Day 3 in Leh was basically spent on the meditation course and sightseeing around town. We had morning breakfast a little later and then headed off to the centre, entering the class about 20mins late. But it was supposed to be a relaxed trip anyway, so no rush! Class first moved into ‘how to sit long in meditation’ but the guru taught ‘vertebrae opening’ and I guess those exercises were meant to help the ‘Prana’ or ‘qi’ flow I think. Cos they treat the vertebrae as an important part of youth. If the backbone was young, said the guru, you will feel young. Profound stuff eh? Those exercises were accompanied by a breathing music which he had composed. Class was really quite interesting when you have all these modern elements coming in a class where things are supposed to be traditional.

Next part of the class was ‘Chakra healing and singing’. Now this was getting interesting as I had been reading a teeny weeny bit on Chakras and will be nice to see what this guy has to offer us! So basically, for each Chakra, there would be breathing exercise for 2mins and then singing a single note for another 2 mins. So we moved from one Chakra to the next, starting with the lowest and ending at the crown chakra which was at the top of the head. Whole thing lasted for about an hour and I could feel quite refreshed actually! But the skeptic in me tells me that it is the concentrated intake of oxygen that makes us more awake, but well, it was interesting to see how other people teach and view spirituality! The other people in the class were all caucasians and 3 of them were Italians.

After the class at 1:15pm, we paid the Rs300 fee (~SGD 10) and went off for lunch. This time I wanted to try the Korean restaurant, Amigo, which was off the main bazaar but was actually quite a far walk in and Mariana commented ‘that it better be worth it’ cos she did not really enjoy the previous korean meal at old Manali. So we went in and ordered a ham fried rice that turned out to be luncheon meat fried rice which was pretty good since I hadn’t had that for a good two months!! Then had a noodle dish which was fried vermicilli, another food that I had not eaten in a long time! Last was spring onion pancake which was good too! But this meal was more than the good food. While I was ordering the food, the Korean lady boss came out to tell me that kimchi dishes were not possible because the fermented kimchi had ran out and new unfermented kimchi were not sour enough. And this information she told me in Korean cos I had yellow skin and black hair. Haha. So funny when I told her that I am not Korean. Then she asked me where I was from and I told her Singapore and she was ‘Singapore! My friend who lives here is Singaporean too!’ she then ran out to the house and shouted ‘Florence!’ at the 2nd floor of the house. And soon, a head popped out and low and behold, a Singaporean! We said our hellos and she came down to our table. So nice! I could use singlish now! Haha. Naturally, we asked each other questions and I found out that she used to be an ex-A&E nurse at NUH, is single, parents had passed away already and had a sickly sister in Singapore. home in Singapore was at Choa chu kang (Westie!). What she was doing in Leh was owning and running a bakery neat Moti Market catering to the army camps and vegetarian Indians because her cakes and pastries are eggless. And because she supplies to an army camp, business is quite good! And her cake shop is called ‘The Secret Recipe’ which she only opens from june to October after which she flies back to Singapore because Leh is too cold in winter. On top of baking, she does some teaching at a music school in leh and freelances as a tour guide if she gets Singapore tourists. She has bought couples to places around Leh like visiting the nomadic tribes using the Ladakhi language which she learned in 6months from a local friend. On top of tourist trips, she also handled a trekking group who wanted to trek in December. She discouraged them but they insisted that they were professionals and could do it but in the end did not complete a simple trek according to her. She said she’d rather not do the business next time. Haha. So funny!

And we next asked her about some of the places of interest that Mariana can go during her 2 week stay in Leh and she knowledgeably rattled out all the place using the lonely planet guidebook. Soon after our pancake came and she took her leave to eat Kimbab (Korean Sushi) with the lady boss. That session was just like an episode of the Channel U info documentary “yi xiang ren” where they feature Singaporeans working in remote places like Africa. This meeting was totally random la. Haha. And towards the end of our meal, she came out again to introduce James to us, who runs a tour agency specialising in tours, trekking, buses and anything else that a normal Leh tour agency covers. We asked James what was good for us to sightsee in an afternoon and he gave us some pointers for the nearby sights as sights further away required a cab and advanced booking was required. Nice guy! We took his namecard to pass to Nacho if he wants to climb Stok Kangri. I wanted to buy my Manali bus ticket through him but his contact was busy so too bad!

He left and we also went to pay our bill and before I left, I got the contact and name card of Florence. Who knows, this contact may come in useful in the future! Can go trekking with her in Leh. Haha.  So the rest of the afternoon was to be spent touring the Leh Palace and the Tsemo Gompa. On the way to Jama Masjid, a mosque near the palace, we stopped by for a softee which turned out to be coconut flavour instead of the claimed ‘vanilla’ but it was good nonetheless in an unusually hot Leh afternoon. And soon after, guess who we met? The Australian couple Paul and Serena from our bus ride! They just came back from Thiksey visiting the Gompa there and were queueing up to withdraw money from the ATM! What a coincidence again! Haha. 2nd time we met them since we were in Leh. Talked to them a while, got some advice from them for the climb up to to Tsemo Gompa and we left to start our climb to Leh palace. Halfway through, we went in a temple which was guarded by a monk in sunglasses. He told us that the temple contained pictures of 1000 Buddhas so we went in to see and after 2 mins, he came up to us with an admission ticket booklet and said that there was an entrance fee of Rs20 per person. And I was like, I knew something was fishy the moment I saw the monk outside the temple. And I am not sure if they have mixed up business with their main or original intentions. But anyway, we paid and went around the small temple to see the murals of the 1000 Buddhas on the temple walls. Next stop: Leh Palace which was just a little higher and this time, admission was Rs100 per foreigner compared to Rs5 for locals. Crazy stuff. So I flashed my NGO letter and student card again and got it for half the price, Rs50. Which wasn’t too bad! The palace was nothing much to look at except for an exhibition of restoration of old relics in Ladakh and that was about it. Seriously felt cheated. Then got out of the palace to visit Tsemo Gompa, a temple 250m away- upslope mind you! Haha. Climb up was pretty tiring as there were no stairs and shade, only sand and sun. It was good exercise though! View from up there was pretty nice! This temple also required us to pay Rs20 but it was phrased nicely on the admission ticket that it would be used for restoration works and maintenance, unlike the first one which just said ‘admission ticket’ so lesson here: giving a reason is better than not giving any and it’s one of the principles to becoming a more persuasive person! Went to another room where the faces of the statues were covered by a cloth and the monk explained that they only open them during a certain festival in September if i remember correctly.

