Hotel Whispering Rocks Manali

... childrenand any concievable combination of the above .Chuck holes and rocks caused our driver to swerve into traffic to avoid damaging the car. It was stressful. Mr. Singh was singing as we careened along. He seemed to be really getting into it, taking more chances than usual. I cautioned him at one point as we were passing a large truck, on a blind corner at a high rate of speed. He stopped his singing and smiled confidently and said "God is in my hands!" I couldn't ...

... I'd forgotten about my new friend and simply gawked in awe at the scenery. It was arresting to say the least. Having stepped off the coach, I headed into town to find some accommodation. Seeing that the prices were steep and many hotels full, (many Indian tourists also visit Manali this time of year) my heart sank. It was then saved thankfully as I happened upon a small town 2km north of Manali called "Old Manali". Here I found very decent accommodation for 2 pounds a night ...

... down below it, with staircases and mysterious passageways branching off in all directions. What a hill station like Mcleod Ganj allows, however, is something nothing in the valley can. Which is to say, views. The kind that you normally climb mountains for are stumbled upon as you turn a corner. Sitting out on a rooftop terrace sipping at our lassis today, Kate and I looked out over the wide valley ...

... They also stopped for dinner and breakfast at cheap roadside stops, which was fun. We boarded to the bus at 5 pm. had dinner around 7 pm. then I feel asleep. Andrew had a bit harder time falling asleep but he said he nodded off every once in awhile. When I woke up we were already deep into the foothills. It was absolutely gorgeous. There was a stop in which a lot of the other passengers got off at, so then we all spread out to lie down and look ...

... r proved to be re*lly enjoy*ble. Sri****r is the c*pitol of K*shmir lying just North E*st of Isl*m*b*d. Not to our surprise not m*ny Western tourist seem to find there w*y to K*shmir. In no w*y did we ever re*lly feel thre*tened. If *nything I w*s re*lly impressed *t the *mount of comp*ssion *nd underst*nding the people h*d for e*ch other. We found ourselves in the middle of * huge Indi*n pilgrim*ge in the ...

... have hardened up somewhat and could perhaps in heat cope, this was just a real 'NO NO' we are both feeling a bit 'rough' and needed some basic luxury at this point!!!!! so we decided to splash out and headed for a more modern (not half as characterful) hotel (Surabhi) that was quite plush compared to what we have had, but also had a large balcony and windows the full length of the end wall ...

... It was so stark and simple and the village kids would always be playing cricket or helping out in the fields. Then the slap in the face...most had a DishTV satellite dish secured to the shakiest of structures. But this was just such a magnificent hike with monkeys, donkeys, yaks and friendly dogs along the way, mind-blowing beauty and a chance for me to test my angling prowess. I brought along my fly rod as it ...

... and I stopped for some mango juice and met the Saturday Baba. He carried a bucket full of one rupee coins with a statue of Saturn in Hindu form, the God of Saturday and the planet. We didn't meet him on Sunday--was he also the Sunday Baba? We gave him coins as he smiled. In the Sikh Gurudwara, we walked through steamy corridors amongst turbaned and bearded men and women in saris, passing chambers where free meals were served ...

... smo sedeli na balkonu in igrali karte, ko se je zacelo bliskati in grmeti. Vzdusje je bilo sicer prav prijetno, vse dokler ni pocilo nekje cisto blizu nas. Taksnih obcutkov se nihce od nas ni dozivel. Sama lahko povem, da je bilo res grozljivo. Pocilo je tako, da sem za nekaj trenutkov onemela, prav tako pa se mi je zdelo tudi kot da sem za trenutek tudi oslepela. Tezko je opisati, vendar po tem dogodku si res ne bi vec zelela vec v gore v vedenju, da so ...

... continued on our route. Manikaran is a Gurdawara built in the mountains at a place where the first Guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji meditated during his journey around India. They have a hot spring there, which is used to cook some of the food for the Langar and also in the Sarovar. We did our Matha Tekh and had a look around, but me being the Larry I am left my spare battery in my bag at the hotel so I had to use my phone for pictures, that's why they didn't come out ...