Attached below is a transcript from my diary of the Mussoorie part of our India trip. I'll share the latter two parts (Sikkim and Agra-Jaipur) in due course. I hope you'll find this interesting. It is terse and abbreviated in places; feel free to query me if something doesn't make sense. It should get across what an exciting time we had.
Connie's galleries have many pictures of the trip:
http://gallery.me.com/cwagner#gallery
And I have just posted pictures of the high Himalaya from the hotel where we stayed in Pelling. Will transmit a write up of that part of the trip before too long:
http://gallery.me.com/davidwagner#100051
28 September 2010 Tuesday
Arrived Delhi airport at just after 8 pm and sailed through customs and immigration in less than 10 minutes. Got some rupees at a CITI Bank ATM (only one in airport) and were greeted by Rishi of Uday Travel. We were whisked to the YWCA in a comfortable AC car, driven by Kishore. Kishore will be our driver for many of our excursions.
We checked into the IGH (International Guest House = YWCA) and were assigned room 21. It's on the 4th floor (remembering ground floor is 0 in this land); many steps. Beds are very hard but it wasn't hard to sleep. AC on most of the night.
29 September 2010 Wednesday
It starts getting light at 6 am. --we arose. Sunrise @ around 6:30. We took pictures of pigeons in the scaffolding on the outside of the building. Scaffolding is of wooden poles bound with manila rope and jammed into holes punched through the outside wall of the building.
Went out for a short walk towards Connaught Circle before coming back for breakfast of parathas and mango pickle.
At 11 we met Anand, our guide for the day. Drove past parliament & gov't buildings and then to Jama Masjid. Walked through narrow streets to Chandni Chowk, then past red fort for a quick stop, at Raj Ghat next to give homage to Gandhi. We had a little debate before deciding to go to The Claridge for lunch. A good decision! Got there around 2:15 p.m., spent an hour of easy time in "The Dhaba," which means "Truck Stop." Had the Chef's Choice Thali--a good selection. Fish starter was excellent, dal was excellent, lamb curry was great. At the end, one of the chefs gave us his dal recipe, ~24 hours to make a black (urad) dal.
One last sight seeing stop at Qutb Minar (now usually spelled with an extra vowel, as Qutub or Qutab). Connie was tired and it took a bit of encouragement to get her to go in. Good thing -- a moving place on a wonderful evening. The setting sun gave primo light for photography. Anand told history of this place with considerable passion. Having stopped to look at a gold Ganesh for Dick, we decided to bypass the last two scheduled sites and go back to YWCA to rest up. Back ~ 6:30 p.m. We both showered, me in the dark because the power went out several times. Finally, around 7:30 - 8 pm, we left the switches in the off position and went to bed, me to sleep and not worry too much.
30 September 2010 Thursday
Up before our alarms went off, ready to go by 5:30 a.m. We're very grateful to get a cup of of tea from the concierge. Rishi met us at 6 am to guide us to our place on the train. As yesterday evening, Kishore (our driver) showed incredible skill in negotiating crazy traffic. Rishi was invaluable--he knew exactly where to go to stand on the platform. When our train came in, we were right in front of the coach where our seats were. Doesn't look fancy but quite adequate--AC appreciated. To our surprise, tea, snacks and then breakfast was served. Only the obvious foreign tourists were solicited for tips.
Arrived in the afternoon in Mussoorie, after breakfast at President Hotel (good) and exciting drive up to the school. We were settled into Quad #1, a very nice apartment on the 2nd floor (3rd floor by US counting) overlooking Dehra Dun. It was important to keep the door locked when were in, to keep the monkeys out. They were often seen and heard clambering around the school buildings.
We were given a tour of the campus by Immu, one of the administrative aides in the alumni office. We admired the recently installed metal sculpture by my brother's classmate, a huge rendering of the cuneiform strokes for "peace." The big surprise was encountering a picture of the "championship" swimming team of 1962 in the new athletic building. I turned to Connie and exclaimed, "That's me at bottom left!" I never imagined being commemorated in the new Mumby Gym. Surely only more accomplished athletes would be pictured!
