After 48 hours of airports and planes, we finally landed on dry ground again in Dehradun.
But the earth wouldn't stay dry for long. The monsoon rains this season is known for let loose almost immediately. We drove the hour trip between Dehradun and Laxman Jhula in some heavy downpours.
The rain, however, did not impede our driver's progress as he weaved around slower moving cars and countless motorcyclists who thought nothing of the buckets of water being dumped on them from the skies.
After just two brief cab rides, I've come to learn that Indian drivers have little use for street signs or pavement markings. I think they may just be there to feign some semblance of order on a system of chaos that otherwise just seems to work. In fact, I don't recall that we stopped a single time en route, save for one instance near the ashram where cars headed in both directions had bottlenecked a street far too narrow for bi-directional traffic. We did manage to squeeze our way through that jam and then by a small herd of cattle, which was congregated along a side street on the final approach to the ashram.
I also got my first glimpse of the mighty Ganga during a twilight crossing of the great river as it flows down from the foothills of the Himalayas.
No real pictures for today though. I will leave that for tomorrow when I have rested and have time and light to do some proper exploring.