Stuck in the hills

I am stuck here in Manali for the next couple of days as the next bus to Leh sets off on the 6th. I should mention Manali is a popular honeymoon resort for Indians. Lots of couples walking up and down the Mall, lovey dovey and all. This morning as I walked up the hill even a pair of buffalos were at it. Oh well.

The sun came out later in the morning and I strolled out of Manali for a couple of kilometres. I found myself in a nice garden cafe run by a Tibetan family and had chicken momos and a garlic-lemon-honey drink. The garden overlooks a few snow peak up a valley surrounded by thickly forested hills. Heavenly.

I'm thinking of doing a few more treks around here in the next few days. I booked a nice bus to Leh operated by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, because the daily fourwheelers might be a bit dodgy as I'm likely to be crammed in with up to nine other people. Not nice on a 24 hour drive in high altitude. Also the HPTDC bus does an overnight in Keylong, which will do very well for my acclimatisation.

I'm still a bit worried about the police/army checkposts---there are at least five of them---because outside of Trivandrum, they don't seem to understand that Maldivians do not need a visa for up to three months of stay in India. Also, if they check my bags see the XL1, I bet I'll be barraged with even more questions.

The route to Ladakh lies on a sensitive border area between India and China and hence the heavy military presence.

So some nuances ahead, but the mountain views and the crisp air might be dispelling the worries.

Martin, chaya is South Indian for tea.

Hey Nios, I think Sharif would like those pink sunsets.