BrittaAbroad: Head to the hills

We spent last week in Mussoorie, a town high in the foothills of the Himalayas. After months of horrendous heat and humidity, the cool mountain air was a dream - and the view of the snowcapped Himalayas, always just in sight beyond the foothills, wasn’t too bad either. We stayed in a drafty, musty, wonderful old guesthouse, and spent the week tramping around the hills, exploring the town and greatly enjoying wearing sweaters.

Founded in 1825 as a British mountain outpost, Mussoorie quickly became a popular retreat as the Brits - who refused to remove their starched uniforms and multiple petticoats - fled to the mountains to beat the heat. Signs saying “No Indians or Dogs” were common in the downtown during British rule, but Indians like later-prime-minister Jawaharlal Nehru bucked the system, regularly visiting the town despite the fines and ostracism. Luckily, Mussoorie seems to have overcome this unsettling history - the tourists today are almost entirely Indian and the town is a popular getaway for overheated Delhi-ites.

Our week in Mussoorie was fabulous. One day, we hiked to the mountaintop home of Mr. Everest (yup, that Everest) and a funny old resort called the "Cloud House," where we sipped chai atop the mountain. Another day we hiked to a hilltop town where we found - surprisingly enough - delicious homemade peanut butter. We visited a Tibetan Buddhist community and temple (very cool) as well as a waterfall (also cool, but maybe not worth being stuck in a two-hour traffic jam behind an overturned truck on a mountain road). After traveling many Indian cities, I can say that Mussoorie is far superior in terms of monkeys and streets dogs. Every night, we put on as many clothes as we possibly could and snuggled together under wool blankets.

On the school’s dollar, we also ate well. Eating lots of Tibetan food (noodle soups! momos!) was a highlight for me, but the best of all was the “Chic-choc.” After five months of significant chocolate deficit, this brownie covered in ice cream and Oreo bits and chocolate chips and hot fudge REALLY hit the spot.

We left Mussoorie the day before our train home, and headed to Rishikesh, a town on the Ganga River at the base of the mountains, where we went WHITE WATER RAFTING! (Yes, I needed to use all-capitals and an exclamation point, because that’s how awesome it was.) We splashed and paddled through the rapids of the Ganga, even jumping out to take a holy dip at a calm point in the river. It felt great to wash my sins away. Definitely one of the coolest things I’ve done in India.

That night we stayed in Hardiwar, a pilgrimage city nearby. We spent the day wander the ghats amongst hundreds of pilgrims. Taking advantage of the non-terribly-polluted water, I stepped into the river to wash my face. That evening we hopped back on a 24-hour train, home to Varanasi for our last two weeks.