Company Gardens
At the recommendation of a cycle-rickshaw driver--who clearly knew the tourist stops better than us--we decided to take a trip to "Company Gardens," which is a few kilometers outside of town. The ride over there was just lovely. Once you leave Mussoorie and "The Mall," it becomes so incredibly quiet and peaceful--save for the beeping buses as they pass you. The gardens turned out to be a family-entertainment destination, complete with all sorts of rides and insanity. We did find a few flowers to smell, however.
This was probably the first time that the kids ever rode any real amusement rides. We tried the "Hopping Frog," which was incredibly jarring, but Miles became obsessed with (and at .25 a ride, we said 'go get your fill'). Annie wanted to try another one, so we gave the swinging pirate boat a shot. She was definitely underwhelmed.
We've been
pestered by folks trying to get us to take pictures in traditional
Garwhali dress since we arrived in Mussoorie. Well, we finally broke
down and gave in while at the Company Gardens. Miles was seriously underwhelmed with the prospect.
The rest of us took the entire experience in slightly better stride.
Kempy Falls
One of Mussoorie's main attractions is Kempy falls, which is about 45 minutes down a hair-raising road out of town. The falls are beautiful, but the area is incredibly overdeveloped, and choked with tea shops and souvenir stands. It felt like there were several thousand people swimming (almost all men), and with the pumping Bollywood music, Jo and I beat a quick retreat with the kids a little farther past the main falls to where there was a more tranquil family-oriented resort.
There we had the unique pleasure of renting swim "attire," and taking a dip. The water was let's say not the cleanest, nor were the bathing suits, and so our swim was quite short!
There was a bounce house, however, below these religious statues (you can see Annie bouncing in the bottom right). And a bounce house rarely fails to entertain.
Perhaps the true crowning glory was the infamous duck boat ride.
Tibetan Monastery
While Jo was out doing some interviews the kids and I took a cycle-rickshaw down the mountain towards a Tibetan monastery. The rick-shaw would only take us so far down hill, because it was so steep, so we ended up walking for a few more kilometers downhill to reach the site (provisioned by an ice cream stop, of course). It should be of little surprise that the kids were fascinated with turning the prayer wheels (they're wheels, and they spin, what more could one want?)
Thankfully, Miles was able to spin them, or we might have had a serious problem.
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