Happy Diwali

Well, Diwali was a relaxing day, which after the unassisted climb up the mountain. I was going to refer to it as the hill, but since I was taking frequent breaks, a hill would not do it justice. Of course I could always use the excuse that the altitude and thin oxygen were to blame, but this would be a lie. In any case, we did go for a walk, and there were fewer breaks, so it is all good.

The day was spent organizing pictures, figuring out how to resize them and geo-tag them, so that you can all see exactly where they have been taken. As I expected, it was constant firecrackers and rockets last night. Even though there were a few eager beavers who lit some off way too early, the majority of the sound show started around 6:45 and continued until past my bedtime, or 10pm. I am still hearing the occasional BOOM this morning. I have to say, it was pretty impressive, and I am wondering if it is possible to bring some back to Canada, but I am sure that having firecrackers, especially the big boomer in my luggage or carry-on would not be a good thing.



In the words of Ruby, "He was maximizing his utility", we made a new friend, who made a special visit to see the "Englishman". This little boy brought up fireworks to set off on the lower deck, and after using his own stash, he graciously helped us use our supply. When we took a break, or were slowing down, he went home and went through more of his own stuff, and then he came back once that was finished and helped us clean up our ration for the evening. We did keep some so that we can wean ourselves off the explosives gradually. I mention explosives, because they were powerful enough to blow out a candle 6 feet away.

The walk today was to go pick up some more fireworks, and this amazing dessert (Jalebi). Imagine if you will, a pretzel shaped pastry, that is deep fried, and filled with liquid sugar, and it is still warm from the deep fryer. If they make these in your town, you have to try them. I checked this morning to see where we walked to, (the mini-mall area), and I have to say, I will not complain about the DRIVE to the Gloucester centre anymore.

Speaking of walking versus driving, we also witnessed the basic steps of house construction, getting the materials to the job site. In this case the delivery crew, was quite large, I would say 10 men. The crew size was necessary, since they had to carry the bricks down the steps to the building site on their backs. I was told that these fellows were Gurkhas, and after watching them navigate the steps with a sizeable load on their back, I understand why they were the British Army's commando force. I briefly though about hiring a few to carry my large out of shape western butt around the region, but it would be wrong.

Next: A tour bus view of the city