Hyer Regency Hotel 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 ...

... of the hill various other signs pointed downward - two for yoga, one for internet, another for a café. After the Kindergarten, the stairs narrowed and steepened, crumbling away a bit in places so that you don't have time to look up until you've reached a small, unnamed street perpendicular to the staircase. Several hotels, an internet café, and a small provisions store are clustered on the street, and ...

... friendly and welcoming folks, who now have to deal with crass commercialism and the "economics of surviving" in an increasingly western atmosphere. The local gompa or the buddhist temple came like a breath of fresh air. Surrounded by bronze and copper prayer wheels gleaming in the sun, the gompa, to me, was more real than anything i saw in this tourist town. Full of stories and loaded with character, it looked slightly more modern than most ...

... helicopter trips, camping, canooing and horse-riding adventures. The Beas River is long, winding, boulder strewn and set amidst breathtaking views of the Himalayas towering ominously over you. It's just a place of utter natural beauty...beauty being an understatement. We had no idea where to stay but came across a Hotel right up on the extremely steep mountain road beyond the main town, giving spectacular ...

... about the dog--sometimes you live and let live, other times you have to throw a rock. This is the way of life--and of course, the wisdom to know the difference. . . On the way back to my room, however, a familiar racket arose from the open space in back of the clubhouse, amplified this time by the building's walls, so sounding like a pack of annoying mutts. A handful of stones later, and the sound then came from the other side of the clubhouse ...

... 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 ...

... up along th eroad waiting for the Dhalai Lama to arrive. Eventually he did, he drove by beaming and waving, he is so happy looking, and we all bowed. So I saw the Dalai Lama, even if it was only a glimpse as he drove by. Then we went to hear him talk. Only students were allowed in the hall, because there wasn't even enough room for all of them, but it was broadcasted on the radio all around and on big speakers with tvs all around the hall. But it was in Tibetan. We ...

... in the mountains and offers every outlet a traveler could yearn to do... more on that later. The reason we came to Daremsala was to see the home of the Dali Lama... and we found that there's so much more. Let's start with Tibet (which is the true, original home of the Dali Lama). Tibet is a huge region above Nepal that shows on maps as a part of China. However, Tibetans solely inhabited the region until 1950... they had their own government, flag and had ...

... indecisiveness of the rest of the group is kind of getting to me, they just don't have any sense of direction or motivation...but the place itself is really nice and I like it here, there is a cable that goes across the river, they tie you up to it with a harness and then go across the river on it, it looks like fun and I want to go on that in the morning, I think Soma will join me but the other two....well, you know they aren't going anywhere near the water!!!