Day 20 (McLeod Ganj)

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As is common on this trip my morning didn't quite go as planned.

I got up later than intended (actually not a bad thing though as i found out the temples don't allow non-residents in till after 11am). I headed down to breakfast and ran into Caitlyn, a woman from Richikesh who had arrived shortly before i left. She had met a few other guys called Steve and Kenen and i ended up spending most of the day with them.

I also moved hotels to the one right next door to Green Hotel, i figured its half the price and it only takes an extra 5 seconds to get to the Green hotels internet and restaurant.

We went around town for a while, looking though a lot of the Tibetan jewelry shops before we got to an outdoor store. I don't think i mentioned it in the blog post at the time but on the way back from the Valley of Flowers i was foolish enough to leave my nice jacket and a fleece in the jeep. I'm sure the driver (who was using a towel to keep the rain off his head when we first met him) is now the very proud owner of his new Berghaus jacket but i needed a new one. I had already bought a cheap hoodie from Shimla at the Tibetan Refugee Market and i today i got a fake Mammut waterproof(ish) jacket. After this and a look through a few bookshops we went to get a beer in a restaurant above the main square. The place was pretty big and well decorated, we found ourselves a table and enjoyed our Indian beer to the restaurant soundtrack which heavily featured Bob Marley and Musical Youth.

I tried to get some money out in town but all my cards were not working, i knew i had enough for the night but i decided to call my bank later or tomorrow to sort it out, otherwise i would have found myself trapped in McLeod Ganj with no way of getting out.

After this we decided to find some food and so we went to a small Tibetan restaurant and had chicken momo's (small fried pastry parcels filled with minced chicken and spices). It was starting to get dark as we left so we decided to buy a few drinks and head back to the hotel. After a few hours we split up, i went to get some food and the others headed to bed.

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