Some pictures of the temple and sights from there.

After the temple visit, we walked down to grab Yak cheese! Made from the milk of Yaks and this cheese could only be found in the north part of India. I had yak cheese sandwich with a glass of cold milk and it was really nice! Yak cheese had a certain taste twist from the normal cheese that we have (a little sour and pretty fragrant) and the combination with bread and veggies like tomatoes made it good! Mariana had yak cheese toast which i had a bite and was good too! Can fully taste the flavour of the cheese.

After this late afternoon snack, we walked back to our hotel area to use Internet and Mariana called her boyfriend Pedro. Alas, the wonders of love and what it can do to a person. Haha. But it’s nice to see such a loving couple so happy and communicating! Internet connection was pretty bad and hence Pedro had to call Mariana through her phone 10mins later. So went back to the hotel first to charge the batteries of her dying phone. We weren’t in a hurry for dinner anyway since we had a late snack.

After the call and my shower, we headed out for dinner at KC restaurant and I had a nice fruit salad to end the day off on a light note. Healthy living! Not eating anything too heavy too late. That was how I ended my 2nd last night in Leh.
4th and last day in Leh was started off with a jog around my guest house area at around 645 am. Had actually planned to go for a walk with the guest house owner and his dog at 6am but woke up a little late. But it’s good to go alone too cos got more freedom but no explanation about the area that’s all. Jogged around and stumbled upon an area which was more peaceful and had many restaurants and bakeries. Nice place! Came across Gomang stupa by chance too. The best part was stumbling upon the path leading to Shanti Stupa, which was a place that I had always seen from afar but didn’t know how to get there. Climbed the stairs up and the view up there was worth it! First visited the temple and then walked around the stupa which was initiated by a Japanese and supported by the Indian government through Indira Gandhi. Very nice seriously and saw 2 white girls learning yoga in front of the mountains. Great view, but I wonder how much they paid. Haha.

This French guy was pretty cool, he studied in India before and spoke fluent Hindi. He is a trekking guide and brings groups up trekking in the north. He was in Delhi visiting some friends and evaluating his future plans (to stay in India to do business or return to France). Unique guy! psst, he also had a relationship with an Indian girl but things didnt quite work out the way he wanted… So many kinds of people in this world!

Reached Pahar Ganj and went for breakfast since it was still early and the left luggage storage was not open yet.. and after breakfast, guess who I saw? the German couple and the English traveller! cool stuff! They were looking around the area and just got their guesthouse. Since shops were closed and I had nothing much to do, I decided to hang around with them..so went to Hara Rama guest house rooftop restaurant to have breakfast with them. Round 2 for me.

(From Left) Jan, the english guy whose name I cannot remember and Amelie!

After breakfast, we went to surf internet for an hour and I retrieved my bag from the left luggage center and my bus friends allowed me to deposit it in their hotel room! How nice of them! Went to deposit it and we decided to head down to Connaught Place for lunch. Took a metro down and first place we went was KFC cos the Germans wanted to try it as it cannot be found in Germany. But the queue was long and they were not willing to wait and we landed up eating Macs.

After the meal, Amelie and the english guy decided to go visit India gate while Jan and I went back to Pahar Ganj to rest in the hotel and chill out with a Limca. Pretty nice to talk to him about life and his experiences. Apparently, Germans have to do military service too! If they did not want to, they could opt to do social work and it was something that Jan had to do when he gets back to Germany…

And since it was Independence day, people were flying kites from their rooftops! Hundreds of kites could be seen. Very nice and unique sight!

Flying kites from rooftops

Amelie and englishman came back to the hotel and we rested and chatted before going out to have dinner at a nearby restaurant. for my last meal in India, I had “Chicken Curry” and Naan, the first Indian meal I had in about 2 weeks and this decision was reached based on the fact that I would be on the plane back home in about 4 hours time and will never get to eat ‘authentic’ Indian dishes from India.

After the nice meal on the rooftop and seeing fireworks light up the sky occassionally, I went back, took a shower and got ready for the airport trip! took a rickshaw and within the hour, I was at a spanking new airport queueing to get in. Wow, the prospect of home and a good experience in India was making me happy! Checking my bag in and clearing customs felt really good!

I guess the feeling at the point in time at the airport and in the plane was one of happiness and enrichment. I felt that the Indian experience had really benefitted me and opened my eyes to new life lessons and experiences and I was really thankful for that…

I had survived India. Acha hei.

Trip costs about SGD 30 to Leh and SGD 50 back from Leh and the extra is because of some taxes payable on the way back. Stopped quite a few times along the way and surrendered our passports so that they can record
foreigners’ details and track where they are in case we didn’t get to
Leh or anything. So these were good opportunities for rest, pee breaks
and Chai if there was a shop. We also had a late veg chowmien lunch at
around 4pm in a tent pitstop.

The driver vs the road.

Chai break at 6am! REALLY GOOD!

Beautiful sky

snow-capped mountains!

the mulicultural group we were travelling with!

In the bus too was a Japanese lady from Hokkaido, a British lady (Terry) who broke her ligaments a year ago and was going for a trek in Leh. 3 Australians which consisted of a couple (Paul & Serena) who was travelling the world and one girl who was touring India. The back row was taken up by 3 Nepalese who were going to Leh to trek and a big Punjabi Singh (who vomitted through the
window a couple of times just by sticking his head out. Haha.) Took
quite a few photos along the way, caught some sleep from time to time.
But the view was really breathtaking, and travelling at an average
altitude of 2000-3000m was really cool. There were a few prominent
passes that we crossed, such as the Rohtang la pass (3900m) and the
2nd highest pass in the world: Latang la pass at about 5300m. Lonely
planet and other guidebooks say that this is one trip that one should
try to do while in India.

I think this river leads to the Ganges...

Himalayas?? but its damn cool!

2 british girls cycling from Manali to Leh. Amazing...10 days!

This road is about 4000m above sea level...

