Pine Point -- Our Mussoorie Home

We're leaving Mussoorie today. How can it be that our six months in India is already over?!? We'll take the overnight "Mussoorie Express" to Delhi this evening, and we fly back to Canada from Delhi late Sunday night. 

It feels literally as though we are just settling in here. That's partly because it is less than two months since we moved into our Pine Point flat, the place we'll call home when we return each October. Our apartment is small, probably about 350 square feet altogether, but we think it's lovely, and we're sure looking forward to returning to it in October!

We've just begun to make Pine Point "home" and to put personal touches on it, but here's a slideshow that shows the apartment, inside and out. The slideshow also includes some of the wonderful views from our ftont yard. Below the slide show is a somewhat jerky panoramic video that also shares what we can see when we step outside.

Mother and Baby Langurs Visit Pine Point

On Saturday afternoon, Lynn asked me to get the camera because some beautiful langur babies had come to visit. There were probably at least 15 gray langurs in the group, but the camera couldn't stay away from the two mothers who were carrying young infants while they fed mostly on the fresh leaf buds of the banj oak trees that surround our Pine Point home. All of the photos in the slide show below were shot in or from our front yard. We hope you enjoy what we've shared here.

Views from Tingling Point

View from Tingling Point 

"Named after a Kenyan adventurer, Sardar 'Pinder' Singh Bhangra, who felt this tingling sensation as he came over the ridge to this breathtaking spot, which revealed such a spectacular view of the Bandarpunch Massif (6316 mtrs) and the Great Himalayan range. Inspite of having grown up in these hills, this awesome spot gave him a 'nervous reaction' unlike he had ever experienced in his life."

So reads the sign at this special spot atop the Nag Tibba ridge. "Tingling Point" is also called 'Morana' or 'Morana Top' by people who live nearby. In my youth, the top of the Nag Tibba ridge could only be reached after a strenuous hike on foot. Today, the ridge is crossed by the main motor route from the Uttarakhand state capital of Dehradun to Uttarkashi, a major centre on the banks of the Bhagirathi River.

I may not have tingled, but as I wasn't expecting it, the sudden spectacular view was literally breathtaking. The views were enhanced by the many blooming rhododendron trees in the area, and by the wonderful birdsong. I have embedded a slide show that shares some of the views from the ridge, as well as a variety of scenes along the road.

Below the slide show are two videos I shot at Morana Top. The first is a panorama, and the second shows the mules whose bells can be heard in the first video. For the record, the sacks on the mules' backs are full of potatoes.