Manali to Kasol & Mateura villages - Parvati Valley

 It's now been just over one month since we have been in India. One month since I have drank alcohol and one month since I have eaten any meat (including fish) and I don't miss it one bit. It's also been a month of no work. I have never been off work or school this long in ten years. It feels strange, like a guilty feeling to still be on vacation although sometimes travelling like this can be considered hard work.

Bus ride

Only four of us left Manali and took a 5 hour bus to Kasol, a village in Parvati Valley. During this bus ride I realised how wildly marijuana grew everywhere on the sides of roads. I also had a lady sleep on me in the bus. I've noticed in India, there isn't really regard to personal space. One bus ride, a man came and sat next to me and took the headphones out of my ears to listen to the music I was playing. In any other country, this would be considered rude but for some reason you let it slide here. The bus ride to Kasol was quite scary, you are very high up in the mountain on this bus driving on a very narrow road where any sharp turn can send the bus flying off the mountain cliffs. I try not think about these things but sometimes you just can't help it. (I know my mother is having a heart attack reading this part). Don't worry mummy I'm okay ;)

Kasol village

Peaceful guest house in Kasol

Natural hot springs in jacuzzi for

In Kasol, we met up with Ben's friends from Israel. We found a guest house away from the village up this very steep stone hill - Karen and I called it the never ending hill and we always felt like grannies walking up and complaining. I loved waking up on mornings here as my room had its own private balcony overlooking the pine trees and snow capped mountains. The place was even more peaceful than Manali. Kasol was filled with Israelis and hippees who all have dredlocks, baggy clothes, and think they are very very cool. Didn't quite like the vibes of the people in this town - you can tell the majority of people who come to Kasol were just there for the drugs and raves which isn't my thing. Nevermind, the village was still nice. In Kasol, we went to hot springs that was like a jacuuzi but had the natural hot water. The guest house charged to use it by time. While walking by the few shops in the village I heard a reggae song I had never heard before drawing my attention. I ended up sitting with the shop owner for an hour having chai and chatting about music. I also made sure to get the name of that very mellow reggae song which was made in India by an indian british man (Apache Indian - Om Numah Shivaya).

Fire in Kasol heading towards guest house

Evergreen cafe view - Kasol

In Kasol, we spent lots of time at Evergreen Cafe, which had mattresses on the ground to sit and amazing food. While walking across the bridge after breakfast one morning, we saw a large pool of dark red blood in the river stream. When we looked harder to see what it was, we saw a tent on the riverbank with a sheep that was just slaughtered and was being cut up (even with its fur still on). It was very heart breaking to see and at that point I felt like such a hyprocrite for being disturbed when I myself eat meat. I felt good that I had not eaten meat in a month but wondered if it is something I could give up for good and become a vegetarian. The biggest action that happened in Kasol would probably be the bush fire up in the mountain that evening, which started off controlled and then got out of control. It started to spread very quickly and was heading towards our guest house, so we were in a bit of a panick as to whether to move our bags to another guest house. Second time in a row we have encountered fire issues by the way. We kept monitoring the fire and asked some locals who advised us that once the fire came down the mountain then the they could then out it. In the end, that's what happened so we were lucky.

Mateura village view

Walking up the mountain to Mateura

Beautiful children of Mateura village

Teaching the kids hop scotch

We heard about a very tiny village called Mateura which was half hour away from Kasol. We took a bus there and walked up the mountain to find this place. The walk through the villages was really nice and I knew we were going to like it here. When we found the guest house - it was everything we were looking for. Away from people, nice clean guest house with a view of the surrounding himalayas mountains, quiet and a place where you could completely relax. My room wreaks of marijuana from all the plants growing outside my window but I love the smell so it doesn't bother me at all!

My first day here I went down to Jari town to look for an ATM, on my way back I came across some children who couldnt stop giggling. I ended up taking photos with them and before you knew it, three hours had gone by and I found myself still in their company playing games. It started off with four kids and more and more heard the excitement going on and came to join. There were about 10-15 kids between the ages of 2 and 10, none who spoke english but somehow I managed to teach them games like running relay, hop scotch, catch monster, duck goose - all games from my childhood. Other adults from the village came to watch all the action. The kids showed me some of their games as well.

Playing with children

The next day I was reading in the guest house when I heard the children shouting my name 'Melanie!' over and over. As I walked out, they all ran towards me and jumped up and down eager to play games again. I decided to go down to the shops and buy a ball. Instead I ended up getting a cricket set and a rope. I wish I had video taped their faces when they saw me walking up the hill with it. After an hour or so of games, this woman appeared with a whip and started whipping a few of the kids away back into their homes. I was left standing there alone quite disappointed and wondered why she had done that. Maybe dinner time, or chores? Not quite sure but I never went back in fear I was encouraging something I shouldnt be. Despite this woman ruining the fun, I think the time I spent with these children has been the highlight of my trip so far. There is something about being in the company of children that bring a deep sense of joy to my heart and is beyond description.

