Hier also die TOP5 von Dingen wie Sie besser laufen könnten

1) Nehmt Angstpatienten als solche ernst. Kein, ach Schnick-Schnack und auf gehts.

2) Wenn Eure Angstpatienten nach Betäubung fragen und es wirklich ein Risiko auf Schmerzen gibt, ja Herr Gott dann betäubt!

3) Fachsprache. Wenn Euer Angstpatient auf Eurem Präsentier-Teller.. errm Behandlungsstuhl sitzt und die Augen zu hat, dann schläft er nicht. Im Gegenteil, er ist bis zum Bersten angespannt und super empfindlich auf jedes Geräusch, jeden Laut und jeden Fachbegriff. Leider kann der Otto-Normal-Zahnarzt-Gänger mit gewissen Fachbegriffen nicht umgehen und assoziiert diese automatisch mit bekannten Dingen. Aussprüche wie “OH, da müssen wir Kanäle suchen!” .. “da müssen wir VORNE REIN”, “Ich brauch die 45ziger Stäbe.. ja die Großen” sind da sehr gefährlich und schon pauschal mit Phantomschmerzen behaftet. Ein Arzt der “Ohje” sagt, ist nochmal eine Kategorie für sich. Etwas Erläuterung was da passiert, wann das Schlimmste vorbei ist usw. wäre sehr hilfreich.

4) Warteräume: In meinen Augen gibt es nichts Schlimmeres als total helle weisse klinisch rein stinkende Behandlungsräume und Wartezimmer. Man weiß sofort wo man sich befindet, in der Zahnarzt Hölle und Mephisto spricht “Guten Morgen” durch Ihren S.A.R.S. Mundschutz am Empfang. Sterile Wartezimmer mit vielen aktuellen Aushängen was die schönsten neuesten Methoden zur Behandlung sind, das die Krankenkasse XY nicht mehr übernimmt und eine passende Akustik eines entfernten Bohrers und Schreie von Kindern (jedoch aus dem nahe liegenden Kindergarten) .. alles äußerst hilfreich

5) Behandlungsräume: Man wird also richtig zum Schafott, sprich Behandlungsstuhl geführt, der am besten noch schön zentral das Zentrum des Raumes ausmacht, selbstverständlich mit Tür im Rücken das man sich schon generell im Ungewissen fühlt (Sogar die Neandertaler haben mit Höhleneingang im Blick geschlafen). Dann der Stuhl; darüber befindet sich dann ein Halogenstrahler der sicherlich gefühlt auch ein Fußball Stadion beleuchten könnte. Gerne darf man auch erste Einblicke über die gesamte Bohrer-Kollektion sammeln oder andere mehr oder weniger aktuelle technischer Errungenschaften , die stolz direkt im Blickfeld des Opfers aufgebaut wurden und dem gemeinen Computer Nerd nur zu einem verängstigten “OH GOTT; Steinzeit!” verleiten.

Hier darf gerne mal was geändert werden..

Nerd Visions – oder wie es sein sollte!

Fangen wir die Wunschentwicklung mal langsam an.

Q1 / 2011 – Nachdem der Hausbesuch Ihres Zahnarztes zum Zwecke des Halbjahres Checks im heimischen Wohnzimmer (nach zuvor einem entspannten Gott-und-die-Welt Plausch bei Kaffee und Kuchen), ein paar kleine Probleme zu Tage geführt hatten, wurden Sie von diesem zeitnah in seine Praxis eingeladen. Dort angekommen begrüßt Sie eine hübsche Zahnarzthelferin in einem asiatisch angehauchtem Begrüßungsraum, in feinem Ambiente mit schönen Gerüchen und beruhigenden exotischen Klängen. Sie werden zu einer kleinen Theke geführt und dürfen sich Ihre Wartezeit bei einem warmen Getränk oder Cocktail vertreiben oder aber im Nebenraum eine kleine Kopf und/oder Schultermassage genießen. Für den gemeinen Nerd, ist selbstverständlich ein offenes WLAN verfügbar.

Update Q1/2010: Juchhee, scheint sowas schon zu geben. Check.

