Manali

Sunday 24^th May 2015

We arrived into Manali at around 5am the sun had just risen and the morning was pale and grey. We got off the bus and were immediately freezing everyone around us was bundled up in coats and gloves and scarfs I didn’t even have shoes on and my toes were fat little icicles.

As we were waiting for the bus driver to open up the back of the bus so we could get our bags when a guy came up to us advertising his guesthouse which was in Old Manali he said if we didn’t like his place then we could just pay him for the ride there.

We went with him to his car and waited while he went to hand out his card to some more people. While he was gone we looked up his hotel on Trip Advisor and he had really good reviews. We drove to Old Manali ad walked to the guesthouse which is set back quite far from the road we checked out a few rooms and decided to stay as it was a good price and all looked really decent.

We dropped our stuff and went to bed for a few hours since it was still only 6am and we hadn’t really slept on the bus since it hurtled around corners so fast it was difficult to stay in our seats.

When we woke up we were starving I hadn’t had dinner last night so was absolutely famished we had a hot shower and went out onto the balcony and ordered eggs on toast we sat and abused the Wi-Fi for a bit then got ourselves together and walked into town.

First stop was a café where we got coffee before continuing on the sky was cloudy and threatened to rain as we walked down the hill into town. We stopped off at a shop and got some peanut butter I even managed to find sugar free stuff (it’s for diabetics! That’s how uncommon sugar free peanut butter is in India)

We also got some hash from a man at a gems shop who clearly used the shop as a front for his drugs business as he knew nothing about the stones he was selling. By the time we left to walk back the rain had started but luckily it didn’t get heavy and we got back without getting too wet.

HP is very plastic conscience and so has several places to refill water bottles for cheap rather than constantly buying bottled water so we stopped off for a refill before heading back to the guesthouse we got lost a few times between all the building and the winding little paths but eventually made it back where we camped on the balcony for the afternoon to read and update my blog.

When we got hungry we couldn’t be bothered to walk into town so just ordered food at the guesthouse. By the time we had eaten it was really cold so after a quick trip to the shop to get chocolate we headed to bed to watch movies rolled up in blankets. We both struggled to stay awake and it was lights out by about 9pm

Monday 25^th May 2015

This morning I woke up early after going to bed so early last night. I finished my book and finally started one that Mark has been pushing me to read for ages. It took him ages to read and he complained the whole way through so I wasn’t very inspired to read it. I managed a chapter before I gave up and rewarded myself with something more of an easy read.

We had a lazy morning with me uploading photos and a blogpost while we ate peanut butter toast. The morning got lazier as just as we were heading out it decided to start raining it was light at first and so we made it to a café without really getting wet but about ten minutes after arriving there was a downpour and we ended up stuck there for several hours.

We started off with drinks and as the afternoon progressed we progressed onto lunch. Mid-afternoon we decided it was dry enough to take a walk and so wandered through town taking an easy stroll before heading back as the rain started again.

We got back to the guesthouse and chilled on the balcony watching the rain for a bit before it got too cold and we ended up in bed watching TV until we got hungry and braved the cold to sit on the balcony and eat before retreating back to the warmth.

Tuesday 26^th May 2015

We started off the day with a joint and some peanut butter toast and boiled eggs. As it has been the last few days the morning started out clear warm and sunny but before long had clouded over and began to rain.

We ventured down the hill a short way to get some coffee and wait for the weather to clear a bit and before we knew it we were eating apple pie and ice-cream for breakfast dessert.

We set out to walk through the nature park to New Manali to see what was going on. The nature park costs 5 rupees but is preferable to walking along the road being constantly honked at. We wound our way through the forest making our own path but it’s pretty small so even with all our dawdling it still only took us about 30 minutes to make it to the other side.

Burnt out tree in the Nature Park

Skull just chilling in the Nature Park

The trees in the Nature Park

dancing in the woods

is it a poo? no its a slug

New Manali was absolutely packed with vacationing Indian tourists we walked along the main street and checked out a few side streets but there isn’t too much to see there. We got talking to an old American lady (with an Indian toy boy) she was telling us how shocked she was to find that hotels in India don’t provide toilet paper, she said she was going to spend three months here I can only imagine it will be an eye opener for her.