Friendly people in village

Walk through villages

In Mateura there isnt much to do so most of my days here were spent just relaxing, reading, playing cards, listening to music, going for walks and washing our own clothes in the standpipes. There is something very womanly and natural about washing clothes without a machine for a change.  

Karen & Ben at our picnic spot

Marijuana plants everywhere!

We went for a trek a few hours through villages up to this beautiful temple on top this mountain.

Temple at mountain

There was a nice grass area so we had a little picnic and sat staring out at the amazing view of the valley and trees and mountains. Probably one of the best spots we have been in India. It just doesnt feel like you are in India here, that's what is nice about it. The villages are very picturesque with the wooden houses, flower gardens, cows, hay and beutiful friendly people. You realise through these walks how simple life can really be. I really liked the vibes here and will probably stay here the longest. On our way back we came across some large marijuana plants, the biggest we have seen so far so we stopped for a little photo shoot :)

Spider in shower!

Karen washing clothes at standpipe

Playing with baby at guesthouse

The large family that run the guest house have a little 1 year old daughter who is adorable, she doesn't go to strangers so it took me a few days to warm to her and finally hold and play with her. The one scary thing about our guest house is the spider infestation! Not just your regular itsy bitsy spider. Talking about massive ones that crawl with their big eight legs! A few people find them in their rooms at night so you can imagine every night we scan the bedroom to make sure none are under the covers! I haven't come across one in my room yet (knock on wood) but did come across this one in the picture when I went to take a shower.

We are off to Malana and some other village tomorrow for a few nights but will leave our bags in a room here in Mateura for when we return to this paradise.  Only a week left in India so got to make the most of it.

Rishikesh to Manali

Can I have your photo?

Crossing bridge to leave Rishikesh

I liked Rishikesh, we had a nice group of people, amazing food and nice views staying on the Ganges river but I knew this wasn't what I was looking for. I was looking for something more peaceful where I could hear nature and listen to my inner thoughts. My last day in Rishikesh I went by myself for a walk on the other side of town to find an ATM and see the Beatles ashram. I had not really taken much time to do things alone so it felt strange on my own for a change. I went walking too far and ended up in another village near a temple. There were lots of old babas walking and sitting everywhere and many poor people but they were not begging, just staring. Apparently usually around temples, this is where indian people come from all over, many come from small villages where they have never seen a white person before. I had a little boy come up and ask me for a photo and before I knew it, there were swarms of people pulling out their phones and all asking for photos. This wasn't the first time it had happened to me but it was the biggest group of people all at once. This was not only an experience for them but it was also one for me so I also asked for a photo! They are very curious people and always ask questions. The three most popular questions I've been asked so far is 'which country you from?' 'How long you here? How India make you feel, you feel good? I started to feel really hot after this incident and sat on this wall to rest. Of course people followed me there and sat next to me to continue taking photos. It all felt so strange, as if I was some sort of celebrity. A very tame monkey was sitting next to me and while I wasnt looking he climbed over me and jumped off from my head!! I'm not quite sure what happened but it felt like the monkey slapped me!

Saying bye to Himanshu & Abhisek

We spent time with the friends we made on the beach Abhisek and Himanshu who were really got on well with. Their english was excellent and they seemed to have similar interests to us. I wasn't too sad to leave this place as I knew we were onto somewhere even better. A group of six of us left the next day to head to Manali. Natalie (Spain), Ben (Israel), Karen (South Africa), Chris (Germany), Hannah (England) and myself (Trinidad). So you could imagine the group dynamics! Its been very interesting to see how 6 people from totally different places with different accents and personalities interact. There is alot of language barriers we cross but we make it work. I feel sometimes as if I am on a reality TV show. Being a large group, we took alot longer than expected and ended up missing our train and the bus we had booked so we lost out on some money but not too much. We then were forced to take a local bus to Manali which was a complete nightmare, at least for me. We spent a total of 19 hours on 3 local buses. One was an overnight bus, cramped, uncomfortable seats (non sleeper), extremely bumpy, fast and frustrating for me because it was night and I couldn't sleep. Plus time of the month for me = miserable! For me India is a country you develop a love-hate relationship with. There are moments that are so breath-taking and beautiful and there are moments that you question what am I doing here? This bus ride was definitely one of those hate moments. There are vendors who hop on the bus every now and then to sell drinks and snacks. One man was selling peeled cucumbers sliced in half and he sprinkled salt and black pepper on it. Cucumber is my favorite vegetable and I wanted one so badly but had to resist temptation after seeing him handle the money and cucumbers with same hands. The cucumbers are also passed down a few hands before reaching to you.