Q1 / 2015 – Nach den enormen Fortschritten im Computerbereich seitdem Anfang der 90ziger, zog die Medizin im zweiten Jahrzehnt nach und Miniaturisierung, Nano Technologie, Molekular Biologie feiert Ihren Einzug in fast alle medizinischen Branchen. Anfangs unterstützend, konnten normale Füllungen absofort durch zu dem Zeitpunkt noch nicht intelligente Nano Partikel repariert und der Zahn wieder fast vollständig intakt gesetzt werden. Dabei kamen Materialien aus der Raumfahrt zum Einsatz und die somit ersetzten Bestandteile eines Zahnes wurden somit unkaputtbar und konnten sowohl Kälte, Hitze und Säuren jeder Art trotzen.

Q3 / 2020 – Intelligente Nano Partikel können durch komplexe Computerprogramme Zähne komplett neu aufbauen. Bis auf mögliche Abstossungsprobleme seitens des Patienten, führte dieser Fortschritt zu einer enormen Steigerung der Lebensqualität. Dem nahezu schmerzfreien Eingriff (spritzen der NanoPartikel) ging eine ausgiebige Computeranalyse und ein “TetraHydroCloud” Scan voraus, welcher für die Programmierung der Nanopartikel notwendig war. Der nun ungefährliche Scanner ersetzte die Röntgengeräte die bis 2017 noch im Einsatz waren. Dies war ein Nebenprodukt der durch die Sicherheits-Hersteller-Lobby inszenierten Terror-Wahns Anfang des 21. Jahrhundert hervorgegangenen Forschung entstanden, nachdem 2014 Hacker die komplette interne Kommunikation dieser Firmen und einschlägiger Politiker veröffentlichten.

Q2 / 2030 – Ein Unterteilung von Ärzten findet nicht mehr statt. Nach der Weiterentwicklung der Gentherapien und Analyse des Körpers auf molekularem Level sind physische Eingriffe nur noch in der kurzfristigen Unfallmedizin notwendig, insofern der Patient nicht rechtzeitig in die Cryostasis Zellen gebracht werden konnte. Die Menschen werden permanent durch im Körper befindliche Nano Einheiten auf Defekte auf molekularem Level überwacht. Erkannte Probleme können durch diese kurzfristig repariert werden oder übermitteln notwendige Daten für eine Gentherapie an den Menschen. Kleine Schäden an Zähnen werden somit entweder sofort repariert oder unfallbedingte Komplett-Ausfälle können durch eine Gentherapie veranlasste Neubildung des Zahns wie bei Schulkindern in wenigen Wochen behoben werden. Nur noch wenige Menschen haben Ihre ursprünglichen Zähne und meist kommen gentechnisch improvte Varianten zum Einsatz. Lediglich in gewissen höheren Kreisen gehört es zum extrem kostspieligen Schönheitsbild noch seine ursprünglichen Zähne zu besitzen und von Schönheitszahnärzten warten zu lassen.

Excuse the fairly old posts from the old installation.. also some old posts didn’t make it into the new version.

- Thanks to some other Koenig students, we found a proper tailor! As usual in India, everyone stared at us and the manager instantly charged us, asking us for our wishes. Being european, you are kind of overwhelmed by so much customer care, because you are not used to it. Fortunately the manager was very kind and spoke very good english, so we quickly felt comfortable in his shop, which by the way had western standard. We told him our departure would be in just 3 days ahead and asked if it would be possible to get a suit done in this short time. After a confident “YES, SURE!” we tried to find the right fabric, which took quite a while because there were millions to choose from. Next up we had to decide on a design and all the extras we wanted to have, followed by detailed measuring of my size. Two hours and a coffee later we were finally done. On Thursday, we went back to the tailor for the fitting of the jacket, which already looked quite good. We inquired to see the trousers too, which unfortunatly didn’t fit! Now it was going to get close for them, because there was only 1 night left to fix this. The manager promised us that there will be no charge at all if they failed to make this right. Next day (shortly before our departure)i tried the trousers again and they fit perfect. It was quite a challenge for them to create a complete suit in just 3 days, but they did great. So here is my recommendation for “Reid & Taylor” on Rajpur Road in Dehradun. The price for the complete suit was 110 Euro (6800 Rupees), most of it for the fabric.

