The Himalayas

May 13-20
We took a break from the heat of Delhi-115 most days--and headed north. Himachal Pradesh is a region north of Delhi in the Himalayas. It’s quite different from what I think most people imagine of India—as it’s cool and green, and perhaps half the people who live in this region look more like they are from Tibet. We were looking forward to being in mountains and hiking, and this is exactly what we got. In both of our first two stops (Sarahan and Kalpa) we had amazing views of the snow-covered mountains from our hotel windows, and the hiking was great fun, though hard and breath-taking--in the thin air sort of way, as well as the gorgeous view sort of way.

At the second stop, Kalpa, our hotel was at about 9,000 feet, and across the valley were snow covered, craggy mountains that seemed close enough that you could reach out and touch! From there we hiked (straight up), chatting with shepherds (our guide as interpreter), whose little lambs came right up to us, drank from the source of this area’s ice cold water supply and eventually made it up to 12,000 feet, where in fact we were able to touch, throw, and lie in snow! That was a highlight. Coming down was not however, as our guide had forgotten that we were from the flatlands and took us on a “short-cut”—note to self, never take a short cut down a mountain! It was way too steep for us (though our guide skipped down with an 8-foot log, that he would use for firewood, on his shoulder). So we ended up doing a lot sliding and falling. Still, after recovering and then feeling incredibly lucky that we really didn’t hurt ourselves, we thought it was an absolutely amazing experience. Those views were second to none!

Overall these days away from the city, meeting people who have spent their lives living on a 60-70 degree grade was fascinating. Our guide weaves shawls in the winter and tends a large apple orchard in the summer. The area is thriving, as we saw a wide variety of agriculture and well stocked markets in every town. People seemed more friendly overall and were not so surprised by westerners. And it was interesting to see how Indian dress is adapted for the mountains, including this very popular hat, with green felt flap, that is worn by men and women, young and old.



Our last stop was Shimla, which required retracing our drive, down the mountain this time, to about 6,500 feet. Shimla became a destination in the 19th century for the British who needed to escape the summer heat of Delhi. It’s a typical mountain town, which has grown as Indian tourism has significantly increased. There were two highlights for us in this popular town: first the quiet, and pretty clean, pedestrian zone (unlike anything we have seen in India), and second the former British Viceroy’s Residence, which has been turned into the Indian Advanced Study Center. It’s a huge gorgeous building with great views, at the very far end of this pedestrian zone. All in all, this was an excellent trip, as we got to see an entirely different face of India.