Cabbana Orchid Jalandhar

... thick jungles infested with thorny bushes. After an arduous journey, he lay down on the bare stony ground for rest in the garden of Masand Gulab Rai. Here his pathan devotees Ghani Khan and Nabi Khan recognised him and provided all facilities to the great Guru. From here Guru was taken in a Palki (Palanquin) disguised as 'Uch Ka Pir'. For this purpose the Guru put on a blue dress and so did his disciples accompanying him. The plan they adopted ...

... doing nothing so I changed it, right from the ground floor up to the roof of the third floor. It took till 2.30pm to complete the job and at about 2pm the guy who originally fitted the Satellite dish turned up, I cussed the living daylights out of him and sent him packing. Morel of the story is: if you want ANYTHING doing in India, do it yourself! After sorting the TV out, I showered and left for Jalandhar. Gagan dropped me off at Nakodar and I got on the bus for around 3.30pm ...

... he was coming to the house, I told him to carry on and fix it but he insisted that I go back to Pind to over see the work. By the time we left Rurka it was 10.30am, 15 minutes into the journey Soma remembered that he had forgotten his phone at Sheera's, so we had to turn back. We eventually got to Nakodar for around 11.30am, the TV had arranged to meet us in Nakodar because he had concluded that the receiver was faulty (this is after I told him ...

... days now. I ended up sweeping and mopping the whole place today. The tile people came and dropped the tiles off this morning but there was no sight of Ismail and his crew. The satellite TV guy was nowhere to be found either. The electric had been off since the storm started last night, and it didn't look like it was coming back anytime soon. I packed up my backpack and got on the bike around 4pm to come to ...

... midday and I set about washing my clothes. Two hours later I was done with most of the washing and feeling totally wasted! We really should think about getting a washing machine! I had lunch around 2.30pm and tried to take a nap like everyone else. I have never bothered before but I just felt like trying it out, it didn't work! I just lay there for about 30 minutes then got up and started working on the bike. I wanted to have a go at fixing the horns ...

... ages for a bus in Nakodar. I was totally dead to the world when we got back and I just crashed out till about 8pm. Gagan came over and he woke me up otherwise I might have slept through till the morning. We had dinner and then he left so I crashed out at 9pm, I'm feeling really tired right now, probably something to do with getting up at 5.30am! I have had my fill of this whole car hunting thing too, I told Soma to do whatever he wants about it.

... was coming up to 1pm by the time we got into the car. Jag, Harj and 'Big Man' Tony went back home to deal with family stuff while Danny, Ajee and I went on a farewell tour. We went to Haveli first for our Brunch, nothing like Aloowale Paranthey to sort things out on the morning after the night before. We stopped there for a bit, then went over to Ajee's Pind to say goodbye to his family ...

... same lane, maddingly honking only to hear themselves it seemed. No one else seemed to pay attention much less make eye-contact. The highway is lined by eucalyptus trees, numbering in the thousands. I know because each tree is tattooed with a number to stop illegal foresting. Honeybee towers and the fruits of labour are also sold the entire roadside, as is wicker furniture and a myriad of other wares. Shopping without a guide or someone you trust is difficult at ...

... from the Chinese and had had their own government for hundreds of years. But without international support, Tibet could not fend off China with its tiny army, and China has been camped out there ever since. Though invading and taking over an independent nation is bad enough, its treatment of Tibetans ever since has been even more appalling. Tibetans live and breathe Buddhism and the Dalai Lama (the current man being the 14th incarnation) is both their spiritual and political ...

... quieter and more peaceful and, despite it being a huge backpacker destination, touting from restaurants, hotels and shops is very minimal. So, too, is the "Your country?" line, which is just great considering my state of mind when I arrived! The predominant religion is Buddhism: burgundy-clad monks replace the orange-robed sadhus seen in Hindu pilgrim sites. It's up in the mountains - I'm not sure how high - snow is visible but it's not especially cold. The weather changes ...