Nandini Palace Manali

... paked tourists, so there was nothing interesting to talk about.<br>The guy at the Antrek Tours &amp; Travel agency proved to be helpful - not only he booked me a place on a minibus to Leh departing tonight, he also had an interesting trek to propose. Some 5 days, $60 a day, all included. But for now I'm taking the bus, and then when I'll be back we'll see about the trek.<br><br>The guide was really interested in the ...

... by sacrificing live animals and then eating them. For three days we tried at all the temples to see anything even close to a sacrifice but all we ever saw was the slowest, lamest dancing and this crazy trapeeze act by a little girl. We were also told that this is the area that the locals in Goa visit when the monsoons closes the harvest Manli's famous hash. The parties are supposed to be great. We spent an entire night walking around the mountains ...

... seeking enlightenment. Just while we were talking to Igor, a swiss ex-pat we met the other day who has been travelling for twnety years because he "dropped out of the system" almost stopped to talk to us again, until he realized that we were fully occupied by another insane European. There are post-colleagiate groups, and the rahs who live just below us, talking about fashion on their gap year and checking out the boys with the ...

... and he gave me the names of some bars to visit in Laos which was pretty cool, although I believe when he said 'bar' he actually meant 'brothel'. Unfortunately he caught wind of the fact that I had a Lonely Planet guidebook with me and went off on a rant about ''the only people I see reading the lonely planet are lonely people'' etc and how I shouldn't let the book dictate my journey, I agreed with him on this point, but his general hippie 'the world owes me a living' and 'live ...

... girl was a bit heavier so she took off the normal way, at least until she crashed to the ground a second later. That's when I began saying my mantra and doing reiki protection symbols on everything around me. Which made me feel even more like Gandalf. Then it was my turn. I was resolved on filming the whole deal on video which was a good idea, also because it took my mind off those trees. Not many people know this, but running down a mountain ...

I spoke to Ed briefly and they appear to be making great progress. They found the road a bit ************* the 18th and hitched a lift on a scrap metal truck (insisting their bikes weren't available) on the 19th. They got off the truck to find no accommodation so cycled on and ended up in Keylong. The internet cafe wasn't open so no more interesting update from their good selves I'm afraid. Manali to Leh highway here they come! Caroline

Well, I brought Rocinante in for a checkup to Karma, the local enfield expert, and he noticed the same clacking that I did at higher speeds. As I suspected, and he confirmed, the engine is "katam" (finished). I may have to eat rice and dal for the rest of my days here in india, and drink the cheap and ****** local hooch, but at least my bike will be all set in the drivetrain department. Karma will change out the main bearing ...

... roads were much better and the scenery even more impressive, huge valleys and waterfalls amongst the rolling hills...After a very long and weary second days journey and Ipod batteries struggling to stay alive we pulled into Manali at 8pm - and headed for the nearest guest house - 'Grasslands' - Hooray!!!!!!!!!!! And hooray for a hot shower and cold beer!! We moved into Vashist the following day. (The next ...

... Dan smo zaceli z zajtrkom "presenecenja", presenecena je bila tokrat Irena, ki je v dobri veri narocila zase palacinke z cokolado, dobila pa dobro narasel kos biskvita, ki je meril kak decimeter v premeru. Ireno se s torto za rojstni dan ne bi mogli bolj presenetiti! Ta dan smo se sprehodili po budisticnem templju v smeri urinega kazalca kot je zapovedano in se za ogledom tega, namenili se do tibetanske vlade. Do le - te smo kar nekaj casa tudi hodili, vmes podvomili ali smo na ...

... the spinner. The main temple is also meant to be walked around clockwise, and has a couple of rooms, one with a huge golden Buddha, and other rooms with other purposes, all of course, with a picture of the Dalai Lama himself in each, and the core circled by meditating and praying monks. A good mixture of westerns and other types of buddhists are around there as well, and it seems to be an area in which old people meet, to catch up and pass the time. A nice calm ...