Wandering in Kinnaur

---

Well, me and my trusty companion the Small Bear are back in Shimla after a week or so wanderingin Kinnaur. We visited the Sangla valley,which was beautiful and very peaceful. Celebrated my 30th birthday there in fact. The snow is starting to extend down the mountains now and the temperature is dropping, so we headed back to Shimla taking in the village of Sarahan for a couple of days on the way. This too was a great place. The mountain vistas in Kinnaur are defintely some of the most majestic I've ever seen.

We stayed in the guesthouse of the Bimakali temple,which was nice and also cheap (150 rupees for a double room). The temple itself has a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu icons,but is mainlyfor the veneration of Kali. Apparently human sacrifices were performed at the smaller templein the courtyard here upto the 19th century, which was kind of spooky to know.

Local bus journey back was a nightmare due to crazy overcrowding, so we are taking the easy option of a 'deluxe tourist bus' to Manali tomorrow. Apparently there has been quite a bit of snow upthere already....

---