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Published: July 15th 2010
We do apologize for the long break but a good computer is hard to find in these parts.
For starters we are back in New Delhi and we leave for malaysia in 8 days. The last 2 weeks have been pretty uneventful but a nice change in pace. In central Himachal Pradesh there are several rivers valleys that criss cross the lower himalayas. As we had 3 weeks until our train booking we decided to venture off the main routes to visit some mountain towns. The Parvati River valley courses strong as thousands of little streams and rivers fed by the mountains supply it with fresh freezing melt water. In the town of Manikaran the river divides the community in two. One side is a massive sikh gurdwara (temple) that sits atop one of the many hot springs that dot the valley. Sikh and hindu pilgrems come from all over india to bathe in the water (which is fabled to cure many diseases and ailments) and stand over the mighty Parvati. The Sikh side of the river is free of motor vehicles as the bridge is too small for anything more than a motorcycle and walking through the winding alleys
that make up the village is like stepping hundreds of years into the past. It rained for 4 of the 5 days we spent so in this pleasent hilltown we watched alot of tv movies but it was still a tranquil place worth a visit.
The river swelled so high with the rain that it was becoming a concern. It was between us and the only road out of town which itself was washed out in several places. With all this extra cold water the river caused the air temperature to drop 5 to 10 degrees atop the bridge, which returned to normal when across. Truly beautiful and scary to witness. The nearby town of Kasol is still on the river side but much further from the sunken banks and the road to major transit hubs is safer. Also a plus was the rain had stopped here and the food was some of the best we had in a while. I love rice and dal but so much of the local food is very fried and very salty. We spent a couple nights then made our way for the Shimla, a british colonial town set in the lower himalayas.
Its a chore to walk around but from alomst every street and window you can view vast ranges and valleys while sitting above the clouds. Beautiful means expensive in India so we stayed 2 nights then left for the capital of Punjab, Chandigarh. The oldest railroad in india, the northen railway, has a special section of old-school narrow guage track for winding through the mountains down to the plateaus. Small guage means small cars and engines so they call it the toy train and it looks more like an awkward teenager than a toy but it gets the job done, albeit uncomfortably. After 7 hours, 1500 meters in elevation and 103 old stone tunnels we were out of the Himalayas. We needed to bus the final leg to chandigarh as the rail roads switch to meter guage in the rest of India. Finally we were on well paved flat roads again... it has been a 5 weeks or so since we left the deccan plateau and our tailbones are excited for the lack of abuse.
Chandigarh looks like Oakville gone india.. as in with rickshaws and street food. but it is designed like the major suburbs of North america.
Quite surreal, with little to do and it was also twice to threes times the cost for most food and accomedation so we stayed only one night. After a bit of confusion as to which interstate bus terminal our bus was at we found our way and made it to Delhi just after sunset. As busy and insane as it gets here we knew the chaos that awaited us here and it is almost comforting in a way. This is a great place to regroup, stock up on supplies, fill up on some of the best food in the country, meet with other travellers and scheme the next scheme.
As we prepare to leave the subcontinent we find our minds awash with the thoughts of home, the past, and the future. So much and so little changes all around. We read an article about Kashmir in the Spectator online recently and i can remember first reading about the valley 8 years ago and trying to imagine what it would be like in a civilian war zone trapped between 2 warring states. I remember wondering what it would be like to stand in their streets and speak with the locals.
Having been there and experienced the beauty and richness of the people and then to again read in the media only about the violence and hatred that exists there makes me wonder how much i really know about anything or anywhere. Regardless, may there be peace for Kashmir on the horizon.
So for now we plan to take in a few more sights that we missed and try to gain some weight by eating too much. We are still ahving trouble with gettin picz uploaded but will try and try again. Our thoughts are with you all.
Best of luck to the G20 accused. Don't let the bastards keep you down!
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Dean
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I continue to enjoy the stories of your adventures. The photo of the river is neat. I can see why one would want to be on the side of the river with roads.