Manali

After an unprecedented final day in Shimla we boarded the overnight coach destined for Manali. Manali lies in the Kullu Valley, 80 miles from Tibet, cradled by the Pir Panjal mountain range to the north, Parvati to the east and Barabhagal to the west. The mountains range from 3500 to 6200m and add a beautifully stunning backdrop to the town.

The roads used by our coach driver were not really worthy of such a title, dirt tracks would be an apt description. It never once seemed to enter the driver's mind that these tracks skirted around valleys which were over 1km deep. Taking corners at speed Michael Schumacher would be proud of I feared to look out the window to see how close we were coming to plummeting over the edge. Luckily the coach travelled overnight so I couldn't see too much. The occasions I glanced out of the window I could not see road, only a perilous descent.

We arrived at stupid o clock, 5am I think, and because the coach ride felt more like a ride on Nemesis at Alton Towers I got very little sleep. Upon arrival in the hotel I went straight to sleep and didn't stir until 3pm.

Due to the spiralling costs of buying tea at cafes and hotels combined with the inconvenience of not having access to a brew when I most wanted one the purchase of a kettle was in order. Frustratingly the kettles were all overpriced and would have made packing a nightmare. Conceding defeat I informed the shopkeeper we needed something small and to "forget about it". He rummaged about in a draw and found an electronic filament, "fifty Rupees you say? I'll have it". All that was needed now was a flask to boil the water in, after picking this up I was a happy lad. Tea, whenever I want. Woohoo!

The next day it was time for my second and final Rabies vaccination, so what better time for Manali to close down and hold a religious festival. Alarm bells began ringing in my head: I needed that injection to live. Luckily a local Doctor had boycotted the festival and promised to administer the vaccine once I found an open drugstore. Eventually, after a lot of panic, and 6 hours later, a shop opened, then another, then,... a drugstore. I rushed in, picked up the prescription and got myself fixed.

Our third day saw us undertake a 15km hike to a city we never found. Bloody Typical! Setting off at 10am for a village called Solong, mapless and with a promise from the tourist office that we need just follow the path and we would arrive in 4 hours we did just that. It was a nice walk but after 4 hours we hit a dead end: An army base and a river. We attempted to skirt around the base following the outer wall around the bank of the river. Unfortunately the route became perilous, snow 3 feet deep blanketed a river bank which consisted of loosely piled rocks and a drop of over 6m into the rocky river bed. Peril and the vast quantities of snow entering our boots and le to an abandonment of the trek. We turned around and headed back to Manali for tea. At this point the backs of my legs were burning; forgetting to apply sun cream to my poor calves was a schoolboy error. My legs burnt, our destination unfulfilled and over 8km from food I was not a happy bunny.

Back at the hotel I spent the rest of the day taking photos of the mountains from the balcony, the view was so perfect I continued messing with my camera well into the evening and captured what I consider to be some beautiful scenes.



Orion sits neatly above the mountains.

View looking down the Valley.

Lunchtime.