Thursday, 1 February 2007
Snowman
I built a snowman at the top of one of the mountains around Manali we climbed. The climb didn't deserve a blog entry but I though the snowman did.
26th of January
Today we caught the Toy Train (also known as the Himalayan Queen) down from Shimla to Kalkua and then the Shitabdi to Delhi. The Toy Train is so called because of the gauge of the tracks it rides on. When you see them it makes you think of the tracks that are in use at amusement parks, the kind of train that kids sit on top of rather than inside of. I was fully expecting to have to do that, but fortunately there was an actual inside of carriage to get into.
We descended around 800 m over about 5 hours with a run of about 100 km. Not the worlds fastest train, but certainly one of the more scenic trains I have been on.
We descended around 800 m over about 5 hours with a run of about 100 km. Not the worlds fastest train, but certainly one of the more scenic trains I have been on.
Commentaries on Indian Society
Indians have a rather unhealthy love of paper work and the associated red tape. Nothing can be done without being in the right queue at the right office for at least 20 minutes. Despite several queues being labelled identical things they can be different, and how the difference is known is, at least, unknown to me. They are very much like Douglas Adams’ Vogons.
They wouldn’t even save their own grandmothers from the ravenous Bug Blatter Beast of Trall without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public enquiry, lost again and finally buried in soft peat for three months and then finally recycled as firelighters.
They wouldn’t even save their own grandmothers from the ravenous Bug Blatter Beast of Trall without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public enquiry, lost again and finally buried in soft peat for three months and then finally recycled as firelighters.
22nd of January
My parents arrived in Manali today. Not content with pursuing me one quarter of the way across the globe they decided to keep going half way across the country, then they followed me all the way across the city till they found me. Unwilling to wake up the guy who sleeps behind the counter they rang my mobile at 0630 and woke me up. I then had to go downstairs and wake up behind-the-counter-guy. Why this was better achieved by me and not them I’m not sure. As best I can tell all it accomplished was waking me up.
I spent most of the day travelling around with my parents. We bought a sim card for my mother’s phone, which took about 3 hours. The main reason for this is the Indian love of paper work and the inability of the average Indian to work outside of the provided framework. To gain a sim card one must be an Indian with a permanent address, I can only fulfil one of those requirements. So I went to a hotel, got a letterhead and forged a letter stating I was a guest. Of course you need a photo as well, as well as photocopies of your passport. Each of which was revealed after gaining the previous piece of documentation.
I spent most of the day travelling around with my parents. We bought a sim card for my mother’s phone, which took about 3 hours. The main reason for this is the Indian love of paper work and the inability of the average Indian to work outside of the provided framework. To gain a sim card one must be an Indian with a permanent address, I can only fulfil one of those requirements. So I went to a hotel, got a letterhead and forged a letter stating I was a guest. Of course you need a photo as well, as well as photocopies of your passport. Each of which was revealed after gaining the previous piece of documentation.
21st of January
Mark and I decided to climb the mountain behind our hotel to get a closer look at an ice waterfall. Due to the treacherous nature of the off path areas I couldn’t make it close to an ice waterfall without seriously risking sliding on some ice and then off a cliff which was rather sad.
The cliffs on the side of the mountain we decided to climb looked distinctly like the cliffs of Minis Tirith.
On my way down I saw three kids above me and seconds later they were below me. How they managed to do this while wearing either poor sneakers and in one case naught but sandals and socks I have no idea. Just before the bottom the most tragic thing happened, my loyal boots (which many of you are no doubt familiar with as they have crushed many toes) decided to fail. One of them developed a rather large tear in its sole. This first became apparent when I tried to wash some of the accumulated dust off them in a running creek. My left foot became very cold, on inspection the boots sole was ripped from side to side. Why do my boots get a whole paragraph? Because I miss them terribly and they have served me so loyally over so many years. I can hardly count how many small children have been crushed beneath their heel and never gave me a blister.
