Just Another Weekend

Thanks to the FANTASTIC Liz (roomie #1) we spent a glorious weekend in the mountain town of, Kasauli.  What an exciting trip.  I rode a train for the first time, a sleeper car to be exact.
yes, this picture is totally posed. GO UTES!

There were 4 bunks in the sleeper car, 2 up and 2 down.  Just like a bunk bed.  We got on the train at about 10:30 Pm and arrived at our final train destination, Kalka at 5:30 Am.  A taxi driver picked us up at the base of the canyon and off we went.

we arrived just as the sun was rising.

The hotel we stayed in didn't have checkin until 1:00 but the front desk clerk checked us in (what a relief).  The hotel was very nice and nestled between foliage and a quant brick wall.

After a quick rest we decided to head up to the hotels roof top restaurant for breakfast.  The food was ok but the view... THE VIEW!!

Once we were done with lunch we headed up a trail leading up to one of the oldest Temples in the area.  It was a hike but I'm getting healthier and stronger here (lots of activity) so it wasn't too bad.  Loud music was playing just beyond the entrance shrine, that was being worked on by local artisans.  A small store at the entrance sold bags of what looked like white Nerds candy.  Asking the man selling the items I learned that it was offerings for the Temple.  So cool, I bought a bag and headed in.  The Temple was just a large room with a colorful shrine to Krishna.  We were the only ones in the Temple at the time so the man at its head motioned for me to come over.  I handed him my bag in which he took out a handful of the candy and put it in a bowl in front of Krishna.  Now the amazing part that held so much beautiful symbolism was after when he took a handful from Krishna's bowl and put it in my bag.  If that wasn't amazing in itself he placed a small dot of white paint on my forehead.  It was so incredible.  As he did this, without doing it on purpose, I closed my eyes.  It felt like I was really receiving a blessing from Krishna.  Really a neat experience.

 After leaving the Temple we started walking back to an area called, Pine Tree Mall for a bit of shopping.  It's not a mall as we think of in the US but a small market. We were further away than we realized and didn't want to walk all that way!  We had no ride as our taxi had left and no cell phone.  Sitting on the side of the road, hoping to find a cab, a man from one of the shops told us we could catch a ride with any of the busses coming up or down.  Well, that was an adventure.  Refer to following video.

 Monkey's are everywhere, especially in Kasauli!!  They scare me to death!  Liz was trying to get a picture close to them and he grabbed her bag.  Sarah and I went screaming into the shops, luckily it didn't get her!  Argh!

 The day just kept getting better.  After some shopping we went up another trail to watch the sunset at Sunset Point (wonder where they got the name...?)  Pictures don't do it justice, the sky radiated and the sun beamed.

 Back to the hotel for dinner we were served an incredible Indian buffet of all sorts of wonderful things especially the lamb curry!  Off in the corner of the outdoor patio was a family, mom, dad, son and daughter.  The dad was holding the little boy in his arms as he snoozed away.  The little girl though came over and asked us where she was from, she was SO cute and beautiful.  She made me laugh when she told me I have hair like a Barbie!  Such a loving family, we talked, took pictures and exchanged emails and are planning to get together for dinner :) Our evening ended with live guitar on the patio and some of the greatest memories I will ever have.