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Hello, im afraid i dont have Microsoft Word here, so i appologise for poor spelling and punctuation in advance...
After Chandigarh we borded a state bus to Manali. We were all excited about this trip as we had been told that it was a frightening yet unforgettable scenic trip up into the hymalayian mountains along long winding roads. It was. As we climbed steadily into the hills we could feel the temperature drop. By the time we neared the town of Manali it was evening time and the temperature in the bus was bliss! i got goosebumps for the first time in months and seemed to gain a new burst of energy which had been sucked from me due to the relentless heat of privious areas since the tea plantations in the south.
We had booked a room in the centre of Manali but as it turned out the room was awful so we set off in search of another. This was easily achieved as there werer hundreds of rooms about. we settled down and ate at a delicious resaurant called chopsticks where we enjoyed momos and soups and a MAnali Cider!! the first cider since leaving england.
The views around manali were fantastic. I spent the next few days on a rental motorbike, which made explorations infinatly more exciting and allowed the freedom to visit surrounding sights such as the hot springs in vinesh and the waterfalls. I set out early one morning to takle the famous bikers trail up to the highest point in the area called Rotang Pass. it was 61KM from town and from what i had been told the roads were less than average. The roumours were true. This however didnt detract from the sheer beauty of the journey, through so many layers of the mouintains- along winding alpine roads surrounded by pine trees and wildlife i was alone on the bike with only a few jeeps and several Royal Enfields. The accent took around 4 hours with only a few hairy moments when the bike wanted to go a different direction to me under the loose gravel tracks which wound there way up through the mountains. The sun was shining and the air was clean. I was having the time of my life. I arrived at the top and got off the bike to strech my legs and to relieve my weiry behind the bike was silent for the first time in several hours and my ears felt as if they had gone under water. the silence was deafening as i pulled off my helmet and reached to touch the snow on the ground. It was an unforgettable feeling. i spent an hour at the top, eating samosas and drinking coffee and chai, watching the world go by. there were optomistic holiday makers attempting to scoot themselves along in the end of season snow. I was happy being a by stander, people watching with my hot drink.
Soon enough i was back on the bike and heading down the road towards home. the sun was less intence and the veiws became even more drematic as the haze subsided and the visibility increased. along the way myself and others were forced to stop and wait whilst roadswere resurfaced and dug up in small stretches. this was when it was handy to be on a bike- i could scoot past the stationary 4wheeled traffic and skirt alond the edge of the road works. this meant that i was ahead of the cars and made for a more peacful decent, as it was the end of the day and the traffic levels were higher (as they always seem to be in India). The temperature dropped as it got later which was very nice indeed and im sure the bike aprieciated it too, seeing as it had such a long day. However the clutch did apear to be sticking slightly... then more and more until i could no longer get the thing into gear! lucky for my it was downhill all the way, and after 5km of silent freewheeling i found a mechanic. I have never seen a bike get disasembled so quickly. the clutch was in pieces and a new spring was installed after only 10minutes and i was ready to go again. this whole oporation cost only 50p.
I reached the town at around six and was suprised to find Hugo and Mike with Mikes best friend and his girlfriend sitting at a hut drinking tea and watching the sunset. Gerald and Danina had been travelling the world for as many years as mike and although we knew they were in india, we had consitantly failed to line up a destination where we would all be at the same time. Clearly the only way it would work out was through complete chance. During the day, whilst i was riding, mike and hugo were visiting Old Manali, and had bumped into G and D. they were great to hang around with and full of stories... so we aranged to meet them for dinner, where the stories continued to flow late into the night. a great end to a perfect few days!
Next stop was McLeod Ganj, a small town around 7 hours bus ride from Manali near the border of Tibet, still in the mountains! We arrived in the evening and settled into our booked guesthouse. There was a great atmosphere in the town, one that i had never felt before. The place was peaceful yet busy and teaming with tibetan refugees who had settled here. As a result the food was INCREDIBLE. Tibetan dishes were all over the place. great healthy feel good food and street stalls serving up steamed momos and dips. Our favourite resaurant was a simple japanese place which was constantly busy and only had ten or so dishes on the menue - all of which were exceptional. Over the next few days we wondered the peaceful town aimlessly and achieved notheing but relaxation. we ate healthily and went on walks around the area. the climate was like england- clean air and lots of rain but this didnt seem to matter, infact it almost suited the town!
It was a shame to leave the mountains. As we got onto a bus heading to Amritsar to visit the golden temple i think we were all feeling the same way and we knew that this would be the last time we would be comfortably cool for a long time.
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