Environmental misc. 1

There is a lot of plastic litter around Landaur and Mussoorie, though  perhaps not quite as much as when I came in 1997.  Plastic bags have been banned, though they are still used by the sabzi (vegetable) and phul (fruit) walas. Provision and clothing shops generally use cloth bags.

There is trash pick up of sorts, and one does see the big trash bins carried off to be dumped somewhere.  The one near our house was 'emptied' by burning the contents.

There is also some attempt to discourage public toileting .. and there are two of these decent facilities on Camel's Back road.

Kulri Bazaar

On Saturday we spent about four hours exploring Kulri Bazaar, and stopping to chat with old friends in Hamer's, Chic Chocolates, the Kashmiri shop, etc.; then tea with CW's friend Winky at his guest house.

Hamer's: 

Domino's Pizza where Kwality's used to be.

Cambridge Book Shop:

Some shots near the main Mussoorie Post Office:

Winter Line

The weather seems to have gone directly from Monsoons to Winter.  Yesterday the temperature dropped and we are really making use of the little electric heaters in the Church View flat.

Last Friday on the way down Mullingar from Char Dukan, near Doma's Inn we got a great view of langurs and the Winter Line!

Everest House

On Wednesday I took a day off along with friend MG who is teaching at Woodstock.  We took a taxi out to the Everest House, and then walked the 5 or 6 miles back to Library Bazaar area.

The Everest House was the house of Colonel Sir George Everest, who was the Surveyor General of India, and whose name was given to the highest peak in the Himalayas, Mount Everest.  The house is in great need of protection and restoration, and a good team of volunteers needs to clean up all of the trash around the grounds.

There was a lot of mist blowing up from the Doon, but we got a glimpse of a snow peak and of Benog Tibba. There are hundreds of strings of prayer flags on the top of the Park Estate hill, all fluttering in the breeze from the south.

The walk back to Library Bazaar was quite pleasant.  We were accompanied almost half the way by two friendly dogs.

We stopped about half way and had chai and fresh alu parathas .. the perfect restoration for a hike!

Mussoorie Schools

In addition to Woodstock School, there are a lot of other boarding and day schools in the Mussoorie area.  The oldest is the Convent of Jesus and Mary, which was established in 1845.

Among the newer ones is the Mussoorie Modern School, est. 1970.

An older school is St. George's College, visible across the valley from Woodstock.

 St. George's absorbed the old St. Fidelis School, a school for orphans.

 
The lower school dormitory seems quite Dickensian! Our dorms at Woodstock were smaller and much more homey!

We made a visit to the school's new archives/museum which is quite impressive.

Ah the Views!

After five days of monsoon and mist, we woke up last weekend to clear skies.  The view to the Doon Valley to the south was particularly clear, as one could see beyond the Siwaliks.

The snow-covered peaks to the north had some clouds, but at least we could see that they do exist!

Fancy Hotels

One morning we walked up the hill from Church View to see the Kasmanda Palace Hotel. This iwas the summer home of the Raja of Kasmanda, and has been converted into a Heritage Hotel. It is quite grand and is full of all of the features that one would expect in such a place .. tiger skins, mounted heads of wild sheep, snooker and polo trophies, etc.

Another day we had a late lunch at the Savoy Hotel.  The Savoy was built around 1900 for the British, and had fallen to near ruin 100 year later.  However, it has just been completely restored and was reopened for business in June of this year.  The restoration job is magnificent .. all of the teak doorways and window casings stripped of years of grime and rubbed with oil .. brass chandeliers gleaming .. a grand dining room with excellent service.  The hotel has a exercise room, wifi, and all the other 'mod cons.' 

On the grounds are two ancient Deodar trees overlooking the garden where Queen Mary had tea in 1906.

Prices at these hotels are on the low end of what would pay for a room at good hotel in a U.S. city (in the range of $150-$350 per night depending on room and amenities).