Blogs from Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India, Asia - page 2

Mussoorie…Queen of the Hills Mussoorie is a nice hill station located above the Doon Valley. The air is cooler here and of course damper. Everything is damp…a situation I most dislike about India…the humidity and the musty, mold and black filth it creates. It cannot be healthy…I know for a fact, I have been battling dark circles under my eyes and this is most likely due to the mold spores in the air. Again there is no use of bleach nor heaters to dry places out so mold grows and grows…it seeps into everything. Mussoorie offers incredible vistas of the valley. It was a British get away during the British occupation here so there are still remnants of this in terms of International Schools, Language Schools, Christian Churches and British “palaces.” There is even a bust ... read more

Mapa Hola (para agrandar las fotos, den clic sobre ella) En mi primera semana sola no me iba a quedar cruzada de brazos ni echandome a la pena, no no. El día que vi la peli en Delhi, Frederike (Alemania...la llamrae ike para no escribir tanto) y yo planeamos el viaje. ¿Qué es planear? es decir, oye me gustaría ir a tal parte este fincho...ah, si, yo tb quisiera, ah bueno, entonces busquemos en LP (Lonely Planet), ah..si..tal ha ido, preguntemos...si..qiue hay que ir en tren..ah bueno...entonces...sleeper class?, si, y te dejo copia de mi pasaporte por si las moscas. Estamos hablando. Ya, y el viaje, armado. :P ´ Trabajo Hay varios proyectos con Brasil. No se imaginan cómo está creciendo ese país. Hay que clavarle el ojo para ver cómo se comporta una economía ... read more

We finally managed to shake off the hippie torpor that had overtaken us in Rishikesh and escape 'happy valley'. We decided to travel to Mussorrie, a hill station founded by a Captain Young in the 1840's. Mussorie is wonderful. The town is located at an altitude of 6000ft in the Himalayas. It has an alpine climate at this time of year, with warm clear sunny days and cool evenings. We have been spending our time walking in the stuning countryside and taking in the views, including the distant snowy peaks of the high himalayas in the distance. We hiked to the place where George Everest lived when he was surveyor general of India. We also visited the Surkhanda Devi temple, which is at the top of a mountain at an altitude of about 10,000 feet. To ... read more

So, given the cost of labor here in India, it is easier and makes more sense in terms of time to hand your clothes off to get washed instead of doing it yourself and waiting in our breezy, damp rooms for them to dry. So, for about 10 rupees (less then $.25 a garment), we've been sending things out to the dhobi (washer-person).So, given the cost of labor here in India, it is easier and makes more sense in terms of time to hand your clothes off to get washed instead of doing it yourself and waiting in our breezy, damp rooms for them to dry. So, for about 10 rupees (less then $.25 a garment), we've been sending things out to the dhobi (washer-person). For the past couple weeks we've been noticing a trend. The ... read more

Just arrived home last night from an abosolutely amazing weekend. We left Moussorie around 7:00AM on Friday to take a 6 hour drive to the glacial source of the Yamuna, at Yamontri in the Himalayas. We had 2 stops on the way, once for tea about 2 hours away and again for lunch where we sat at the side of the road looking over the Yamuna running relatively flat. We arrived around 5:00, rested for a bit and went over what we have done so far on our independent fieldwork projects. My focus, originally, was on Special Economic Zones in the context of the nationalist and feminist movements...but since the lectures I heard in Delhi and the interviews I have had thus far in Moussorie (with professors, shop owners, and our wonderful neighbors) I think I ... read more