Sarovar Portico - 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 ...

... face with his notebook when he spoke and another saffron robed monk from Thailand who just had the sweetest face and spoke very softly.

After an hour it was time to do the conversational class. I had about 8 people seated around me and there are no rules as to what you can talk about so we just started asking each other questions. With the exception of the one monk from Myanmar, everyone else was a Tibetan refugee. I asked them when they came here and how they ...

... 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 ...

... and bartender and toward the close I bought them some shots and then they bought us back shots and we all drank and laughed till closing. We walked back because we could and actually, with all those drinks, we both were very much not sloppy or very drunk. Sunday morning...the big oy! We had planned to wake up early to go to the hot springs. But Karen was so sick, she could barely move. Probably the food, but ...

... and staying there to get out of the wind and wash off the day's sand blasting. To do this, we have to compose a nice letter to the same assistant engineer formally requesting permission to stay in his guest house! In return, we get back an all Hindi certificate of "permission granted". The final pass, Rhotang La, is at a mere 13,200 ft, more or less straight up switch-backs from Khoksar, the road is steeper than usual, but there's more air than we're used to, so that ...

... Lama arrived with his security detail and swept into his compound, right when we were standing there (along with a couple of dozen devotees). So we got a brief wave, and then it was back to the town to have lunch a buy some souvenirs. Brad got some fur-lined gloves and Joanna some fur-lined slippers. Rest of the journey was uneventful (thankfully, given the hair-raising roads). Our driver was very good and got us to the station with an hour to spare, then overnight back to Delhi.

... for the rest of the journey to Shimla. The train left Dehli around 11:40PM and arrived in Kalka at 5:15AM so needless to say we were both tired. Our beds were in a four person sleeper booth which we ended up having all to ourselves when the mother and daughter we were supposed to share with found empty beds near the rest of their family. We visited with the family for a while before they left our sleeper booth. They were very nice and offered us Indian snacks. The toy train was was ...

... to be my husband but there was no need. Manali was wonderfully laid back and friendly about the whole affair. Ridiculous heads peeped over walls, followed by handfuls of red, green, yellow mist thrown into the air at us. Men stood chatting drinking chai as usual, but their faces were mad collages of pigments, more colors being added constantly. Still they stood and chatted to us as if they looked completely normal: it was like holding a conversation with a man on fire. Then it ...