Reid & Taylor in Dehradun

- I followed my lovely wifey for some shopping at the market. We took a Tuk-Tuk and got dropped of at Clock Tower right at the start of the chaos. Welcome to the most annoying shopping experience ever. It’s common knowledge that men don’t like shopping, except for the huge electronic stores or some other special shops. This was pure madness. Imagine a shopping street, with just 5-6m width, thousands of small shops that basically just sold jewels, food or cloth… crowded like hell and on top of that motorbikes everywhere. They were either parked in the way or chasing you from all sides… and as usual supported by lots of horn sounds. I have no idea how people are supposed to buy anything or look into the show cases, being in constant danger! After endless hours of running around we finally got Sandra’s shawls. If you ever thought Frankfurts main shopping mile at christmas time is chaos, check out indian markets on Diwali.

- Fun note, we went into a bookstore because i had hoped to find some cheap english computer books for a few topics or programming languages.. but i was shocked because all i could find were old Windows 3.1 and Word 97 books

- Beware of indian firecrackers! I remember some years ago, radio announcements telling me not to buy firecrackers in the countries around germany like poland or czech republic because of unforseen explosions. We bought them anyway cause they were much louder than the german firecrackers. But you should really see the indian ones.. everytime you dropped a firecracker it caused a blast like a grenade and left over a crater.

- Good Bye Madhuban Hotel! Special thanks to all the employees in the Madhuban hotel who brought us a newspaper every morning, made us scrambled eggs, made our laundry for a cheap price and cleaned our room without having a hoover. The room was pretty nice, not exactly european 4****, but clean, with a very nice view and a very comfortable bed. I am just glad we didnt stay at the cheaper Grand Meedos Hotel, which was located right at the street with all the noise and polution.

- I would also like to thank all the friendly indians we met there. With the religion permanently present, (pictures, statues and merchandising articles) everyone seemed very calm, friendly and relaxed. One thing Indians definately need to care more about is their environment. They have a very healthy way of life, only vegetables, no meat, no drugs… but the polution problem causes the deadliest diseases ever. Another negative thing to say is about the garbage everywhere, which often makes amazing temples and beautiful places look dirty und ugly. Not to mention there is a climatic change that will probably hit countries like India or southern asia FIRST!

Please keep clean !

- The Pizza Hut in Dehradun does not deserve our Thanks at all, because they were the reason for our sickness on the way back. Obviously the pincher Pepsi wasn’t coming from a bottle and kind of poisoned us. We still havent fully recovered from this.

- Europeans, maybe it is because of being in a foreign country or maybe because all the indian people looking at you like you are an alien… but europeans in India seem to instantly bond with each other and get a conversation running. Usually europeans wouldnt talk to each other without apparent reason. This totally changed in India because everyone seems to be happy to find another ‘familiar’ face, which most likely shares the same experiences here and most likey speaks good english! So this Thanks goes to all those nice students out there, which became our friends or provided some company Greetings especially to the peeps from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Netherlands and Belgium

- Traveling back started very funny. On the way to the train station, our british mate got a phonecall from Koenig, because he forgot his keys. Being a little under pressure to catch our train, we still had to wait then for someone from Koenig to bring the keys. Being constantly under attack from beggers / kids asking for money or food this was a long wait. Finally a Koenig’s Sysadmin showed up on his motorbike and brought the keys
Then our travel towards home continued. The train was easy to find and the Koenig staff helped us with everthing. Thanks a lot for this! On the 6 hour train trip back to Delhi we have been watching Becker Episodes on my Macbook. Fortunately we had a power socket right above our window. Well we still had to monitor the socket all the time, because the plug was about to fall out everytime the train was shaking a little.
In Delhi we got picked up from Koenig Staff Members who spoke very good English and brought us to the car, which then took our british collegue to his hotel and us to the Delhi airport.
The Delhi airport was basically very good, except there is military checking you in and you have to fill out this immigration form again.

