still in the himalya's

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well it's been about two weeks since i left leh! just my luck i got a case of the you know whats before leaving! so i popped a couple of imodium crossed my fingers and legs and got a bus to manali!

the bus journey took us 22 hours spanning over two days! the first leg was 200km over 16 hours and was probably one of the most uncomfortable journeys of my whole life! stomach cramps where the main problem it felt like i was nertureing small little creatures constantly trying to break free of the confinds of my stomach!

the scenery on the otherhand was out of this world, in parts we lost any sign of roads and we were just traveling over bolders! finally we made it to keylong! wich looked like some kind of ghetto, not the best of places! managed to get a bed (more like a blank of wood) for 30 rupees wich is about 20p!

next day we made our way to manali! this journey only took us six hours, wich was nice! i was traveling with two canadians and a english guy! when we got to manali we got a richshaw upto a little village up in the hills called vashtish! tiny little place and really sleepy!

every morning i go down to the hot baths, hot dosn't even come into it they are boiling but once you get out you feel refreshed! went for a one day trek in the valley that we were in, once again totally stunning. the hills round here are covered in cider trees and pine trees as far as you can see! all were brought over by the british! well done boys!

so some how i've managed to spend 9 days here and not really have done to much! oh yeah on monday the 2nd there was a festival for rama! so i rode on the top of a bus to kullu where the main festival was being held! it goeson for 7 days and i went for the first day wich is supposed to be the best day! all the villagers come to the town carry gods banging there drums and blowing horns!

the whole thing started of quite subdued, eventually though the stampede started people every where! the gods that where being carried seemed to be quite heavy and people lost control of them as they were running, knocking people to the floor! this all lasted about an hour and then nothing, so i went back to vashtish!

next move is to a place east of here still in the himalya's to a place called mcleod (pronounced mcCloud) gang! it's where the exiled tibetan goverment are and the dali lama! can't wait!

laters !!!!

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