A Little Bit of Heaven Above the Clouds

Our trip to India has been mainly in cities. They are big, congested and always in motion. People live in crowded conditions, many are unemployed or choose to live on the streets at the mercy of strangers. You continually breathe in car exhaust, the smells of cooking food, animals and human life. There is a need to come away from the cities and find another side of India. I am ready for an adventure with my teacher friends Lisa (California) and Jessica (Colorado)…

Southern Indian Style Breakfast

We set out to explore a side of India rarely seen by the passing tourist. Jessica saw a notice posted on a bulletin board in a German Bakery just around the corner from our hotel. It was an advertisement for a hiking trip on Sunday. Not knowing anything about what we were getting into we called to make a reservation.
As directed, we waited outside of our hotel at 6 a.m.; it was still dark. Two cars arrived. One was a SUV and the other was a tiny red car that seated four (maybe). We squeezed twelve adults into the two cars and drove out of Pune heading north. Busy roadways gave way to tiny villages and farms. Soon we were on winding roads traversing up into the hills.

Mist hung low and the gentle rains have turned the dusty land into a lush green tropical garden. As we ascended up into the hill country tiered farms dotted the landscape. In this region they grow tomatoes, onions, garlic, sugar cane, bananas, grapes and rice. As always, the driving is crazy with people constantly passing on narrow roads while trying to avoid carts, animals and people.

To Ends of the Earth (and we hope we come back!)

After driving for four hours we arrived at the end of a bumpy road. We headed out on the Naneghat Monsoon Trail. We hiked on a fairly flat road with cows and water buffalos grazing on the side of the road. A dog accompanied us on our hike. Birds were everywhere and it looked like we were in the setting for Lord of the Rings.

Monsoon Season Arrives

I think I can tell you the exact time the monsoon season began, 3:30. This is the time my watch stopped. The gentle rain turned into torrents! The three of us did not have raincoats and we were soaked through in minutes.

We climbed a knoll as the wind whipped frantically at us. It was hard to even stand up. It was all in good fun. The only sensible ones were two goat shepherds who peered out at us from the cover of a small cave. I can only imagine what they were thinking about us.

The only smart ones!

Hike into the Abyss

We hiked over the edge and down the other side. It was pouring and we were walking down a waterfall! We never made it to the bottom and we can only imaging what was actually down there. I'm just glad I didn't slip and break my neck!

The walk back seemed much farther then I remember. The rain whipped at us and I even had an umbrella, which was really silly as the rain came at us in every direction. I have never been so completely wet, ever!

We had to pile in the cars in our soaking wet clothes for the ride back (we really did not get the memo). It was a rather interesting experience but we still had to endure another meal (in wet clothes), another few hours in the car, and another stop for tea (still in wet clothes). If we hadn’t had such a great day it definitely would have put a damper on things.

"Tippin" Lunch - Each course is served in a little dish

We arrived back at our hotel at 8:30. We were (still) wet and very tired but the day was probably one of the best we had yet. And the fun continued. The next night we met up with Vivick, a great guy who we met on the hike, and some of his friends for an evening at a local restaurant. It was like being the mom coming along with the kids, but we had great Italian food and a lively discussion about Gone With the Wind. If you ever find yourself in Pune be sure to look up Fun Trips inc., they’ll take you to the ends of the earth and back!

Lisa, Jessica, Vivick and Barb

(The umbrellas were just for show)