Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Today is mainly a travel day, seven hours drive northeast through Delhi and into the Himalayas. Departure 7:30 am. By the first rest stop, a "tourist dhaba" at 9:30, we've glimpsed the sun once. Even though away from the city, the gray mist/smog persists. It makes everything feel dirty, no relief from trash, unfinished open construction, dirt side roads, peeled paint, gutted vehicles, pushcarts. The toll highway and roads are paved but we're feeling plenty of bumps in the back of the bus. I still prefer sitting back here; more room to spread out and see both sides. We pass a "wedding car", a white sedan with individual flowers taped on all surfaces.
10:30 We cross the Ganges, underwhelming in the fog. Rows of stalls stock bright plastic baskets used for giving offerings along the river.
12:00 Box lunches on the side of a two-lane busy road. Lots of overloaded trucks; two tractors pulling massive loads of sugar cane, twice the height and width of the truck.
1:45 We're going the wrong way (what?)
2:30 Approaching Ramnagar, mango orchards are replacing the fields of mustard and beet. Then teak trees, planted by the British.
3:00 Clouds have lifted as we climb into the foothills of the Himalayas. There's snow atop a far peak; we sip tea on a terrace of one of the local hotels outside Corbett National Park. There's a wedding there tonight and guests in bright attire are dancing to the loud beat of drums. Two women have intricate henna on their hands.
5:00 Our hotel: The Den. We each have a stone cottage, the interior lined with reeds set in patterns. A space heater is going to come in handy.
- comments