(December 26) We arrived at the Himalayan Hideaway after a gruelling 8 hour ride from Delhi only to find out that we are now basically camping! It was a bit of a shock. We have been staying in rather high-end hotels. The HH team met us at the road and we got to see our rooms. The view is spectacular! We overlook the Ganges river and the sound of the wind in the trees and the river running over rocks is relaxing. However, they do not have central heating in India and it was 10 degrees when we arrived. The good news was that they had heaters in the room and warm blankets on the bed. We also brought our winter gear so we are fine. It was just a bit of a shock about how rustic it is.

Today we went on a 2.5 hour hike in the Himalayan foothills. We started on one side of the river, walked across a suspension path bridge to the other side. The bridge was very high up and bounced as we walked on it. It is the only bridge for a long way that doesn’t get washed out during monsoon season.

We started walking on the well-worn path. The path was paved with stones many years ago because of the need for the villagers living in the mountains to get to and from the river.  As we started our walk a woman carrying a bundle on her head passed us. She was on her way to work or from the store, we do not know. However, her presence affirmed for us that this is a working roadway, not just a holiday hiking path.

The hike took us through a village high on the river bank. We got to witness people working in the fields and connect with several children who thought we were rather interesting. These folks work hard! Everything is done manually and with old style tools. We saw the elementary school the kids went to. It was simple; just one main room and six side rooms. They have no power, heat, windows, or desks. There is an outdoor outhouse and a small outside kitchen. The kids go to this school until they are twelve and then they need to go to a school on the other side of the valley.

Today we crossed the Ganges in two ways. We walked across the suspension bridge to start our hike and we took a local ferry boat ride back. The boatman was phenomenal. The Ganges is a fast flowing river and it has strong currents. The boatman knew his bend in the river very well. He had two oars that he launched himself into the current with, but then he used the current to land up exactly where he wanted to be. It was a fast crossing. No life jackets of course.

We enjoyed all the birds we saw on our hike. Eric is a big bird watcher so we are all learning a lot about birds. We also got to see a number of monkeys. There were two basic types. The first one likes to hang out where people live and see if they can scrounge scraps or steal food. Our hotel has a sign that says to lock your door when you aren’t in the room so the monkey’s don’t get in. We also saw some monkeys that are happy to eat leaves and fruit and avoid people. They were interesting. We saw monkeys up close at the Ashram (a yoga place as our guide described it). They were all over the temple area and the stairs into the site.

The food here has been stupendous! The cook is from Nepal and our lunch today including traditional local and Nepalesian food. We have been lucky to be the only guests here at the moment and the chef has been kind enough to cook what we want. We asked for local cuisine and have been very happy. The sauces are not spicy and there are many gluten free options for Eric. Today they made him millet-based chapatti so that he could sop up all the good sauces too.