Royal Retreat Resort Manali

... suburbs passing even more desperate looking dwellings. Save for one deeply embarrassing episode, whereby it was agreed unanimously by everyone on the coach that I was a complete lunatic, no thanks to Bill Bryson's best efforts and my innability to stop laughing, the journey passed without incident.
It was many hours later, and dark outside, when the trip took an interesting turn. Its possible that I was dozing, or not paying particular attention, but suddenly it registered ...

... food instead. I took a picture of him and then he started posing for me.

He was a really sweet boy.

The last 2 hour bit to Kasol went by quickly. We had a one lane road this time with some serious hair pin turns. I held my breath when I saw an oncoming car make a turn towards us. But I was the only one! We were like 2ft from the edge and I'm freaking, Barbara is sleeping and everyone else seems bored.

There was also some yak ...

... my Ladakhi guide, Siddharth tells me, is the "code word" for everything from Hello to Thank You and Welcome to Goodbye. So that means, i can now say 4 things in Ladakhi! Exploring the rest of Ladakh, away from Leh is peachy, thanks to all the taxis and tour operators. The roads are decent although the distances are quite large. Nevertheless, as an introduction to Ladakh, my 5 days where more focused on the culture and lifestyle of the Ladakhi ...

... at 7pm, dumped our bags and trekked down the hill to the main town to get a beer and play cards. The main town is a plethora of shops and restaurants with street sellers and tuc tucs competing for noise levels. Before we knew it, it was 10pm so after one beer and a cocktail under the trees, we tuc tuc-ed it back to Faulty Towers for dinner and a nightcap. The next day, we did a short sharp Manali burst ...

... at the same time the daughter of about 5/6 was gently pulling on the rope that was attached to the cloth hammock inside where one of the babies slept.... ... anyway, manu and his wife had left the 2 kids in bed (with the kitten) whilst they came to meet us from the bus........the eldest girl not much more than 7/8 i would think was amazing, got out of bed shook our hands and in clear ...

... know nothing of proper maintenance. There is a sort of maintenance, sure, but for the most part something brand-spanking new becomes ramshackle within a few months to a couple of years, barely working, and only when something breaks does someone take out a few ****** tools and patch it back together, only enough to work for the moment. It is for this reason that you will see a pole literally covered in wires; no-one knows what the wires do, or where they go, so when the power goes ...

... with an air of confidence that perhaps exceeded his experience with guiding treks. This was his second time on the Pin-Parvati trek. A few hours of hiking through orchards, thickets, and small villages later, Nate played pool under a blue tarp with Surrendra and the Chello Baba porter, while Kevin and I relaxed. Where were the other two porters, the cook, and the Kullu hotel owner (who accompanied us--it seemed--just for fun ...

After 2 very mad days in Mumbai we had to cope with altitude sickness and much cooler temperatures in Leh the next day!! Try going from sea level at 35 degrees to 4000 meters at 15 degrees overnight and see how that feels!! It took us 2 days to acclimatise to the altitude in Leh and even then we were stopping every few meters to catch our breath (as you all know I am not ...

... behind the town and the plains stretching down in front. It's nice here because it's such a hub for tourists and pilgrims from all over the world. As a result the food is fantastic-Theres a Japanese restaurant that does set meals everyday that are fantastic..we've pretty much been walking about 3 miles every day to go to it, which may seem a bit excessive but I tell you it's worth it! We've been staying in family houses in the two villages above the town and it's ...

... to find a quiet sunny spot where the only sound will be that of a passing rickshaw or bus. I found one such spot in the graveyard of St John's church, a little way down from the town. In the British heyday this little stone Anglican church would have been the religious centre of the community. Set in a peaceful grove surrounded by towering Cypress firs, the church has lost none of its prettiness, albeit with the roof having been replaced by corrugated steel. It is ...