Blogs from Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India, Asia - page 4

Today was the second day of activities. Got to the center by 10am, ready for a morning of paragliding and zorbing. Keenen arrived and soon after we were in a jeep and on the half an hour journey, along the usual bumpy roads and dodgy looking bridges, to the paragliding center. Once we arrived we could see parachutes already in the air, though wherever they were launching from was hidden from view by the forest around the landing zone. The jeep driver pointed towards the hill and promptly walked off, so we headed in the direction he was pointing and started up the hill on a narrow dirt path. This path, it turned out, was bloody long, and inhabited by snakes. It took about 45 minutes to get to the top, at a pretty steep gradient, ... read more

Today was the first day of the 2 day adventure package that Keenen and i had signed up for yesterday. We had to arrive at the center at 9.30am. By 9.10 i thought it would be a good idea to stop pressing the snooze button and got up, got dressed and headed down to the center. Keenen was already there and after a cup of chai i picked up my climbing shoes and a rope and the five of us headed to the rock. As well as Keenen and myself there were two other guys and Cindi, the instructor. We walked for about 15 minutes up a steep narrow path before we reached the rock face. It was only about 25 feet high but below us was a steep drop and you had to climb a ... read more

Rujul kicks back in an armchair and looks over the valley towards Old Manali from his Vashisht guesthouse. With intensity he draws on his trusty chillum and looks at me with his dark Keralan face. At 39 years old he looks just 29. His face shows experience, but playfulness can be seen in his brown eyes and pointy features. I ask how he came to be a guest house worker in the Himalayas. He exhales thick smoke through his nose and proceeds to tell me about his whole life... Rujul began: “I was born in Goa, but my family was from Kerala. My dad was in the army earning 150 rupees a month (around 3 American dollars today) whereas my mother was a higher rank in the army earning 570 rupees a month. My father had ... read more

HOW? It all started with someone chirping in the name of “Ladhakh” at some evening gathering at RP+MF’s house. Research started immediately on the routes and possibilities. Enthusiasm was on top that evening. By the morning of next day all was forgotten. All energies doomed into some meaningful past. Months passed by. MSN (who was also a member in that fruitful evening) constantly asked RP about the plans to visit Leh. Though most of the times he disowned the plan and sub consciously made effort to portray that he was not part of the failed plan by asking: “What about your plans to go on a trip to Leh?” Anyways. It was MSN’s constant poke that made others seriously think about the plan. An informal and not so serious meeting was called. Agenda was simple this ... read more

Namaste! I apologize to anyone I told about this for taking so long! I've been really busy and am just a huge procrastinator India has been absolutely amazing and surprisingly cold. I had been expecting delhi to be a disgusting, overcrowded smelly city and instead found it to be my favourite city. It is absolute chaos and a death sentence whenever you step onto the road. The cars don't stop for pedestrians even if there is the nearly unseen crosswalk. The traffic is just insane, if there are traffic laws I have yet to see a place that actually enforces them. My first experience on the road was driving in a cab for 45minutes from the airport. Driving down a road at 80km/h with no seatbelt on a two lane road with an average of 2-3 ... read more