The Manali mountains

Our 15 hour bus ride to Manali left little to be desired. My body still felt paralyzed from our camel "experience"; our bus driver was whipping around turns at the speed of lightning, on the edge of a cliff, as passengers were getting sick around us; and Missy was as close to tears as I have ever seen her. But...we made it...and I am damn glad we did. I loved every bit of our three weeks in the state of Rajasthan, but it feels so good to not sweat through everything I own and be bundled up in the mountains. Welcome to the state of Himachal Pradesh! Our plan is to spend the next five weeks wearing scarves and hats.

Manali is heartstoppingly beautiful; I don't know how else to describe the place. It is a small, hippy village nestled at the foothills of the Himalayan mountains. We chose a hostel in Old Manali, which is at the top of a very long hill, and in a much quieter section of town. We paid $4 each a night for hot water, cozy blankets, and a view that can't be beat...only in India. We have made the trek from Old Manali down to New Manali so often that have we memorized every shop selling wool items, each German bakery offering chocolate cake and lattes, and all the bridges and streams in town. Manali is a town for tourists, both Indian and foreign; and we have relished in every minute of it.

Highlights:

1) You can see from my previous post that Missy and I spent one evening in the company of a Bollywood movie star. He had spent the last 25 days in Manali filming a tv show and the poor guy thought we were the most entertaining people he has met all month. He practically begged us to hang around for dinner and drinks with the crew, but Missy and I responded with: "It's already 9:30pm and we have an early hike in the morning"...WE ARE OFFICIALLY OLD.

2) MOUNTAINS!!! I am learning on this trip that I have a serious love for the mountains and cool weather. It is making me think about relocating to Denver or Portland sometime in my life, but one thing at a time Alysa. On our last day in Manali, Missy and I hiked for four hours from our hostel to the Solang Valley. Along the way, we passed apple orchards, small villages, sheep herders, women carrying an unbelievable amount of objects on their backs, corn fields, and rock quarries. We did not, however, pass a single other tourist...per usual. The Himalayan mountains provided a perfect backdrop for the entire duration of our hike, and each time we took a picture we would proclaim: "OMG it looks like a postcard!". We stopped in one of the villages for a warm cup of chai and had a short bonding session with Marigold, one of the local women. When we approached her kitchen on the side of the road, she shooed away all the local men who were discussing politics, and made room for us at her table.

3) PUPPIES. Manali is a doglovers paradise. There are big, beautiful, mountain dogs just running around this town without owners; therefore, there are adorable puppies all over the place. These are the kinds of dogs that American families would pay hundreds of dollars to take home with them. On one of our walks, Missy and I stopped in the town of Vashisht for a while to hold some shivering little pups. It really was hard to tear ourselves away in the end. If only we could start an export business...

It is hard to believe that two days ago I was sleeping on a sand dune in the desert, and today I am sipping tea and staring at the Himalayans. I hate to keep repeating myself, but I AM SO LUCKY. Manali will be very hard to beat, but I am anxious to see more of Northern India over the next few weeks. Next stop...McLeod Ganj. We are going to see if the Dalai Lama is home...

p.s. - Pics and a video from the camel safari have been added in the post "The Desert". Enjoy.