Late afternoon I went up ZigZag to Sister's Bazaar, mainly to see how long it would take me. With stopping to take picture of monkeys, it took just over 30 minutes of huffing and puffing. Just before heading back down Steve Alter chanced to drive up. He offered to give Connie and me a ride up to the Chukkar the next morning, an offer gratefully accepted.
1 October 2010 Friday
Steve picked us up at the Woodstock Gate at 7 am and drove us around past Char Dukhan (4 Shops) up to Childer's and then the cemetery. We walked leisurely along the Chukkar to Sisters Bazaar, a nice walk even if snows were hidden in the mist. I took many pictures of ferns. A special surprise came when Steve invited us down to his home for breakfast--the Alter family estate, in his family for 3 generations. His grandfather was the one who put the present facade on Kellog Church.
We walked down the hill, past Hanifl Centre and South Hill. Afternoon spent napping, reading, and writing.
We had dinner that evening at Steve's home, too. Good food!
2 October 2010 Saturday
Morning moved slowly, did a little walk around the area. In the afternoon we went to the bazaar to do some shopping. Taxi ride is hair-raising and walking along Kulri is not fun with all the cars crowding the street. Was happy to find a place to get an electrical outlet adaptor so we can keep all our devices charged up. Connie bought some fabric and arranged to have a kamise tailored by Inam, darzee.
In the evening we had dinner in the staff dining room, where we ate when there was no special festival event scheduled.
3 October 2010 Sunday
We went out to the Hanifl Centre and hung the framed prints I had sent earlier to Steve and which he had had framed in Delhi. These were a donation to the Hanifl Centre via proceeds from sales. I worked with Connie and Lalitha Krishnan to hang them with wires from hooks over the top of bulletin boards. Then we put up statements I had written about each one, stapled to the bulletin board.
That evening we had dinner at Rokeby Manor with the 10 or so festival participants who had arrived by then. I had a nice fish curry and Connie had a prawn biryani. The manager of this place seems to have a special fondness for Woodstock.
4 October 2010 Monday
Not having anything else to do, we walked out to the base of Flag Hill. We took our time, taking pictures of mules, ferns, flowers, and clothes drying at roadside in Jabbarkhet. I even found some hornworts at the notch where the Flag Hill trail starts.
That afternoon we went back to the bazaar to pickup the kamise that Connie had made for her at Inam Tailor. Very inexpensive for both fabric and tailoring but looked like it, too. A little disappointing.
On the way down to Picture Palace we got caught in a terrific hailstorm, some of the hailstones the size of marbles. I bought an interesting hat to protect my bald pate and keep rain off my glasses. It has a letter embroidered that is not in our alphabet. Maybe an imaginary alphabet?
We went early to the Tavern Restaurant where the group was to have dinner. Finding them also present early, we joined George Schaller and Lu, the Chinese biologist traveling with him. We all had tea until others showed up, at which time the bar opened.
It was a great dinner--good conversations on all sides. I sat across from Kate Harris while Gita Kapadia was on my right. On the far side of Connie was Sheila Jaywant. Gita is Harish K.'s wife (he is famous Himalayan mountaineer) and Sheila is an engaging writer from Mumbai.
5 October 2010 Tuesday
Morning spent polishing my presentation. Shower, wash socks...
Afternoon out at Hanifl Centre, where the opening event was held, the exhibit of Coni Hörler photos and my prints. He said before the presentation that he wasn't good at public speaking. That meant that with only a few notes, he rambled on and on. I was next, so with no notes in hand I talked less than 5 minutes. Both talks appreciated, I think mine for brevity and humor as much as explanatory exposition. Our dinner that evening was a high tea (lots of snacks, only snacks) at the Hanifl Centre.
Back in Parker Hall on main campus, the main and official inauguration event was at 7 in the evening. The Governor of Uttarakhand gave the address, preceeded by appropriate mention and recognition of all notable persons present. She is a very interesting person, being a shrewd labor leader and women's rights champion among other skills. The most enjoyable part of the event was a reading by Ruskin Bond, a well-known (celebrity) writer who now resides in Mussoorie. He is probably in his 80's, a wonderful writer. He read from one of his books, a narrative about a pilgrimage to Badrinath, with great humor incorporated in the narrative.