The cliffs on the side of the mountain we decided to climb looked distinctly like the cliffs of Minis Tirith. 
On my way down I saw three kids above me and seconds later they were below me. How they managed to do this while wearing either poor sneakers and in one case naught but sandals and socks I have no idea. Just before the bottom the most tragic thing happened, my loyal boots (which many of you are no doubt familiar with as they have crushed many toes) decided to fail. One of them developed a rather large tear in its sole. This first became apparent when I tried to wash some of the accumulated dust off them in a running creek. My left foot became very cold, on inspection the boots sole was ripped from side to side. Why do my boots get a whole paragraph? Because I miss them terribly and they have served me so loyally over so many years. I can hardly count how many small children have been crushed beneath their heel and never gave me a blister.
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.
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.
19th of January
Mark and I decided that the mountains around Shimla were too far away to easily climb. Mainly because to get to them we would have to take a bus or a taxi, and after Mark ended several hundred kilometres from his destination because a taxi driver didn’t realise that that there were three towns within several hundred kilometres of each other we were going via foot. So we decided to go to a town called Manali.
Unfortunately the only way to Manali is taxi or bus thus violating the above paragraph. There are several classes of bus in India, starting from the public bus then semi deluxe, deluxe and finally Volvo (regardless of actuall manufacturer). The last would equate to coach in Australia, the first being some kind of hell spawned ride that is horrifying to be stuck on. We could only get a so called deluxe bus to Manali as the Volvo’s run from Delhi. When our bus arrived it was clear that it was only deluxe in comparison to the public busses. The major advantage was another few inches of leg room (still insufficient for me) and the seats in sets of two rather than 3 and 2 as in a public bus. The ride to Manali was 10 hours long and I assure you it sure felt like 10 hous.
The roads in India as I have previously mentioned are pretty abysmal (that is straight from the abyss) and our bus driver seemed determined for us to be aware of how hard it is to stay on them as he threw the bus around every corner on the road. Learning from my last trip I had bought some ondancetron, which is a very potent anti-nauseant. I took my dose and started to feel at least some relief from the horrendous cornering, unfortunately many of the Indians on the bus were not similarly medicated and demonstrated this by vomiting spectacularly from the window down the side of the bus. I provided several of the bus occupants with said drug to which there was rapid relief thus gaining myself an orange. I guess you could call it my first paid medical work.
Arriving in Manali night we looked at a few hotels and crashed in the first that we found had two beds in the bedroom, since it is low season we never have any problems finding accommodation.
Unfortunately the only way to Manali is taxi or bus thus violating the above paragraph. There are several classes of bus in India, starting from the public bus then semi deluxe, deluxe and finally Volvo (regardless of actuall manufacturer). The last would equate to coach in Australia, the first being some kind of hell spawned ride that is horrifying to be stuck on. We could only get a so called deluxe bus to Manali as the Volvo’s run from Delhi. When our bus arrived it was clear that it was only deluxe in comparison to the public busses. The major advantage was another few inches of leg room (still insufficient for me) and the seats in sets of two rather than 3 and 2 as in a public bus. The ride to Manali was 10 hours long and I assure you it sure felt like 10 hous.
The roads in India as I have previously mentioned are pretty abysmal (that is straight from the abyss) and our bus driver seemed determined for us to be aware of how hard it is to stay on them as he threw the bus around every corner on the road. Learning from my last trip I had bought some ondancetron, which is a very potent anti-nauseant. I took my dose and started to feel at least some relief from the horrendous cornering, unfortunately many of the Indians on the bus were not similarly medicated and demonstrated this by vomiting spectacularly from the window down the side of the bus. I provided several of the bus occupants with said drug to which there was rapid relief thus gaining myself an orange. I guess you could call it my first paid medical work.
Arriving in Manali night we looked at a few hotels and crashed in the first that we found had two beds in the bedroom, since it is low season we never have any problems finding accommodation.
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