Day 15-18 Delhi-Jaipur 24-27/082012

Setting out from our hotel early we walked the stones throw to new Delhi station to book tickets for what we thought was a regular service. Things are never so simple in India, an hour later we exited the tourist ticket office as it was beginning to congeal with tickets on the earliest train possible which left us 5 hours in Delhi encumbered with our bags. I had also taken the precaution to try my hand at planning ahead and booked trains from Jaipur to Kollam in the south via Udaipur but I wont go too far into that, needless to say that didn’t even go to plan. Our train was departing from old Delhi so that’s where we set our sights for and eventually cut our way through the hubbub to the metro system, which is the most advanced thing other than planes that I have witnessed on my trip thus far. The metro took us swiftly to the old Delhi station where we were hoping to store our bags until our train left however this was not possible so we instead struck out into old Delhi bags and all to find some breakfast. After a cheap and cheerful brunch in a chai house we decided to investigate Delhi's red fort that stood dominating the horizon at the end of the street we had found ourselves on. The fort was impressively imposing however it was not safe from the litter. We were forced to flee our perch beneath a tree in its grounds by an oncoming monsoon shower, which we did not all together avoid. We slowly made our way back to the station between fits of cover and were soon seated on our first sleeper class train, the class I will soon becoming very well acquainted with. Our four companions for the trip to Jaipur were two Indian gentlemen heading to stops past Jaipur and a couple who were alighting in Jaipur as well. Of the couple the Naresh was American with Indian heritage and Isabelle was Canadian, Naresh acted as a translator for the inquisitive locals. The trip was over in a blur of reading, in depth conversation about the litter situation in India and a few other conversations (I think one of the guys wanted to meet me in Udaipur but we will never know). We were greeted at the station by the standard rabble of touts trying to drag you apart to different places to stay. We eventually found somewhere cheap to stay and called it a night.

I took breakfast on the rooftop and discussed what to do with the day with my three companions. Naresh had worked in Jaipur a few months before and managed to organise a cab for the day and we went to some of the major attractions Jaipur had to offer which consisted of a couple of forts, a yard full of astronomy equipment built from stone and a place know as the windy palace. The first fort was pretty impressive and you could imagine how grand it would have been back in its day as it was still grander by far than most building in use in India today. The second fort offered a 280 degree view of Jaipur and enlightened me as to the true extent of the city which I had previously thought to be relatively small, the fort itself was more of a fortified mansion in comparison to the first. The windy palace was much more impressive from the outside but the astronomy yard was pretty interesting. Along the way we had a chance encounter with another couple that Naresh and Isabelle knew and after we had finished seeing the sites they went for dinner together at a fancy restaurant which I forwent. Instead Arthur and I had dinner at the rooftop café before saying our goodbyes as he was going on his own way. I decided to stay on the roof and have a couple of beers that night and it proved to be fairly eventful. First I watched a puppet show and attempted to learn the art myself to no avail. I then shared a few drinks with three guys who were apparently out for birthday drinks, however Raj whose birthday it was was not happy as his horse was ill, the conversation moved on to them trying to get me to go to their party which I cautiously but courteously did not go to. They then tried to convince me to go to a farmhouse on the morrow for breakfast and to fly a kite, which I said maybe to and stalled them for an answer until they had to go, being on my own again I had decided I should probably be on the safe side. Not too long after the two couples returned and we finished the night around a table with a sheesha pipe.