6 October 2010 Wednesday
Starting at 6:30 a.m. from the Hanifl Centre, a group of ~20 went to top of Flag Hill. A very enjoyable excursion led by Kutty, assisted by Dharab Nagarwala and a friend, Hari Dang, who knew birds well. I went much of the way with George Schaller and his travelling companion Lu. Lu is a very accomplished Chinese wildlife biologist, a professor with many students in Beijing. We went slowly because George had to and I wanted to. We looked at all the ferns and flowers along the way. There was a beautiful view of the snows at the top. It turned out to be the best viewing of our visit to Mussoorie.
It's interesting how Flag Hill has gotten much more densely forested compared to how I knew it 47 years ago. Upon return, we had breakfast at the Hanifl Centre.
The first day of the festival sessions were held on the main campus. In the morning Connie and I were most impressed with the story telling of Paro Anand. We became quite fond of each other over the course of the festival. Likewise with Toby Sinclair, a film maker who showed a film about the Ganga (Ganges) he made for BBC.
The keynote session started the afternoon: George Schaller. A truly spectacular and moving presentation about protection of large mammals in Central Asia. The most fun presentations came later that afternoon -- humorous talks by Jim Curran and Harish Kapadia as they looked back on fabulous careers in mountaineering.
The evening poetry reading was not particularly memorable except two of the readers mentioned Gary Snyder. I found it interesting that my favorite poet is so well appreciated by Indian poets.
The dinner was at Rokeby's adjunct terrace - Highlands. So much to eat from starters being passed around that the actual main dinner seemed superfluous. The open bar meant lots of animated conversations under the stars.
7 October 2010 Thursday
Sessions this day were at the Hanifl Centre. Quality of the presentations was as uneven as the topics were diverse. The first was the best in our estimation. An extraordinarily flamboyant writer from Mussoorie (Sudhir Thapliyal) read from his just published novel, "Mansuri, Macabre." It is supposedly patterned after Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" except that it involves an unsolved murder and some creative flights by the author.
Sheela Jayant - a delightful person, read an essay about trekking she had written in verse! Amazing!
Gary Weare is a writer of trekking books for Lonely Planet and runs a guide service. A down-to-earth Australian ex-pat who is likeable, no-nonsense. He talked about a 5-month "ramble" through the Himalayas from Kumaun to Ladakh, extolling the virtues of the lesser visited parts of the Himalayas.
The afternoon session was frustrating. Two well-known leaders of conservation organizations ignored both guidelines of the festival: to keep to new topics of mountain literature and keep to 20 minutes. Each gave nearly hour-long package presentations that crowded Kate Harris's reading. She was forced to rush through her reading because of the lateness of the hour. What a shame! The best presentation of the three -- as far as the avowed intentions of the festival are concerned -- was practically ruined.
The evening of music was highlighted by the singing of Paro Anand's mother-in-law, Harshi Anand. Connie and I were entranced. Pete Wildman is pretty deeply into the songs of the Beatles.
Evening dinner for all at Steve Alter's, just down the hill from the music venue. Another intense social event with good Indian food.
8 October 2010 Friday
My presentation was in the morning session, following Toby Sinclair and Bernadette. Toby was going to talk about the sad shape of the Ganga but after the discouraging talks about environmental degradation and loss of tigers and their habitat the day before, he changed his topic and told uplifting stories about filming in the Himalaya. I was very impressed because we had just talked about "preaching to the choir" aspect of those talks the evening before.
My talk went very well. I had edited and revised it so many times I didn't have to read the script even though I had it all written out to the last word. The group seemed to like the pictures and I got good feedback afterwards.
The final session was highlighted by Jim Curran's presentations on his painting. His paintings are very nice, all mountains. Connie and I were much interested in the personal insights about himself that came through as he talked about the paintings.
The festival ended with closing remarks by Steve and a lunch. I spent some time in the room where my prints were displayed, talking to people who wanted copies of prints that had been marked as sold. Made arrangements to have money given to Woodstock and prints sent to them for distribution. It is interesting that the main interest was in only four of the ten on display: the two butterflies, the dragonfly and the lizard. None of the floral subjects sold even though they received ample praise.
