Is Pot Kosher?

Fields of Marijuana, along the roadway

Our friend and driver all of these years: Vijay

Glacier Covered Mountains in the Background

Is the Doctor Jewish?

So what's not to like?

Roti, Aloo (Potatoes), Baingan Bharta (Egg Plant)

Vijay, our driver, picked us up and we drove along the river to the village of Kasol. Here we are up in the Himalayas, in a rather remote and difficult place to get to, and we arrive at a village full of stoned Israelis. Fields of marijuana surround this village. It grows naturally by the road, we stopped the car, picked some weed and smelled it. It was good pot! Hopefully none of the drivers in the oncoming cars have smoked yet today. Why Israelis have chosen Kasol as their destination is beyond me (free pot?). The signs in the small village are in Hebrew and Hindi.

Isn’t India marvelous?

In the far distance we could see glacier-covered peaks. The river is quite strong due to the monsoons, and because the bottom is mainly large boulders it has a mighty roar.

Here is a clip of the water rushing in Parvati River.

We stopped and spent time with a local farmer that was proud to show off his trolley lift. It was definitely a Rube Goldberg like contraption, but is the only way to get his apples from high up on the mountain. He sends up collapsed cartons, and down comes boxes of apples. We have seen many, many of these trolleys spanning the river and going far up the mountain.

Here is a short clip of the Apple Trolley.

In Manikaram we went to another Sikh Gurdwara. The Sikhs are very welcoming offering free food and lodging to anyone who wishes to stay there. I doubt if they wifi, so we will stay at our hotel.  We have been to many Gurdwaras and they are all similar: white buildings, a large food hall to serve whoever is hungry, and a prayer room. You must take your shoes off to enter. The room is empty except for the main alter where Sikh priests continually chant from their holy book the: Guru Granth Sahib. Sikhs come bow down in front of the alter then sit cross legged and contemplate or pray. Photography is allowed, after sitting for approximately 20 minutes and listening to the chanting we proceeded to exit.

Here is a short clip from the Gurdwara.

We returned to our resort and spent the afternoon relaxing and reading. This is a very different vacation for us. Usually we are running from store to store, or museum to museum. Here we lay back and just take in nature and relax. It is very good for a change.

Dinner here at the resort was delicious. Cathy wanted Baingan Bharta (smoked eggplant), the same wonderful Tandoori potatoes we had last night, and I of course had to order Gobi (Cauliflower). No one does cauliflower in as many ways and as wonderfully as Indians!