The world and beyond - reflections of a dharma nomad

After the 16 hour journey to Manali we made a promise to take it easy on these wild roads and so we took a few taxis and felt more relaxed, although equally shaken by the poor suspension on most cars. But after a week in mellow Tso Pema we tested out the bus to Mandi. For ten rupees it was the most comfortable, spacious and beautiful hour's journey. So after a tasty lunch we re- entered the bus stand to ride the next bus to Baijnath, a couple of hours along the road. A large man approached us to check our destination and said " my friend will look after you- he is the conductor". So we waited. When a bulging square bus drew up and everyone else swarmed on we drew back. The fat man insisted, we resisted. " no no we'll wait for the next bus" he replied aggressively " you want two seats I give you two seats" and so we were propelled up through the door, bags tossed on the roof, and we had to fight our way through solid passengers to the promised seats. The embarrassment of knowing that two of them had been forced off the seats, combined with claustrophobia that we couldn't get out if we wanted to, and the raw discomfort of having to squeeze my knees against the seat in front led to an awkward start to the journey. Eventually we relaxed into to awesome scenery, precarious drop-offs and nerve- wracking bends in the road. My legs even shrank a little in response to relentless pressure and we managed to walk off the bus when we reached our destination.