India: Manali

Our final night in Shimla, Chris and an Israeli guy we met went to a pub while I visited the local crafts bazaar for some shopping. I managed to purchase a lovely pair of beaded, camel leather flats (I am determined to burn my grotty, unfashionable flip-flops!) and some beaded earrings, not to mention pose with about five Indian guys for multiple photos...I was feeling in a rather good mood, ignoring the fact that I am now the "girlfriend" of these fellas. I eventually made my way to the pub, where Chris and Uri had joined two friendly, straight-out-of-university Indian guys. We hung out with them for a bit before they dragged us into the adjoining discotecque for a few seconds of amusement...the disco was basically a small, stuffy room packed with young Indian guys (I was the sole lucky lady), bouncing and spinning around to Bollywood tunes. We snapped a few amusing photos before exchanging e-mail addresses (we hope to hang out with them again when we are back in Delhi) and heading to bed.

We awoke bright and early Thursday morning to make it to our 8:30 am bus to Manali. Our "Deluxe" bus was anything but, and just about every passenger other than Chris and I spent the entire bumpy, winding, sweaty journey with their heads out the windows. (One glance at the splatterings on the side of our bus during the occasional "chai breaks" was the unneeded explanation as to what those Indian folks were doing hanging out the windows!) We finally arrived in Manali around 7:00 pm and immediately took an auto-rickshaw to the Tiger Eye Guesthouse, located in the middle of a small farming community in Old Manali. We had an Israeli dinner of falafel before crashing into our cozy beds.

Friday morning Chris and I decided to change guesthouses, mostly due to the price (300 rupees was too much!) and also because I felt a bit weird traipsing through the poor villagers' community, outfitted in our expensive western clothing and rucksacks, with the people's everyday, hard-working lives on display for our entertainment...gulp, but not after I took a few photos...gulp! We ventured off to a recommended guesthouse, Rocky Way, located a long and steady hike through apple orchards and alongside a cliff overlooking the roaring river. We settled into the peaceful guesthouse, unpacked our bags, and ventured back into town.

Old Manali is a hippies' paradise...that is, if your definition of a hippy involves rambunctious Israelis fresh out of the army, dressed in flowing hippy skirts or saggy pants, topped off with dirty hair swaddled in scarves. Let us just say that Chris in his collared shirts and tailored Levi's and I in my clean hair and prissy (but casual!) clothes stick out like sore thumbs here. I continuously notice the disapproving and sometimes simpathetic stares from these "free souls," but I am sorry, I will never forsake fashion and adopt sloppiness for the sake of fitting in...even the Indians roll their eyes at these people! Actually, it seems that Chris and I are the only non-hippy Westerners that are traveling in India...and I hear it gets much worse in other places. Aaaahhh...let them have their fun...when they leave India it will only be a matter of time before they revert back to their "non-hippy" ways.

Anyway, back to the subject! Manali is beautiful! It is located in the foothills of the Himalaya, and from our guesthouse balcony we have dashing views over the river to the surrounding green hills and on to the tips of snow-capped mountains kissing the puffy clouds of the heavens. It is amazing! The town itself is nestled snugly amidst a large apple orchard, and small clothing shops (selling the ubiquitous flowy skirt and drug paraphanelia) line the narrow lane that winds through town. As I was wandering through the shops, I ran into Hannah, a lovely English girl that we briefly met in Shimla who also happened to be staying at our guesthouse in Manali (she is another "anti-hippy"). I later made my way to New Manali to hit the ATM and pick up injection #2 of my rabies treatment...after much encouragement by Chris, yielding his camera and ready for the photo-op, I successfully jabbed myself!

That night, Chris, Hannah, and I decided to check out a yoga class that was being offered at one of the guesthouses. We knew we were in for trouble when, after a few confusing conversations with the staff, Sam the teacher arrived. He was overweight, splattered in paint (we swear he was one of the construction workers called away from duty), and seemed quite nervous. I wish I could describe what our session was like, but words nor pictures could ever do it justice...instead of focusing on my breathing and stretching, I spent the entire time unsuccessfully holding back my laughter. He was horrible, knew nothing of yoga, but his attempts made it worth every bit of the seventy rupees we paid!

After our amusing yoga session, we went to a nearby bar to watch the start of the World Cup. I love soccer, but Chris is an insanely avid fan. We watched the excellent opening Germany v/s Costa Rica match before opting out of the latter games and succumbing to sleep. Saturday morning we once again slept in, ate breakfast, and I had a little workout session on the roof of our guesthouse. We wandered into town for lunch, hung out by the river, and finally ended up back in a restaurant for the England/Paraguay match. Chris was nervously biting his nails and tapping his legs around all throughout the boring game...thank God England won! Hannah and I went to bed early while Chris stayed up for the following two matches.

This morning we once again slept in, had breakfast, and then headed into town. I have had enough of this place and want to head up north to Leh. Leh is a beautiful mountain village in the heart of the Himalaya, only accessible by a sixteen-hour bus or jeep ride on the world's second highest road. I am extremely keen on seeing more of the Himalayas and perhaps fitting in a short trek or two; Chris wants to relax and watch the World Cup. Therefore, we are going to part for a bit while I make the trip north with Hannah and Chris stays in Manali. He is going to take a five-day yoga course to keep himself busy, but I think he just wants to leave me in the dust when we do our yoga course next month. Anyway, we had the choice between breaking the trip into two days, which requires an overnight tent stay halfway there. We have opted for the bone-rattling, back-breaking one-day trip, which leaves tonight at 2:00 am and arrives in Leh around 8:00 pm tomorrow...just in time for me to wearily catch the USA vs. Czech-Republic game! I will probably hang out with Hannah in Leh for a few days before heading back to meet Chris in Manali and getting his lazy butt into gear for some more travel!