Nice headband eh? I lost it on the return journey

So finally reached Leh at about 930pm and we were clueless about where to sleep for the night. Talked to the Nepalese and they tried to help us get a taxi (no auto rickshaws in Leh cos it’s too hilly for tuk tuks). We walked around the guest houses near the bus stand but it all seemed shady and in the end, we
asked if the 3 aussies wanted to share a cab to the city centre for
Rs20 each and soon we found ourselves at the city centre looking for a
place to sleep. Asked around for Atisha Guest House which was
recommended by Stephan and alas they only had a room which Mariana and
I took. The other 3 australians went off to look for a room nearby.
And on the way to the city centre, the driver told us that the Dalai
Lama would be here the following day at 7pm and this sort of got me
excited! I didn’t see him in his hometown at Mcleod Ganj and perhaps I
can see him this time! And it was good to sleep on a proper bed.

Breakfast!

The next day was a Sunday and we woke up to have a nice American breakfast before heading to explore the town. And we saw the Australian couple as we were leaving the eatery/bakery. Plan was to walk around and then catch Dalai Lama at 7pm. Did quite a bit of shopping at the Tibetian refugee markets which was located in small pockets all over the town.
And we found out that Dalai Lama had already arrived in town at 7am!
Omg. So wasted. But it was ok, knowing that he is in the same town as me was good enough! Haha.

Typical Tibetian Market in Leh

The shop where we spent 1 hour

The most ‘exciting’ part of the day was probably the 1hour haggling session at a certain shawl shop. Mariana wanted to buy the hybrid 50% pushmina 50% silk shawl for Rs600 a piece but they guys in the shop wouldn’t let it go at that price and we just ended up talking and they bought chai for us. Interesting long talk we had and in the end, they relented at Rs 700 a piece which Mariana bought 2 instead of the original 3 pieces she wanted. Pretty decent
price I felt, but could have been a little lower cos they were quite
quick into agreeing to our price. But what is done is done, happy with
the buy can already la. Haha.

lunch of pizza and momos

Had pizzas and momos (dumplings) for lunch at 3pm and continued to walk around the shops and asked around for some prices of water rafting which was one of the activities we planned. Prices ranged from Rs1300 to Rs 1600 for the more challenging Zanskar river which will bring us from Chilling to Nimo town in about 3hours in the river. Prices were a little steep we felt but we were still open to changes in the plan. In the evening, went to use Internet and called home via Skype which was very rare cos the
Internet cafe owners removed it as it took up too much bandwidth
according to them. Call home was good, as it was national day, the following monday was a holiday. Talked for 15mins before heading off for dinner.

On the way out of the cafe, Mariana spotted a poster promoting a meditation and chakra singing course on the day after tomorrow and that seemed to help make things fall into place. Cos since 11th morning would be spent doing the course and 12th would be spent at the Women’s Alliance centre, it only left 10th to be spent water rafting. So we quickly went to Tsokar hotel where Mariana used her Internet to ask if the owner used the same agency that I aimed at while we were scouting for prices earlier in the day. And it turned
out that it was! Yeah!! Cos then we didn’t have to make our way down
to the agency itself. Made payment and was excited that we had things
planned out and things were falling in place nicely. Had a huge dinner-
chicken sizzler which consisted of rice, veg and chicken popcorn
pieces on a hot plate. Was nice and good carbo loading for the water
rafting the following day.

Sights around Leh

Day 2 started with packing cos we decided to check out and move to a new place after the rafting. So since there was no point paying for half a day more just to keep the luggage, we just brought everything along. And waited outside Tsokar hotel for the transport to come. It was a jeep and in it were 2 Isrealis. Then we got on and soon after, 3 more Indian guys got on. So I guess that made up our rafting group! The drive to the start point, Chilling, took about an hour but it was good to see another side of Ladakh.

another side of Leh

The Zanskar river- the one we were going to conquer!

The launch point for boats

On reaching, we changed and slapped on sunblock. The 3 Indian guys and I
took turns to inflate the float and the structure of the boat is very
interesting as the sides were 4 individual sections and so were the
inner seats. So I guess if any side was deflated, there would be the
other sides! Our pumping duties were soon taken over by our driver
‘kama’ from Tibet and one guy who I guessed was the assistant at the
launch site cos he was constantly spraying water to cool the boats
down.

In wetsuit and lifejacket!

Got into our wetsuits (I managed to squeeze into a size ‘S’ but could hardly breathe!) and life jackets which were strapped tightly too! The Indian guys were very nice and they helped us take a lot of photos with their Sony prosumer cam. Next came the briefing on rafting and the safety briefing. My raft guide was called Kushal and he looks like a dark Malay la. Haha. His actions also quite Malay probably that’s why got some resemblence. Haha. It was about 11+am I think and we grabbed our sticks and set off! There were 2 new additions to the boat from another vehicle. Martin and his wife from UK. They were like 60+ years old (Martin had a bad knee too) and were definitely living the life since they were doing a sport like water rafting. I wonder
how many couples at this age would do such extreme sports!

the raft crew

First part was relatively ok, we practiced the commands a little: “forward”,
“back paddle”, “stop”, “left forward right back” and so on.

Played with a little small rapids first as warm up I guess and we were told
to “lock your legs” to get ready for the “Chilling rapid”. It really looked quite fierce from afar and was our first major rapid. We listened to his commands, “forward faster and harder” etc and then suddenly, a huge wave hit the boat on the right side where I was sitting. I saw the person in front of me fall off the seat towards the left and next moment I knew, I was in the water! Things happened so quickly that I only remembered that I hit something pretty hard which was probably the boat. And I was underwater for a while, at least 5
seconds I believe and I just waited to float up while holding on tight
to my paddle. And when I reached the surface, I was quite far away
from the boat and was being swayed around by some of the waves after
the rapid. So since I couldn’t go back I looked around for the safety
kayak and I went towards him, grabbed the back of his kayak and he
paddled (I was told to kick) to the nearest boat which was the one
that had all Indian guys except for 2 caucasians in front. 2 of them
pulled me up from the water. Nice people, and I sat in the centre of
the boat while the guides coordinated my return to my original boat. I
waited a while before the 2 boats joined and I jumped, ok not jump,
but more of slided back into my boat. Haha. Unglam, but who cares.
Safety more impt..haha. Back in the boat, i realised that I had a cut
on my left hand index finger but still had to row.