- Thanks to the early ONLINE checkin, we got our seats in the plane this time, which were in the very back of the plane. This was a lucky circumstance since Sandra was hit pretty hard by this nasty stomache problem and was basically camping the toilet the entire flight. I was able to sleep some and then we were back in Germany again
We took a taxi back home and were glad to eat our first Schnitzel the next day…

- The nasty stomache and diarrhea was keeping us busy for a total of two weeks.

- After all it was a very nice experience and most of the credit for it goes to the Koenig staff. Everything was very well organized and taken care off. I can recommend it for everyone who wants some adventure and experiences in a foreign country along with a cheap way to get some of the most accepted IT certificates around.

Today was Diwali, which is a major Hindu holiday in India. For this reason Marcel didnt have classes today (his trainer had left to visit her family) and i couldnt do any sightseeing because Rajan wasnt working either. Rajan and his mother invited us to celebrate Diwali with them so we went into the city to buy some sweets and flowers.
While we were trying to find a flower shop we came past the tailor we already heared so much about by the other students. Since the tailor was open we went inside to take a look. It was nice, clean and cool inside and didnt look much different than a european shop.
None of the ready made suits was exactly what we were looking. A nice guy came to our assistance and promised us to make the perfect suit and then started showing us lots of fabrics. I can tell you its pretty hard to design a suit just in your imagination and by looking at tons of fabrics. After looking through all the racks with fabrics we finally found one that matched our picture of the perfect suit. Now we “just” had to figure out the design, specials and extras we wanted to have and another guy came to messure Marcel from top to buttom and all around. Et violá the suit was basicly done for 6885 Rupees (3000 Rupees for the work and rest for the fabric) which was 110 Euro at todays rate. They told us to come back on Thursday for the fitting and we were really looking forward to it

In the evening Rajan picked us up at the hotel and we went to his house. After a heartly welcome and giving out our presents we sat down for some smalltalk and a drink. Then it was time to lighten candles which were brought to a provisorily altar in the kitchen.

Diwali at Rajans house

Aftwerwards we sat down at the table and Rajans mother started cooking alot of different indian stuff for us. Unfortunately none of it was really our taste, like most of the food we had in india so far. Then she brought us indian sweets which tasted like pure sugar and weren’t our taste either. After dinner we went upstairs on the roof terrace to enjoy the fireworks.

The day started quite frustrating. Rajan picked me up at 9am and we went through my list of targets, but most of them were either closed because of Diwali (indian public holiday) or he never heared of them. So first we went to a temple in Tapovan. This place is extremely popular amongst devotees and picnickers. As per a popular legend, Dronacharya has done penance here. People were bringing gifts to the temple and singing, probably in preperation for the Diwali festival.

Temple in Tapovan

Next we visited Jangchubling Monastery in Dehradun. This is the central institute of the Seat in Exile of the Drikung Kagyu Order of Tibetan Buddhism. Jangchubling is a Monastery and an education center which emphasizes both traditional monastic education and present-day training to meet contemporary needs. Most buildings here were closed too but the buildings and area was still very nice to see.

Jangchubling Monastery – Drikung Kagyu Institute

Then we wanted to visit the Forest Research Institue and i was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately the Museum was closed and so we only walked around in the hallways for a while and then went back to the car

Next Rajan wanted to show me the temple where he and his family goes to every week. Situated 7 kilometres from Dehradun is the famous temple of Chandrabani. According to the mythological beliefs this spot was inhanited by Maharshi Gautam , his wife and daughter Anjani who are worshipped in this temple. They believe that the daugher of heaven Ganga had manifested herself on this spot which is now popularly known as the Gautam Kund.

Chandrabani Temple

Since there wasnt anything left on my list that we could visit today we decided to go to the big market in Dehradun.
The center of cities activities is the popular landmark known as the Clock Tower. Constructed before independence, this six-faced tower might have adorned a prestigious position in the history of this hilly region. The market at Clock Tower is Dehraduns main market and it was crowded like hell because everyone was busy shopping presents and sweets for Diwali.

Clock Tower in the centre of Dehradun

After one hour on the market i had enough for one day (this was worse than Frankfurts main shopping mile on Christmas day) and Rajan brought me back to the hotel.

