Royal Park Resort Manali

... showers were temperamental and the beds a little stiff but this didn't matter, we were lucky to be staying here and more importantly, we knew it.<br><br>Having rested and adjusted to the cold we left for a Himalayan trek. My friends and I, one guide/chef and four porters set off from Gulaba on the three day Bhrigu Lake trek and, if I had any illusions that it was going to be easy then they quickly dissipated because, this.was.hard. The altitude quickly claimed one of my ...

arriving in manali we found, yet again, that our hotel was substandard. not wanting to settle this tim we said we wanted to see another hotel. we were brought to a hotel, slightly away from the centre of town which was slightly better. although it was pretty large we seemed to be the only ones staying there and were shown to the honeymoon suite! cue instant sweats!! <br><br>we wandered down to the town and found it to be again much more ...

... to be delivered, I was approached by a Tibetan monk that worked for the Tibetan Hope Center. I had been planning on stopping by there anyway since the Portuguese couple told me all about it. They had asked me about my plans for the next day but I told him that we had plans to go hiking all day the next day. I told him that if I got back before 4 PM from the hiking, that I would do my best to meet up with them for the conversation class. I told them that I had some free time ...

... the gorgeous view for an hour and a half at the take-off point, the guides decided to call off the flight and trek back down to the jeep. The winds weren't blowing in the right direction for take off...hey, at least they are safe...and we'd rather not be smashed into the side of the Himalayas, at least not with 3 weeks left in India! :) The jeep ride down wad not as bad...pfew! Then we took a bus that night to Dharamsala...

The hot springs here were like nothing I have ever seen in Canada. Instead of flowing out of the ground, they were actually comming through the sand over a large area into the banks of a river. It was like when you go to the beach, and dig a hole in the sand and it fills back up with water. The ...

... Next I went to Vashisht, a town just on the other side of the river and up the mountain a bit. There are a couple temples here as well, one with public baths where I had the pleasure to witness a 70 year old Indian woman completely naked bathing. Sorry guys...no pics allowed inside the baths. I then took a walk inside Manali's nature preserve. It's not ...

... the washtub, aided by the stomp of bare feet, "wringing" by the use of a flat stone and cricket-bat type beater, another go in the tub with washing powder, and repeat process with clean water. The still-dripping blankets are hung from the fence until only damp, then spread on rocks or shrubs, depending on size. The colorful clothes make a sort of rainbow on the drab pre-spring landscape, a flash of sun on the ground as a precursor of brighter days to come. The weaving looms click ...

... long relationship with him. My next target was to confirm our vehicle for tomorrow's journey. I was told over mail that one gets a taxi on fares ranging from 11000 to 15000 INR. However I was able to book a Force - cruiser at a modest fare of 8500/- to drop us to Leh City. It was supposed to pick us up at 4:30 AM next morning. We were all set for the next morning. And BTW it was Birthday time for Bidan. But that all was for next day, right now it was sleeping time.

... On the other hand, they are really nice and are always helpful ie giving us lifts everywhere, cooking special food for people who are ill or have allergies, making us chai and just generally they are good natured. On the Saturday we went to Dharamsala and from here we went up the mountains to Macleod Ganj. This place is absolutely brilliant. I loved it so much. It is really high up with amazing views, it was really sunny, much cleaner than Palampur, there are tonnes of ...

... teeth during night time visits to the loo. I was thankful of the fleece top I'd been very kindly given from home! During my time in Shimla - I started getting tired agin, my illness hadn't shifted, well it shifted, but persisted if you know what I mean, I started to sleep in late and became rather unenthusiastic about further travel up into the hills. The visibility situation here was no better than Jodhpur - OK - so the sun would make an appearance in the day ...