We soon grew tired of the crowds and the noise so headed back to the nature park. Inside there is a small bird park that has pheasants in it. When I was in Manali two years ago there was a tiny baby bear in one of the enclosures that had been brought to the park after its mother was killed, I wanted to find out what had happened to it but there was no one around to ask.

The birds are beautiful but looked just as miserable as they did two years ago trapped in tiny concrete cages although I have to say their lunch of fresh fruit and veg did look pretty good.

We meandered back into town and I stopped to look in a shop while Mark charged on ahead I had no chance of catching up to him on my stubby legs so just cruised up the hill to the guesthouse.

I realised this morning that I’m almost out of clean clothes but since the weather was rainy and thundery I decided to just clean the necessities (read underwear) I did that and then sat in a corner with a face mask on that I picked up in New Manali when I stopped in the pharmacy for a few things.

We went out and had an absurdly early dinner since we hadn’t had any lunch and then came back to the guesthouse and ate m&ms while watching Cool Running’s.

Wednesday 27^th May 2015

We had one plan for today which was to check out the two temples in town. We started off well getting showered and having breakfast but then got a bit waylaid when we stopped for coffee (and a pancake) and met an Australian guy called Liam who we ended up chatting to for hours.

The coffee shop was a cool place to hang out and when we left I got some cookies to take away that were freshly baked and still hot from the oven.

Eventually we got moving to the temples stopping off at the Manu Temple first. It’s just up the hill from our guesthouse and is on the spot where Manu meditated after surviving the great flood (sort of like Noah and his ark)

The temple is quite modest it’s big in size but rather empty with just a central square alter with two idols on each of the four outer walls and one idol inside. The building isn’t the original rather it’s built on the same spot as the first temple of its name.

After the Manu temple we walked down through Old Manali across the bridge and up the hill on the other side to the Hidimba Temple. At the bottom of the steps where yaks that for 20 rupees toy could ride on but the rings in their noses and the general look of depression on their faces was enough to put me off, there were also heaps of woman walking around with angora rabbits for people to hold and have their picture taken with. It was all sorts of bizarre.

Yaks!

We walked up to the temple as the sky began to cloud over and the wind picked up. The temple is set amongst pine trees which were all swaying in the wind. The line to go inside the temple was insanely long so we just took a few pictures out front and then retreated before the rain started.

The temple is old having been around since 1553 so it would have been cool to go inside and see the idols inside, there is also an open air temple where pilgrims make offerings to a sacred tree so we walked to see that. Surrounding the tree were dozens more yaks and double the amount of woman with rabbits as well as one woman who had a lamb. She tried to get me to pay her for a photo with the lamb and even after I told her I was from NZ where there are more sheep than people she still persisted with the notion that it was some sort of once in a lifetime opportunity. (It wasn’t even a super cute lamb!)

We walked back to the guesthouse where we sat around for a bit smoking before deciding we were hungry and heading out to get food. We were meeting Liam at 7pm but since we hadn’t eaten for a while we decided to go early and have two dinners since we are absolute fatties.

We stayed out late eating all the food and the boys were drinking all the beers by the time we left it was the latest we had been out in months and well past our bedtime.

Thursday 28^th May 2015

Today we were up and at it earlyish for a change we had said we would meet Liam for coffee at 10am and since we are so slow moving in the morning this proved to be a bit of a challenge.

We got there and since we were at a bakery had a piece of cake and a chat then after a while decided to get moving with the day. We planned to walk to Vashisht its only 3km away and the Lonely Planet reckons it’s a nice 30minute walk.

Being the special cases we are we somehow missed the path that we were meant to be on and weaved along on these tiny dirt tracks through an apple orchard for an age before we saw the road down below us and made our way down to it.

Along the way we picked up a friendly dog who was over excited by the walk and if she was behind me on the path she kept head-butting me in the back of the legs more than once I almost took a tumble down the hill it turns out that steep narrow paths dogs and jandals are not a good combination for an easy walk.

Down on the road we followed the river along until we came to a rickety bridge by this stage we had walked far past the town but the views of the mountains with waterfalls cascading down and the general peacefulness of the deserted road was wonderful.