9 October 2010 Saturday
Connie and I engaged a taxi for the day, Rs 1,200, to take us down to the Aglar River at Tathyur. This spelling seems better than the one we used in the old days, "Tothura." It better transcribes how it is written in Hindi on the road sign in new Siakoli, actually known as Naya Seakoli. But unlike Tehri, the abandoned buildings of the old Siakoli are visible on the ridge not far from the new junction.
This was a trip we enjoyed very much. The road was good, if narrow and with thrilling exposure in places. With stops to take in views and take pictures of ferns, it took a little over 2 hours to get down to Tathyur. We had the driver drop us off on the far side of the town, up the Pali Gad a little distance since the town has grown considerably in that direction. We walked slowly back through the town, taking pictures of scenery, flowers, ferns and students along the way. The old temple is still there, so I went down to give homage and photograph. Lots of steps reminded me to pay attention to my aging knees.
After getting fruit soda and bananas for lunch, we took a path down river from the south end of town. Had a good exposure to all parts of rice harvest process. Finally met up with the driver and went home (Woodstock) mid-afternoon.
I had gotten some good pictures of butterflies and flowers, also the hemp which lines the track in many places. Dinner at Rokeby's, a treat we gave ourselves, hiring a taxi to get there and back.
10 October 2010 Sunday
I got up before dawn to go up to see the snows at sunrise. That meant leaving in the dark, ~5:30 a.m. I didn't take a flashlight so was glad that the first glimmer of dawn lit the path when I got past the lighted section above the new Woodstock gym. It took me 30 minutes to get up to Sisters Bazaar, the same as the day we got here (Sept 30). I got there at just the right time - sun was barely beginning to light the peaks. I started taking pictures just before sunrise and followed it as I walked to Kellog Church and back, setting my Gorilla-pod tripod on the roadside walls. The light was lovely but there was more haze than the day we went up Flag Hill so the pictures weren't as nice.
Since I was to lead a fern walk that afternoon, I went from the Chukkar down through Oakville (S. Alter's place) to Jabbarkhet to scout possible routes. I'd remembered the path up to Fairy Glen being pretty and ferny. However, the return path, coming back up the way I went down, was far too steep and narrow to take a group. The Fairy Glen path was pretty badly trashed close to Jabbarkhet so I abandoned plans to foray up that hill. Back to the Quad for lunch,where we had all our meals except special dinners and festival meals. Glad for the sustenance.
At 2 p.m. I met Principal Laurensen and a group of day scholars and their parents, plus a few staff members, about 20 people in all, at the Hanifl Centre. I walked them past Jabbarkhet to where the road was on the shady, north side of the hill. There, beside a retaining wall, I found all the ferns I needed for a good field lesson. Six common ferns dominate the roadsides and all were here. Then we walked a few feet further to a "rare" habitat and saw some "rare" ferns. It was a good lesson in understanding generalists vs. specialists.
On the way back to the Hanifl Centre we saw an oakleaf butterfly sitting on a deodar by the side of the road. I was pretty excited to have a chance to take pictures of it. It turned out that it had been feeding on sap oozing out of wounds in the trunk of the deodar. Also tending the sap were a dozen or so of the biggest wasps I've ever seen! They had angry, orange heads and brown bodies with thin orange bands. I'd have worried if they were tending a nest that they would defend but they were here focused on gathering sap.
That evening we packed our bags to be ready for the next leg of our travels.
11 October 2010 Monday
Monday morning I did a repeat of the fern walk of the day before. Because it was for a class -- 6th grade science -- I gave a short formal introduction to the study of ferns. The Hanifl Centre is ideal for this, with a population of Anogramma leptophylla just adjacent to the building. A living plant that shows all stages of a fern life cycle! Then I showed how to press ferns with newspapers and how to make rubbings. The walk itself was exactly as the day before, capped by a viewing of the Asian giant wasp. Vespa mandarinia: I had identified it the night before. I think a very successful event, maybe inspiring a few budding naturalists based on the interest of a few of them.
Our ride to Dehra Dun picked us up at ~9 p.m. We counted turns in the road down the hill. I counted 17 pure hairpin turns -- from hill to left to hill at right -- while Connie counted 96+ turns of more than 135º. Train to Delhi went nicely.
Waggie
