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Published: November 25th 2008
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A group of us had planned to trek up to Mussoorie for over a week. I have to say that I had a great time even though my lungs were trying to jump out of my chest and head home. Yes, I wasn’t physically ready for this trek, but that’s ok neither was anyone else.
We met up at around 6:30am and started our adventure through/over the mountain to Mussoorie. It took us about 4 hours to get there. I’m not exactly sure how many miles/kilometers we walked but my best guess would be somewhere close to 20 kilometers, but sometimes it felt like 200 kilometers. There were parts that were so steep you could only walk a short distance before you just had to stop and catch your breath. It was actually funny, in a sick way. We walked on nice wide brick paths, through a dry stream, and narrow foot paths. Some of the paths were very obscure so I was happy that we had a good guide or we would have been lost for sure. At one point our path disappeared into the undergrowth, and honestly I couldn’t see a thing except bushes.
It is a
beautiful hike, you can see evergreen trees, deciduous trees, wild flowers, nettles, lamb’s ears (the fuzzy leaf plant, not actual lambs :P) and even cactus. Honestly it does look like the mountains of Southern California, and because of that I was half expecting to smell some wild sage. No it’s not because I’m home sick. I was talking to our guide and he told me that quite a few people who have been to SoCal have said the same thing. So there!
The town of Mussoorie is a nice QUIET village. Well I can’t say that’s it’s a village it’s more like a town. Pedestrians were able to walk in the middle of the main street without having to constantly be harassed by honking horns. It’s known as a mountain oasis for the people of Delhi who want to escape the summer heat, and also for the top notch schools that have sprung up over the years. Families from all over India will send their children to school here.
Mainly we walked around the village checking out the shops, had a latte at a coffee shop, took pictures, and just enjoyed our time away from our own studies.
Here's our group
Before the trek. We took a small tram up to the top of town (we could have walked but please we did enough of that) and we were able to see the Himalayas.
WOW! Talk about beautiful! No, they didn’t look like the mountains of SoCal. :P It was amazing to see the Himalayas covered in snow. I never thought that I would ever be able to say that yes I saw the Himalayas. If for nothing else that made the hike worth it, especially since the clouds can role in around mid afternoon completely obscuring your view. We ordered some chi tea at a little shop that had a wonderful view of the Himalayas which was so relaxing. We finally had to get up and walk around since a few of us were starting to get sleepy. We headed down to a very busy but very good restaurant and chowed down on momos. Yum! Afterwards we stopped at a shop and tried some paan. It’s bits of betel nut wrapped in some sort of palm leaf, I might have it mixed up. Either way, it’s sweet, minty and tastes like leaves. I believe it’s just as healthy for you as chewing tobacco.
No worries this is not a habit that I am going to start up anytime soon. I tried it and didn’t like it. Yuck.
By the time we shopped and ate our way through Mussoorie it was time for us to catch a cab back to Dehradun. I was expecting the cab to drive like a mad man down the mountain taking the hairpin turns like he was driving a racecar, but he didn’t. I’m half wondering if I’m getting use to their driving and that is why I felt very comfortable in the car or if it was because I was so worn out it didn’t matter how he drove, just as long as I didn’t have to walk. Either way, we were able to get a very nice picture of the sun setting.
Surprisingly enough I wasn’t very soar Monday morning. Hmmm maybe stretching does help. 😊
Sorry you guys I will add pics later, I'm just not up to that right now.
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Jen
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Sounds like a beautiful place! I can't wait to see the pictures!