The bridge was in two parts one part going over a slow moving patch of river that wobbled when you walked across and then a slightly longer bridge of slightly better construction (only slightly) which was over a raging torrent of river the whole bridge moved when you walked across it was actually rather scary and when we got to the other side you could see the bridge was just held in place by stacks of rocks supporting wooden beams.

We walked into a small town which is past Vashisht where we found a turn off leading to a huge waterfall I was busting for a wee but every time I found a good spot for a nature wee people would appear we got to the bottom of the waterfall and I went bush down a hill ad had the best wee of my life.

We climbed higher up to get a good view of the falls where the pool at the bottom was calm enough to wade in but the place was rammed with people so we didn’t stay long we found a forest path that lead into town and headed that way through the forest until we arrived in the town.

We poked our noses over the wall to see into the hot springs inside the temple we would have taken a dip but for once the weather was blazing and the idea of a 41 degree hot pool didn’t appeal plus the baths are segregated and apparently the woman’s bath isn’t much to look at.

I did go across the way into the Rama Temple which looks ridiculously old from the outside and is tiny on the inside. I made friends with an Indian family who loved my tattoo and then we got caught up taking millions of photos with them.

We stopped for lunch at a cheap Indian place and all ate too much followed by coffee and then the walk back to Manali. We didn’t want to back track so we headed through town and then found a path down to the river unfortunately we had to walk along the road for a time and the cars were out in force honking and getting up in our grills.

When we reached New Manali we left Liam who needed to buy something in town and we headed back to Old Manali through the Nature Park. We stopped along the way home for freshly baked cookies which we munched on the balcony. By the time we reached the guesthouse I was exhausted and ready for bed, but instead I had a shower to lively myself up and sat on the internet for a while until we went out about 8pm to meet Liam for dinner.

We met up and walked across the river to a restaurant that is supposed to have the best food in Old Manali but it was pricey and none of us felt hungry enough to justify the prices so we headed back across the river and ate at a little backpacker’s hangout.

By the time we got back to our accommodation it was late and I fell into bed and slept through until late the next morning.

Waterfalls

Mark crossing the first wobbly bridge

The big dodgy bridge

Mountain town

Walking up to the waterrfall

The waterfall

raging river

view from the base of the waterfall

Waterfall

Yhe woods we walked through from the waterfall to Vashisht

Its sad that this sign is needed!

Rama Temple Vashisht

strangely this seemed to be a stop off point for people to paddle in the river...

Friday 29^th May 2015

We had a slow burning morning having breakfast and doing laundry before heading into town. As soon as we came out of the little alleyway our guesthouse is down we realised something was up. Everything was shut we couldn’t even get water.

We walked down through town and noticed a few cafes were secretly open we went in one and asked what was up. Since we have been in Manali there has been a strike of all the taxis and rickshaws the government has introduced an extortionate tax on one of the mountain passes popular with tourists doing day trips up to see the snow or go hiking, paragliding etc. the taxis are all striking but there isn’t really any organisation so I doubt it will achieve much. The shops all closed today in solidarity to the cause (except for the ones who secretly opened and most likely made a mint)

As everything was closed and the day was overcast and miserable we really didn’t feel like doing much so after eating all the freshly baked gooey cookies we headed back to the guesthouse where we watched TV all afternoon snuggled up in blankets on the balcony.

In the evening we headed out for an early dinner and saw that a few places were opening up for the evening trade. We found somewhere to eat and then headed back for more TV in bed.

Saturday 30^th May 2015

This morning was yet another slow start and another day of not really accomplishing much. After having breakfast on the balcony and watching the clouds come down to eventually cover the snowy mountains we walked into town for some coffee and cookies.

The coffee shop was rammed and super loud  and soon got tiresome Mark drank too much coffee and ended up having to go to bed for a lie down.

Eventually in the afternoon we got moving and headed to the nature park for a walk in the woods just as we walked in it started to rain and we didn’t have our jackets so luckily it only came down in bits. We walked all the way through and then turned back and went the other way as the rain started to come down a bit heavier.

I was super early but we decided to have dinner anyway we checked out a restaurant that I went to a lot when I was in Manali two years ago but the standard had gone downhill a lot the service was great but the food was a bit average and the portions were tiny so we ended up going to have second dinner and sharing a pizza.