On my second day in Jaipur I decided I would join the two couples to the last sight that we had not had time to do the day before. Before doing so though we went to one of the orphanages that Naresh had been volunteering at to volunteer ourselves. The orphanage was only small with about fifteen kids, was located at the back of an apartment block and consisted of a dorm a corridor and a classroom. We spent an hour or so there playing games that I had not played in a long time with timeless classics as; duck duck goose, charades, sleeping lions and also a few that I had not come across before. The kids were really well behaved but as with any group of kids some were more engaging than others and due to their backgrounds they were all at different stages with their educations. After that we headed to Albert hall which was a museum set within an ornate hall that had been constructed at the same time as Jaipur had been painted 'pink' when king Albert had visited. There were a few good exhibits but I grew bored fairly quickly and sat in the grounds while the others finished their rounds. We took lunch in the pink city within the main bazaar in a fairly fancy restaurant and when we left we were greeted with what seems to be the standard 3/4ish downpour. We got collected from the door instead and head off to the second orphanage stopping off en route to see if we could get cinema tickets at 'the most famous cinema in India' but were met with disappointment there to set off again. We arrived at the orphanage just as the sun was setting. This orphanage was its own building that looked to be still under construction, none the less it was much larger than the first we had been to and the age range of the kids was much greater too. They were timid at first however I soon found myself; being prodded doing the macarena along with other dances. After about half an hour some Henna was introduced to the equation and I was soon being tattooed by a young girl called Pooja who after finishing signed her masterpiece. The others also bore the evidence of the combination of the henna mixed with kids, each with their own distinct style. After the henna ran out the kids went off to bed and we headed back to our various hotels too and the rest of my evening was just relaxing and reading....

Day 13-14 Manali – Shimla – Delhi 22-23/082012

It was raining when we set off down the hill towards the main bus station in the middle of town, luckily the sky was clearing and we hardly got wet on our early morning trudge. Once we found the station we needed to find the bus, before we got far an English guy called Alistair made himself known to us asking if we were heading to Shimla. Alistair was of the opinion that the bus we needed to get was not the bus we needed as the driver was 'lying' to him (he did not much trust the natives) in the end we got on the bus and waited to depart. The journey was long and confusing; after thirty minutes we stopped for about half an hour and eventually were told we had to switch buses which I did in a very groggy fashion as I had just managed to get to sleep. I think because the bookings were slim our service turned into a slow one and we stopped a lot along the way. We stopped for breakfast which for me essentially consisted of a potato naan and that was my food for the day until dinner, since arriving in India I’ve not been hungry during the day so I have been forgoing lunch. The change in scenery over the duration of our voyage was not as impressive as previous bus journeys though the vistas were just as stunning. The rest of the trip was a blur of amazing views, stops and 'A dance of dragons' and in no time we had arrived in Shimla.

The afternoon was waxing upon our arrival so, accompanied now with Alistair too, we decided to try and walk into town. We had not got far when a local man offered a lift in his car, we gracefully accepted and promptly piled into his Clio sized car with huge bags on lap. After a short trip along, through and up the ridge that Shimla is located upon he dropped us at the central bus stand with directions on how to reach the town centre. We made the final ascent, laden with heavy bags, through a busy Tibetan market and upon reaching the top of the ridge were all stood agog, we had suddenly stepped into a classic British town from 1900. In the days of British occupation Shimla had served as a summer retreat for the Raj and as a consequence the architecture was bizarrely out of place for an Indian town. After our initial shock had subsided we quickly found a place to stay, an old YMCA, and set out in a hurry to find the toy train station to book tickets for the next day as we had been told we needed to get there before 6. after walking a long way down the ridge we eventually found the station only to find that the ticket booth had closed 15 minutes before at five, balls. We made our way up to the town centre to find some food and after a long search for somewhere good we found a cheap chai house where we had a really good (and cheap) dinner before heading back to the hostel for a read and another early night.

The next morning we had an earlyish breakfasts at the hostel before rushing down to get to the station in order to try and get tickets for the earliest train possible to Kalka, as we had organised to meet Dave in Jaipur the next day. Luckily this turned out to be simple and unbelievably cheap and soon we were sat with a cabin to ourselves trundling at a leisurely pace through the foothills of the Himalayas in a half sized train. For the first hour or two most of the views were obscured by the clouds that descend on the valleys in the nights, however as the sun slowly drew the clouds up with invisible strings the astounding views that we had been told of were clear to see. The distance the train covered around one hundred kilometres but took around six hours as there were extended stops at stations in order to let other trains past. The time was well spent catching up on my blog, reading and gazing out the window watching the green landscape slip past only to be replaced with fresh scenery as the train passed though countless long tunnels bored through the hills. As the terrain slowly flattened out we arrived at Kalka where we braved the throng molesting the ticket booth in order to book travel to Delhi. It took a while but we emerged from the ordeal with tickets, we had a cup of tea and found our seats on the train to await departure. As far as a first encounter with India's train system is concerned we were eased in gently with seats on an air conditioned express service that took only four hours. Our tickets included complementary food the highlights of which were; half a coleslaw sandwich and what can only be described as sweet almond fibre glass. The trip passed by comfortably as our seats had a power point and I had a large library of TV on my laptop to complement it. Once we arrived in Delhi we found a place to stay with the addition of a girl called Alice who tagged along from the station. That night we met up with Dave and roy for a few drinks before turning in for the night...

