Yes, yes, and yes!

These are the answers to the questions of my last post. We did arrive in Mussoorie in one of those crazy Indian buses, I did take a bath in the Ganges and yes this was the first time in India that I was freezing!

We started our trip on Friday night and left Delhi by about midnight. I thought we wanted to leave by 9 pm and the Indians already knew how we would get to Mussoorie. This was the first time I realized that Indian planning differs a lot from, let's say 'western' planning. Actually I think that Indians simply don't plan that much. All that was for sure was the fact that we were going to Mussoorie.

But anyway we got on a bus and it was a hell of a ride! The bus almost permanently honked (and so did the other buses on the road) and I was reminded of the road conditions every once in a while by a strong shake that would even wake up a dead man. So we didn't get much sleep, and after another bus ride from Dehra Dun we arrived in Mussoorie by about 11 am. The weather was rainy and cold and we realized that we didn't really bring suitable clothes with us. Nevertheless we had a lot of fun and after finding a nice place to stay (2 EUR [$2.85] a night) we discovered the town. We had a lot of nice Indian food and all the time it was almost impossible for Max and me to pay for the food. The Indians insisted on paying for everything. The next day the weather was completely different. Nice and shiny and really warm! So we climbed up a hill next to our hostel and good an amazing view onto the valley. The Indians were quite scared of the climbing and after we reached the top of the hill they assured me that I was an outstanding climber...hm I didn't know that ;).

After that little hike we checked out at the hostel and went to the Kempty Falls that were approximately 15 km [9.3 miles] from Mussoorie. I was thinking of a nice national park but once again I had to learn that India is different. Instead of trying to preserve nature, they built a swimming pool right under the falls. We took a short bath and after being chased by various Indians in the pool because they wanted to shake hands with me I was happy to leave the place. Our way back to Delhi was of course not organized yet and we realized that we would get back to Delhi quite late if we still want to see Haridwar - the holy city. Some of the Indians decided to go back to Delhi directly and the rest of us went to Hardiwar. We got there around 9 pm and I think it's an amazing but also very crazy place. Even at 9 pm the place was full of people that wanted to take a bath in the Ganges. So we also took a bath and the Indians were worried that I would get drowned in the water. I told them that I can swim, which is not a common skill in India. We had some nice Indian food afterwards and then finally went back to Delhi. Another very uncomfortable bus ride later (I even got a bruise because my head was smashed to the window when I tried to sleep) we arrived in Delhi around 7 am. I would have had another half an hour before I had to wake up for work but I was able to come into the office a little later.

So overall I had an amazing trip with lots of impressions and it was a great cultural experience to travel together with the Indian guys.




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