By 7pm we had showered and were in bed watching TV and eating chocolate

Cows eating rubbish

one of the old style houses in Old Manali

if you look really close you can see the mountains!

Shim Shimla!!!

Wednesday 20^th May 2015

I awoke as the sun was coming up we were high in the mountains and it was about 5am so I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep the bus was so uncomfortable it was hard to get any lasting sleep. Around 6am we stopped for ages at a little side of the road tea stall it was about the forth stop we had taken (the first was about an hour after we left and lasted for about an hour) I got up and stretched my cramped legs waiting to get moving again.

Mark moved to the back of the bus where there was no one sitting and lay down and went back to sleep I took up both of our seats and was dozing as the bus moved off when suddenly everyone was shouting and the bus came to a sudden stop the guy in front of me thought we had left mark behind!

I went back to sleep and woke up about an hour later at yet another stop although this one was slightly welcome as I really needed a wee. We finally got moving again and I dozed the rest of the way. The bus turfed us out on the side of the road about 7km away from Shimla town of course the taxi drivers descended on us immediately trying to get us to go with them for the bargain price of 250 rupees we instead opted to catch the local bus which cost us five rupees.

The bus didn’t take us as close as we had hoped and we still had to walk a decent distance all uphill. The main street of Shimla is pedestrian only so we couldn’t have got much further even if we wanted to. The town is riddled with touts selling hotels and porters trying to make a buck by carrying people’s luggage but we ignored them all and eventually found somewhere to stay.

Shimla is a pretty expensive town but we managed to get a nice place with a stunning view and a balcony. We checked in and had showers before going to bed for a nap. By the time we woke up we were starving so we wondered down into town to get some lunch. We found an Indian place and I ordered something I’d never heard of before which turned out to be an absolute winner (it’s a shame I was too tired to bother remembering what it was called)

The view from our balcony

The Ridge 

The view on snow-capped mountains from The Ridge

We walked about a bit but really we both felt exhausted so we went back to the guesthouse where Mark spent the rest of the afternoon napping and I read my book. About 7.30pm we headed to out to get some dinner neither of us were particualy hungry so we found a place and had a little munch before heading back to bed for even more sleep.

Thursday 21^st May 2015

Despite sleeping all day yesterday and then all night we still somehow managed to sleep in. we got up and headed to breakfast at this atmospheric old Indian coffee house the food was good and cheap and the waiters all wore old school traditional uniforms with funny hats.

Old coffee posters

After eating we headed up to Jakhu temple at the bottom of the hill there was a sign to test your fitness it reckoned under 30 minutes for people aged under 30 was incredibly fit so we decided to challenge ourselves and set off upwards although the steep hill soon had me lagging behind we made it to the top in less than 22 minutes.

At the top is a giant 33m high statue of Hanuman that is currently covered in bamboo scaffolding while it is repainted the guys painting it were bare foot balanced on bamboo beams held together with brown string. We sat and watched them paint for a while until a huge monkey came and bothered us there was an Indian tourist who had a stick and chased him away he said that the monkeys steal things like sunglasses and hold them ransom for food! We put everything we had in our bag and stayed away from the many monkeys who swarmed the temple.

The weird statues that marked our arrival at the temple.

On the way up to the temple we saw this man turning a burnt out car into a convertible with an axe.

The men painting the Hanuman statue

a stupid man feeding a monkey - it got angry when he ran out of food - what a surprise

Jakhu Temple

One of the menacing monkeys sitting in the cutest pose.

Monkeys sleeping on somebodies house

The sign that challenged us

The lonely planet claimed that the temple had great views but there were too many trees to see far. The temple was pretty though and the grounds were lovely (even though they were teaming with sneaky monkeys)

We walked back down and took a few pic of Christ Church which is the second oldest church in India I wanted to go inside as it apparently has beautiful stained glass windows but it was all locked up. We walked down to the mall and had some hot chips for lunch followed by an ice-cream.

We were waiting for the bus ticket office to open to enquire about buses to Manali and killed time by going into Gaiety theatre. We had a tour along with another English couple the guide was hugely passionate about the theatre which was beautiful. We got to go up on stage and sit in the VIP box as well as up on the balcony. It’s a shame there are no shows playing while we are in town. Up the top of the theatre was a photo gallery displaying all sorts of pictures from before the theatres restoration as well as the theatre in its heyday.