As usual Rajan picked me up at 9am and we started our journey towards Rishikesh. First of all i wanted to visit the Rajaji National Park to see elephants and other wild animals. Pretty fast i found out that the Park wasnt really on our way and when we finally arrived after 2 hours the park turned out to be closed …
Another 90 minutes of driving and we arrived in Rishikesh. Rishikesh aka Hrishikesh is a holy city for Hindus and a famous centre of pilgrimage.It is also known as the gateway to the Himalayas. We had to walk over a bridge called “Ram Jhoola” to get to the other side of the Ganga, which doesnt sound exciting at first but it was freaking scary. As you can see in the back of the pictures this was a hanging bridge and the floor was made of wood. There were hundrets of people and even motorcycles passing the bridge at same time and it made the bridge bounce and swing which caused a funny feeling in my stomach.

Ram Jhoola Bridge in Rishikesh

We wanted to visit the Trayambakeshwar Temple at Lakshman Jhoola Bridge and had to walk like 4 kilometres along the shore to get there.
The Trayambakeshwar Temple is 13 stories high, with different deities throughout. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the temple but we walked up to top floor and then took some nice pictures of the area.

Trayambakeshwar Temple in Hrishikesh

Long walk for a temple where we couldnt even take pictures and i didnt feel like walking all the way back to the car so we paid for a hell ride on a Jeep. I also didnt want to cross that scary bridge again so we crossed the river by boat on the way back
Since it was getting late and there wasnt so much to see in Hrishikesh we were heading back to Dehradun and wanted to stop at Lachiwala on the way back. Lachiwala is supposed to be a nice picnic spot with water and surrounded by forest but the road was closed

Last but not least we visited the Gurudwara Nanak Niwas. Like in all Gurudwaras we had to take our shoes off and cover our head. Out of a sudden Rajan was gone and i started looking for him but couldnt find him. When i was starting to get worried he stuck his head out of some building and made a sign to come over there. Like always Rajan was hungry and he found the place where they hand out Prasad. Prasad is food which everyone can get there for free. So we sat down on the floor and were served with a plate full of food, which i enjoyed less than Rajan since it was almost cold, so he ate most of my potion too.

Prasad at Gurudwara Nanak Niwas

Overall i was a little disappointed because there wasnt so much to see in Hrishikesh, Rajaji National Park was closed and the road to Lachiwala was also closed. Hopefully more luck on next trip.

Today i needed to relax some and made an appointment for a Lymphatic Drainage which turned out to be some kind of full body massage … one thing you dont want to happen while relaxing is the masseuse pinching you in the side and telling you that you start to become fat :crazy: WTF less talking and more massaging please unless this massage is for free >:XX

In the evening we went out for dinner to “My Wifes Place” with some dutch students. I am still not a fan of indian food but this time the food was quite ok and i can really advice this place. You cant buy alcohol at this restaurant but we had a good time anyways and the waiters were wearing funny hats.

My Wifes Place in Dehradun

After two days of relaxing at the Spa and checking out the main shopping street in Dehradun it was time again for another Sightseeing trip.
Today i was all on my own since Kevin had already left India. Rajan picked me up at 9am as usual and we started our way towards Haridwar.
First we made a quick stop at Laxman Sidh Temple aka Sri Laxman Sidh Peeth. It is located near village Harrawala, 11 kilometers from Dehradun. Lakshman, brother of Lord Rama has meditated here to absolve himself from the sin of killing a Brahmin.

Sri Laxman Sidh Peeth

After another hour of driving we arrived in Haridwar aka Hardwar. In Hindi, Haridwar stands for Dwar of Hari, which means Gateway to God. Haridwar is a holy city located at the Ganges, also known as Ganga. Millions of pilgrims, devotees, and tourists congregate here from all over the world to celebrate the Kumbha Mela once every 3 years. They perform ritualistic bathing on the banks of the river Ganga to wash away their sins.
There is a temple on the hilltop on each side of the Ganges. The Chandi Devi Temple is dedicated to Goddess Chandi and is located atop the “Neel Parvat” on the eastern bank of river Ganga. The temple of Goddess Mansa Devi (literally meaning the Goddess who fulfills desires) is located at the top of “Bilwa Parwat”