 

Karen enjoying local bus ride
Men eating cucumbers in back

TUK TUK - Hear, see, speak no evil

I somehow managed to sleep for maybe an hour around 5am and when I woke up it was almost daylight and I could see that we were somewhere totally different. I was surrounded by the Himalayas mountains, some with ice on top and the sounds of gushing clear river streams. Driving up north there was a big drop in temperature. We went from 35-40 degrees Celsius to now 15 degrees or colder. It was cold and we were all exhausted but it looked like it was worth it. I really don't know what we would do without Ben here with us leading the squad. He really is an angel sent down to look after us. He knows how to handle the people here, how to make sure we don't get ripped off and keeps everyone organised and on their toes. You always need someone like this when in a group, but only one. We were recommended by Lokesh from Pushkar to go to a particular guest house of his friend in Old Manali. From the bus stop we took a tuk tuk to the place and walked up higher into the mountains.

View from rooftop of M,anali guesthouse

We had breakfast in a cafe and walked up the mountain with our heavy backpacks and exhausted from no sleep. Despite being tired, I was already loving the vibes of this place . I was seeing the cutest oldest wooden houses engulfed in the mountains, women washing clothes on the concrete, children running and playing, temples with people praying, cows, birds, old men playing cards, lots of little parlor shops, vendors trying to sell, and just a really nice relaxed chilled out village with lots of smiling faces. The guest house was perfect, high up the mountain, only £1.50 a night for a room with a balcony overlooking the snow capped mountains (so with Karen and I sharing it is only 75pence). Waking up to that view always sets your mood beautifully for the day. You could also feel the difference in the air how clean and fresh it was to your lungs, compared to the other polluted cities we had been before. As soon as we arrived in Manali, I knew I was going to like it. That evening I went on our guest house roof top by myself and wrote in my journal and prayed. I had not prayed in a while so needed to catch up with the old man up there.

Pine trees park

Hadimba Tempe

In Manali, there is so much beauty all around to see. You could just spend hours walking and you would never get bored. Natalie, Hannah and I ventured to the Hadimba Temple which was a nice walk up the mountains. There were many indian tourists so it was not very quiet as we were being asked for photos alot. We then took a walk through a beautiful pine trees park to New Manali a more busy city with lots of action. The people in Manali look a little different because being closer to Nepal and China, you can see the mix of chinese and indian, really nice mix. The end of this evening we had a really nice dinner at a restaurant called People. They give you crayons and paper to draw and color while you wait on your food and the walls are filled with really cool art work that guests had drawn.



When we got back to the guest house, we saw burnt mattresses laying outside my door and then found out the room next to ours had started to catch on fire. There was an Israeli couple staying in there and had left a speaker charging on the bed for the day while out- it blew the fuse and caught the bed on fire and all their belongings were burnt. Luckily Karen, Ben and Chris were there when it happened so they worked together quickly to out the fire. They managed to save the room and the building from going ablaze. It wasn't a happy scene when they got back to their room around 11pm to find all their stuff burnt. I felt so sorry for them but it's just stuff which can be replaced with money. No one was hurt and that's what mattered the most as it could have turned out much worse.

Liming with the shepherd on mountain

My favorite day in Manali we decided to go trekking to the hot springs that we heard all about. We ended up going the completely wrong way on a different mountain - trekking for hours up rocks and climbing as far as we could go. We came across an old crazy and very funny shepherd on a big grassland area on the mountains with lots of cows grazing. So we took this opportunity for a resting spot and chatted for 45 minutes with this man who made absolutely no sense, probably because he had no teeth. But definitely the happiest man I have ever seen, grinning from head to toe and telling us 'God is love' and what happiness is. After realising we had no clue where we were, we came across a house and asked for help and ate our packed sandwiches. We headed back to Old Manali and then once we found out the correct way we continued on. We came across lots of marijuana plants growing on the side of the road. Normal. We got lost again but getting lost is always part of the fun, you always bump into other random different things you wouldn't have seen had you not got lost. We then went through very tiny villages and came across a large group of children. The happiest children I had ever seen. They run up to you smiling and giggling at absolutely nothing! They followed us for a while and anything I said to them, they all repeated. I love children so I was in my glee being surrounded by them. After crossing a few bridges and walked further up we came to a town called Vashisht. A very cool shanti town village, with lots of weed smokers and reggae music. After trekking from 10am- 6pm, we finally found the springs which were not even open in nature but instead it was inside a temple in a bath form. The water was boiling hot and coming straight out of the mountains. The baths were separated by male and female and the female one had naked women bathing in it. Completely not what I had expected for hot springs, but India is always full of surprises. 

