Old Manali trek to remember

THis is part of an e-mail I sent a friend just wanted to post an update of one of my adventures in Himachal Pradesh.

Being in Manali is just too perfect. Our guest house is $8 a night and we have a balcony with a full view of the Himalayas complete with waterfalls. The owners of the guest house also run a farm with goats, cows, and apple and cherry orchards. The temperature is about 70 every day, cooler in the evenings. We took a day long trek into the mountains and when we stopped to ask for directions, the old man we asked (Ram) invited us for tea. It was mint tea, but it was so funny, because even though he invited us, he didn't ahve any ingredients except mint and sugar. We had to walk next door to borrow some tea leaves and then later to borrow some milk. That was even better because the neighbor children had a new puppy only 6 days old. I've never played with a puppy before, it was so sweet. I gave the kids this plastic duck necklace filled with bubble solution from the states (I just packed it for fun) anyhow, they loved it. We went all through the mountains and through an area that looked just like the story The Three Billy Goats Gruff, or how I had imagined it. Tons and tons of goats wandering everywhere on green green grass with rocks and bolders scattered randomly and of course an old rickety bridge that the troll should have been living under. :^) we walked all the way up a mountain to near the top of a waterfall, that I put my feet in, but it was too cold for much more then that. There were some Indian guys that looked like they were going to try to go in, but it was probably about 40 degrees if not colder. Then we walked to Vashist, which has hot springs. There are two for men, one for women. I just put my feet in we didn't pack proper towels for changing and for me the water was tioo hot, also, we were pretty tired by this point. on the walk back we saw a hot air balloon lifting off. The keys on the keyboard are really sticky so some words may not come out right. We also went to Dharamshala (home of the Dali Lama) and saw the Dali lama temple.

Minority on a Bus

Much against the advice of an Indian friend of mine, I took the bus from the area of the city my family friends live in to the city center. My friend’s sister dropped me at the bus stop and they had prepared me with directions. The ride there was simple. I said I wanted a return ticket, there and back and handed the bus conductor (who walks to each person, you don’t pay the driver like in the US) 20 Rupees (44cents). The bus was fairly clear. I didn’t have to share the seat with anyone. I did notice however, the ratio of men to women was around 10 to 1. The ride there was uneventful.
Waiting for the bus on the way back was a little more exciting. I was at the bus stop, sitting on the railing marking the off the queue, when a group of three girls sitting on the railing in front of me glanced back. First one looked over her shoulder and whispered to the other two who looked back as well. Then the real starring began. They would look back and just stare, looking me up and down over and over, as though I was really an alien from another planet, not just another country. After more whispering, one of the girls got the nerve to ask if they could take a picture with me. I was waiting like them, so I thought, sure, why not. Well one picture turned into 6. They wanted a group picture, a picture with each of them individually with me, smiling, and straight faced. None of them spoke English. But we managed to communicate through the small amount of Hindi I know and many gestures. They were so curious about me, I’m sure if I spoke the language properly they would have asked a thousand questions. They also offered to buy me a new bottle of water after I took pictures with them, as mine was almost empty. But I told them it wasn’t necessary. After our main interaction concluded, there was still a long wait for the bus during which they would constantly peek back at me.