Our reunion officially ended in great style with our special dinner at Rokeby Manor last Saturday evening. For seventeen of us, the memory-making continued for another three days on our "Chandrashila Trip". This post includes a slide show for each of the three days.
The Chandrashila trip involved long days in two hired Force Travellers. On Sunday, we journeyed out Tehri Road as far as Chamba, where we headed up through wonderful pine forest to the city of New Tehri. Then it was on toward Srinagar and Rudraprayag, eventually arriving at the welcoming and beautifully situated Ukhimath Rest House above the Mandikini River.
Our first day was highlighted by a flat tire on each of our mini-buses. Changing and then repairing the tires afforded us extra opportunity to enjoy each others' company in a leisurely fashion. Gordon demonstrated vast experience and considerable skill in helping the drivers with the tires.
Prayers were answered, and our second day dawned clear and cold. We got away from the rest house before 6:30, and made our way to the Chandrashila trail head at Chopta, situated at an elevation of 2680 metres (8793'). From Chopta, we headed up toward the Tungnath Temple. The distance isn't great, but it's very steep. Over three and a half kilometres to Tungnath, the elevation gain is fully 1000 metres to 3680 metres (12,073')! It's another 320 metres above the temple to the Chandrashila summit.
Sixteen of us made it to Tungnath, and seven got to the top of Chandrashila, despite a couple of treacherous icy patches on the trail above the temple. The wonderful thing about the Chandrashila hike is that the magnificent views start right at the beginning of the trail. So, even though it began to cloud over by the time we got to Tungnath and the Chanderashila summit, we all enjoyed some truly memorable Himalayan vistas.
Our tired bodies enjoyed another night of warm hospitality at the Ukhimath Rest House. The staff there went out of their way to accommodate us. It was great to be able to spend another night together, and the beautiful setting of the rest house was icing on the cake.
On our final day together, we returned to Mussoorie via Dehradun to ensure that four of us would not miss our train to Delhi. The return trip went well, with no punctures. There was a memorable stop in Srinagar that involved some impressive top spinning. Again, Gordon demonstrated great skill! We had one final meal together at the President Hotel in Dehradun before farewelling those proceeding to Delhi by train.
So... that's it for blogging about our Reunion in Mussoorie. There will be further posts here, but not about the reunion. Next week our daughter Anjali and her husband Nathan will be arriving from Canada for a visit, and doubtless there will be posts about some of the things we do together. Lynn and I are tremendously excited about this visit!!!
One final note: In our post about Day 6 and our dinner at Rokeby, we shared that Mrs. Kapadia joined us. She indicated that she had a wonderful time, and we certainly enjoyed connecting again with this remarkable woman. Sadly, while we were away at Chandrashila, Mrs. Kapadia's sister from Canada passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. She died in her sleep at Fern Oaks while on an extended visit with her sister Saroj. Our thoughts and prayers are with Saroj and her family as they grieve their loss.
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