After a while, I was told to change my back seat with the guy in front and I guess this was the start of more adventure! meeting waves head on was
certainly quite fun and coordinating my strokes with the right side
and the people behind me was quite a challenge! But seeing waves come
head and conquering them was quite an exciting part! Took a 15min
break where I tried to warm myself up with the hot stones at the
shore. It was really very cold and I was shivering quite badly.
Zanskar river water is really cold and icy! Rest of the journey after
the break was ok, a huge part was just like admiring the sights
(mountains overlooking the river; very grand) and there was a period
of time where people could swim in the river. A few people jumped in
for a swim. Interesting! I had my own fair share of the swim already
after falling into the river. After a few more encounters with rocks
and rapids, we saw our ending point and we got off to dry ourselves
while the crew packed up the boat.

We survived the Zanskar!

Feeling 'tight', cold, hungry and happy!!

Lunch buffet!

Then they brought us to a guest house nearby for a buffet lunch of rice, daal and vegetable curry where I think I ate about 2bowls of rice. Had hot tea there too! The Indian guys were heading off to Delhi and we said our goodbyes then while the rest of us headed back to town. On the return journey, we stopped by a place called ‘Magnetic hill’ and on this road there is a strong magnetic that can pull a car upslope. Our driver cut off the
engine and the car magically moved upwards. Nice natural phenomena!
wonders of nature.

Magnetic hill... nice phenomenon!

We decided to drop off at Changspa cos that was where the meditation place was held and find a guest house nearby. Before that, we had a snack of Choco banana pie and apple crumble pie!

PIES

Oriental styled room

Walked around and asked for prices and finally settled at Mona Lisa guest house which was near the Elements meditation centre. Room was oriental styled and nice! The owners had a cute small dog that barked non stop whenever it saw us. Settled in, showered and rested for a while after a tiring day in the sun.

Dinner was at a nice al fresco place called World Peace cafe and I had Mexican food- Chilly corncan with rice.  Not too bad, just a little spicy that’s all and boy was it filling! During this time, talked about BGRs and learned more about Mariana’s relationships! Haha. It’s nice to be a noob and learn from other people. Very interesting talk to see how other people view love. Haha.

Day 3&4 coming right up!

World peace cafe...Nice place to chill and talk!

Way too early! the sky is still BLACK!

Reaching at 5am, it was all quiet until the housekeeper came out and opened an empty room for us. After shower and rest, we went out for lunch, buy bus tickets and then down towards new Manali through a nature reserve beside which the Ganges river ran. Water was cleaner and clearer than the one in
Varanasi though! The nature reserve was a really nice place to rest
and relax though! Next stop was new Manali town where we walked around

exploring, drew and exchanged money and ate Baskin Robbins ice cream!
So nice to relax and chill. Went back to hotel to do some reading and
writing and laundry. And we also prepared our towels for laundry
service (Rs10~SGD 0.30 per piece) cos I haven’t washed my towel for a
good 1 month probably.
Haha. And during this time, I arranged for my mountain biking trip the following morning with Raju Sharma who quoted me Rs1200 for a morning 28km ride. So that will be my morning exercise and sightseeing. Dinner was taken at the chill out cafe with wifi and the chicken sandwich was good!

the residential area near the guest house

Internet cafe for dinner!

Went to bed a little earlier cos mountain biking was at 8am! Woke up the next morning thinking that the biking would be manageable, like it can’t get any harder. Took a rickshaw towards new Manali to meet Mr Sharma at Mount View restaurant. Since I was early, I walked around a bit and saw things
like a family going camping, a guy dressed in jogging gear and took a
quick peek at a Buddhist temple in the city. After walking, I went
back to the restaurant entrance and it was not before long a man
approached me and asked me if I was going for mountain biking. Not
surprisingly, he was Mr Sharma and we walked towards his office. And
when I reached, the was another man there and he introduced himself as
Ravi and he was quick off the mark to say that he saw me earlier that
morning. I recalled for a while and he was actually the guy in jogging
gear! Such a coincidence! Haha. Some sights of new Manali…

NEW Manali!

"The Mall" at Manali- no cars allowed. GOOD!

Buddhist temple

Shops in Manali

The yellow TREK

They got 2 bikes out and one of them was a Trek! Cool! They asked me to test the bikes and choose one and I chose the orange trek. Haha. Brand plays a huge role in decisions I guess! After protective gear and equipment check, we were off! The route which I thought would be manageable turned out to be an intense ride! The upslope seemed never ending at times but the beautiful
scenery made up for that. I felt as if I was cycling in Switzerland
given the greenery and mountains. The ride was quite tough and i had
to take quite a few breaks to catch my breath while Ravi had no
problems at all. Shows how unfit I am now!! A lifestyle of just eating
and sleeping mainly.. Haha. Took a few photos while we rested and we
talked about some personal topics like BGRs while we rested. Very
interesting guy, reminded me of Charles from Mt Abu. They have dreams
but always hold things back like marriage because of money. But well,
they are entitled to their own thoughts. Haha. But I like how he was
frank and does not really pretends in front of customers like me cos
he was taking smoke breaks here and there. And I think I roughly know
where he derives his strength from. Haha. A stick sometimes can do
wonders!

Nice view and ride!

Prayer flags on the hills!

Scenes like this leaves you speechless!

Ravi and me

Zorbing and paragliding area

Paragliding means another thing to Indians.

Then we cycled up and up till an open plain and valley like
area where people did paragliding and zorbing. Rested there for a good
20mins before heading back to the office. The ride this time was
downslope and boy was it fun! Not much effort needed and most of the
time was just free wheeling and enjoying the wind and speed. So the
climb was worth it! Haha. He said our speed was like about 50km/h,
which was way too cool. I don’t think I’ve achieved that speed in my
singapore rides.

Wooden keychain man

Reached office at around 1230 pm and this made the whole trip about 4 hours so 1 hour was about SGD 7.50 cos in the end, I only paid Rs 1000 instead of Rs 1200. Haha. Tricked the boss into believing it was 1000 in the morning. In the office, we had chai tea and they showed me some pictures and videos of previous treks and bike rides they have done. Said my goodbye at 1pm and headed back to the hotel and on the way, made some keyrings with name calligraphy for friends.

