20.07.2008 to 26.07.2008
Once in Manali we booked Ciri's ticket to Delhi ahead and found an auto-rickshaw to take us to the village of Vashist. The ride took us only ten minutes.
Vashist is famous for the sweeping valley views and sulphurous hot-water springs, it is an amorphous jumble of traditional timber houses and modern concrete cubes, divided by paved courtyards and narrow muddy lanes.
Accomodation was not easily found here. It took us four tries to finally find a suitable guesthouse... and we were lucky as he had the last two rooms left. The rooms were quite a bargain... less then Euro 2.50 a night with bathroom attached! Given the first day was quite exhausting due to the trip, we decided to have an early dinner and rest.
Our stay in Vashist was very 'shanti shanti'... peacful. We spent most of our time going for short walks, having long talks and eating. We went to see one of the waterfalls (calling it waterfall is quite presomptous, but well), we visited the hot baths and one of the temples and spend a day in Manali.
Given Ciri's time was limited he wished to do some sightseeing, so we decided to go for a one day trip up to Nathula Pass. The two of us don't usually spend money to go sightseeing but it was a 'treat' from Ciri so we had no problem in going :)
We had around five stops in all during the day but the most impressive was the Nathula Pass in Rothang La. This place is amazing. A lot of people come here and hire a horse for the day to go through the whole pass. We walked just a short part of it... Janet was suffering a little bit from altitude sickness... loss of breath and dizziness. But we have to say it was worth the while to come all the way up as the views were breathtaking! We felt more relaxed on the way down given we knew what to expect out of the road now.
On Ciri's last day we went over to see Elana and Stefan and spent two to three hours at their hotel. They had bumped into each other in Vashist. India can be so small!!! We went down with Ciri to Manali, had lunch with him and went to say our goodbyes at the bus stand. We were very sorry he was leaving... two weeks with him went by so quickly... we will miss him but hopefully meet him in the near future.
So we were back to being just the two of us again....
Our departure from Kasol was quite unprepared for. We had to leave on a particular day but the night before Yakof got sick, so we were going to postpone the departure. By midday of the following day Yakof was feeling better, so we opted to head to Vashist, as previously planned, to spend Ciri's last week there.
We took a bus and arrived in Manali six hours later. The public bus was not that bad, although we were pretty much squashed throughout the journey, given the amount of people in it.
We took a bus and arrived in Manali six hours later. The public bus was not that bad, although we were pretty much squashed throughout the journey, given the amount of people in it.
Once in Manali we booked Ciri's ticket to Delhi ahead and found an auto-rickshaw to take us to the village of Vashist. The ride took us only ten minutes.
Vashist is famous for the sweeping valley views and sulphurous hot-water springs, it is an amorphous jumble of traditional timber houses and modern concrete cubes, divided by paved courtyards and narrow muddy lanes.
Accomodation was not easily found here. It took us four tries to finally find a suitable guesthouse... and we were lucky as he had the last two rooms left. The rooms were quite a bargain... less then Euro 2.50 a night with bathroom attached! Given the first day was quite exhausting due to the trip, we decided to have an early dinner and rest.
Our stay in Vashist was very 'shanti shanti'... peacful. We spent most of our time going for short walks, having long talks and eating. We went to see one of the waterfalls (calling it waterfall is quite presomptous, but well), we visited the hot baths and one of the temples and spend a day in Manali.
We went to see the Hadimba Temple. This temple is one of the most important in the region. This four story wooden temple is located in the middle of a forest called the Dhungiri Van Vihar. From the name of the forest parkland this temple derives its name. This temple was erected in 1553 and is dedicated to Goddess Hadimba. We also visited the Himachal Pradesch museum and Ghatoiktch Temple. The highlight came after though... we had lunch at Johnson's Cafe... and it was wonderful. We spent something like three to four hours there. First we had a platter of cheese. Janet was in tears eating brie!! Yakof had lamb and Janet had fish... sublime... at last someone who actually knew how to cook western food. This was a happy day!!!
Given Ciri's time was limited he wished to do some sightseeing, so we decided to go for a one day trip up to Nathula Pass. The two of us don't usually spend money to go sightseeing but it was a 'treat' from Ciri so we had no problem in going :)
Our departure time had to be at 08:00 in the morning, but, as custom in India, the driver arrived half an hour late and did not even know he had to take us sightseeing, until the guy who booked the tour for us briefed him. So we took off for a very bumpy jeep ride. Although we were very comfortable the road was quite terrifying... we eventually got up to an altitude of 3,500m. What was worrying us most was the fact that this was the same road we would have to travel on our way to Leh... and we could not picture a big bus driving through it. During our ascent we had to stop as there was a landslide. It took around thirty minutes to clear the road and it was incredible how the vehicles were passing, nearly touching each other. At one point, seeing a huge truck approaching on the other lane, the three of us decided it was wise to get out of the jeep... you know just in case there was a hit and run!!
We had around five stops in all during the day but the most impressive was the Nathula Pass in Rothang La. This place is amazing. A lot of people come here and hire a horse for the day to go through the whole pass. We walked just a short part of it... Janet was suffering a little bit from altitude sickness... loss of breath and dizziness. But we have to say it was worth the while to come all the way up as the views were breathtaking! We felt more relaxed on the way down given we knew what to expect out of the road now.
On Ciri's last day we went over to see Elana and Stefan and spent two to three hours at their hotel. They had bumped into each other in Vashist. India can be so small!!! We went down with Ciri to Manali, had lunch with him and went to say our goodbyes at the bus stand. We were very sorry he was leaving... two weeks with him went by so quickly... we will miss him but hopefully meet him in the near future.
So we were back to being just the two of us again....
On our last day, before heading towards Ladakh, we decided to go down to Manali to sleep the night and pick the minibus from there. We met Elana for lunch, once again at Johnson's cafe, as we could not resist the temptation of one last meal there. The place is relatively expensive in India but the food is well worth it. We sad our goodbyes to Elana and prepared for our two-day trip towards Ladakh.
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