A cool retreat to Manali

India is hot this time of year touching temperatures of almost 50 degrees as millions anticipate the cooling monsoon. One place that isn't burning is Himachal Pradesh in northern India. Manali, in the centre of this Himalayan state was our cool retreat of choice. Jen, a fellow VSO UK volunteer based in Delhi was my travelling companion as we set off on the luxurious government night bus. After 12 hours we began skirting speedily round the edges of mountains, waking up as dawn emerged over the peaks. 4 hours of stomach churning turns later we had arrived.

We'd primarily come to Manali to trek in the surrounding countryside but with a day either side to spend in the town we filled the time shopping for woollen wear, drinking lattes and eavesdropping on hippy travellers recalling tall tales of countries far, far away. Although Manali is an isolated place with a population of 4,500, it holds many draws for travellers of all varieties- adventurous types enjoy the rafting, treking and paragliding on offer; Indian honeymooners come for the cool mountain air and their first touch of snow; and backpackers are drawn in from around the world to sample Manali's famous charas. June is peak season so the streets were packed, one end with Indian tourists being sold fake sunglasses and bird whistles, and Old Manali at the other full of all manner of felted goods for sale, baggy, almost skirt like travellers pants, fake Tibetan jewellery and cafes with wifi and never ending supplies of banana pancakes. As expats we like to think we're slightly above these crowds of cliched gap year students and seek out the 'real' Indian experience, showcasing our limited Hindi, eating in local restaurants and saying things like "you wouldn't pay this much for a massage in Delhi" and "have you seen what she's wearing, that's so inappropiate".
Our three day trek around Solang Valley with the River Beas running through it was simply stunning. We went with a tour company recommended by an ex-VSO volunteer and although it was pricey and almost used up our entire volunteer allowance for the month, we were well looked after with double thick sleeping bags, fed three course meals and delicious packed lunches, camped in spectacular spots and above all felt safe. We had the assistance of two cooks, a porter, horseman with four horses and a guide. The first couple of days involved walking for 3-4 hours in the morning, then settling down at our campsite to eat lunch with the entire afternoon to laze about, gaze at the mountain scenery and read novels about the great Hindustan. At first I felt that perhaps I should be doing more walking, but I don't get many opportunities to lie in volumptous grass, enjoy being in the sun and gaze out at magnigicent views, so I took full advantage. Thoughts switched between forgetting I was in India, convinced this is European scenery, and admiring the environmental diversity of a country where alpine and desert are less than a day's journey apart. Nights were spent reading by torchlight tucked up in bed, wearing all our clothes at once as the cold set in. Our new canine friend Terry, the tourist tart followed us around for an entire day so we took pity and let him sleep in our tent porch all night. Luckily he wasn't sick, even after all the left over dinner we fed him on the sly.

We ended the trek on a high at 3,500 metres. It wasn't the top of the mountain we had been aiming for, but after 4 hours of steep uphill climbing we decided we had already achieved enough and made our quick descent down to Solang village. Fortunatley we'd bumped into some Hungarians who independantly verified our height using a clever contraption and 3,500 seemed a good a landmark as any. On the way to reaching our goal there were a few times when we'd felt like giving up. Jen had blisters, I was steadily climbing as my legs felt like they were on fire, and our new friend Niall decided the best way to get up there in his sandals was by using a combination of uphill running immediatley followed by panting and near collapse. Once we'd decided the altitude was to blame for our breathing problems rather than our fittest levels, we felt a lot better.

Collapsing into our beds after a pizza in Manali we slept and waddled around town the next day with our damaged bodies before taking the nightmare journey home on one of the most uncomfortable buses I've ever been on because our lovely premium grade Volvo had broken down. Squashed between two seats, unable to move our legs or do more than doze through the night, we arrived in Delhi grumpy but were greeted with a refund, free rose water handed out on the streets marking a festival we couldn't quite work out and most importantly, AC.

All in all a refreshing break, a wonderful change of scenery that fulfilled my craving for English countryside and some great company. It's got me all fired up for work again and motivated to plan the rest of my holidays for the year.