View of the theater from the stage

View of the stage from the VIP box

We came out of the theatre and headed to the bus ticket counter where we got tickets for a few days’ time. With that done we walked about 4km to the Former Viceregal lodge which now houses the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies but there are a few rooms open to the public as well as the lawns and gardens. We bought tickets and walked around the grounds for 45minutes until our guided tour at 5pm. We only got to go into three rooms as well as the huge lobby but it is all spectacularly well kept the entire building is like an English Manor house.

Me standing outside the Former Viceregal Lodge

Some of the gardens

We came out and started the trek back into town we were both hungry so stopped for food at the first restaurant we came to. We then wanted to go to the cinema and walked there through a maze of alleyways and through the bustling market only to be told we were the only people who had come to the screening and so they weren’t going to show anything and just close the cinema for the night which was a disappointment.

We walked back heading through this long tunnel that goes under the mall when we walked in on one side it was sunset and by the time we walked out the other side night ha fallen and we were in darkness. We found our way back up to the ridge and from there back to our guesthouse where we showed and watched TV (a poor substitute for the cinema!)

Friday 22^nd May 2015

After not drinking nearly enough water yesterday I couldn’t wake up this morning my head felt all cloudy my eyes were all puffy and my tongue felt like a sponge. Eventually I managed to wake up by having a shower and we got moving to the Indian coffee house for breakfast.

With food in our bellies we walked down the hill to the train station. Shimla has a tiny toy train that runs up the hill from Kalka taking about 4-6 hours but I wanted to see if we could take a shorter (much shorter) ride as the scenery is supposed to be spectacular. Unfortunately it wasn’t possible and so we just had to walk back up the hill.

We walked back through town right the length of the mall and kept going on the other side out of town to where there is a big old house that is now a hotel which has a big garden restaurant we sat out in the sun and Mark drank Gin and tonic and I had a pot of tea. The place was cute as heck with the waiters dressed in little suits and hats it was a lovely location and we had the whole place to ourselves. There was a young girl who seemed to be some sort of manager there who couldn’t seem to work out why we had come to Shimla it sounded as though she would rather be anywhere else, she also couldn’t work out why I wouldn’t want to drink.

We sat in the sunshine for a few hours until we got hungry then we walked back into town and found a restaurant with a terrace and a great view of Shimla. We had real pizzas and Mark drank all the beer the food was amazing so we got dessert as well. There was a group of young lawyers (we knew they were lawyers because one guy said very loudly “what better way for young lawyers to spend a Friday afternoon”) they were a bit of a laugh and gave us some good recommendations for places in HP.

Enjoying the sunshine and the food (really he was enjoying himself)

When the sun moved and there was no more shade it was time to go back to the guesthouse where we chilled out and had showers before going out for dinner it was a real “treat yoself” kind of day. We went to a rotund restaurant and had delicious curry then waddled back up the hill to do some laundry and watch movies.

Saturday 23^rd May 2015

We had to be out of our hotel by midday, the owner clearly disliked us as I think he thought we would be a cash cow when we arrived but actually didn’t spend any other money at the hotel other than the room much to his dislike. He begrudgingly said we could leave our bags in the hotel for the day until our night bus but we didn’t leave anything important behind.

We went and had breakfast and came back and packed we had also broken his rule about doing laundry in the room and he clearly knew as Mark had to hang some things on the balcony to make sure they were all dry before we headed off.

We left our bags and headed out for some lunch we went back to the place we spent the afternoon yesterday and ate too much again but made up for it by going on a long walk to the Himmachel state museum. The walk was the best part of the museum which was a bit boring but is housed in a beautiful old house.

After the museum we walked a little further along the road to the Himalayan bird park which also proved to be a disappointment. The park was a bit old and tired, all the water features were empty except one which was full of dirty water but the birds seemed happy and healthy and there were some rather amusing stuffed animals that had passed their prime.

Who knew birds liked to live in kennels?

By the time we walked back into town it was around 5pm so we killed time getting a coffee and later on Mark ate dinner but I was still full from lunch. Eventually we made a move back to the hotel to pick up our bags and head to the bus station.