Day 9-13 18-22/09/2012

The time spent waiting for the bus to Manali was the first night in Leh where I witnessed its transformation that occurs after the town closes down, after hours the dogs rule the city coming out in strength to play and socialise. We watched while we waited for the bus that was supposed to depart at one o’Clock, when most of the other buses had come and gone we were eventually piled onto the last bus and told there had been a mistake. The first few hours of the journey were painful for me due to needing the toilet, a break that was not scheduled until 9am, waiting was not an option so when we had to stop for other reasons I made hast down the road to be close to nature as the sun rose (under cover from the buses however not from the yurt and its occupants higher up the side of the valley). I spent the next few hours dozing and awoke to find that we had made the 9 o’Clock breakfast/passport stop, I took the chance to stretch my legs and buy a safe biscuit based breakfast before the endless voyage continued. The scenery did not change much over the hours that passed between breakfast and lunch and I filled my time with reading my book. Lunch was a hearty bowl of noodles at a mountain pass camp amongst a few other bus passengers, the tent we ate in looked to double up as accommodation for through fair that may need it. The rest of the journey saw the bare mountains grow greener and denser of vegetation as we dropped steadily passed the threshold altitude limit that nature seemed to have set. By the time we descended upon Manali the mountains were clad in pine forests and the valley was capped with cloud. Once we alighted the bus we made our way through the streets of the old town and found a cheap and clean hotel that would suit our needs and settled in for the night.

The next morning was a late start as we caught up on some sleep, we walked down towards the town centre to see what Manali had to offer, stopping on the way for breakfast. It didn’t take long to find a tourist office however the news they bore was naught but disappointment. We had hoped to do some paragliding along with either trekking or some mediation at a Buddhist temple, however the weather was too poor for the paragliding and trekking and meditation courses were all too long for our needs. Despite this we made a plan to go on a walk and a day trip before heading back to our hostel for a lazy afternoon. That evening after dinner we went for a drink at a couple of the tourist bar/restaurants that were near our hostel. In the last restaurant we frequented we met a group of Israelis playing some card games and deigned to join them. They turned out to be travelling around India for 11 months after completing their national service and we spent the last hour or so of service with them playing cards whilst enjoying a couple of beers and a shisha. The short walk home was a jolly one and I was out like a light as soon as my head hit the pillow.

On day two we got up relatively early and walked to town via a Hindu temple situated in the woods the road circumvented. The temple was simple and large on the outside but surprisingly small on the inside and the rocky ground it was built on rose into the small chamber taking up most of the room. I didn’t know what I was expecting however this was still not what I had imagined a Hindu temple to be like. We continued down to town to find a Buddhist temple which turned out to be relatively small compared top the few we had already seen but much the same in style and complete with a large statue of the Buddha. From town we went on a trip up the valley to a town called Vashisht which boasts a couple of temples and baths that are heated by hot springs. Having a slight hangover we took the lazy option of taking a rickshaw as the village was up a hill. The village had two temples; one an ancient Raman temple and the second which boasted the hot baths, which were full when we visited. After the temples we had lunch atop a restaurant with a view before setting off on a short walk out of the village and along the path of a mountain river. We didn’t find a good view of the valley due to the dense canopy however the walk back trough the outskirts gave a better insight into community as we passed the place where the water from the hot springs was used by the village for washing clothes and the baths the tourists didn’t use. We returned to the hostel the way we came and had another relaxed evening.

