20th of January

Before we left our hotel we called up several others a little higher up the valley with potentially better views than the back of another building and a tyre dump. We found one that promised an open fire in each room with a sack of wood only $2.50, which excited us as it might be the first warm room that we had experienced in our entire India experience. Of course the hotel was closed for winter. We settled on a hotel in Vashisht and walked to it.

Our hotel was the best we had stayed in so far and very cheap ($15/night + $3 for a heater). The top feature was which the hotel provided only indirectly, was the view. It was spectacular, less than a kilometre from our hotel soared a three kilometre peak, now sure we were two kilometres above sea level already but that doesn’t dissuade from the majesty of the peak. Just behind, to the left, to the right, in fact in 180 degrees from our balconies were towering mountains, some capped with snow. At the bottom of the valley flows some river, I was probably told its name but I didn’t pay attention, I nicknamed it the silver lode due to the way the sun reflected off it. Just wondrous, I really can’t describe how sensational our views were.

As it was off season there were only a few restaurants open with pretty limited cuisine but the food was very good.