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Rosemary's Ramblings
Nainital
I arrived in nainital feeling a little nauseous, not from Delhi belly or anything like that from the bus journey itself. thankfully the journey had taken place during the day, not something that I would normally do. To start I had better explain, nainital is nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas at 1938 meters above sea level, ramnagar (from where I had just come) was at only 400m asl. The road between them twisted and turned round the hills gradually climbing to this altitude, more often than not one side of the bus was overlooking a very steep drop, near to sheer but not quite. Some of the drops would be easier to abseil down than to climb or walk, if all the trees didn't get in the way. I am not a nervous passenger as a rule but these roads and the Indian way of driving kept me on edge most of the journey. The views however completely compensated for this and so I arrived, awestruck.
Nainital is on the edge of a lake which is said to be the eye of Shiva's wife sati which fell into the hills at this spot. The water true to the story is a beautiful emerald green and fairly eye shaped when seen from higher up. Fortunately a cable car has been installed to the side of the mountain to allow such views of the vista and lake so that it isn't necessary to climb the hill. The town is spared along the lake, I stayed uphill (of course) and walked quite a distance each day to see the sites and enjoy a real filter coffee! Yes I am ashamed to say I have missed coffee. The temperature is much more pleasant here, about the same as summer in England. The first morning was lovely and clear so I headed up the cable car for a look round at the hills and the views. I bought my ticket and though I had no form to fill in I did have to sit and wait for my number to be called which took about 45 minutes during which time a few clouds had formed. After playing with a random baby thrust into my arms for a photo by the proud parents I finally made the assent onto the peak. From the top (2270masl) it was possible to see nanda devi (7816m) with panoramic views of the Himalayas. It was pretty amazing and as a relatively clear day I would like to think that I saw nanda devi (though to be completely honest I am not sure which one it was - other than possibly the highest one). At the top some Indian guys filmed me on several occasions which was getting pretty annoying so I wandered off to have a look at the surrounding flora and sit near a tree that didn't feel like it was gasping for breath. I took a photo of one of the flowers a rather pretty and intriguing one which I have been reliably informed is a carnivorous plant (glad I didn't get too close) and there was me worry about the animals.
Nainital seems to be a very Indian tourist orientated place, I only saw one non Indian couple. My hotel room over looked a bank head quarters, I spent some time looking out the window and came to be on smiling and waving terms with all the employees. During one of the days as I was indulging in my caffine fix I saw the driver come past and pull up a couple of shops down where he waited for someone to do something, he waved and carried on. Later (during my 3rd coffee) I noticed him on a motorbike this time, not far from the café but on the opposite side of the road. I waved and he waved and motioned for me to go with him on his bike, but I needed to find out what time the bus left the next day so I pretended not to understand and set off in the opposite direction. Further down the road he caught up with me again (he couldn't just turn round as the two directions are separate here and though the rest of India would take no notice they do seem to have some respect for rules here.) anyway he wanted me to go with him so after a bit of a discussion (which was hard as he spoke no English and I no Hindi) I got on the bike and we headed into the hills. The ride took us out of town and up the hill, it was a good day and the sky was blue though some clouds were low (or were we just high?) we rode though the clouds and finally arrived at a temple, (photography strictly forbidden - spherical!) it was beautiful and more amazing and magical as the clouds kept rolling in engulfing us then continuing on there way revealing the lush mountain scenery that takes your breath. After some time looking round we headed back to town, dropping me at the bus station he returned to work. We continued to wave to each other.
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