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