He painted this.Nice.

Since my legs were so wobbly, I took an auto rickshaw back to the hotel where Mariana was waiting. Haha. Lunch was next and we tried the Korean cafe near our hotel. Had bibimbab and kimbab. Side dishes were not fantastic but well, guess this was the best Korean place in this area! Haha. Went for desert next but main idea was to use the free wifi in the cafe. Haha. Apple pie was good! And probably it’s because the northern cities like Manali are the ones producing apples for the whole of India. Apple pie in Shimla’s cafe coffee day couldn’t be called apple pie at all cos the apple was non existent! Haha. And one thing I noticed about the north is that they have very good bakeries making good and nice breads and cookies at a reasonable
price!

Kimbab with Wasabi!! POWER!

the girl who cant use chopsticks

After desert, picked up our laundry and went back to the hotel
area wanting to explore the south side. We thought that there was
something cos there were so many people walking up and down this path.
All I got was plucking 2 apples from a tree to eat in the hotel room.
Haha. Quite fun! Apples were not very crunchy and nice but well, it
was free!

Isreali Dinner- Falafel

Needed to pack and get ready for the trip to Leh that night, so packed up and went for dinner. Tried Israeli falafel which was pretty nice! And on the way, bought cookies and bread for the trip before going back to the hotel to rest cos the bus journey was at 2am and reporting time was 130am at the English bakery. Mariana lost our Chai bet “I’ll not sleep” she said but she slept in the end. Haha. Funny. Walked down to English bakery and waited for the bus which was pretty punctual given Indian standards! Haha. and soon, our wonderful 19 hour journey to Leh began….

Anyway reached the bus stand, went to the back compartment to take Mariana’s bag and low and behold, it was not there! Ok, start of an adventure! Went to look for the bus conductor and he said that the bag was left at the previous stop where one of ‘our friends’ took it down. And coincidentally, i saw Ryan at the bus stand! Fate again? Haha. But our hellos had to wait. So climbed up and found it at the taxi stand with one British tourist whom we met in Shimla. Lucky!

Went back down to meet up with Michel and Ryan and talked. They had been at the bus stand since 4am and were waiting for the bus to go Mcleod Ganj where most of the sights were. Went aboard the bus and waited for a good half an hour before the engine started and went to Mcleod. Upon reaching, we split our ways cos we had different agendas; they had only 1 day while I had 2 days. Plus Mariana wanted to try the guesthouse that her friend Anna recommended. Raju, the contact of the house, could not be contacted and the only clue we had was the Krishna cafe where Raju worked at. So took an auto up to Dharamkot, about 2km away from the city centre. Reached there,
went to the cafe and found out that Raju had gone home to see his
sickly father, but his friend Kullu (Kuldip) managed to contact him
and we were shown the way to our accommodation which was a 5min walk
from the cafe. Place was quite rural-imagine 2 houses in the middle of
nowhere. Haha, but it was very serene and the room had a good view la. Check this out!

Hotel room in an Ashram

View of Pine trees from the balcony

Showered and rested till 12pm before heading out for lunch and
sightseeing at Mcleod. Walked down the 2km, bought our bus tickets for
Manali and headed for lunch. For the first time, i tried tibetian food
in the form of soup noodles and had Quiche, which was a kind of pie
with different stuffings.

LUNCH! Superb. Felt like home

Cars (have to) stop for children here! So nice!

Dalai Lama is everywhere!

Good lunch! And then we walked around the city looking for the Dalai
Lama’s residence and the temple near his residence, Tsug Lakhang. Did
some shopping along the way as we were seriously just randomly walking
around. And we ended up at another temple which was not the one we
were looking for. Haha. But it was good to see other temple cos this
one was really tibetian cos of the numerous prayer wheels there. From
big ones to small ones, people and monks were seen spinning them. One
spin of each wheel equals to the recital of one sentence of the mantra
“Om Ma Ni Padme Hom”.

Prayer wheels

Everyone HAPPY

Save the Panchem Lama! Nobody knows what happened to him!

Asked for directions and we actually missed the temple on our way down! Found the temple grounds but we visited the tibetian museum where there were exhibits on the plight and history of the tibetians. After that went to the temple and although it was not grand or obvious or looked anything like a temple from the outside; it was really cool inside la! There were about 2 prayer halls and I went in one of them and the cupboards were filled with ancient books containing original scriptures or texts relating to Buddhism,
philosophy, science, medicine and other topics. Mind blowing to see
like so much knowledge preserved so nicely! Like a trip back in time!
After the temple tour, went opposite to a building which happened to
be the office and residence of the Dalai Lama!

Security guard outside his office

Notice saying that Dalai Lama will be cutting down on audiences

They love their Tibet

But sadly he was not in when I talked to the Indian army security guard. They even had a reception office to handle requests. Quite cool! Too bad my request for a private audience was rejected.

TEA TIME! delicious cake!

Next: Went for coffee break and managed to use a little of Wifi at the cafe! Finally some wifi action in India! And the cake and tibetian herbal tea were superb too! Since it was raining, we decided to use the Internet while waiting for the rain to stop. Called home to advice my dear brother on course bidding
which was ‘making him lose hair’. Haha. Then headed back when rain
subsided and looked for a dinner place where I tried another tibetian
dish. Food up here was different and I didn’t feel that I was in
india. The cool weather here also contributed to this fact but it was
certainly different!

DINNER!!

Walking back to Dharamkot was another adventure in itself, road had no
lights and my phone was dead from all the wifi. Mariana’s nokia also
died halfway up the walk. And to make matters worse, it started to
rain and it got heavier as time went by. So we just walked up faster
and went to the first shelter we saw in at the road junction. Then
waited for about 15-20mins for the rain to stop before heading down to
Krishna cafe to buy water for the night. Talked to Kuldip aka kullu
for a while and headed back to the hotel in the dark. Adventure man!
Need to avoid puddles and see the way on a road with no street lamps.
Finally reached the hotel and the road leading to the room was way too
dark too! But we managed to do it and lesson for the day: always have
light with you.

