Hotel Piccadily,Manali

... in "Old" Manali and it was well worth the 15 hour bus ride to get here. This place is the polar opposite of Paharganj in New Delhi. It's actually quite cool and pretty much hassle free. In fact, this is basically a stoner town. Not sure how long I'll stay here. I'll try to schedule a short trek and then I'm going to keep heading north to Leh. Beyond that, who knows...

... me add one I've failed to mention so far: India is big. Of course, we all know it's quite large scale-wise (sixth largest country on earth) but the big-ness of India covers more than mere square mileage. It's cities are huge. The slow trains and crowded roads make distances vast. Even its monuments, take the Taj for instance, are enormous. But for sheer big-ness, nothing can even touch on its mountains ...

... hand set off into the mountains with Joe in an attempt to walk to the snow line. They didn't actually make it, after a unanimous decision to turn back after a few hours, probably due to aching legs and empty bellies. As we made such good mates with these Aussies we found, we decided to travel with them for a bit. Therefore we headed to our next destination in a group of four - to Shimla to catch the "toytrain" to Chandigrah in time to watch some test match cricket...

... odds of its arrival at the destination, you pay more for the sending than what the contents is worth. Next I went to the nearby tourist village of Vashisht because I had read about a great healer there. I had an hour of Reiki healing and the result is astonishing. Impossible to explain, although "very emotional" seems fitting. Walking home to Old Manali after the healing session, some sort of transformation took place. I released a few tears and felt lighter immediately. I'm ...

... 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 ...

... the highest mountain range in the world cuts just north of here, and large peaks are visible in the distance in all directions. At night the wind blows cold out of the high lands, and cools the air about 40 degrees. The sun in the morning warms things up a bit, though it takes until 9:30 or so to come up. I myself seem to be only one of a few westerners staying in this beautiful place--I've only seen 4 others. For this reason most people don't look at me twice, and the ...

... into a side valley from our Country Charm Hotel on the riverside. Our river-view room roared with Parvati's rapids, yet up in the forest, the din slowly faded, replaced with the sounds of passerines. Above us, a lone Lammergeier soared overhead looking for carrion or perhaps simply enjoying the thermals lifting its broad wings around the sunlit red cliffs. Higher in the valley, large walnut trees grew surrounded by lush ...

... yoga and meditation centres and a variety of other new age ******** that's there to entertain the visiting western tourists. I couldn't wait get out the place. In place of the smiling Tibetan monks, it's rammed with westerners who've been in India too long walking around in stupid hippy clothes with dirty hair (go home, your parents miss you) and speeding motorbikes and auto-rickshaws everywhere. When we saw the sign ...

... hear now that many Chinese people themselves are taking up the cause and believe in Tibetan independence. But, then again, we all remember Tianenmen Square. Anyway, there are some of the politics, read more on this if you are so moved--it is a good cause. More on Dharamshala later, tomorrow I head over the pass and into Manali, at the foothills of the high himalaya, then, prepared, go over some of the most dangerous road in these parts for a two day 500 km ride ...

October 28th - Manali, Himachal Pradesh India<br><br>Currently sitting in the Hotel Monalisa looking out on the almost Alpine scenery of the Kullu Valley and reflecting on almost a week spent in Dharamsala.<br><br>To reach Dharamsala from Amritsar we first took a local bus to Pathankot, in the far north of the state. Whilst wandering around the bus station in Pathankot I got the distinct impression that we had somehow ended up in war-torn Kashmir. On the outskirts of town we ...