Mussoorie

Our next stop of our India journey was Mussoorie. As I mentioned in the last post, the ride getting here was interesting but ended up being relaxing once we got settled in. Mussoorie is another hillstation and is similar to Shimla, but is also much smaller. It’s also been a lot foggier so we haven’t been able to see the surrounding hill scenery very well.

Mussoorie is set up where there is one main road, named Mall Road, lined with shops and restaurants. It’s not quite as nice as Shimla though because it seems to be less “planned” with odd buildings, a bit more garbage and more cars, cows and dogs on the road. Mussoorie is also interesting because it seems to be a popular honeymoon spot and also has a sizeable Tibetan population. We think it has a significant Tibetan population because there’s a percentage of people here who look Tibetan and there is also a lot of Tibetan food, mostly momos, sold here.
 

Our favorite part in Mussoorie is a cute coffee shop named Chick Chocolate that reminds us of coffee shops at home with interesting lighting, artsy furniture and various pictures and art pieces on the walls. It also usually has good wifi which is a plus. Stephanie and I have spent a large amount of time at this place either reading, checking a few internet things or writing/blogging. Oh, their coffees are also good which reminds us of home as well.

Chick Chocolate

 

The main attraction here is a place named Gun Hill. It requires a hanging cable car to get to the top and is supposed to be a good view point of the Himalayas. Because it’s so foggy here though there was no chance of us seeing the mountains, only the surrounding hills. We were also greeted by a cheesey carnival setup when we got to the top of Gun Hill which was both surprising and not at the same time. Indians would put a cheesey carnival at the top of a tourist attraction. Nonetheless, it was still a nice place to relax and drink some chai.

The view from Gun Hill

 

 

 

New Mussoorie Friends

While we were relaxing outside our hotel and drinking a beer we met guy named Abhay from Dehradun (only about 1.5 hours away) who is also staying at the same small hotel. Abhay is 22 and is in school working on his Master’s in Chinese. We found this quite interesting because this is the first time we’ve met an Indian studying Chinese. He said he’s chosen to study Chinese because of the growing relations with China as both India and China develop as powers in the world. We also met his girlfriend, Vishali, who is a mass communications student two years younger than us.

This was Abhay and Vishali’s first time hanging out with Americans and they seemed to be very excited about this. We had great conversation with them and they were even nice enough to have dinner with us. They know the Mussoorie area quite well because they come here about once a month as a break from school in Dehradun. They took us to a restaurant that had a few tasty chicken dishes and we followed the meal with a coffee. Although the coffee was more like a really sweet cappuccino, it was still nice to have while it was cold outside.

We then continued back to our hotel, but then stopped on the way to try a paan. Paan is a snack that has mint and other seasonings wrapped in a green leaf. Stephanie and I both didn’t really like it and either that or the chicken got me sick in the middle of the night, but it’s okay because I felt fine the next morning. Abhay and Vishali were also very kind in that they let us hang out in their room for a little bit to hang out and watch TV. Then soon enough, we went to bed. Another unexpected day!

We spent one more night with Abhay and Vishali and this time talked a bit more about India and its history. We learned more about Indira Ghandi, who was a great (but corrupt) leader, and heard more about her assassination story which was quite interesting. We also learned more about the conflicts between Hindus and Muslims here, as well as the Sikh population in Kashmir. Because we love learning about this sort of stuff, and especially hearing it from a local Indian’s perspective, we really enjoyed this conversation.

The Heart and the Mind

Ever since we’ve gotten here it has seemed like every long conversation that we have with an Indian involves them mentioning the heart and the mind. I’ve found this quite interesting because decisions and feelings at home are rarely related to inner physical feelings. For example, friends or family at home may give general advice by saying, “do the right thing” or “be a good person” etc. However here, advice will be given a bit differently such as, “make sure it feels right in your heart and then your mind” or “have a clear mind” etc. I’m probably not explaining this very well, but I’ve just noticed a slightly different approach here when it comes to decision-making or advice.

This “head and the mind” approach does not apply to everyone in India because as we’ve experienced, many people here also lead with the greed rather than a pure heart and mind. But of course this also happens at home. I would even argue that many more people at home than here place material things ahead of their own inner ethics and values.

Since I’ve noticed it so often here, I am led to believe that this way of thinking must be laced in the culture here and consistently taught as people grow up. Maybe it’s because religion has a much heavier influence here as compared to home. I think it may also be because at home, people are taught to be very logical and rely on outside data or experiences while inner “gut feelings” are not encouraged often.

I would definitely say that I am a type of person that feels more comfortable relying on outside data or experiences when making decisions rather than making decisions purely based on what feels good in my heart. Since being in India though, I have felt a slight shift in this way of thinking. We’ll see how this continues and how I feel at the end of this trip though!

Various Thoughts/Comments

·         Mussoorie is also cold, maybe as cold as Shimla, but we’re too stubborn to buy sweaters or jackets because it’s going to be hot in the next two Indian places we’re going to and we don’t want to carry the jackets through those areas.

·         The hotel we’re staying at has hot showers and it’s awesome

·         I miss plain vegetables

·         I’m really looking forward to our two-week ashram stay in Rishikesh which will begin tomorrow. I’m sure it’ll be both challenging and rewarding. We’re going to have to wake up early though (something like 5:00 or 5:30) so that’ll be challenging.

 

Caroline’s Song of the Day

12-Sept Be. by Common

13-Sept Boys and Girls by Alabama Shakes

14-Sept The World At Large by Modest Mouse

15-Sept Anywhere I Go by Slightly Stoopid