Sun, Nov 1: Dalhousie

Today was a day for driving to see the natural beauty.  The haze wasn’t quite so bad today so we could see much better.  Occasionally we even got glimpses of the snow covered Himalayas in the far distance.

The first stop was a Hindi temple on the top of a mountain.  It was about a 2 ½ kilometer trek on a concrete walkway with lots of stairs.  There were great views along the way.

One Hindi ritual is to shave the head of a baby sometime in its first year (supposed to help the non-baby hair to grow out stronger and healthier).  This temple apparently is one of the sites that specialize in performing this ritual.    

On the walk back we stopped to see a vendor with many medicinal roots and herbs for sale. He did a "diagnosis" of Paul and recommended some roots.  We didn't bother to buy any. He didn't do Mary because of the custom of no contact between strangers of the opposite sex.

We then drove another two hours to a lake location for lunch.  The area is called the Switzerland of Himachal Pradesh.  

The lake is situated in a large depression with mountains all around and a wide meadow surrounding the lake.  Unfortunately the lake is drying up and half filled with reeds but it was a pretty little place. 

The Indians were out in force picnicking, enjoying the lovely weather, and participating in the activities of the area.  There was horseback riding, inflatable jumpy things for the kids and the giant inflated balls that two people can get into and roll around. 

Paul and Tara walked around the meadow while Mary sat and people watched.  As Paul and Tara were getting near the end of their walk Mary decided to join them.  Before she could get very far she was waylaid by four teenage girls who wanted to get a selfie with her.  So we took turns with our iPhones taking pictures of the group.  Great fun!

We had a long drive through the mountains with lots of terraces and hay stacks.  

Next stop was Chamba, a small town, where we went through a museum that contained archaeological artifacts as well as documents and pictures from the local Maharajah.  The family has died out except for an older daughter-in-law…the last of the family. 

After visiting the museum we took a walk through the village where there were the usual fruit and vegetable shops.  We did watch a gentleman making popcorn in a wok.  They add sand that gets really hot and helps pop the corn.  Oddly enough, the popcorn we got didn't seem to have any sand in it.

The drive back to Dalhousie took us through a deep valley with a very large and long reservoir.