Some of you have wondered about our house and our
living arrangements.
 

Oaklands is a complex of four buildings located on the
eastern end of the Mussoorie ridge, a section called
Landour.  A large house faces away from us and has a
separate entrance.  We have no contact with those
people.
 

Our building, across the garden from that big house,
has four units.  An Indian couple rents one ground
floor flat, we have another, and a third with two
bedrooms is rented to mostly American students from
the Landour Language School who stay about 2 weeks at
a time.  The fourth flat, above us, houses an American
missionary family with three children.  A separate
smaller building has two one room apartments, also
rented to language students.  The fourth, tumble-down
building has living space for the chowkidar who is the
watchman and overall handyman for the complex.
 

The buildings are made of plastered, white-washed
stone with floors of a stone composite.  Our flat has
two bedrooms, a kitchen, an entry room, a bathroom,
and large living-dining room.  It is light, with large
windows.  The buildings have a tin roof, in the
process of getting a coat of bright green paint.  Our
house is pretty typical of the hill houses.  The
owner, Mr. Prakash, says it was built in 1865.
 

All our rooms have doors to close them off.  The
height of the door jams vary between 5'7" and 5'9". 
 

Our front door opens to a flat, shared garden.  It is
fenced on both sides because the hill goes straight
down.  We have to walk up about 40 feet from the road
to get to our "front yard".  Being on top of the hill
is inconvenient for getting down to the bazaars, but
the plus side is the views.  On clear days both the
plains to the south and the snow-capped ranges to the
north  are visible from our yard.
 

It can be foggy up here, especially in the late
afternoons.  The house often feels damp and it is hard
to dry clothes.  We hear the dampness is more of a
problem in the monsoon, July to mid September. 
October and November should be dryer.  We bought a
small electric heater, which takes the evening chill
off.
 

Cooking is done with a two-burner propane stove.  Our
ayah, Manju, manages lunches and dinners for us quite
well.
 

Clean water is important.  We bought a filter unit. 
We boil water, let it cool, then pour it  into the top
of the filter.  As we need fresh water, we use the
spiget at the bottom of the unit.  This works very
well and beats having to buy bottled water in plastic
bottles, especially since recycling isn't common and
garbage is either burned or dumped over the side of
the hill.
 

We have decorated and furnished our little "home" and
feel quite comfortable here.  We hope this will give
you an idea of our living arrangements.
 

NOTE:  We have planned a trip to Gangotri, with a hike
to Gamukh, the glacier considered the source of the
Ganges.  We will be gone October 16 to 20 and out of
touch via email or phone.
 

Love,
 

Steve & Judy