Leaving Amritsar on a six hour bus journey, I was excited by the prospect of getting away from the chaotic streets of a city and entering the calmness of the mountains. Tom, Gabe and I ended up on the same bus to Mcleod Ganj. The trip was uneventful, save for the fact that we stopped at Dharamshala, had to get off the bus and get on one of the most uncomfortable buses I’ve ever been on. Fortunately, it was only a ten minute ride up the mountain to arrive at the dimly lit Mcleod Ganj bus station. I got a tuk tuk to the hostel and proceeded to have a couple of drinks with the fellow travellers there.

The next morning I awoke to the news that Tom, who had initially planned to stay in a different hostel, would be coming to mine, citing reasons such as mould and lack of a bed. This was of course good news and after a quick breakfast, we decided to explore the local area, walking over to the next village, Dharamkot, a beautiful little town in the mountains, with lovely views…shame the fog ruined them. An interesting feature of both Dharamkot and Mcleod Ganj is the large number of Israeli tourists, so many that shops signs are written in Hebrew. After a quick lunch, we found out that there was a waterfall nearby and decided to trek up there. It was well worth it – the waterfall itself was stunning, but the gorge it ran down was even more picturesque. We had an early night, as the next day we would be getting up early to meet a very special man.

The Dalai Lama

Dharamsala is the home of the Dalai Lama and during my stay here, he had organised four days of talks. This was an opportunity not to be missed, so we got up early to collect our radios (for the translation) and our passes for the talk. And we waited and waited for our passes. By the time we finally got them, the talk had begun and we missed the more interesting first half. The second half of the talk was much deeper philosophically and rather hard to follow: something about ‘rising giving cause to rising’…I’m not really sure what was going on. During the talk, several Buddhist monks came around offering butter tea. It really was what one must politely call ‘an acquired taste’. Nonetheless, it was fascinating to see such a large number of people showing respect for such an important man.

In the afternoon, we went back to the waterfall, hoping to walk a little further this time to take in the view from higher up. This, unfortunately did not occur. The rain was appalling and we got well and truly caught out, eventually spending about an hour hiding in a tiny little hiding hole with a few Indian tourists, including a recently married couple. As you can expect, it was not a pleasurable experience and set the tone for the rest of the day, during which we just relaxed.

Yoga

One of the most famous aspects of India, is of course yoga, and Mcleod Ganj is a hot spot for it. I took the opportunity to attend a beginners’ class and spent 90 minutes reaching a variety of asanas (poses) and really stretching my body to its limits. Perhaps the most interesting part was being suspended upside down, allowing the blood to rush to my head. I hope to take part in several more yoga classes whilst I’m in India!

Bhagsu Cake

If India is known for yoga, then Bhagsu (the area of Mcleod Ganj I stayed in) is known for cake. If you’re from the UK, Bhagsu cake is essentially millionaire’s shortbread. If you’re not from the UK, it is shortbread and caramel and chocolate – delicious. Here, it is combined with ice cream and other sweet things to make a delicious treat and my final meal here before my next destination, Manali.

Manali

Through the night, I travelled to Manila, a beautiful town, in a valley in northern India. The night bus was incredibly fun! I watched movies, played games, just had a merry time! No, not really – I just tried to sleep and was semi-successful. When I got to Manali, it was 7 AM, so I slept before going on one of the most eventful walks of my life.

Injury and Going to the Doctor

Manila, being located in a valley, is surrounded by steep hills. This means that getting to the best walking locations requires walking up up up. At the end of the road, there is a great restaurant – Rockey’s, where I had a delicious breakfast, with an even more delicious view of the city, mountains and waterfall. As I exited, I carried walking up the hill, no longer guided by a road, but just a path of sorts. With it being monsoon season though, some of the areas were rather slippy, but I managed to avoid injury…for now.

Having reached what the map told me was a waterfall (it really wasn’t), I turned back, only to run into some other tourists who told me that there was a second waterfall further up. Together we carried on a little further than where I’d reached, but this is when the problems began: the path became muddier, my feet became less stable and after almost falling over once, I completely lost my footing a few seconds later, only to grab on to the nearest support to me: barbed wire.

OUCH

One of the people I was walking with was carrying some antiseptic hand wash – at least it was something, but I had to turn back and get to a doctor as soon as possible. The walk back was not comfortable. To make matters worse, my hostel was the furthest away! I did try a couple of hostels on the route back to see if they had something to help, and fortunately I was bandaged up a little, but on return to my hostel (the fantastic Moustache Manali), I was taken to a doctor, given some antibiotics and a tetanus shot and told to rest, so this is what I did. Unfortunately, that means I have not really got many pictures of this beautiful town, as I didn’t want to risk any more problems, plus it was raining quite a bit!I did spend some time walking around Manali, visiting a museum about Himachal culture and noticing a rather scary looking fairground, incuding the fastest ferris wheel in the world (or at least what looked like the fastest)!

So that’s me all up to date. Right now I’m in Rishikesh and hoping to take part in a few more yoga classes. Thanks for reading! If you have enjoyed it, please take a moment to share my story in Facebook – I’ll be forever grateful!

Imagine this: you book a train ticket to take you from one city to another. Expected journey time: 8 hours. You arrive at the station in time, but you don’t see your train – it’s late. In the UK (and possibly worldwide) this is not uncommon, but for a train to arrive seven hours late…that’s too much.