Next morning, woke up a little earlier to do some jogging near the
forest behind the hotel. Was a good jog, seeing monks making their way
down towards Mcleod Ganj with big colourful umbrellas. Jogged on and
came towards a forest clearing with a small stupa and a larger one.
The forest had tibetian flags hanging all over from the trees. Very
nice!! Somehow after the visit, I felt more rejuvenated and had a
relatively easy jog back to the hotel.

Mariana and breakfast

Packed up and checked out and went to Kullu’s cafe for breakfast. I had some Isreali dish and it certainly did not feel like India! Then walked down to Mcleod Ganj, deposited the bag at the bus stand before doing some serious shopping! Mariana bought a lot of things while I bought a fair bit myself too
like tea and some small items. Had a late lunch to prepare for our 530pm bus ride to Manali.

Some sights along the way!

Obama was here too!

Cute girl from the place we had lunch. She was learning french!

Restaurant where we had lunch

So we went to the bus stand at 5pm and guess what, our bus had some technical problems and was not coming up to Mcleod to pick us up. Instead, we had to go to Dharamshala to take the bus. Talking with Raju the sefuroty guard of the bus ticket staand, he told us not to worry and follow a delhi bound bus down to the Dharamshala bus stand. Unexpected events can certainly pop up in India! So we followed him, got 2 Jap guys to follow us too and we were off to the Dharamshala bus stand, hoping that the bus would not leave without us. But according to Raju, he says that the bus will leave 530
from Mcleod and 630 from Dharamshala, this sort of made sense and so
there was something lesser to worry about.

Indian style of doing things again.

Christ Church in Shimla

Reached Shimla on Sunday with a bad stomachache and gassy internal organs. So first thing I went for was the toilet! And guess what, there were like 3 people standing in front of each cubicle! Crazy stuff! So no choice had to wait. Somehow long bus trips into the north makes the stomach and intestines produce a lot of gas. I think it’s the bumpy roads that ‘ferments’ the stuff inside and creates the gases. Best solution I learnt after my trips is
to let the gas out! Just try not to stink up the whole bus. Haha

So waited for probably 15-20mins before I got to use the toilet and had
to pay 5 rupees after coming out. Whew. What a start! When I got out,
BJ and Min were already talking to an old man who said he had cheap
rooms to recommend. So we followed him up the Shimla market and boy
was it an uphill climb! Stopped a few times for rest and realized that
I am damn unfit la. Haha. Walked up the market and reached the town
centre or city hall located along a road called ‘The Mall’. This town
was about 2000m above sea level and the weather was way way cooler
than Delhi. It was probably about 16 degrees. Shiok!

SHIMLA

We climbed further up and finally reaches the hotel, Ashok hotel. Room was nice, had a woooden decor which made it feel like a hill top cottage in
Switzerland. Nice! And the rooms didn’t need to have any air
conditioning as the air was cool enough! We slept in our beds till
about 12pm before heading out for lunch which was a huge spread of
meat!

Meat GALORE!

Good to have some Indian meat again after our last Indian meat
meal in Nagpur. Then walked around, had honey softee and people
watched. Went to a roller skating rink on the road below our hotel and
then walked back to hotel when it started to drizzle.

Skating rink! not ice though!

Rested, talkedwith BJ, read a bit before heading out again to the mall at 6pm to use Internet. Used it for an hour for Rs25, more expensive than Delhi, but
cheaper compared to Manali, Dharamshala and Leh. There was a confusion
and small argument in the shop as the shop keeper tried to force us to
take 2 cups of chai tea which we did not order. We asked if chai was
free when we entered the shop and saw the boy making but did not
order. Then next moment when we settled down, the shopkeeper asked us
to take chai. In the end, someone else in the shop offered to pay for
us but BJ declined. It’s a matter of principles, that was how I saw it
and looking back, they were already making the tea even before we
entered the shop, so I think there was no way they could know that we
wanted to order chai even if we wanted.

After Internet session, we walked towards Subway to grab dinner, and on our way there, we saw Ryan! Or rather, I think Ryan saw us first from Lavazza cafe. Such a coincidence! We went in and talked, and I think it’s really fate that we met, after the short discussion in Jaipur saying that we might meet
in Shimla! Omg!! And since they wanted to shower, we packed our subway
and brought them to our hotel room for a quick shower before their
930pm bus to Manali. After their quick shower, we walked them down to
the city hall before saying our goodbyes. And it was my last night
with Min and BJ and hence we talked till quite late and slept because
of the ridiculous 8am checkout time stipulated by the hotel owner.

RYAN & MICHEL (jackson)!!

Absolutely fit!

Next morning, we were out by 8am and went onto the climb towards
Jakhoo temple. Morning exercise! Climb up was steep and quite long. We took about 20 mins to reach the top and according to the tourist
fitness sign/index. We are absolutely fit! Haha. So rested at the temple and watched monkeys fight over food and with each other before
heading back down. Back down, went to cafe coffee day to chill and
relax for a small breakfast. Made use of their toilets too! Haha. And
whilst reading the newspapers, there was an article on SMU’s Asha
build project in Bangalore. So cool to have your project published in
a local paper! Wonder how they got the contacts. Haha. In between,
called Mariana via STD to check if she had arrived or not.

Jakhoo temple entrance

Cafe coffee day!

SMU in the news!

blade sharpener

The market of Shimla

And in the end, she reached at 1pm. 17hours bus ride from Jaipur and absolutely crazy! She climbed up the market with her big backpack and was
exhausted when she reached the Mall. Haha. Went for Chinese lunch
which wasn’t too bad and then brought her around Shimla while we took
turns to carry her bag. Along the way, we bought a huge yellow melon
to eat and it was not too bad! Went to lavazza cafe to chill and talk
and pass time before our buses to Delhi and Dharamshala at 9pm and
930pm respectively.

Nice and sweet yellow melon!

how does he do it?

Went to subway for dinner, went to the cafe coffee day toilet for a ‘cleaner’ free use of toilet and then walked down towards the bus stand. And guess who we saw there? The old man who showed us our hotel on our first day! Haha. He was there getting other business with other tourists. Haha. Said my goodbyes to Min and BJ.

Boy, my buddies for 2 months and I daresay that my internship and
India experience would be so much different without them and I am
really grateful that I worked and lived with them. Learned a lot from
them and had lots of great fun! thanks Min and BJ! I think and hope
that we will meet again someday!

