tiuni is a small town in the himalayas and it takes about 10 hours to get there on a bus. i was very lucky to have a seat. the ticket conducter spent most of the journey on the roof, along with many other people. in fact, it seemed to be a game of 'how many people can you a adorn a bus with', but all with much humour and big smiles. 10 hours is a long time to spend on a bus, but the views were spectacular and uma, my travelling companion, is excellent company. the himalayas are really big, and really rather impressive.
we went to tiuni for preliminary selection of children to come to pestalozzi next year. it is a very remote place and the level of education available in local schools there varies, but is generally pretty poor. anyone with any money sends their children on the long journey to dehradun, to attend schools in the [comparative] big smoke. we were looking for families of the top students who couldn't afford to do this. it was a real privilege also to visit the homes of present pestalozzi children and get a fuller picture of where these children come from and the dramatic change it is for them to live in a hostel in dehradun, far away from their families.
uma and i stayed with ashok, the one and only local doctor, who is a very busy man. his house is above the fast flowing river - the loudest thing in tiuni - whose noise i would go to sleep with each night, with a belly full of ashok's wife's wonderful food. four days in the mountains were a most welcome break from the busy routine of school and book/uniform buying that has been consuming all of my time recently. i feel good in the mountains, where the air is pure and the people are innocent, and i am very much looking forward to returning to the himalayas in a few weeks; this time in nepal, where my mother is meeting me - hurrah!
the weather in tiuni was rather reminiscent of wales - cool and wet, with a wonderful freshness hanging everywhere - and a pleasant reprieve from the heat of dehradun, where it is now summer and very hot. i think back to those chill blained days in winter and wonder if they really can be only a couple of months ago. i've just come back from another off day in rishikesh, where the temperatures are even higher, and i could do nothing during the day but lie under a fan and watch the ganges flow past while reading my book. it was very hard work...