On our final day in Manali we rose early in order to meet the guide we had hired to take us up into the mountains above Manali. En route we found a café and had a cinnamon roll for breakfast and met our guide in the town shortly after. He took us up through the back streets of the town which we would not have otherwise seen. We passed a permanent camp still well within the confines of the town which had poor living conditions and continued up and out of the town. We passed the Hindu temple that we had visited the day before and on the outer extremities a group of schools. After we passed the town limits the going got a lot steeper and we started our ascent beneath pine sentinels that seemingly march down the slopes of the lower Himalayas out of the clouds that coalesce at the mountains' shoulders. The climb was arduous due to the constant damp conditions caused by the tail end of the monsoon season however we managed to make good time non the less. Half way up, when the undergrowth had turned from grass to a sea of bracken we chanced upon another group of walkers whose names were; Vicky, Alice and Charmain who where apparently following the same walk as us. The second half of the upwards journey was enjoyable for the new conversation however soon the talk subsided a bit as we had to concentrate on no slipping into the forests of young pine and six foot thistles that lined what could only really be called a game trail. We eventually reached Lam Dum which was a surprise to the whole troop as the location that had seemingly warranted a name was a unassuming section of path, however no-one complained at a chance to stop for lunch. After a lunch consisting of a roll of brown bread we made of Manali again which was easier said than done as it had been raining intermittently all afternoon making the muddy trail treacherous, we quickly came up with a point system for the spectacular pratfalls on the many pitfalls that were scattered along the perilous path. The downwards journey was much the same as the way up along a different path to lead us back to the guest house. After a few hours of putting our feet up we met up with the girls for some food in the evening. After some sheesha for desert we had an early night as our bus to Shimla would be setting off at six the next morning...

Day 6-8 Leh 15-17/09/2012

Upon waking up on the first day in Leh we were told that it was India’s independence day and we attempted to find the local festivities for the national holiday. Unfortunately however after working our way through the main streets of the bazaar to the polo field, where we had heard the festivities would take place, we discovered that the events had all but finished and the main events and we had arrived just in time for the awards. After leaving the field I wondered around the bazaar before having a continental breakfast in a restaurant above the bazaar. The rest of the day was spent just wondering around town, shopping and taking it easy. Some of you may know I have been interested in obtaining a wooden flute and I finally managed to find one giving me one more thing to learn as I travel the world, I also thought it prudent to purchase some clothes that would befit the country I am trying to discover. After a spot of dinner down the road from our accommodation I said my farewells to Dave as he was leaving very early in the morning and had an early night.

On my second day in Leh I went for a further exploration of the higher tiers of the city, working my way up to the old gumpa that overlooks Leh. The weather was roasting and the thin air made for a slow and arduous ascent, despite this the view alone was worth the effort. The old gumpa was long deserted however there were a few rooms that were still as they always have been and were an interesting first taste of the religion the dominates in the eastern provinces. The rest of the day I spent taking it easy in some of the restaurants and coffee shops around the central area of Leh.

Day three came around surprisingly rapidly and we set off in the morning to organise our transit to Manali and then set off to find the bus station in order to head out from Leh towards a famous gumpa in Thiske. The bus trip was fairly short with a good view of the surrounding countryside. Along the main road were numerous stupas as are quite common throughout the region some 20ft tall some only 5 all painted bone white. Thiske was easy to spot as the bus made its way along the valley floor, it stands atop a headland jutting into the valley with the same square structures that are found at nearly all gumpas. The ascent took only a short time to accomplish, the lower echelons of the hill temple were still dilapidated however the donations and entry fees to the temple are slowly leading to repairs of the rest of the complex. The view from the top of the monastery was stunning giving a 360 view of the surrounding valley. A tour of the upper reaches of the temple took us around various temples and libraries. Thiske boasts one of the largest statues of Buddha that's 12 meters tall and spanning 2 floors. After seeing the last temple we walked into the main courtyard where the occupants of the temple were holding a ritual which we stayed to observe for roughly 20 minutes and it was still taking place when we reached the bottom of the temple about 30 minutes later. Once at the base of the monastery it was quite a long wait for the next bus, while we waited we met some of the local kids. The children were harmless enough, one of them had a stick and was intent on seeing how much patience Arthur had. After waiting an hour for the bus we made it back to Leh, we took our bags out of storage and found a bar to wait in for out bus that would depart at one o’Clock in the morning. Unfortunately in the north everything closes at 11 at the latest so we had a couple of hours to kill with nowhere to do so, we found the collection point and waited...

