The Roof Of The World...

Ok, I know that term is technically reserved for Tibet. But sadly I can't get into Tibet - the Chinese seem to be reluctant to let people see how much they've "advanced the standard of living" there, for some reason - and anyway, Himachal fits the description.

Today I jumped off a 3000m high mountain, above both the timber and the snow line. We glided over this incredible Himalayan valley for ages, supported only by a long parachute above us, before descending in a sharp spiral to touch down on the valley floor. It was amazing, quite possibly the best thing I've ever done. I love Manali.

The day after I finished my last blog entry was my last in Rishikesh, which was spent largely chilling, eating a last meal with the guys, and visiting a couple more temples (and the now-ruined ashram where the Beatles stayed on their famous trip to India, music fans!) I then got on a wonderful 11 hour night-bus ride (very cold and very uncomfortable) to Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh, and the former summer residence of the British Raj. Shimla is built on basically the ridge of a mountain (2,250m), and as such it has ridiculously fantastic views of similar peaks all around. Not only that, it is full of fantastic Victorian buildings. There's the huge cast iron 'State Railway Board' building, the weird mock Tudor post office, and the beautiful Gothic pile that is the Viceroy's Summer Residence, which looks strangely like Tynsfield, and which is now the Shimla Institute of Advanced Science, for postgraduate research. Hell of a place to study. The place is covered in pine trees and buildings termed the 'State Board of Electricity' and other such officious names, and looks like Scotland, but with monkeys. I even stayed at the YMCA (no, really!) I loved it - it kind of felt like home, but a more beautiful version. Freezing cold though. And I mean freezing. My going-out attire now consists of long-johns, knee-length socks, hiking socks, boots, tank-top, long-sleeved top, fleece, fleece jacket, hat, scarf and gloves. And I'm still cold. Plus, nowhere in Himachal seems to have central heating, though I managed to get this tiny little free-standing one-bar heater in the YMCA which I huddled around desperately whenever in my room.

I spent most of my three days in Shimla just walking and exploring - met an Indian guy on the second day who accompanied me on the hike to the Viceroy's Res. and who thankfully rescued my sunglasses for me from some dratted monkeys who jumped on me and stole them on the way to the monkey temple. You laugh, but those things are flippin scary, as well as a public menace, and everyone is forced to carry sticks to beat them off. Grrr. Also managed to find some bars in the evenings, which was a profound relief as Haridwar and Rishikesh's ban on selling alcohol was beginning to reduce me to a gibbering wreck, and my only relief came in the shots of pure tequila offered to me by the Bangalore boys whom I went rafting with. Have discovered that even alcohol that usually makes you gag is yummy after a week or so of abstinance. Have recently started trying to teach myself to drink whiskey (all the cool kids do it, y'see), and am doing well with the single malt and coke. Plus its like 60p here. One day soon I will achieve my ultimate ambition of being able to down shots straight, just like a certain Miss Thrace. Who says media influences behaviour?

My last night in Shimla, on my way to a restaurant to wait out the hours til my night bus left, I fell into conversation with an older guy walking down the road, as happens to me at least 20 times a day. After a while though, he casually mentioned that I was born around the 18th April (its the 22nd, for the remiss amongst you) and a few choice other unknowable facts about myself. He then proceeded to describe my personality and physical characteristics (I mean things like knowing what I was allergic to) almost exactly, for about 20 mins, and then give me some advice about myself. I swear to gods, I am as much a skeptic as anybody and I know how these people work; I constantly watched to work out how much he was attempting to use general information that could be relevant to anybody and then use my responses as clues, and thus kept poker face throughout the entire thing. But seriously, he was remarkably exact, even about things that I have never told ANYBODY before, and he never even asked for money or for me to see him again. He just said he had a gift from God, and that he felt the need to talk to me and give me some advice. Freaked me the hell out. I still don't know what to make of it, really, so am just kind of in denial about the whole thing. Still, pretty weird.

The bus to Manali (this was Saturday night, 13th Dec) started off as a complete nightmare. For the first time since Delhi my err... digestion... was a little off (I've been remarkably lucky, actually), and these buses go for 10 hours straight without toilet breaks. On top of that delight, it was BITTERLY cold on the bus, the driver was burning incence (instant nausea), and driving around these crazy mountain bends at 60 miles an hour (travel-sickness + fear for my life). Joyous. The silver lining was that his insane speed got us to Manali in 8 hours rather than the expected 10, though this 'advantage' resulted in the fact that we arrived at 5.30am, when the cold was beyond my powers to describe to you, and when the lodge where I had planned to stay was completely locked up. Thankfully, for perhaps the first time in India, I met a helpful and honest rickshaw driver, who took me to his own hotel, which is actually very good and very fairly priced, and has a hot shower! (I had been enduring cold (communal) showers in Shimla for the last three days, and thought I might just crack if forced to take another...) Nevertheless, even buried in two sleeping bags, under 2 blankets, and fully clothed, it still took me a long time to warm up.

Manali is great. Whereas Shimla was on the ridge of the mountains, Manali is in a narrow valley between them, so the snow-covered peaks tower over you. After snatching a few hours sleep I wandered through the town (despite being one of the major towns in Himachal, it still has a population of 4000, and is pretty small), and saw my first Buddhist monasteries - surprisingly gaudy, actually. Then took a rickshaw up to this little mountain village with these hot springs. Hot is the word for them - they are really boiling, and its impossible to immerse yourself in them, though some daring local lads were giving it their best shot. A significant proportion of people here are very much Tibetan rather than Indian looking, partially due to the large number of refugees fleeing over the border, and this has had a significant effect on local architecture and cuisine. The temples in this village were all wooden and intricately carved, and the whole place felt very Alpine (and very like how I always imagined Edoras to look, fellow geeks). Today I got up early and took the bus to the tiny village of Solung, where I was told I could get in on some paragliding action. This is something I've been wanting to do for years, and have been looking out for ever since I reached Pachmarhi, and was totally worth the anticipation! With a choice of three different lengths of time and heights, I first went for the medium one (of which I will attempt to put the photos up of presently), which, although I didn't realise it at the time, involved climbing the mountain I was about to jump off. Bletch. Obviously you do the jumps in tandem with a qualified instructor, as I have no idea how to direct the parachute-thing, and you have to angle it to catch the wind or else you go plummeting to earth. It was so much fun that I immediately decided to blow the expence and do the longer flight too (although in the end they charged me half of what they originally quoted - perhaps in the novalty of a girl in India jumping off mountains? - and the two flights only cost me about 30 quid in total) The second flight was a lot more hardcore, and involved a 45min jeep journey up the side of this 3000m mountain, up to the snow-line, before we jumped off. The scenery when we were flying was indescribable. If I get a chance, I'm gonna have to go back and do it again, this time with a camera.
Afterwards I headed up 3km on horseback to see an unusual Shiva temple, formed by drips from a frozen waterfall high above creating an ice palace of stalagtites and -mites. Tomorrow I go on a government bus trip to Manikaran and the Pavarti valley, promising more amazing scenery, and hopefully the chance to bathe in the hot springs there. As I said, I love Manali.

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Part of trip: Backpacking around India and Nepal

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