Our time in the Himalaya

We are so thankful for cooler temperatures up here at 7,000 feet, where the Hanifl Center lies.  The Hanifl Center is the environmental learning center associated with Woodstock International Boarding School here in Mussoorie, Utterakhand, India.

On Wednesday, May 11, we took a long walk to and around the village of Landour.  We learned a bit about the history of how this village was started.  It initially was started as a convalescent station for the military.  Those serving in the British military, while under the control of Great Britain, it was used as a retreat away from the summer heat of the plains.  There is a lot more to be said about the history of Landour and Mussoorie, but I’ll let you do all that research, OR ask your student when they return from the trip.

On Thursday, May 12, we took a long, difficult hike to explore how smaller villages use the land in the foothills of the Himalaya to grow and sustain.  Also this provided a nice introduction to the type of intensity that we will experience on our big trek yet to come.  It was quite a doozy of a hike.

Aside from the very-predictable “Delhi-belly” we are all experiencing in our own time, we are doing quite well.  Our biggest challenge of the moment is making sure the monkeys don’t steal any of our stuff or somehow get into our rooms.  Below is a picture of a Rhesus monkey very interested in the lunch I was eating yesterday afternoon.