On hilltop of Maa Chandi Devi Temple in Haridwar

Statue of Lord Shiva near Har-ki-Pauri in Haridwar

People taking a bath in the Ganga / Ganges in Haridwar

After a fun ride on a Trishaw through the city we moved on to see some more temples near Hardidwar. First temple we visited was Vaishno Devi Mandir. This temple looked more like a european funfair attraction to me than a temple. To go through the temple you have to follow a given path and crawl through a dark tunnel. The temple was full of colorful pictures, idols and figures. At the middle of the temple my battery for the camera was empty, so we finished the path through the temple and went back to the car to change the battery and then go back inside again

Vaishno Devi Mandir Temple in Haridwar

Temple or Funfair attraction ?

Next we walked to Bhooma Niketan Temple in Hardiwar which was just like another funfair attraction with dark tunnels, wallpaintings ect. I had to pay 35 rupees to take pictures inside which isnt much and better than taking no pictures like in some other temples.

Bhooma Niketan Temple in Haridwar

Last we went to visit Bharat Mata Mandir Temple which is a temple with 8 floors. Every floor is devoted to a different theme but it wasnt allowed to take pictures at all. Because of this i forgot to take at least one picture from the outside :-/
After all this was a long and interesting day and i am looking forward to our trip to Rishikesh tomorrow.

The day didnt start very well, after several phone calls and 90 minutes waiting our driver finally arrived. Today we wanted to go to Rishikesh and Hardwar to see the pilgrims washing off their sins in the holy Ganges. After an exciting drive through the whole town we had to find out that the road was closed. We were very disappointed since this was the last day in Dehra Dun for Kevin. We started to figure out some new targets and the driver tried to bargin with the price, which wasnt acceptable for us
So we decided to visit the Tapkeshwar Mandir Temple first, which is 7,5 kilometres from Dehradun. The temple is a cave housing naturally cast “Shiva-lings” that date back to more than 5000 years. The Hindu worship those stones because they believe that the godness Shiva dropped them on the earth. This temple area was huge and there was alot to see, pitty i cant post all pictures on this blog.

Tapkeshwar Temple

Hindu Ritual

Old school washing

Next we wanted to go to Sahastradhara to visit another temple. While heading there we saw a golden cupola shimmering in the sun and asked the driver to bring us there first. As we found out it was the Gurudwara Nanaksar, which is some kind of temple where the “Sikh” worship their Gurus. Gurudwara means “the doorway to the Guru”. Before we entered we had to take our shoes off and also cover our head.

Funny hat party with my new friends

Gurudwara Nanaksar

After some smalltalk with the Sikh dudes we continued our travel to Sahastradhara. The temple there was surrounded by hills with natural sulphur springs and a river which people been using as swimmingpool again. One thing that really drives me mad about India is that people throw there trash everywhere, which often makes a beautiful place look like a trash bin.

Sahastradhara

Next up on list “Robbers Cave” popularly known as Guchhu Pani. After passing the river without falling into the water we wanted to explore the cave. After taking our shoes off we tried to go into the cave but the stones just hurted too much on our feets, so we never found out whats in the back of the cave.

scary walk

Robbers Cave

Next we went to Clement Town to see the golden Buddha Statue and the Mindrolling Monastery. The Monastery is situated on a specially chosen spot surrounded on four sides by the Himalayas and Shivalik Mountains, and the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. This place was amazing and there was so much to see. I took alot of pictures of the whole area and the monks, pitty we couldnt go inside the Stupa. On the several floors inside the Stupa are shrine rooms with elaborate murals excuted in the finest tradition of Tibetan Buddhist art. Sacred relics have also been placed in the Stupa. Anyways that place was still worth visiting and i got some nice souvenirs from the shops there.

The great stupa in Og Min Ogyen Mindrolling Monastery in Dehradun

The 31m high Buddha Statue was very impressive. The Statue was dedicated to the Dalai Lama and below the statue is a temple room with beautiful wall paintings.

Buddha Statue in Clement Town

Last place to visit for today was the Gurudwara Ram Rai.
This Gurudwara was established by ‘Ram Rai’, the 7th Sikh Guru. There is a legend behind the creation of this Gurudwara. The great Sikh guru Ram Rai was casted away for becoming the Sikh guru and he was forced to go away from his home town and settle down in Dehradun valley and then built the famous Ram Rai Gurudwara of Dehradun.

