Snowcrest Manor Manali

... back from the road and on the top floor. She was very pleasde that her efforts had produced such an improvement. The room lacked good bug screens, and was not very clean, but we have had great rooms so far and we agreed we could "tough it out" for a few days.

I had just fallen asleep around 8:00 PM, when it happened. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! I sat straight up in bed. Was the attack underway?, I wondered. No way, as the booming continued, I realized that the noise was ...

... long) and I'm in Manali. I departed the bus feeling refreshed but slightly dubious of getting a room. Its 2am and everyone is asleep. Wake a few peeps but its obvious they couldn't give a **** or are full, so I sat it out at the German bakery which is surprisingly busy at that time with stoners, drank tea and waited until the sun came up.

After this I found a beautiful room with mountain views, enclosed by an apple orchard, that provided the afformentioned ...

... leave. She left because she didn't want to live a nomadic life (literally, her family are nomads) and wanted the opportunity to have an education. I just can't imagine her climbing the Himalayan mountains for 30 days. I tried but I just couldn't.

I thought of all of the people back home, myself included, who take for granted our opportunities and our freedoms. Even to write that sounds cliche but it's really true. I am so lucky. I only wish that I could make ...

... a nap. The girls (Chelsea, Giana, and me) went out for a walk. We shopped around and walked down little paths. We then crossed the little river and decided to go put our feet in it. The water there was so blue and clear it was amazing. Chelsea said it seemed like it was a stream in Disneyland it was so perfectly clean (then we agreed it was kind of sad that the only clean river water we can relate to is Disneyland). We went down the path near the ...

Greetings from Manali. I have been here almost two days and plan to depart tomorrow to Leh, the capital of Ladakh. Manali has been a most pleasurable experience, pretty laid back but also with the option to get 'extreme' if one so wishes. Personally I was happy to simply explore on foot for most of yesterday and today with my companion Dr. Daniel from Dewsbury. The monsoon seems to be established with a pattern of rain here in the morning and fine afternoons ...

... he told me he has been sleeping in his car for the last 2 nites, I said that was crazy and I gave him 500 rupees extra so he could get a room. He's been great and he was so grateful. Anyway, this whole process may very well be repeated tomorrow because I think it's 50/50 at best that Karen can leave. Fortunately, Manali is neat and I love the bustle of the town center and the serenity of where we are staying. Over and out.

... At any rate, we got up and over and thankfully found a clear water source about 10km down the other side to camp at as the full moon rose. Heading south from Leh towards Manali is still a desert. Because it's a desert, no one lives here. There are a few people but they are mostly running the parachute tent rest stops. Those rest stops spring up when the road opens in mid June and the tents all come down mid September when the snow flys. (The only way to Leh ...

... and all of a sudden all of the participants stood up and in walked THE PRIME MINISTER OF TIBET!!! Are you kidding me??? The Prime Minister of Tibet!!! He spoke to us for almost an hour! He is a learned monk and very respected. He surprised me by some of the things he said... He said that Gender was not an issue in the past for Tibetans and is now an issue due to Western influence...YIKES! I wondered if Tibetan women would have agreed ...

... on a dirt track, sleeping in your jocks in a single bed with another bloke, while sweating like a pig is actually quite a... bonding experience. 17 hours later we were in manali!! Manali is beautiful. A hill station and the summer home of stacks of tourists! It is the place to chill. Everything is chill, so we just... well, chilled! sat around, talked about what we might do, watched soccer, and ate cake (there was a german bakery next door). Manali is also the drugs ...

... with us- mostly ethnic Tibetans, mostly older.. a few curious Indians and max I saw 8 westerners; as time passed, sticks of insense were passed around so that most people were holding some; some of the older crowd fingered mala beads (rosary) with a deep, unconscious familiarity.. He was a tad late, but then the entourage came through, and for a brief moment I was witness to ...