HI
My trek with two porters and a guide to a small pond ( Lake Manimahesh ) at 4130 M in the Himalayas was amazing and challenging. It sits at the base of a peak that is 5656 M high. The locals believe Lord Shiva lives there. No one else could !
I left Chamba in the foothills by taxi. The mid range home stay in the hills was very peaceful and the ghee laden food was cooked with love but too heavy for my constitution. I took the sleeper train from Pathankot ( 1st class a/c ) to Meerut.
I am speaking Hindi/Urdu a lot. It surprises local people how fluent I am in Hindi but I rarely hear people speak in polite and flowery Urdu.
I am in the smog sauna of Delhi at the moment just passing through from the
loud and Chaotic rural centre of Meerut , [U.P. ] on the way to Mathura and Vrindravan( U.P.).My train leaves at 1730 .
Delhi and U.P are really hard work after the all cool fresh air , long walks & laid back vibes of Himachal Pradesh. It is noisy , hot,polluted and dog eat dog here. It is not like that in the Himalayas.Next time I go trekking in the Himalayas, [ which never cease to strike me a peaceful sense of awe] I will not bother with “the plains” again unless it is somewhere laid back like parts of like Kerala are .
I will check this e mail again ASAP and I will be back in Delhi for one night on Oct.25th.I will stay in Amritsar for one night on the 26th of Oct.
I am heading to Lahore in Pakistan on the morning Monday 27th of Oct.
I hope all is well with you .
peace be with ye
Taariq