Got there and since they only opened at 8am, BJ and I had breakfast at the
rooftop restaurant first while Min caught some sleep in the lobby.
After breakfast, used a bit of Internet, called home to tell them that
I was travelling and BJ called home too! He made his dad talk about
Singapore where he visited in 2001 for some business. So nice! 8
o’clock came and after depositing the bag, we walked towards Connaught
Place to find Axis bank so that we can get some cash from our salary..
We were all broke-literally. Another aim was to buy bus tickets for
our trip to Shimla. Went to a few tour agencies and we soon realised
that most were out to cheat us. Hoho. We kept our faith with the
government bus.

We had time to kill anyway before our train ride at 635pm to Varanasi to see the famous Ganges river! Walked around the shops in CP before ending up at KFC for lunch. Had KFC for lunch, finger licking good man! “Student of lickonomics” was the slogan.

Baha'i Temple

Stayed there for some time cos it was too hot outside! Then decided to
go to Baha-i temple for some sightseeing. Apparently this temple is
modelled after the Sydney opera house and is even more visited than
other attractions; recommended by my travel guide too! It was a crazy
hot day and when we reached there, a sign at the gate said that it was
closed and would only reopen at 4pm! Omg. So have to find something
else to do! Then one rickshaw driver came up to us and offered us a
free ride to a shopping centre where they sold handicrafts, clothes
and food. Now, when someone offers something free to you, something
must be amiss right? Cos the offer is too good to be true! After some
hesitation and lots of reconfirmation, we hopped onto the taxi van and
soon we were at the Delhi Haat emporium. Very nice place in terms of
service, served us free water, tea whenever we wanted to try them. But
deep down, we knew that this was a tourist place. After some tea
tasting session and bargaining, BJ and Min bought some tea home for
their families. Before we left the place, we heard a short sitar
performance from the man who sold us the tea. People who can play
instruments are cool!

After that, we walked to the shopping centre that we passed on our way to Baha-i temple which was a good 15-20 min walk in the hot sun! Didn’t expect it to be that long, thought that it would just be a short walk. Haha. Met a small girl along the way who’s begging style was directed by her mother who was nearby. Min noticed that initially she did not want to take photos with BJ initially but relented when her mom shouted something in Hindi. Amazing stuff these parents put their kids through. But reached in the end and chilled out (literally) at Macs before going back to the bus stand. Ride back was
gruelling- heat; traffic jam; fatigue.

Reached the station, bought tickets to Shimla on Saturday night and the travel operators said that there would be no tickets. Haha. Next stop was Old Delhi railway station to board the train to Varanasi- a 13hour train journey. We took sleeper class again and I think this is really one of the best
ways to experience the ways of being a local. Train ride was the usual, with a few hiccups like BJ’s bed being soiled and dirty; no meals on board and reaching Varanasi 3hours late. Finally reached Varanasi and boy, it was another steaming city. Without a travel guide book, we discussed our options and followed an auto rickshaw driver who spoke decent English to bring us to the south of the Ganges river where we can take a boat up north. That was the basic plan for the first part of the day. The rickshaw driver stopped us at a small alley and declined payment and this meant that he was waiting for us to come back for more “tourist blood sucking” by taking us sightseeing and
charging exorbitantly probably.

We got to the Ganges and immediately,a boatman appeared! Haha. I think they were in cahoots. Boatman was asking for Rs 500 and it was a crazy price. So we decided to walk down to see if there were any other boatmen.. Before we walked, we also paid the Rs 60 to the auto driver’s brother to let him go so that we can be free to do our own things. Walking down, we negotiated with a
small kid to have a boatride for Rs350 but quickly referred this business to his uncle. Apparently he is the one who pulls in the business and gives explanatory tours if he is free. But he said he had school and left quickly. We hopped onto the boat to explore the river ganges and it’s amazing lure for the locals.

On the boat leaving the shore

From bathing ‘ghats’ or long string of bathing steps leading to the river to Dhobi (laundry) ghats (yes! Singapore’s Dhoby Ghat comes from this name I believe when that place used to be a place for laundrymen) to burning ghats where they burn dead bodies 24/7. Here are some views from our boat ride!

SHOWER!

Some of the ghats

A temple for Mother Ganga in the middle!

Boat man drinks the water! "it is clean!"

After the ride up and down, we searched for food and the craving for the day was Japanese! Cos we saw a lot of this Iba cafe sign with Jap words. Walking along the river following the signs, Min and I decided to step into the river to experience the ‘magic’ of the river. Water was slippery though and sometimes I wonder how the locals can convince themselves that it is clean! Haha.

Iba cafe! in lonely planet

Iba cafe turned out to be quite far away! But we found it in the end! Ordered Jap food! BJ had ramen (“good ramen”), Min had curry udon and I had tempura udon. We also shared chicken teriyaki. Ramen was not bad but udon was not fantastic, it was actually handmade knife sliced noodles. My tempura was all fried vegetables, no prawn and they even had a fried leaf! Haha. But overall, it was not bad la, although It was only like about 30% to 40% jap. Then for deserts and to escape the heat, we headed to a nearby bakery ‘bakery of life’ to see what they have to offer. We ended up just having drinks cos there were no or little deserts on offer.

LUNCH!

Then after that, we took an auto to Varanasi’s shopping centre. (it was white in color compared to the usual yellow one we see everywhere! Cool! Reason Is cos these autos were the older ones before the yellow ones moved in to Varanasi). The shopping centre had a cinema and it was quite a pity that they only had Harry Potter in Hindi, or else I think I’d watched it. Haha. Walked around the shopping centre and saw this interesting shop called ‘Singapore Store’ and guess what they sold there? Girls clothes imported from bangkok. How singapore man!

SINGAPORE Store!

Haha. A lot of Singaporeans go Thailand for shopping too! Haha. Had a
drink there before deciding to head out to explore Varanasi and do
some sightseeing.

Amusement park!

