Trains!

Taking trains is a quintessential part of Indian travel. Given how much Miles is obsessed with trains, I felt like we need to make a few short train trips happen.

The Indian train network is incredibly well developed, and quite affordable. Aside from its ease, it just an awesome way to get a better sense of the landscape.

Train stations in India can be pretty eye-opening experiences. But so far, we've been moving through some very tranquil ones.

We took a train from Thiruvananthapuram (now that's a mouth full!), also known as Trivandrum, which is the capital of the state of Kerala to Allepey (and back). It's about a 3.5 hour trip each way, which is just about the limit for these little ones and their parents. I think we'll save the overnight train experience in India for when they're a tad bit older. That said, Miles seemed to have no problem falling asleep.

Riding the train provided an amazing chance to watch the beatufiul Keralan countryside pass by.

 

 

We saw incredible vistas of rice paddies (including this one with tractors plowing through flocks of birds), waterways, and small villages of mudbrick houses set amongst coconut groves.

It all moved by so fast, but provided a lovely setting for snuggling.

Annie, for one, really enjoyed riding in the upper bunk!

And also a great time for reading, and watching movies.

At the end, we were grateful for the help of the porters, who effortlessly (or at least seemingly so) carried our heavy bags on their heads to the taxi

After these two short trips, I'm incredibly glad that we decided to go by train. It was a great chance to see a little more of Kerala, and the kids have been asking when we will get a chance to ride another one.

Dehradhun: Visiting Temples and Shrines

Leaving Mussoorie, we headed down the mountain to Dehradun. We only spent one night there, but stayed at undoubtedly the most phenomenal AirBnB we have ever visited.

 Below is the review I left for Poonam and her husband:

Our stay at the Bungalow Retreat was simply perfect. The room were splendid, very clean, spacious, and well appointed. The garden was a lovely respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. What really made our stay fantastic was the extraordinary hospitality that Poonam and her husband offered us at every turn. They welcomed us into their home like family, and sure enough, before too long our two small children were calling them "Grandma" and "Grandpa". We wanted to go visit a temple, but had trouble finding a taxi; Poonam's husband was incredibly gracious, and took us in his own car. Poonam is an amazing cook, and wowed us with some phenomenal food. We hope that she will start offering cooking lessons in the future! This was the nicest AirBnB experience we have ever had. The quality of the lodging, and the extraordinary hospitality can't be beat. We are already looking forward to visiting "Grandma" and "Grandpa" again soon. Thanks again!

                                        
 Here's a photo of "Grandpa" holding up Miles to try to pick mangoes (still about a month shy of ripe).

And here's one of us all (minus me as per usual) before heading out

As mentioned in the write up above, Poonam's husband, Ajay, was kind enough to take us to visit the famous Tappkeshwar temple. Here's a little bit from the wiki page on it:

Tapkeshwar Temple in Dehradun, also known as Tapkeshwar Mahadev Temple, is one of the most famous temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. Situated by the forest side, the main shivalinga at the temple is inside a natural cave. Water drops from the ceiling of the cave trickle down over the shivalinga in a continuous downpour, making for an interesting spectacle.

Below is a photo from the inside of the cave.

Miles was a VERY big fan of ringing the bells!

and also a big fan of Lord Ganesh.

                                            

Incredible Hanuman statue (Annie can now correctly identify four Indian gods: Hanuman, Shiva, and Ganesh)

 

We even got the opportunity to dip our feet in the fetid creek, because Annie and Miles saw other kids doing it and were adamant.

The next day, on our way out of town, we made a slight detour and stopped at the Tibetan Mindrolling Monastery. A little blurb on it from wiki:

In 1965, Khochhen Rinpoche and small group of monks began the process of re-establishing Mindrolling monastery located near Clement Town, in Dehradun, Uttarakhand state, India. It now contains Ngagyur Nyingma College, one of the largest Buddhist institutes in India.

It is known as having both one of the tallest stupas, and tallest Buddha statues in the world.

As we descended the stairs to it, Annie said "The temple looks like it's touching the sky!"

And of course, there was lots of prayer wheels to spin.

And from there, it was to the airport, and down to Kerala!

Mussoorie: Part 3

 We took an afternoon explore in a nature reserve outside of Mussoorie. It was incredibly peaceful in the woods, well sort of. The kids both had major meltdowns, and so the majority of the time we were each hiking while holding one or both of them. That said, we saw some amazing birds, and beautiful mountain vistas. We hired a taxi, which was an old ambassador. I think we got more of a kick out of it than the kids.

The area is famous for its rhododendrons, but we had just missed the bloom. The forest seemed fairly old, but turns out was just 40 years old, having been restored from old farm land.

 

The kids were very excited, albeit a little scared to find leopard scat on the trail!

 Our turn-around point was the top of a very narrow ridge with gorgeous views to either side. And look, a rare complete family photo!

Annie was very proud of this feather she found. 

And I found what would make a perfect new writing desk...

Of course, a good hike deserves a good ice-cream....

Mussoorie: Part 2

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.

 While the photographer was taking pictures, I couldn't help take a few of my own of Annie and her props.

 And now, for the horribly-staged portraits.

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. 

 

 The big wheel--stored in its own building--was quite difficult for even me to turn, but the kids really enjoyed trying!

Later on, I even got a chance to take this little gal for a lunch date while Miles and mama napped.