Hot springs and landslides
Roads in Himalchal Pradesh are not for the faint hearted. You need a strong stomach and a good head for heights, but the surrounding scenery is worth it.
The words Hot springs sold it to me, a hot bath, mmm! So we took a tour up to a placed called Manikaran. The village was 45km up a v shaped valley towards the snow line. The road up to this village was a bit of a rollercoater ride and the pouring rain didn't help. Jim tried to make me feel better by saying that landslides could happen and it was really easy to slide off the road into the river below.
Anyway, 6km before Manikaran there was a real landslide and it had completely blocked the road. Luckly no one was hurt. So with the rain stopping we put on our ruksacs and walked the rest of the way. The route was fantastic, trees, river, snowy mountains and now blue skies.
The road carved into the side of the mountain finally wound into Manikaran. Most of the village was on the opposite side of the river and could be got to by crossing 2 footbridges. One was covered in tinsle and shiny decorations and lead to an amazing Sihk temple. We got to our guest house which claimed to have hot springs. And I was ready for that hot bath after our trek.
Unfortunately the water was cold...The manager saw, or rather heard my disapointment and took me to a secret bath which he let me and Jim have for the evening, it was bliss. That evening we vistied the Sikh temple and were allowed to join in the worship which was really interesting. The next day we had a free lunch in the temple before we heading down the valley. The landslide had now been cleared - there is no messing about when it comes to getting transport moving in India.
Fi
The words Hot springs sold it to me, a hot bath, mmm! So we took a tour up to a placed called Manikaran. The village was 45km up a v shaped valley towards the snow line. The road up to this village was a bit of a rollercoater ride and the pouring rain didn't help. Jim tried to make me feel better by saying that landslides could happen and it was really easy to slide off the road into the river below.
Anyway, 6km before Manikaran there was a real landslide and it had completely blocked the road. Luckly no one was hurt. So with the rain stopping we put on our ruksacs and walked the rest of the way. The route was fantastic, trees, river, snowy mountains and now blue skies.
The road carved into the side of the mountain finally wound into Manikaran. Most of the village was on the opposite side of the river and could be got to by crossing 2 footbridges. One was covered in tinsle and shiny decorations and lead to an amazing Sihk temple. We got to our guest house which claimed to have hot springs. And I was ready for that hot bath after our trek.
Unfortunately the water was cold...The manager saw, or rather heard my disapointment and took me to a secret bath which he let me and Jim have for the evening, it was bliss. That evening we vistied the Sikh temple and were allowed to join in the worship which was really interesting. The next day we had a free lunch in the temple before we heading down the valley. The landslide had now been cleared - there is no messing about when it comes to getting transport moving in India.
Fi
posted by Fi and Jim @ 2:00 pm
3 Comments:
At March 14, 2005 9:31 am,
Anonymous said…
A secret bath eh? Lovely. Your blog is a constant source of information/fun/fascination to me. Thanks for keeping it so upto date. It feels like I am almost there with you. But I'm not I am in my office in Wolverhampton. Not much different though, especially the sikh temple bit.
Love to you both.
Alex
At March 14, 2005 9:31 am,
Anonymous said…
A secret bath eh? Lovely. Your blog is a constant source of information/fun/fascination to me. Thanks for keeping it so upto date. It feels like I am almost there with you. But I'm not I am in my office in Wolverhampton. Not much different though, especially the sikh temple bit.
Love to you both.
Alex
At March 14, 2005 9:54 am,
Anonymous said…
A secret bath eh? Lovely. Your blog is a constant source of information/fun/fascination to me. Thanks for keeping it so upto date. It feels like I am almost there with you. But I'm not I am in my office in Wolverhampton. Not much different though, especially the sikh temple bit.
Love to you both.
Alex
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