Beautiful Ugly India

Anyone who had been to India will tell you it's a land of extremes, I have only been to two parts so far but the contrast is extraordinary. I flew into the capital of Delhi at 2am on a Sunday morning, which I was warned is a very sketchy thing to do, but 2am must be too late for all the hustlers because I had no problems whatsoever from the airport to the guesthouse (unlike Em who had her driver start to take his pants off). It was even very quiet in the Main Bazaar where we were staying, but by 10am the main street was manic. Locals, shop owners, hawkers, kids, beggars and cows all roam this street while rickshaws and cars try to negotiate the chaos.

Em made the long trip down from the North to come meet me (what a good woman), it is great to hang out again after a long year and a half absence. Originally we were gonna go to Japan together before she took the World Bar job and started Wham. We stuck around Delhi for three days while I got acquainted with India and Em took care of a few matters. Getting used to the food (no Delhi Belly yet), noise, heat (in the 40's), and smells took some adjusting. We stuck mostly to the backpacker area because to get anywhere in Delhi takes so much effort. On the night of the third day we got on a sleeper bus to Manali in the Himachal Pradesh region where it is nice and cool and where I am now.

Manali is a beautiful village in the valley of some giant mountains. Admitadly I didn't know much about India when I arrived, so I was very suprised to find myself in the middle of snow-capped mountains having to brave the cold. We even considered going snowboarding which is available, but now is not the best season (seeing as it's the hot season). The local people look quite different due to the Nepali influence. Em found us a very cute and quaint guesthouse on the edge of town which is blissfully quiet, except for the cows which get let out at 10am. We even have the sounds of a waterfall to fall asleep to. No shower, instead we heat a bucket of water for 40 minutes then mix it with cold water to pour over our bodies, which sounds ghetto but is actually strangely rewarding to not have such modern conveniences. Yesterday I tried joining Em on her daily yoga routine, today I am in pain, tomorrow I will try again.

Manali is the perfect place to relax and unwind, so other than a little exploring our days are fairly tame. Today we went to the local baths which are supplied with beautiful natural hot spring water which turns to murky questionable water by the end of the day. It was a good experience bathing with the locals, hot springs are an age old male-bonding activity. Nothing like getting steamy and part-naked with someone to get to know them. Along the way we have picked up two friends. Hiro who is from Nara who we met on the bus ride and Sally who is from Manchester who we met in town. Both have moved into our lodgings and we hang out a fair bit.

So all is well at the moment, since coming up to the mountains I feel 100% better. Delhi is a bit of a hellhole and I haven't been in nature for a long time and I have never seen nature like this in my life. The mountains are epic and the air is beautiful, a place that moves the soul. We will probably move along pretty soon though as it is a little too cold up here and there is plenty more of India to see.