Delhi vs. Kumaon

We have just arrived in Delhi this morning on the overnight bus from Haldwani, and the contrast is ridiculous.  The hills are peaceful, beautiful, full of fresh air - wholesome. Delhi, and even Haldwani, is chaotic, rather dirty, and definitely lacking in fresh air. But Delhi also has a refrigerator, a washing machine, meat shops, SOY SAUCE, and an immense variety of food and snacks. In Kumaon, grapes and non-masala flavored chips are a luxury, and  snickers bars are extremely rare. It's not even a question whether or not your laundry is done by hand. The bus we took was a "Deluxe AC" bus, a step down from Greyhound, but it was the fanciest, most high-tech thing I'd seen in ages (aside from my laptop). Even the "cities" in the hills like Almora, Bageshwar, and even Nainital are tiny in comparison to Haldwani and even smaller compared to Delhi. The buses we normally take have no AC, no fans, and definitely no shock absorbance systems (enhanced by the fact that the roads are often full of potholes and undergoing construction of some sort). The tradeoff, I suppose, of crappy bus rides is that your destination is usually quite beautiful. There's a view of the Himalayas, gorgeous terraced farms, and greenery all around. While the ride to Delhi was quite nice, and Delhi has many facilities that I miss while we're in the hills, the view isn't what you would call great. 

But... food plays such an important role in my happiness that I'm not sure which place is better. Variety is sorely sorely lacking in rural india, so our trip so far has been a food quest. Today's breakfast at Pulkit's uncle's house had more variety in it than I've had maybe in the last month. Omelettes, meusli, milk, kebab thingies, toast, tomato spread, bananas, mmm.... Then there was lamburgers and grilled fish for lunch, Baskin Robbins ice cream, fresh fruit/vegetable juice, and a quest for soy sauce - first at the Tibetan market and then more successfully at some import shops near Khan market. 

Tomorrow I'll have some pictures and another post about what all we're actually doing besides longing for food. I'm set to wrap up this jaundice project within the next week, after spending Holi in Delhi, and I need to identify what I want to work on next.