Me and all my bags outside Christ Church Cathedral - The second oldest church in India

We had been advised to take the lift down to the road rather than walk but what a mistake that was, there are two lifts which cost us and our bags 40 rupees to ride down (there are stairs but they are locked forcing people to use the paying lift) in normal Indian fashion everyone pushed and at one stage two guys went into a lift and headed down without waiting for the lift to fill up even though there was a massive queue waiting.

The lift took us the best part of 30 minutes which was far longer than it would have taken us to walk down the other side of the hill and meant we were standing around with our packs on for much longer.

Once on the road we had to get a bus to the old bus stand and from there get another bus to the new bus stand but we lucked out and the bus we got on dropped us off at a cross roads where we could get a second bus and didn’t even charge us for the ride.

The bus to the new bus station was a nightmare it was already full when we got on and I couldn’t balance standing at the top of the steps without enough room to stand tall and so was being pulled over backwards by my bad almost falling out of the door. Luckily it wasn’t far when we got there I was trying to reverse out of the door without falling flat on my back like a turtle when an impatient Indian girl pushed me out luckily I found my feet (and karma got that bitch as she was on our bus sat behind a hugely fat man who spent the entire bus ride of ten hours spewing out of the window)

We found our bus and put our bags on even though we had left with plenty of time the wait around at the lift meant that we arrived with just enough time to put our bags on go for a final toilet break and get on and go.

Knowing that the roads would not make me feel happy I instantly put on my music and tried to go to sleep but it was difficult as the driver clearly thought he was in some sort of a race and the sky was constantly lighting up with a huge lightning storm. Luckily all it did was rain a little bit and we didn’t have to spent the night on a bus in a storm in the mountains as that would have been just too much for me

The last few days in Rishikesh

Wednesday 13^th May 2015

This morning all I wanted to do was upload some photos and get a blog post sorted but as usual the internet let me down I eventually got it down after about four hours and I was ready to pitch a fit.

We headed back to the guesthouse to drop off the laptop and get some shoes to go adventuring to a waterfall but along the way the sky clouded over and by the time we got back it was pouring with rain and the thunder and lightning was echoing all around.

We ended up spending most of the afternoon reading, drawing and napping before heading out to dinner (as soon as we left the rain started again!) we sat in a restaurant all evening eating all the food and waiting for the rain to stop.

Thursday 14^th May 2015

After eating so much last night I wasn’t interested in breakfast so I stayed at the guesthouse and tidied up our stuff somewhat.

When Mark came back we went off on a mission to find the waterfall there were two to choose from and we decided on the one less visited and that was free. We walked for about 30minutes up the hill behind the guesthouse asking people as we went if we were going the right way we got to a small temple where two young guys were sitting and asked them if we were going the right way and they were adamant there was no waterfall the way we were going.

As they were locals we decided to trust their judgment and go the waterfall we had to pay to see we figured it would be easier to find. We sat by the temple having a rest and I got stung by a tiny wasp which wasn’t very happy making.

We walked all the way back down and started off towards the other waterfall unfortunately the walk was along the road which was extremely busy with cars buses and trucks constantly hurtling past. The noise combined with the fierce heat of the sun soon made us turnaround. We weren’t even sure if we were going the right way so we decide to just go to the beach instead.

We went back past the guesthouse so I could change back into jandals and then headed for some lunch before hitting the beach. We went to eat at an apparently famous restaurant called Chotiwala outside of which sits a fat man painted pink with his hair sticking straight up from his head in a single braid. The food was ok but nothing to write home about.

Crazy Chotiwala man

We headed to the each and found a big rock to sit on not long after we arrived a big dog came and sat by us he seemed friendly enough so we let him be. We were just about to leave when three young guys came up wanting a photo with us I said no but the guy kept asking and wouldn’t leave which was when the dog lost his shit growling and barking at the guys. They kept asking me to call off my dog but I couldn’t get him to calm down and in the end he chased the three guys right off the beach.

There was an old dog feeding biscuits to some female dogs who was convinced that the dog had protected us from some bad boys it was certainly one way to get out of having our picture taken!

The dog then came back to us and walked with us for a while until he wondered into some other dogs patch and they chased him back the way we came.

On the way back to the guesthouse we stopped for a coffee then went back for showers and then thalis for dinner.

