Hotel Ankit Palace Manali

... and sleep some hours. When I was awake I took the biggest bowl of muesli I had ever eaten filled with fresh fruit, nuts, yoghurt, honey (mmmm!) and went to explore McCleod Ganj. It is quite famous here because the Dalai Lama gives teachings here every now and then. He will be here also on the 15th of October to teach, but I will be gone again then unfortunately. I went to the temple complex where he performs his teachings and found monks discussing ...

Since I haven't really had much exercise the last few weeks I figured I'd better do something to get ready for the trek in Pakistan. Frankly I was a little concerned about it so I signed up for a day trek to a town called Solange. To be honest I had no idea what to expect. I kind of thought it would be pretty cheesy.

Lonely Planet recommends a guide in this area because of the ...

... and garlic. We thank Sangye sincerely - in the last two hours he has not only taught us how to bake these breads on a little gas burner, but also told us about his childhood in Tibet, his grandparents - imprisoned in the cultural revolution - who taught him to speak Tibetan and made him swear not to forget, his first years in India at a school for Tibetan refugees and his last ten years - starting a cooking ...

... love fireworks almost as much as the Chinese and for 3 days you could here nothing else. On our 3rd day we rented a Royal Enfield Bullet 350cc motorbike and drove up through the valley to a pass called Rotang which roughly translates into the ¨pass of dead bodies¨. When you´re on the road you quite quickly realise why the pass got it´s name. The motorbike although totally not built for potholes, rocks, mud and snow was an absolute dream to drive ...

... bike was really staring to loose power at low revs. After about an hour like this it died on me! Before I had even got a chance to examine it, two old guys also on Enfield's pulled up and offered to help, one was Swiss and the other German. One pulled out a warm beer and downed it in two swigs and the other had old hip flask with whisky inside, he took a large gulp and offered it around. I explained to them the problem (which was not enough oxygen ...

... I happen to attend. Imagine my wonder then, when I discovered that something actually had changed. My hands were burning like never before when I placed them around my own body for self healing. I really hope I will get to do some good with this new skill. I might even take the next class in reiki while I'm here (there are four in total, the fourth being the teaching course). Compared to the prices in Denmark, it's practically free to do the courses here. And ...

... the highest mountain range in the world cuts just north of here, and large peaks are visible in the distance in all directions. At night the wind blows cold out of the high lands, and cools the air about 40 degrees. The sun in the morning warms things up a bit, though it takes until 9:30 or so to come up. I myself seem to be only one of a few westerners staying in this beautiful place--I've only seen 4 others. For this reason most people don't look at me twice, and the ...

... views of the Him*l*y*s, *nd giggled like little kids *bout *ctu*lly being cold *nd being *ble to use these w*rm clothes we've been lugging *round for 5 months. There is still * huge milit*ry presence there. Men in c*mo *nd *utom*tic rifles on the streets, p*ssing vehicles, *nd bo*ts. But they smiled *nd w*ved like boys *t us *s we p*ssed them. Pretty funny *ctu*lly. We w*lked up this hill overlooking the town of Sri****r (where we were st*ying) *nd ...

Zivjo! Po zadnjem porocanju iz kaoticnega New Delhi-ja smo se odpravili na se bolj kaoticno zeleznisko postajo od koder smo se z nocnim vlakom odpravili v Ramnagar v blizini katerega je Corbett Tiger Reserve. Na postaji smo na vlak cakali par uric in tako imeli priloznost videti indijski blisc in bedo v malem. Vsak v svoj konec Indije so se odpravljali razcapani, zmatrani in umazani Indijci, ki so tudi beracili. Med njimi pa tudi poslovnezi v kravatah s kovckom v rokah, ki so tako kot ...

So after much travel we in Mcleod Ganj, an amazing place, full of both indians, tibetans, lots of monks, lots of israeli's, i: the P resident O f T he U nited S tates and my trusty travel blood kartoffelkopf... What a place, has the feel of a frontier town... So alive, a lot less bother, we have been coopted into the friendly arms big mama Boom Boom whos been showing us the ropes of the place, only a very little place but there is lots ...