Hired an auto for Rs 100 to bring us to 2 temples and back to the Ganges near Shivala. Went to the first temple and there was this mini amusement park near the temple la. Haha. And the shoe keeper was not very friendly, talking and breathing down close on you. Whew! Turned out that he only wanted Rs3 for looking after our shoes while we were inside the temple. That was the first one. 2nd one was Hanuman’s temple or monkey temple they call it. Inside the temple there were people picnickng, with monkeys running about. What an interesting sight! Haha. Picnic in temple grounds with Chapatis and some vegetables. After this temple, we returned to the Ganges to chill. Sat on the steps and talked with people who came our way, eg a 29 year old smiley man; small boy selling postcards who claims that he makes Rs 500 everyday (FYI Rs500 a day is a lot ok!) and this brother and sister who were selling flower candles that were to be used for prayers or setting off into the Ganges. These 2 kids quite cool, asked for some of our mineral water and finished it in the end. Then once done, one of them jumped on it to shoot the bottle cap out. We had about half a bottle left la and they finished it. Amazing.

KIDS! the fun they get

After that,we walked up north to find a place to have dinner before our 8pm train back to Delhi. On the way, we saw a snake charmer with 2 cobras and he asked us to take photographs. So we took happily and in the end he asked us to pay some money la. Poor tourists getting tricked again. Paid him 10 rupees and went off, saying that we did not have any other small change, which was true! And guess what, he pulled out a stack of notes saying ” I have change”. I was stunned and amused at the same time. Min took 3 photos and I took 5, so each photo costs about 1 rupee each. Damn funny looking back.. Haha. Settled at Lotus Lounge and we had pasta, home made fries and chowmien. Not too bad!

our favourite snake charmer

Lotus lounge!

Home-made fries!

Took an auto back to the station and it was nicely lit up with lights! Very
nice. Ride back to Delhi was crazy too. Train arrived late by 3 whole
hours and we had to suffer the heat of India as the train pulled into
the station. Went to Pahar Ganj via auto and decided to shower first
before having Korean food! Haha. Found a place to shower for 3hours
for Rs 200. I grabbed my bag from the luggage deposit to pack for my 2
week travel in the north. BJ and Min went to the Korean place to order
food first so that it will be ready when I finish packing. Had Korean
food (kimchi jiggae, tenjang jiggae, mul leng mian and pork fried with
rice). Walked to CP after the meal to walk around before our bus ride
at 8pm. Hopped in from store to store to enjoy their airconditioning
without really buying anything. Haha. Since we weren’t so hungry,
dinner was bread and cake from the milkshake place, can’t recall the
name for now. I bought like a big loaf of German bread for Sgd $1!
cool! After that, took the subway to Kashmere gate station which was
near the bus stand. We bought some pirated books for our trip (sgd 3
for 1 book on average!) and we off to the cool northern capital of
Himachal Pradesh state, Shimla.

Monday night we were invited to Mr Chandra Prakash’s home for ‘some
festival’ according to Aditya. And we would be picked up from our
house. Ok, fine by us! Free dinner!! He also kindly told us that day
was the day when Jaipur had a festival were some devotees will walk
barefoot for about 40km or something from one place to a temple
somewhere. The devotees were walking on the road and the traffic
police closed off certain sections. “I had troubles while I was riding
to work today”.

That evening, we were told to stay back a little so that we could go
together! I was supposed to meet Mariana to discuss our travel plans
but now what I can do is probably leave the party earlier? Haha. So
Babu the office boy first brought the 5 of us to take an auto rickshaw
to the bus station… Rs 50, not too bad. And it turned out to be
really near our house! This I didn’t know! Haha. Can walk back and
take camera la, but didn’t in the end as we had to catch the elusive
and maybe rare purple stripped bus. Whilst waiting, Babu kindly told
us that the journey would take 45 mins! That’s crazy!! It’s like
traveling from east to west of Singapore man! Haha. Ok, became a local
again and hopped onto the bus to the amusement of the locals I think!
Bus ride cost Rs30 each. Not that cheap, but probably it’s due to the
distance we have to travel. On the bus, I wondered how does Mr Prakash
come to work? 45 mins is way too far! Maybe by Singaporean standards,
but he could find an accounting position nearer his home?
Finally reached the area, but not the exact place. Had to wait for
another colleague to come and pick us up 2 at a time using his
motorbike to go to the house. I was there first with Michel and the
house is huge! Cool place and people were mingling around like a real
party! Talking with him and Aditya in his bedroom, we discovered that
it was Mr Prakash’s eldest boy’s 5th birthday! (his was arranged
marriage too!) and when asked abt his mode of transportation, he said
he goes by bus at 730 and reaches office at 830. Ok la i guess.. Haha.
Relatives, friends and neighbours were invited and it was really quite
cool! When all of us were there, we adjourned to the rooftop for
dinner. First round was a small snack of bhujia(sth like muruku) and
ladu (milk based Indian sweet/dessert) whilst waiting for the main
course which had to be had on the floor. When the previous group was
done, we went next.
Main course was Bhujia, ladu (yes, again!), chick peas curry and a
type of small chapati which I dunno the name..food was served by
servers and they kept going around asking if anyone wanted 2nd
helpings. Quite cool though! Finished the meal and we went back to his
bedroom to chill and explored the house a little before saying goodbye!!
Took the same way back as how we came here, and on the bus, Michel
played and teased with some of the locals by saying that he is Michael
Jackson Jr. 1 lady was amused and kept talking to him in Hindi and I
guess what she talked was funny because the people in the bus were
sniggering too! The return journey seemed faster though!

Reached home and had a good rest.

Wednesday we had farewell lunch, shared some pizza sandwiches,
macdonald’s Mac Aloo Tikki (potato: colleagues are all vegetarian).

Sunday, went to visit pink city for the last time, had lunch at macs
near Raj Mandir, did some shopping in the clothes shops, and ended the
day with a trip to tiger fort..the ride up was not easy though! Uphill
and bumpy. And a motorcycle knocked on our auto rickshaw and fell!
That guy was trying to overtake us at a sharp corner, and after he
fell, he wanted to pick a fight with our rickshaw driver.. Lucky his
friend pulled him away and prevented a fight. Our rickshaw driver said
that he was a little drunk.. Haha. But who knows?… We saw him again
briefly at the top of tiger fort arguing with other people too. Think
really got something wrong up there. Haha
Amazing view of Jaipur city! Take a look! And some other pictures
during the visit..

Good view!

This guy was jumping the gap and I caught it! Looks like he is flying!

Bird's eye view of Jaipur

So see you!!