Friday 15^th May 2015

We went to breakfast across the bridge this morning, they forgot our order and so the meal went on for an age. Of course after eating we had to get coffee so that slowed down the process as well.

After food we went to the beach between the two bridges there was a couple of tourists dressed only in tiny swimsuits doing yoga on the beach and were being circled by a large amount of young Indian guys much to our amusement. As for them they seemed completely oblivious to the spectacle they were causing which made it even funnier.

We spent a while at the beach Mark had his shirt wrapped on his head like a turban as he got sunburnt yesterday which was amusing.

At 3pm we went to meet Verity for a late lunch we didn’t actually know where she meant so it was lucky we had WhatsApp as we were on the wrong side of the river. We crossed over and soon found the place she meant.

We ate and caught up on life then took a walk along the river we passed a burning ghat which had several funeral pyres in full swing but no one around which was rather eerie.

We walked all the way down past people swimming and bathing (not something I would do down river to a burning corpse but who am I to question it) we headed for Deyanandas Ashram where we had a poke around in the bookshop before heading back the way we came.

Along the way we picked up a lively dog who didn’t want to leave us and only did when she was chased off by a pack of dogs.

We said our goodbyes along the road and continued on back up the hill to our guesthouse where we chilled out for a bit and had showers before heading to a café for a chilled evening.

Today the dogs seemed to be in a very weird mood there was the one that followed us by the river then when we went to the guesthouse there was a pack of them howling and running about, when we went for dinner three dogs went speeding down the road past us and we came across another pack of dogs in a fight with a cow, then on the way home they were all tearing about in groups howling and chasing each other and barking at cars and people it was all very strange.

Saturday 16^th May 2015

This morning was much the same as most mornings we slept late and then did some laundry before getting on with the day. Although we didn’t do much with it. We were too late for breakfast so had lunch and then headed to a café so Mark could abuse the Wi-Fi by skyping everyone he knew.

We spent a long time in there drinking tea and eventually getting pancakes after watching other people enjoying them. That was about all we did we went back to the guesthouse and only left again to eat again after which we headed home again where I started feeling ill and it all went downhill.

Sunday 17^th May 2015

After being up most of the night ill I woke up not really wanting to do a lot we were supposed to leave tomorrow but we decided to push it back a day rather than risk being stuck on a bus for 10 hours with no bathroom.

I spent the morning in bed while Mark went and had breakfast and by around midday I was starting to feel a bit better we went out to meet Verity for lunch trying out a place a few people had told us about which was loungy and chilled out.

We decided it would be nice to go and hang out by the river and cool down so we took verity to the beach we frequent its normally lovely and quiet and relaxed down there but today there was a group of horrible drunk young Indian guys.

We swam (fully clothed) and then chilled out talking while they sat and stared at us and we ignored them after some time one guy approached and started talking to Mark his English was terrible and he was annoying and rude so we asked him to leave but he persisted and it soon became clear that he was trying to buy us from Mark, the final straw being when he asked Mark to leave so they could have us.

We were meeting up with Verity’s boyfriend anyway so decided to just leave them to the beach only they also left and followed us down the road we kept stopping so they could walk on ahead but then they would stop and try to talk to us, obviously determined to buy us. As was inevitable it had to pretty much come to blows before they disappeared. Bizarrely they chickened out and left after Mark pushed one of them despite the fact that there was one of Mark and five of them.

We got back into town and met up with Vimal we were still full from lunch so we headed to a café and got a drink and hung out for a while until Mark decided he was starving and we headed off to get some food. Mark ended up eating most of mine since I wasn’t really hungry at all.

We all walked back up to the main road together where Verity and Vimal got an auto back down to Ram Jhula and Mark and I headed further up the hill to our guesthouse and bed. Despite only being about 9.30pm I was shattered after my lack of sleep last night and went straight to bed.

Monday 18^th May 2015

Today was a bit more productive than normal we started off with an idly at a dharba before heading across Lakshman Jhula to enquire about having an astrology horoscope done. We made an appointment and then stopped off at Marks favourite café so he could drink all the coffee.

Feeling energised we walked back to the guesthouse so Mark could put shoes on since his jandals were hurting his little tosies. We then struggled to get a shared auto down to Rishikesh town everyone wanted to rip us off or claimed that we couldn’t go to the market because of the traffic. 