Day 5 Srinagar – Leh 15/09/2012

we set off at 5:30 in the morning via a seven seater Jeep, we spent the first 40 minutes driving around the back streets of Srinagar picking up the passengers that we would be sharing the fifteen hour Jeep trip with. After picking up four Ladakhi's we headed east on the only road that winds uninterrupted for 480 km all the way to Leh. The first hour or so I spent passing in and out of consciousness so passed by in a bit of a daze as we passed through towns and winding upwards towards the mountains eventually finding the river that we would follow all the way to the mountain pass. The final ascent to the lofty heights of the Zoji La pass was on the nerve racking side as for an hour we wound up the sheer edge of a mountain, along a road that could barely fit two vehicles side by side at the best of times and a driver drawn to drive on the wrong side of the road. Having made it half way we were stopped at a police post and swiftly surrounded by three armed officers who were apparently not too happy with our driver. After some heated back and forth we made it up to the pass and were rewarded with some stunning vistas through the pass. There was a large military presence in the mountains as well as lots of mountain folk with large flocks of sheep with the two of them displaying what seemed to be a symbiotic relationship. Towards the end of the pass we stopped in a small Ladakhi town called Dras which was quite a run down town however we sourced a tasty breakfast before heading on again. Over the next few hours the landscape slowly morphed from vast green pastures to arid mountains with oases scattered through the many mountain passes all the time gaining altitude until we reached the highest point at 4700 metres. After this point it was a slow decent into the area around Leh. An hour before reaching Leh we stopped in a small town and the contrast to Srinagar was astounding, there Tibetan Buddhism obviously had a large influence on Ladakhi culture. The last hour passed relatively quickly, we arrived in Leh on time and quickly managed to find some simple cheap accommodation and headed out for a quick bite to eat before bed. As I drifted off to sleep I was looking forward to exploring Leh the next day...

Day 3 /4 Srinagar - Gulmarg 13/09/2012

Srinagar has a very strong Muslim community which lead to a rather poor nights sleep on the house boat. Upon alighting my room in the morning I 'bumped into' the manager again who tried again to insist the importance of booking his proposed itinerary, I was reluctant due to the cost which seemed excessive. Shortly after I bumped into a couple of lads staying a couple of boats down who promptly informed me of the managers infamy in Srinagar for being a vicious profiteer. We met up with another house boat tenant called Pascal who joined us for a jaunt into the city proper. The Kashmir&Jammu province is a tumultuous place due to political unrest which is caused by a movement of people who desire independence from the rest of India. I include this in my blog as on our walk to town we came across a unarmed protest against the police/military which was an unexpected first hand experience into this ongoing unrest in this the northernmost province of India. That morning I joined with the fellow travellers and managed to make an identical itinerary as was offered to me for 7 times less with a group to boot! The gentleman who helped us make the arrangements was a really nice guy and he told us the owners of the house boats we were staying in were well known as rip off artists he referred to them as ' sister fuckers'. After this was achieved we took a leisurely trip around Dal lake on Shakar (boat) displaying the sheer extent of the lake and its importance to the people of Srinagar.

The next day we took a private car to the town of Gulmarg which is situated in the mountains near the boarder of Afghanistan. The name means meadow path and is an oasis in a bowl at between mountains and boasts 'the worlds highest gondola. The route to Gulmarg was long and chaotic as has been most of my experiences on the roads in India. The meadow was filled with local pony owners who were desperate for business as most people take the gondola up the mountain. We spent the afternoon there and made it half way up the mountain above the mountain meadow. Taking the gondola up the mountain we passed over the huts that the locals live in as well as a lot of new accommodation development that was not visible from the meadow proper. The accommodation is owned by outside investors and takes another aspect of business that the locals are not able to tap into. The day trip was pleasant and the trip back was as chaotic as the outbound journey but we got back to Srinagar and found some cheap accommodation. And went out on a fruitless trip around Srinagar to find some food and beer. The food we found at a friendly curry house that specialised in biriyani but beer it turned out is essentially contraband in Kashmir & Jammu due to the heavy religious influence in the province. So off to Leh...