Leaving the Mountains

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If I had to describe my last couple weeks the first word I would use is wet. The monsoon has been in full swing since I've come back from Ladakh, and the mountain state of Himachal Pradesh is experiencing its hardest monsoon in over 50 years. While it doesn't rain all the time, in many places the clouds never lift and nothing dries out between showers.

I spent my last couple weeks in the Himalaya in the Kullu and Parvati valleys staying in several towns and villages before deciding to head back down to the plains. From Manali I left to Kasol, a backpacker enclave that was almost entirely full of stoned Israeli travelers. After a night there I was more than ready to head further up the valley, this time to the village of Kalga. Kalga was a beautiful village set high on a bluff and surrounded by apple orchards. Unfortunately Kalga was also above the cloud line so there was zero visibility almost the entire time I was there. The footpaths running through town were also covered in knee deep mud so after a couple nights I headed back down to Kasol.

Back in Kasol I heard about a local festival in a village that was located up a steep footpath from Kasol. The festival was dedicated to a local spirit, whose blessing was supposed to help ensure a good harvest season next month. At the festival groups of villagers carried brightly decorated floats, chanting and singing the whole time. I spent the night at the only guesthouse in town along with a few other foreigners who had made the hike up for the festival. After an uneventfully wet hike back to Kasol I made plans to leave the mountains and start heading towards Calcutta.

I am taking a 4 week teaching certification course in Calcutta starting next week. I am going to get this certification so I can spend another year living and teaching overseas, but in a different setting than before.
I am in Varanasi right now and will be heading to Calcutta in a couple days. I will update this blog again within the next couple weeks, but entries will be less frequent while I am taking the class. I have had many great experiences traveling around India, and especially loved the Himalaya, but am just about ready to stop traveling for a while and start working again.

I will continue updating this blog while I am still in India, and am planning on stopping back home again later this year. Looking forward to seeing many of you soon.

Stay tuned

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