Bye Bye Mundane Life!!: Manali

Another night bus, another poor sleep not helped by the fact we were dropped off an hour earlier than expected - so at 5am in the pitch black we started trapsing slowly through the centre of town after avoiding the plague of rickshaw drivers who seemed bewildered that we didn't require a lift anywhere. Being the old hands we are at this travelling game we both know that in order to get the best deals you need to shop around the guesthouses when they're actually open! Found ourselves a very early morning chai seller, by which time the sun had risen and we started the 3km walk to the small hillside village of Vashisht which overlooks Manali town. To our delight we had clear views of snow capped mountains making the chilly climate well worth it, we had climbed overnight to an altitude of 2200m. Despite our best attempts to find good value accommodation we still weren't happy with our room, after a quick 40 winks and fully rejuvenated we set off to Old Manali, some 5km away, as there was also an area of cheap backpacker accomodation there. Having bagged ourselves a decent room ready for tomorrow, we had a wander around the town centre expecting the beauty of the mountains to be reflected in the town, which unfortunately wasn't the case. Slightly disheartned we made our way back up to our hillside retreat, battling the wind and rain which made for a grim evening - only improved by heading out to bar/restaurant showing a decent movie.
Bags on backs we walked the 5km to our much nicer residence in Old Manali, complete with cable TV and roof terrace looking out onto the river. From this point our time in Manali improved dramatically, thanks to the glorious weather - near unbroken sunshine for the next 5 days - fresh mountain air, free trekking up to the surrounding mountains, and plentiful free apples from the many surrounding orchards that just happened to be in harvest. We dined like kings on a diet of mammoth portions of Thali (a staple indian meal - lentil curry, vege curry, rice & chapati) and Aloo Parantha ( dinnerplate sized chapati filled with potato), not to mention the occasional cinnamon bun and chai. For a second time in a row we'd found a home from home, far too easily fitting in with the way of life out in the cool of the mountains - this place even had a sports/social club with all the facilities you'd find in a fancy members only country club back home, as expected though the Indians had failed to pull it off and the place looked more like a crumbling school gym. As with McLeod Ganj we were sad to have to leave, especially as to get to our next destination we would have to pass through Delhi. Nevertheless our time in the mountains of India has been awesome, and would come highly recommended to anyone wanting to see a different side to India - if only we'd been here for their ski season!!!