I just really love some of the terminology that the guide books give for certain areas of the trip. We are now in the Kullu Valley, more specifically in Manali. The Hindi name for this valley is given above, and it has a certain ring to it. The roads heading through the valleys north of here toward Leh in Buddhist Ladakh are still closed to the majority of traffic for the “winter” for at least a few more weeks. Thus, we are now at stopping point, where all we can do is look romantically toward the icecaps to the north…and south…and east and west. The road form Mandi to Manali is situated deep within the Kulu Valley, following whitewater up through narrow cliffs. The entire thing is quite scenic and beatutiful. We meandered through the area until at last seeing snow covered peaks and melting glaciers. The sheer beauty, along with the general foreign feel of Manali has given Taylor and myself the momentary feeling of not being in India any longer. Not anywhere close really. Its a combiantion of the world cuisines (Korean, Israeli, Mexican), the country-specific lodging and the fact that the keyboard I am currently typing on is also set up for typing Hebrew. None of this of course takes away from how incredible this place is. We went trekking today through the mountains north of here, but I will leave that for Taylor to formally dramatize (perhaps out of proportion or not, you may decide). The mountain air, and the opportunity to get away from a lot of the noise of the cities has been quite refreshing. Overall, things have been going really well (even getting on the wrong bus gave a chance to see a different town and try another restaurant on the road). We continue to go with the flow.
