Minali Wrap-Up

On our second to last day in Manali Alice snuck out of the room to go have herself a nice breakfast of delicious egg sandwich (a staple of our mountain food regimen). I casually sauntered out of bed, did some stretches, and then wandered down to have an egg sandwich of my own. I passed Alice on the way down to eggtown and said good morning. We were going to meet up after breakfast to go on a day hike that we had planned the night before. I took my time and enjoyed my meal, stopping briefly on my way back to the room to check some things on the interweb, and to my surprise when I returned to the room there was no sign of Bad A. In typical Alice fashion I didn't see her again until after 10pm. I had spent a good part of the afternoon walking from place to place looking for her, checking in with the hotel keep to see if she had been around, eventually going and asking strangers if they had seen a blond girl with a bad attitude. I thought, "okay I won't worry if she is back by dinner" because she has to eat. Dinner came and went and I got worried. I thought, "she must be back by the 9pm Star Movie" - another ritualistic staple of our mountain life - but nope! When she finally arrived, bearing cookies, I tried not to play the role of the worried parent who's daughter skipped curfew to party with the skidly neighborhood punks. Alice claims that she waited for me for 2 hours before she got fed up and went for a walk by herself. I was unaware that we were in such a rush, and expected her to keep our hiking date. This girl has no patience. For example, the other day while waiting for breakfast I took down a few quotations which demonstrate her general state of impatience...

1) "It's times like these I wish I had a flask."
2) "Seriously? Do you think the chicken had to lay the eggs? Burrrrrp."

Anyways... I'll have Alice take over the keys to tell you all about the adventures she had while I played the worry game and counted my new grey hairs...

Hello...

First, to clarify, I am an extremely patient person- you would wish you had a flask too if you'd been waiting for an egg sandwich for 45 minutes and you had a headache the size of the Grand Canyon.

Second, Dave is forgetful, and, after waiting for 2 hours- 2 HOURS!!!!!!- I decided he had forgotten about our walk plan. So I left. There was no time to leave a note either, so don't suggest that, I had already wasted enough time!

Anyway...


The view along the road between Manali and Vashisht

I walked from Manali to Vashisht (another village across the river), intending to walk to the top of a waterfall I had visited a few days before (also without Dave the layabout). I stopped for a sandwich (tuna) in Vashisht, where I met Ann and Kettl, an older couple from Norway who were traveling in India for only two weeks. They had seen more in two weeks than we will in three months, but I guess that's what happens when you can afford private taxis, planes and tour guides. Their guide in Vashisht was an amazing Indian man named Shiva who had given up a career of teaching physics and math to teach yoga instead. He invited me to join them that afternoon for a drive to a mountain village. Having nothing to do (and not particularly concerned about Dave's feelings) I agreed. We drove for over an hour through beautiful scenery to a village of ancient wooden houses perched high on a mountain. Walking the last 2km, we arrived at the village just as the sun was setting on the Kullu valley- too bad Dave took so long with his sandwich. Kettl and Ann had to catch a flight to Dehli in the morning so I rode with them, Shiva and the driver to the town near the airport- they said the taxi was paid for so I might as well take it back to Manali. Shiva was really great- not at all like the last yoga genius, Babaji- he was really happy, always laughing, and knew lots about many things.


Women watching a ceremony in Vashisht


The mountain village



Your favorite again - Dave. We left the next morning by private bus to McLeod Ganj where the Dalai Lama lives and has established the Tibetan government in exile. Stay tuned for our next exciting post...

Leave comments or else Alice will desert me. Yikes!!!