Travel Urge

Vashisht, 11-04-1994. I am still not bored with Vashisht but i can feel the travel urge building up inside me again. Had one more run-in with mister Sikh and his Bramin friend today so like last time i challenged them to a batalla de punyo puro but again they chickened out. Like most indians they are not exactly the brave kind induvidually but beware meeting them in a group. However, my "friends" now know i have hair on my teeth.

Hadimba Devi Temple

Vashisht, 10-04-1994. Had a look at the Hadimba Devi Temple today which is just outside Manali in a pine tree forst and looks a bit like some temples i have seen in Kathmandu Valley years ago. Old Manali, a few km. away from Manali is the "other" tourist hang-out but prices in Old Manali are reputedly more expensive as in Vashisht and the people staying here seem of a completely different type as those in Vashisht, no big surprise there.

More of Vashisht architecture

The houses in Vashisht are built of natural stone with a fire hardened wooden veranda that circles the houses, covered by a wooden roof. Ussually a loom can be seen on the veranda together with all sorts of loacl utilities and washing lines. On a sunny day grand father will smoke his waterpipe on the veranda and the family s children use it as a play ground. Small villages in Kulu valley are almost exclusively made up of these house and are quite a nice sight.

Problems with a Sikh tourist

The last couple of days i have been having some problems with a Sikh tourist and his Bramin friend, so getting pissed of with the whole situation i went over to his hotel to face the whole shit head-on challenging them to a fight but they chickened out. No big surprise there.

More Falcons

vashisht, 09-04-1994. Saw more falcons yesterday and today. All the crevices and small holes in the sheer mountain sides and all the small bird life they feast on must make this part of the world an ideal habitat for these predatory birds.

Pimps and their whores in Amsterdam

Vashisht, 07-04-1994. Today the weather was finally good enough to make an excursion out of Vashisht. Kothi, also called Snow Point was my goal. About 13 km. from Manali and a real tourist attraction, a must for local tourists whish means lots of shops along the way where they can rent rent rubber snow boots, gloves to keep your hands warm and fur coats, not that the fur is real, that remind me of the fur coats used by the pimps and their whores in Amsterdam and in the infamous American police movies. The place also has some hot natural baths that are being used by locals and foreigners alike. None of the houses in Kohti seems to have toilets or baths. During my hike up to Kohti i was lucky enough to see some Shaheen Falcons fighting over a recent kill only a few yards away from me.

Vashisht Houses

The houses in Vashisaht are very picturesque with women working the loom on the verandas. With the influx of freaks and hippies, alternatives and charras smokers from all over the world their are several new hotels being built. These people do need a place to stay after all. Every so often i see local tourists dressed in their sunday clothes coming up the hill in their middle class cars, no doubt wanting to have a look at all these weird caractres from the "WEST".

The movie house

Vashisht, 06-04-1994. The soft thud of chunks of melting snow falling of roof tops is what woke me up this morning. Combined with the constant sound of falling rain I knew that today would be another day of inactivity, another day of playing chess, drinking chai and smoking chilam in the Freak House, maybe taking in a movie at the local movie house, just a wooden shed with a old iron heater and a bed sheet that is supposed to be the movie screen. at least the movies are foreign and not the local Masala Dosa type and the locals feed a steady supply of chunks of woods to the iron stove/heater so the place is sort of warm. The stove actually is the real reason all the freaks and hippies frequent the shed cald in old clothes and old and smelly blankets wrapped around their shoulders they complain about the bad quality of the movies, mostly the action type. Always a couple of locals around begging for free chilam hits.

A thick layer of snow.

Vashisht, 05/04/1994. Woke up this morning to find the whole world under a thick layer of snow. So instead of going on a morning hike i spent all day in Freak s Place eating, drinking chai and playing chess and, off course smoking chilam after chilam. When finally walking the short distance back to my room with the snow coming down in huge chunks i was as stoned as i could possibly be falling asleep the moment my head hit the piloow.

Vashisht

Vashisht, 04/04/1994. This village offers me plenty of good walks and good entertainment in the local chai shop, the place is so small that they only have one chai shop that offers food as well, GOOD. There are some termal baths in Vashisht and the semi permanent population of freaks and alternatives seems nearly as large as the population of locals, GOOD. spent my first day in Vashisht in the chai shop, which i have nicknamed Freak s Place, playing chess, drinking chai and smoking chilam. The cahi is expensive at 2 rp. / 1 rp. in the rest of India / but there is always a freak around offering me a hit from a chilam. They actually pas these chilams around by the sack full, GOOD.

Kulu Valley

Manali, 03/04/1994. Driving through Kulu Valley this morning gave me my first impresssions of this beautifull valley. I took a small room in a local hotel in Manali for tonight but i do not intend to stay long, instead of Manali i wish to move up to the small village of Vashisht first thing tomorrow. The village is supposed to have a semi permanent population of freaks and alternatives. Walking up there this afternoon i had a chai in the local chai shop and got offered a hit from a chilam leaving Vashisht stoned out of my head, quite happy and determined to return tomorrow with my gear and staying a while.

River Beas

Mandi, 02-04-1994. Surrounded by mountains and built on the shores of two rivers, one of them the Beas, is Mandi, between Dharamsala, Shimla and Manali. Nothing of interest in Mandi, really, apart maybe from some old temples on the shores of the river Beas. These temples just offered me a nice opportunity to strech my legs and use my eyes before nightfall, i arrived late afternoon i did not feel like spending the few remaing hours of daylight in my crappy hotel room. all the hotels in Mandi look the same, grubby and very basic not to metion extremely dirty. The hotel where i took a room for the night does not even have a name, it does have an unwashed toiled and a broken sink. The owner a desintrested sihk shop owner taking me up to the room above his shop. At least i have a room, just a 100 meters down the road some homeless locals camp in dirty tents made out of black plastic, on the shores of the Beas. However the women of these homeless campers wear fine and expensive looking silverey jewellry that somehow gives them a dignified look.