Ouch that Hurt!

The Beyas River Winding Through the Himalayas

Foot Bridge over the Beyas

Rickety Gondola over the Beyas

Our Garden

Ouch! This isn't fun!

More oil, less pressure

Our Cabin in the Himalayas

Gobi (Cauliflower), Naan, Chicken Tandoori

We left Mandi and drove towards Kasol, where we are spending 2 nights. The road follows the Beyas River which to my eyes is the classic Himalayan River. It winds in the narrow Kullu valley between steep mountain ranges. It is spectacular! Although our driver said the road was a good road, it was washed out at many points from the monsoons and landslides.

The very steep hills are dotted with houses and small villages. It is difficult to imagine living in a place that is so remote. The road is basically about 1-1/2 cars wide, and when a large bus or truck approaches somehow the drivers understand who is to pull to the side and who goes forward. We often miss by just a few inches, sometimes Vijay reaches out and folds his side-mirror in so that is doesn’t get knocked off. We feel totally confident with Vijay at the helm. I did have this thought, that if something happened to Vijay and I had to drive us to the nearest town, I wouldn’t, I would just sit behind the wheel and cry!

While we were driving we could see snow capped peaks. We drove through a very long tunnel - it must have taken us 5 to 10 minutes to come out the other end once we had entered the tunnel. It was unlike other Tunnels I have been in, because the interior of the tunnel is just the drilled out rock, it is not finished in any way. From the ceiling water weeps down like rain upon the car, which incidentally sustained a dent in the roof when a large monkey jumped on the car.

The valley is very narrow, with the river running through it. Every so often you would see a wire like contraption rather like a sky lift, but with just a small basket suspended from the wire. The wire would stretch from the mountain on one side of the river way up high on the other side of the valley to some village. Apples (the primary crop) would be sent down on this precarious wire contraption. We actually saw a person in a basket descending from the mountain. Given the choice to drive (see me crying above) or taking a ride in the basket, I think I would say screw it, and jump off the mountain into the river below.

We arrived at the Himalayan Village Resort, it sits near the river and you hear the water rushing by. It is beautiful beyond description. Individual Swiss Chalet like cottages, equipped with wifi and small bottles of scotch. Flowers and manicured lawns surround us. The view of the mountains is fabulous. The food we had for lunch was wonderful (soup for Cathy, Singapore Noodles for me). Massages have been scheduled. I am feeling the spirit of the Himalayas already.

Here is a short video of where we are staying.

We laid outside on our front lawn reading. Every once in while we would like at the majestic mountains directly across the river and be amazed. They reminded us of the mountains in Peru at Machu-Pichu, covered in green with tall trees.

There are no mosquitoes and other than the 2 half hour rains we experienced at Ananda, maybe we will miss the monsoons. We will only know when we get to Mumbai.

Our massage folks arrived, and proceeded to use pressure point massages on us. It isn’t fun. With a stick like instrument they pressed into the soles of our foot and our hands. Supposedly they are going to release energy and have an effect on our internal organs. All I knew is that it hurt. I like massages with oil not sticks!

We had a wonderful dinner with Manchurian Gobi (Cauliflower), Chicken Tandoori, Potatoes, Rice and Dal. Way too much food, but it was great! The bottle and half of wine certainly helped.

Incidentally all of the photos and movies on the blog are taken with my iPhone.