Short Holiday to Ranikhet

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Our school's midterm break arrived and a group of us decided to go to the Himalayan hill station of Ranikhet, in Uttaranchal state. To get there, we took a seven hour train and then it was a two hour drive up the mountain, which was basically a 60 km series of switchbacks.

Our trains going to and returning from were both overnight sleeper style. However, while sleeping on the train going to Ranikhet I had the uppermost bunk and was rained on when the roof started leaking rainwater. Because the train was full, I had no where else to go and I ended up standing around in order to stay dry. Need I mention it was 3 am-? Yeah, pretty much an awful experience!

Ranikhet is beautiful, very green and a quiet place. The temperature was perfect--70s to low 80s during the day, and 60s at night. The town served as an army cantonment for the British and today is home to several divisions of the Indian army. There is one main road, 'The Mall', which straddles a ridge of the mountain and is where all of the town's restaurants, hotels, and bazaars are situated. On clear days one can see the White Himalayas off in the distance, however as it is monsoon season it was cloudy generally all the time so we were not so lucky. Around sunset one day we saw a sliver of this range, and I put that picture up here.

I found a great picture of what you can usually see from Ranikhet, check it out: http://permanent-black.blogspot.com/2008/05/from-editors.html

Oh, one story--when we were driving up the mountain we came upon a scene along the side of the road, where a bunch of people had assembled and were pointing at something up high. We got out of the car and saw that on the ground was a calf with its neck almost severed (sorry!). Then, with everyone else we looked up and saw that a white leopard was watching the scene from high up on a ridge.

We did a lot of hiking both around the town and in a few places that we arrived at by car. On the last day we visited a large Shiva temple in a lower valley where, upon entering, we were told by one of the temple's men that only Hindi could be spoken there, not English. I think at first the men staying there were a little wary of us, but eventually we were invited for tea into their reception room where pictures of the temple's deceased leaders are displayed. He offered us cookies, and it would have been rude to not take them, but I have to say they were the most awful cookies I have had in India. And he insisted that we eat all that he had set on the plate (I think because they had been blessed) and because I was sitting on the outside of the group he gave me the most! After prostrating in front of the picture of a particularly holy man and receiving special marks on our foreheads, we said goodbye and went on to the next destination.

Next we were driven to a spot further up the mountain and dropped off to hike about two kilometers on our way to "The Sun Temple". This was the coolest thing--we had been walking a while wondering when we would come upon it when all of the sudden we turned a corner and could view it from afar, in front of us on the side of a hill. It was a little bit of amazingness. It is a 13th century structure that has a few men who hang out as caretakers, I assume. I hope you enjoy the pictures (see below).

So that is about all there is to tell--I also read a lot on the trip, and watched India's version of "America's Next Top Model", a show called "Get Gorgeous 5". Pretty much the same thing!

(Click on the individual pictures for a high resolution image)

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Photos

My Across the Path Friend
Seriously, I know I have not traveled in India much but I have never seen so many monkeys always hanging around

On the Roof of our Rooms
This one is for my nephew Aidan!

A Daily Battle With the Monkeys
This guy had about had it with the monkeys. Seriously, they thunder across the thin roofs of the bungalows and search for any kind of food.

Devotional time at a local temple
I was liking all of the metal bells

Quick Peek of the Himalayas
Its difficult to make out, but try to see the jagged peaks between the clouds in the center

Inside the Temple
Stories and illustrations of some special personalities in the Hindu tradition

Krishna and Arjun on a chariot
I think this scene is from the Mahabharata

Hanging Out
One of the sadhus hanging out at the Shiva temple

Comments

[E]

Love it
Thanks for the monkey pix - Aidan loved it :)