After negotiating with three separate drivers agreeing on a price and then being told they can’t take us eventually we were on the mover in a rickshaw so overstuffed that I had to sit on the floor, it was so hot that the metal was burning me through my pants and on several occasions I feared I was going to fall out of the open door.

In the end we got where we needed to be and got out of the rickshaw right by a store called “phone zone” which was exactly what we wanted since we were in town to buy me a phone (not that I’m going to use it until I return to normal life but since phones in India are incredibly cheap and Mark is a geek who loves geeky things like finding me an awesome Indian phone it seemed like a great idea.)

After shopping about a bit we walked out of the shop with me the proud owner of a phone that’s going to sit in the bottom of my bag for the next few months. We were feeling a bit hungry so went to a local restaurant that had been recommended to us, the place was rammed and rightly so since the food was incredible we walked out feeling stuffed and got an auto back up to Ram Jhula this time no haggling was required as the man started off with the fair price for once.

We got out of the rickshaw and crossed over the bridge which took an age since it was full of waddling fat old pilgrims constantly stopping to take endless selfies. We grabbed some water and then headed to the beach for a final paddle and a sit by the water people watching.

When it came time we headed back towards Lakshman Jhula t the Astrology centre. We were a bit early but went in anyway here had been a bit of a muddle with our appointment and the Dr was in the middle of teaching some students so we were kind of interrupting but it was probably beneficial for them as they got to listen in our readings.

The future seems pretty positive and the reading has made a few things clearer but as usual I found it hard to ask any questions when there were so many people listening in, thankfully he gave us his card and told us to email him with any questions we might have. The world is a technological place!

We had about an hour before we were meeting Verity for dinner so we chilled out in a café overlooking the water where as soon as it got dark I was attacked by mosquitos. We had a cup of tea and Mark set up my new phone before Verity arrived and we headed to a cheap dharba for food.

After such an amazing lunch I wasn’t feeling too hungry so we shared a dosa and sat and chatted for a long while. Just after 9pm we had to head off to make sure Verity got back to the Ashram before the gate was locked at 10pm. We said our goodbyes and headed home to pack up our things in preparation of leaving tomorrow.

Tuesday 19^th May 2015

We decided to head to Shimla today we had no idea what time the bus was only that it would take us about ten hours from Dehra Dun which is about an hour from Rishikesh. We had a slow morning packing up and having breakfast and then got a rickshaw down to the Rishikesh bus stand it took us an age as the drivers refused to give us a fair price in the end we managed to get something a bit cheaper at 150 rupees but still clearly unfair as was evident when the driver picked up an Indian tourist at Ram Jhula (about 5mins from where we stated out) and took him for a mere 30 rupees.

Mark trying to straighten the poles from my pack after they got bent falling off a cliff in the bike accident.

At the bus station we got on the first bus to Dehra Dun that appeared but it was a bit of a fail as it went around about way and didn’t go to the bus station we needed to be at we had to get a rickshaw there and when we arrived it was in the middle of nowhere. We went to the info counter and asked what time the bus was it turned out that there was one at 6pm that arrived at about 3am or one at midnight that arrived at 8am. We decided to take the midnight one which left us waiting at a bus station in the middle of nowhere for ten hours.

Luckily there was a restaurant that didn’t seem to mind us sitting there for the entire day we killed time by reading, colouring in and eventually watching some TV on the laptop. We had lunch and later on dinner sitting there only moving when the restaurant closed.

Deformed water bottle

Colouring in like a boss

We moved to the platform and sat amongst our bags drawing all sorts of attention the most disturbing being a man that appeared in front of me between two buses wanking. At first glance I thought he was having a wee but no he was full on wanking. Mark had gone off to ask something about the bus but as soon as I saw him walking back I yelled out to him that there was a man wanking and pointed at him as soon as I did he ran off and no one bothered to chase him although after that security came out in force.

The bus arrived late and when it did come it was a scramble for everyone to get on. We pushed our way on and shoved our bags onto a seat and sat next to them looking forward to ten hours on a shitty local bus with no leg space and hard straight back chairs.

I put my headphones in and blacked out the world.