Fortunately, I was struck with great luck when Inder, a Sikh from Ludhiana, saw my plight and being in the same situation himself, offered to help me get to Amritsar. We were supposed to get on the train at midday, but at this point we knew it would be at least 6 hours late, so we decided to take a bus as far as possible. Having navigated the Delhi metro, Inder found a bus going up in our direction. BUT…I had no money, so I had to find an ATM. And how many ATMs do they have at the bus station? ONE. By the time I’d withdrawn my money, our bus was about to leave. Inder was running around the place looking for me (as he’d gone to purchase the tickets) and grabbed my hand and pulled me in a way that could only be described as Crystal Maze-esque.

We ran to the bus and just made it on in time. During the journey, Inder told me all about Sikhism, about why they wear the turban, don’t cut their hair and carry a knife at all times. When we arribed in a town south of Ludhiana, his dad and uncle picked us up and took me to the train station in Ludhiana, but we just had time to drink some chai. Then it was back on the road and the chaos of the train station. I’m not quite sure what happened, but Inder’s family got my on the train and by one in the morning I was in Amritsar. I took a tuk-tuk from the train station and hit the proverbial hay.

The next day, I met the guys in my dorm room (who I apologised for waking up in the middle of the night). We went for breakfast, then explored the Golden Temple grounds – a holy site in Sikhism. One of the fascinating parts of Sikhism is their duty to serve, which manifests itself in a free meal for anybody there. Considering the apparent disorganisation of so many things in India, this was a slick operation: Grab your plates, get a spoon, go upstairs, sit down, put your hands out, get some bread, wait for your plates to be filled with DHALicious food, eat. A beautiful experience and one everyone should do in Amritsar.

Following this, myself and Tom, another guy from the hostel went to the border with Pakistan. Was I already fed up with India? Nope, you see, every evening, the border is closed in the most surreal of ways. There is a huge ceremony, including gallant walking, intimidating stances and incredibly cheers from the crowd. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life and incredible to see the patriotism emanating from both sides. Though I have attached some photos, they really do not do this surreal activity justice – it really is a must see in Amritsar.

The next day, we had wanted to enter the Golden Temple, but unfortunately the queue was far too long. Instead we visited the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. A terrible loss of life in which the British Colonel Reginald Dyer ordered his soldiers to shoot on a group of peaceful protesters. The bullet holes can still be seen to this day and the site is a commemoration to their lives.

After this, Tom and I caught our bus to Mcleodganj, the next stop on both our journeys. On the bus however, I saw a familiar face – a friend from my time working in Colombia – a small world.

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My two full days in Delhi were rather similar (hence why they have been clumped together like this). Lots of walking, lots of old Delhi and lots of muddy streets. The night before I had met Leon who was about to leave India following his adventures here, but he was happy to show me around old Delhi and guide me to a couple of sites. We talked about things to be aware of in India, drank plenty of chai and dealt with the ever pervasive tuk tuk drivers. Lunch was a roti filled delight, but this did not stop us from trying some delicious street food. Already missing English breakfasts, I opted for the hash browns, which were crisp, puffy and hot with a sweet and spicy sauce to match it. In the evening, we did nothing but chill out, play cards and sit around exchanging stories. A beautiful way to end the day.

Friday was pretty much the same, but on my own. I took the time to visit the Jama Masjid, but unfortunately it was closed – still got a couple of photos from outside though. Following this, I visited the Red Fort, a wonderful piece of cool and calmness – but just outside lay the chaotic streets of this city. I took several photos before going back to the hostel to eat some food and plan some activities in my next destination, Amritsar.

I must also thank the wonderful HOG hostel where I stayed in Delhi. They not only welcomed me in early in the morning on my arrival, but were happy to direct me to places to eat, help with my Indian SIM card and provided a wonderfully positive atmosphere throughout my stay.

The Flight

My journey starts in Kiev airport. Having arrived here two and a half hours ago, I sit and wait for my overnight flight to Delhi, India.

The plane is half-empty (or half-full if you call yourself an optimist), but is antiquated. No personal TV screen, only a few songs to listen to or a mediocre film to watch. None of that appealed though, as I simply wanted to sleep the seven hours of the trip.

As I said earlier, the plane did not have many passengers, so I got a row of four seats to myself (as well as four blankets!) Did I sleep the whole way uninterrupted? No, of course not. But considering how uncomfortable flying on planes usually is, I was rather happy with how I slept.

I was awoken by a smiley Ukrainian woman offering me a croissant. Suffice to say, the croissant was probably the worst tasting thing I’ll eat during this entire journey of mine. After an uneventful landing, I made my way through Delhi airport immigration, booked a taxi and made it to my hostel in one piece. In Delhi the time was 7 AM…in my mind it was about 2 AM. So despite the rest I had on the plane, I took to my bed and napped.

Delhi and the Lotus Temple

A few hours later I woke up and began to explore a little of Delhi. My hostel is near to the Lotus Temple, so that was my first destination (after breakfast 😉 ). It took me about 40 minutes to find the temple because I went the wrong way, but it was worth it.

On approaching, we were told to not take any photos inside the temple, that we had to queue up and we must remain silent inside. This means I have no photos from the inside, but it was truly beautiful and acoustically fascinating. The rule of silence does not apply to birds that have flown in. Every chirp, flap and song these birds made echoed and reverberated around the temple. It truly was majestic.

The rest of my day was spent relaxing, eating and getting to know a few people from the hostel. India during August is known for horrible weather, which we experienced in the afternoon, but otherwise it has been a wonderful start to my time in India.

Thank you for taking your time to read my FIRST of many blog posts. If you have enjoyed it, please share on Facebook, Twitter, whatever your social media is – and I shall be incredibly grateful!