Colors of the Mountains - Part 2

I woke up to a bright and sunny Sunday morning. Previous night itself we had decided on the bathroom schedule, so there was no tussle in the morning. By 8:00 am we were off to Pike's Peak. As the name suggests, it is a mountain peak, and is at 14,110 feet above the sea level. They had cute little red trains to take you to the top. The train ride was nice and breezy, but I had started having a slight headache so couldn't enjoy as much. The slope was steep and at some points the gradient was 25%. Dunno if we are supposed to be excited about it, but the enthusiasm with which the guide announced it, I thought might as well mention it here. The ride could have been better if we had a guide with more clearer voice. We had an old man and his voice over the mike was so dull, we could hardly make out what he was saying. Have heard the ride is supposed to be pretty interesting and fun.

As we approached the peak, the view became more and more spectacular. When we started the train journey, there was greenery all around...but as we moved up the vegetation became sparse and suddenly, it was dry and rocky. The Tundra Region had started! The view from the top was breath taking, the mountains, the small lake below, the alpine trees, the clouds...all these on one hand, and dry, arid rocky background on the other. They offered a stark contrast which gave a stunning visual effect. We even managed to view some long horned mountain goats.

After Pike's Peak, we went to the Cliff Dwellings. This is the ancient dwellings of native Indians. Again a lovely view. It was interesting to go through their stuffs in the museum and learn how they used to live, build their houses etc. The fun part was the Indian dance. Two native Indians in their dresses performed some of their ancient native dances on their native beats. One guy did this amazing dance with five hoops. It was kind of a juggling cum dance with fast moves. We even clicked pictures with the dancers :-)

After that we moved on the town of Boulder. Its a small college town north of Denver. By the time we reached, it was early evening. After freshening up, we went to explore the downtown. Nice surprises awaited us. The downtown was a cute little place with the road paved with red bricks which gave it a nice village look. It was beautifully decorated with water fountains and flower gardens. Soon we noticed a crowd collected in the centre. On approaching the crowd, we saw a street performer. He was doing some balance act which was pretty cool. Once his show was done, another started. Now this was awesome. A couple performed the New Zealand's Maori fire dance. The acts they performed were gasp inducing and spell binding. There were a few other more street performances which were equally entertaining.

As we were strolling through the streets, we came across The Himalaya Restaurant. It was a Nepali restaurant!! My first! I was so excited. Actually Boulder has a very heavy Nepali and Buddhism influence. They even have a monastery, which unfortunately we didn't have time to explore. The town is dotted with shops with Buddhist theme. There was even a shop named Cat-Man-Do!

We went to have dinner in the restaurant. They had decorated with various pics and stuffs from Nepal. Even the girl serving us was wearing our traditional Chaubandi Cholo and Sari. Like I had expected their menu had mostly Indian food (well, that's what we eat normally) with a few Nepali dishes. My fav Momos were also listed. I excitedly ordered Chicken Momos with tamatar chutney. I also ordered Alu ko Achar. But when the food arrived, it was such a big dissappointment. They got Spinach Momo instead. I mean spinach momo? What the heck is that? I didn't like it one bit but few of my frens trying momos for the first time liked it. Even the Alu ko Achar was nothing like what we make at home. When I pointed out the mistake he got chicken momos too, but by then we had almost finished our dinner so that didnt taste as great either. After the dinner, we strolled around the downtown a bit and then headed back to the hotel.

Coming up next...Rocky Mountain National Park and Marriage Proposal? In the mean while, do click below and check out the pics. Your comments would be highly appreciated!

The Train
Originally uploaded by Pukuli Colors.