhats hanging off of bamboo scaffolding at 7 a.m. welding the next section of rebar to be used on the next floor of the next building being constructed next to your hotel, the shouting of families of beggar children who are not in school where they really belong...

My hotel, the Woodland, was at the top of the town, a mere ten minute walk from The Mall, a pedestrian-only two kilometer road where Indians from the warm southern states come to cool off and buy western style clothing. Jordache, Nike, Adidas, etc. shops are in no short supply. The steets teem with people all day on Saturday (shops are closed on Sundays). Families are looking for bargains and tasty food from "make it on the spot" Indian dhabas. Everything from milk tea to baked goods to momo's (a dumpling filled with either meat or veggies) can be bought fresh from street vendors for a mere pittance.

Shimla was founded during India's colonization by Britain. It was noted as a lovely,temperate place for the Brits to escape to in the heat of the summer. The guards/security on The Mall are still uniformed as they would have been during the imperialist period under British rule. Please see the photo above to view the police today dressed as they would have been as far back as 60 years ago.

I will sign off for now as the very "chic" Shikh owned cybernet cafe I am working from will not allow me to cut and paste photos where I want them in this post. I will try another cafe in this complex of electronic stores in the city of Amristar, home of the Golden Temple, the most holy place in India for the Shikh people. I have many photos to share, but I might have to wait for my arrival in Haridwar in order to post them.

I have developed a love-hate relationship with this vast and complex country. There are many hilarious and frustrating (to this Westerner) stories to share. Traveling tends to be confusing, but people tend to be generous, and humor is high on the list of survival skills for locals and foreigners alike. I've met some lovely people along the way. It's been a long and strange trip but I don't think I'd change a thing. Love to all of you and I hope to post again soon where the connections and computers are in the 21st century!