Gurudwara Ram Rai

Gurudwara Ram Rai Courtyard

That was a great day but now i need to relax my poor feets and might get a Pedicure tomorrow at the Spa

Thanks to Kevin (a student from Koenig) i got invited to join an awsome sightseeing trip. Our Guide named Rajan picked us up at 9am in front of the hotel. First we wanted to go up the hill to visit a town called Mussouri aka “Queen of the Hills” which is 2003 meters above sea level. On the way there we stopped at a Shiv Temple. Like in all temples you have to take off your shoes outside before you can enter. The people that entered rang a bell and then walked up to some kind of tacky looking altar, doing prayers, offering flowers and moving on to the priest to get blessed and some holy bread. It was great to watch this holy procedure.

Shiv Temple

Blessing Procedure

After that we continued our tour up to Mussoorie and stopped the car once more to take some pics of a monkey mother and her baby sitting on a tree next to the road (not surprised anymore why you should get rabies vaccination with all those wild animals running around).

Mommy Monkey and Baby Monkey

When we finally arrived in Mussoorie we went the shopping mile up and down. Comparing the prices of the different shops you could clearly see who wanted to rip off the tourists and who only wanted to earn money by selling to the tourists Anyhow in the end i found a nice shop to buy some Souvenirs. The view from up here is amazing and you can see a nice dust cloud of pollution over the valley. Worst thing in Moussoorie was the public toilet which almost made me puke XX( Lesson learned, less drinking on the next trip.

Shoppingmile

Shopping !

Fully loaded with bags of goodies we continued our journey, next stop “Kempty Falls”! This place was developed as a tourist destination by John Mekinan, after 1835. The name Kempty is coming from ‘Camp-tea’, as the Britishers would organise their tea parties here. When we arrived we had to go down through a small market passage and then use a trolley (which was kinda scary) to get down to the falls. The Kempty Falls are really beautiful, just a pitty the people throw their trash into the water and everywhere around. The citizens seem to use the bottom of the falls as local swimming pool. It didnt exactly look like a place i would like to have a tea party these days

Kempty Falls

Indian Swimming Pool

After another scary ride in the trolley to get back to the car we hit the road again, next stop “Dhanaulti”! A dreamy, misty mountain retreat in the Garhwal Hills 2286 meters above sea level. To get there was an adventure itself and felt like a hellride in a rollercoaster upside down. The “road” (dont think this would be called a road in Europe) was very small and winding with loose chippings all over and no protections at the cliffsite. It got even more exciting when another car came from ahead or cows standing/lying on the road. Once we even saw a homeless looking man sleeping on the street and had to try to drive past him. When we got closer to Dhanaulti the air became clearer and much colder and the view was amazing. When we finally arrived we had to pay to go into the Eco Park which turned out to be a view point and nothing else. We were supposed to see the Himalayas but there were clouds over the big mountains which was a bit disappointing after going through hell to get there. Well back to the car and back on the hellway again heading home :-/ And like our Joyride wasnt fun enough already “BANG” we got a flat tire, somewhere in the Himalayas far from civilisation (well real civilisation). Luckyly Rajan had a spare tire in his trunk. Well on the positive side we had some more time to enjoy the nice view and take some more pics before we finally got rolling again.

Flat Tire in the Himalayas

After around 90 minutes drives or so (i had made some flat tire comments) out of a sudden it went “BANG” again and we had another flat tire again. Fortunatly we ran aground in a place with an Ashram and a Buddhist Monastery so we used our opportunity and visited both of them while our driver was organising a new tire. Was a bit weird to see monks with cellphones, since i was always living under the impression they had to live free from all material goods. Well guess thats the new generation now In the Ashram we saw people getting blessed and eating happy pills errrr holy bread again. I have also made a nice video of this procedure, which i might upload when i get back home.

Visiting another temple

New Generation Monk

The 3 Stoodges chilling in front of the temple

Finally the car was repaired and we were brought back to the hotel. That was really enough excitement for one day B)