Just outside of town, higher up the mountain sits Woodstock Christian School. It is built into the side of the mountain on a layered 250 acre property in the first range of the Himalayas. Lorraine, who I spoke of earlier, volunteered at this school her children attended while living in India. She coached some sports teams and, I think, also taught some Phys-Ed classes. This was a draw to see, especially for Teresa and I. We were stoked to visit a place, in India, where a friend taught two years!
We pulled up to the gates and were met by the security guard and, because it was Sunday and the school was closed, we weren't allowed to check out the campus. We lingered for a bit taking pictures and then an Indian couple who was walking by asked what we were looking for. I told them we were hoping to be able to see the school because a friend of ours used to work there. We started talking and they knew Lorraine and they knew she lived in Oakville. I heart small towns. They talked to the security guard and he then took us on a tour of the place.
If I had to go to a boarding school in India, this is where if want to be. It was started by the British in 1854 making this school older than our formal Canada. The school is built in "levels" up the mountain. The music building part-way up is beautiful as is the dining hall. The gym is the newest addition and is near the top if be mountain so you have had your workout by the time you even climb to the gym! The gym is beautiful; it has one big court and two smaller upper practice courts. How handy... The Woodstock Tigers logo is plastered on the door and the centre of the gym. It's a pretty bright, happy space!
This whole campus was lovely and was a workout. As we walked on various sidewalks we'd be stopped every once in a while to read about recent time capsules that were buried there.
Since the school was closed we didn't get to see the current dynamics of the school but five years ago Lorraine said there were a lot of rich Indian kids, Nepalis and children of international workers.
From Woodstock Christian School we headed to Dhanaulti, about an hour's drive into the mountains, which promised spectacular views. We were in the first mountain range of the Himalayas and when the clouds let up a bit we were able to see that majestic range of Himalayan mountains!
Altitude kicked in!
After an hour's drive we reached a conservation area. It had a lot of interesting signs and various paths leading you up to great lookouts.
This conservation area was neat as it had many of the flowers I am familiar with from Ontario, from my dads bajillion gardens: daisies, hydrangeas, gladiola and more that I can no longer recall.
We chose a path that led us to what looked like Nepali farmland. We traipsed around a bit as we didn't really know where to go. I saw three girls walking a path so I followed them.
I have a hard time using words to create pictures of nature; the view was as follows:
We were, again, in a completely new part of India.
The drive down the mountain to me was not fun at all. Well, one part was fun: seeing a little boy and his cute white lamb searching for Mary on the countryside. Back to the drive: going up windy roads is one thing because you go slower, and the drive up was two hours one day and one hour the next day. Today it was three hours straight of windy mountainous roads, with altitude kicking in and were heading down the mountain = going faster. I did manage to keep my breakfast on the inside of me the whole time. Self props.
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