Saturday, October 10, 2009

From my Travel Logs dated 24 July'09

Manali

I enter the Kullu Valley and catch a glimpse of the Beas river from within my bus early morning at 6am. The gushing sounds of the river, the beautiful entry into Kullu Valley surrounded by massive mountains and the encircling river listening to Jimmy Page's guitar on my ipod...falling asleep and waking up to sunlight filtering through misty mountains and hamlets. I'd lost all memory of the Beas, only remember pictures of it from childhood trips. A beautiful river! I am a pagan worshipper! Mountain Gods and River Goddesses.........

From my Travel Logs dated 25 July'09

Keylong

The route to Keylong form Manali had the narrowest of passes, landslides, bad roads...and a bumpy bus ride over 8 hours from Manali starting 5am. So bumpy that my intestines were shaking in and out.....but I was thrilled that I was taking this bumpy hop across mountains......never-ending majestic mountains of Lahaul Valley, friendly people on the bus; a tiring ride ending in a killer climb to the hotel, hungry, dead and panting for O2 at this mighty altitude. Felt like a drive across to the other end of the world, and it's only been one day. Note to self:- I should have asked the Slovenian dude for a rolled up joint.

Tommorow:- Over 10 hours of bus again - I hope to reach Kaza! Keylong reminds me of Leh, although smaller and seems to be a pitstop for those moving onto Leh. A very small town compared to Manali. Hot day and chilly evening....but landscape breathtaking. Kullu Valley, Lahaul Valley and onto Spiti Valley......rivers and mountains.....nothing but landscape dots the mind.....long to meet interesting people living and visiting this landscape.

......to be continued.

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