Arrived in Mcleod Ganj near to Dharamshala about 9am this morning and it is so cold - why am always suprised by the severe drop in temperature which occurs after arriving in places hundreds of feet up big mountains!?!
The journey has been a long one - 70 hours to be precise - and the arrival here was ropey at first. There appeared to be no decent accomodation available and the only rooms available only catered in mountain, fresh cold water which was the last thing we fancied after feeling the icy cold blast of air when we got off the bus this morning! However after an hour or so of trapsing around we caught a rickshaw to Bhagsu a little way out of town and were guided to a cheap family room with nice views and the promise of an upgrade to room with hot water in the next day or two - fingers crossed!
Had a moment as we trapsed - 'why am i travelling around living in squalor! living on Lays! living in cold! when I could be . . . . (nowhere else really!!)' but as this is only the second of these thoughts and it came after a mammoth trip up north I feel it was a fleeting moment and since we've sat down, had a nap and tucked into the most delicious veg momo soup at Om's restaurant that feeling is well and truly history! We have both decided that at what feels like desperate times when you are trapsing around with backpack on the best thing to do is just sit down on your butt! Take in your surroundings, let your bum do the thinking for a while and then move on in better spirits!
Right now just feel so lucky to be in the Himalayas - it has been a dream for a while and now it has come true! Mcleod Ganj has a lovely feel to it - many Buddhist monks wandering around, Tibet handicraft stalls and wooly hats, gloves and rugs galore to wrap ourselves in tonight when the temp drops - brrrrrrrr. Snow capped mountains are around us and they sell Marmite in the local stores - happy days : )
Seems to be a million things to keep us entertained up here - trekking, painting, yoga, Buddhist, cooking classes and sights to see so may be here a while.
Trip here was mental - our bus from Delhi was a dream - reclining seats and leg room. It did leave in evening though which meant we had to spend a day in Delhi - where I saw a complete dfferent side to it. Spent the day in Connaught Place which feels like any other cosmo city in India not like the dirty, frantic, poverty stricken Delhi I encountered before.
Flight from Bangalore to Delhi was a nightmare for me - we arrived air port 10pm to take flight at 2am and the aorport seats were horrific, hard metal, small, cold evil contraptions which in no way you could comfortable in. Flet like such a zombie - my body and head just passing out every 5 mins just to be woken in total discomfort 5 mins later - ahhhhhhhhh!!! Like this all night : (
Left Bangalore with good memories - people dressed as inflated pieces of fruit had me and Annie crying with laughter - will upload photos as soon as I possibly can.
Off to catch the last of the sunset xxx Love and miss you all Soph