I LOVE all the animals in Manali. They all have these extra layers of fur for warmth and are all so cute, cuter than the average animals. There is the Yak which is found only in Central Asia and Himalayan region, related to cattle but very strange looking. We came across the most adorable lamb that looked like it just come out of a curling salon! The stray dogs are all fury, cute and friendly. The cows are cuter and oh the rabbits - massive fury rabbits like I've never seen before. But the locals use the yak, rabbits and lambs to get money from tourists by asking for 5-10 rupees for a photo with them.

Animals of Manali:

In Manali, there are lots of activities you can do - paragliding, zorbing, helicopter rides, trekking, white water rafting. I didn't end up doing any except for trekking. The others seemed too expensive and I'm a big chicken to do things like paragliding - especially in India where I don't know what the safety measures are like.Would rather not take my chances. My last day in Manali I spent hours doing admin, dealing with my bank in UK who cancelled my card and trying to get a new SIM card here because I had problems In India, everything takes LONG. It could be the simplest task or errand, it will take forever! I think this is good preparation for moving back to Trinidad. So far I notice I have been developing a big tolerance for poor customer service and much higher levels of patience. Tomorrow we are off to Tush which is supposed to be really quiet and peaceful, even more than Manali. This time it won't be the big group of 6 people, it will be only 3 of us so looking forward to it.

The clan liming at guest house

Wooden houses

Rishikesh

Outside guest house

View of bridge in Rishikesh

Namaste Cafe -backpacker vibes

Arriving in Rishikesh took me by surprise. We organised a tuk tuk ride from the bus station to the city where all the main accommodation and markets were. Driving over the mountains, I could see the beautiful green Ganges river in the distance, the most sacred river to Hindus. It was breath taking, I don't think I've ever seen a river like this before. Rishikesh is located in the foothills of the Himalayas mountains and is known as the 'Yoga Capital of the World'.  Because of this, it attracts alot of tourists from all over.
It became really famous when the Beatles visited the now closed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram here. We crossed the bridge and met up with Martin who we met in Pushkar. As I walked to the rooftop of Namaste cafe on the river bank, I was surprised at how many white people there were. It was my first time seeing so many in India! Not just regular white people, mainly hippies who all dressed in a particular hippie way. People praying over their food, some preaching different philosophies, some singing and playing guitars. I felt almost like I did not quite belong here, as if being normal was abnormal. This place is definitely a higher heights place - everyone is another level of life here. All at peace and balance, something I am struggling to find. I want to be there but I know I can't force it. When the time is right, usually when you least expect it, it will happen. Until then, I will remain an outsider observing.

Renting bikes in Rishikesh

Waterfall bath

We rented bicycles, rode over the mountain and then trekked up the waterfall. It was nice to finally get a feel for real nature in India. I felt so much like being at home in Trinidad as growing up we did the same thing.  Along the path we came across lots of monkeys and locals who helped us climb up the rocks.  We limed on the rocks and took a nice cold bath under the waterfall before heading back. We stopped for some chai tea to get some energy and watched the monkeys play and the donkeys drinking water from the stream. We rode our bikes back to the city with empty bellies and ate the best curry on the riverbank at sunset watching the daily Pooja ceremony go on. 

Dinner at sunset @ Freedom cafe

Pooja ceremony 

View at dinner

I like this place mainly because of the breathtaking views of the mountains and river, but especially love the food here. I can't stop drinking fresh fruit juices, teas, curries and healthy foods. Rishikesh is also quite popular for the lots of courses offered here from massages to meditation, yoga, healing etc. I am considering doing one but haven't decided yet. The only thing I don't quite likehere is the horn honking. The little village where we are staying has a very narrow road in which these massive jeep taxis drive past at speed honking their horns. Not just any regular honk, I'm talking about a proper long and loud hold your horn down for 20 seconds till you turn around and want to cuss someone. And the road can be empty, no one in their way, yet they still see it necessary to honk. I find it takes away from the peacefulness that could exist here. It actually ruins this place in a sense and I find it difficult to understand how such a yoga peaceful place could allow such noise pollution.

On the riverbank of Ganges river

Yesterday we took a nice walk on the mountain and went down to the river bank which was filled with white sand and stones. Karen and Ben had a swim in the ganges river while I stayed on the riverbank and relaxed. We ended up chatting with 2 indian young men who were also visiting Rishakesh. The conversations with them were going so well we ended up spending the entire evening and night with them over dinner chatting about all kinds of topics from culture, religion, music, education, love and marriage. We ate alot of food as well - it was a really nice evening. As Karen said, it's amazing how you can meet people from such a different culture and yet you find so much in common. 

Listening to conversation on the riverbank