street food helps you forget your worries

On Sunday I was planning on spending my day off in Pune running a few errands that I needed to get done before my trip and then the evening relaxing (as apposed to all of the relaxing I do during the week). But Saturday night one of my roommates invited herself along. I was looking forward to a day on my own, but I politely said no problem. We took the train into Pune in the morning and I was done with my errands by 1130am. So my roommate (Devi) suggested we take a trip to a hill station near by. She had been there last weekend with three friends and kept talking about how much I would love the scenery and how I can’t miss the experience. So off we went.

It was a 45 minute rickshaw ride outside of Pune to the bottom of the mountain. Then it was about a 45 minute jeep ride up the rough switch back road. Even on the way up the views were amazing. Just before the top of the mountain there was a traffic jam b/c cars were parked on both side of the skinny road. There are no restrictions or fees for cars or bikes, so you can imagine it gets pretty crowded on a sunny Sunday afternoon. So we ditched the jeep and walked the rest of the way. At some point there was a large fort on the top of the mountain, but all that remains are some scattered arches and remnants of walls. But it was nice that there wasn’t an imposing fort, but instead dirt trails that lead all around the top of the mountain which was mostly flat and grassy. From all sides the views were awesome! Everything was covered with vegetation and there were 20 different shades of green. There was a huge mountain range that stretched out on one side. The experience could have only been better had there been a couple restrooms and a few less people. But the place was big enough that it didn’t feel completely over crowded. We hiked around for about 2 hours (although that includes the many sitting breaks my roommates kept insisting on we take). After, we sat and had a cup of chai at one of the makeshift restaurant shacks. On our way back to the parking lot we came upon two monkeys on the trail. I was able to snap a few pictures before my roommate teased one of them into attack mode and we had to go running (people got a good laugh at that scene). The monkeys and lack of bathrooms were long forgotten when we came upon a stand selling roasted sweet corn coated with salt and chili powder. They sell them all over on the street and Im in love with them. It is the perfect street food in my opinion; with the roasted nuts a close second.

On the way back we were able to hitch a ride from a nice family to a nearby damn. It wasn’t that exciting, but my roommate really wanted to go. I found the cloudy brown water and dirt beach next to the trash lined highway a little unappealing, but to each is own. The buffalos seemed to like it. There were also tons of people swimming and even a couple camel rides for the kids. It was my first time to a ‘beach’ in India, so seeing the boys strip down to their tiny skivvies to go swimming while the girls swim fully clothed was a bit maddening. I will be happy to return home where you don’t have to have a mustache in order to wear shorts. Although Im not sure my friends and family will share my joy once they see my pasty ‘Indian tan”. I think it may rival my sister’s Minnesota tan she’s always flaunting.