Hotel Sun Park Manali

... didn't stop yelling that Hindi pop, you know with that annoying female voice and the most tedious rhythm - it's just terrible! A smart reader would ask how come is that possible to listen for a music driving through Himalayas? This is correct, I was also surprised - there is no radio reception there, and of course there is no meaning to talk about a CD player - the road (the lack of) would not allow mechanical playback even for 3 consecutive seconds. And yes, the ...

(Written by Skinny McPotBelly....aka Dave MccPune)<br><br>We seem to have a knack for picking the worst buses in India. Or at least making our trips as uncomfortable as possible. The journey to manali would prove no different. In fact, we nearly skipped Manali after hearing a few bad reviews from some other travelers. Luckily we went, and found a great place to relax, unwind, and for Ben...**** himself crazy.<br><br> As i metioned, the bus ride was ...

We met Igor coming up the Jogibara road just as we were headed down. I have wanted Miso soup for days, and we were finally going back to the Japanese place to deal with it. Igor was striding up the hill, grinning and swaying a bit as he walked. He spotted us. "How's it going, Igor?" "Have you seen this movie? It's French, I do not remember the name of it. It was banned in France? Anyway, in Russian its called... green planet? Maybe ...

... the same day, the bus I took was a local one, not the slightly plusher ones used for long distances, I love the buses here, they are all decorated like some hippie VW camper van from the 70's - colours and decorations and often small shrines to elephant gods set up on the dashboard. This one also had a DVD player and a TV up at the front to show movies on. When I actually stepped onto the bus what seemed to be the most amateurish Indian bollywood action movie was playing ...

... fuel station for the next 400-500km so I filled up. I was now very close to Keylong but after about 20km realized there was a problem as I knew the petrol station was only suppose to be 7km from Keylong, Id must have taken the wrong turn somewhere so I backtrack, annoyed at using the precious fuel as the station was now closed and didn't open until 9am tomorrow and I needed to set off before that. Keylong was only a small town but had amazing views ...

Just here for a day, but did an amazing hike up the hill behind my guesthouse to reveal an amazing panaroama of the surrounding Himalayas. Met and had lunch with a fascinating guy (maybe German). I think his name was JT. He had purchased a motorcycle in ...

... 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 ...

... We would have to hire another porter if we wanted them to carry any of our things. I felt uncomprehending rage. This made no sense. What was the point of having porters if they would be unable to carry ANY of our things. We must have argued for two hours more before they finally decided that they would be able to handle our 20-25 kilos of gear. The doubts remained.

... able to have a mini snowball fight. We also saw some great birdlife (I swear that I'm turning into a twitcher!) on the lower slopes - a solitary eagle, and a pack of vultures guarding a dead cow. Either the endless amount of chickpeas, or the altitude has got to us as we had to delay our onward trip for fear of being sick (or worse) on other passengers. Suppose it had to happen sometime!

... and contemplating, again solo, again preparing to embark off into the unknown. I grow weary of Western company fairly quickly here in this country, and soon need to be in the backwaters again, solo, with just me, an open heart and mind, and the diversity and chaos of India Proper. There is a strange mix here in this town. Here one can eat chinese, japanese, korean, continental, italian, tandoori, tibetan, and a multitude of other cuisines. Strangely enough ...