Day 66 (Mon 11 Sep) - Kaza / Manali
Fortunately we got up early as our driver arrived at 4.30am to pick us up. Jo was not very happy as there was already four other passengers in the jeep and the only place left for us to sit was squashed up on the front seat - not really the best place for a nervous passenger to sit. Anyway the driver strapped our bags to the roof and we were off.
In the vast darkness our headlights seemed to make a pitiful attempt at illumination. As we travelled however we would occasionally spot a pair of piercing yellow eyes relecting the light from the headlamps. And we once spotted the small form of a fox scampering away.
Just outside Kaza we overtook the public bus as it bumped along - Jo was so pleased that she wasn't on that bus. We don't know if we were safer in the jeep but we felt a lot safer and it was a more pleasant, smoother ride. We arrived at the Police Check point in Losar village at just after 6am where Jo and the driver had to wake up the policeman to log our passports.
Later we stopped for breakfast and Sarb made friends with a local. Not sure what his name was but a woman shouted at him and it sounded like Scooby.
It seemed in no time we left the rocky, dry valley and arrived back in the green forest mountains. We were making great time and thought we would be back in Manali for lunchtime. However, when we stopped for a mid morning break we noticed that there was an enourmous traffic jam down the side of the mountain below. We edged our way down the mountain towards the queue and our driver cockily overtook the queue of traffic and headed to the front. It emerged that a truck was stuck on the same piece of road as we had witnessed a truck having problems with on our way to Kaza.
This time it was a lot worse as there must have been a heavy downpour as the road was just a mud bath. There was no way any trucks or buses would be passing on that road - good job we weren't on the public bus. Fortunately cars seemed to be light enough to pass on the road so our driver decided to lead the way and drive down the road. It was very muddy and we were a bit worried that we were going to slide off the road and down into the valley but we made it. However once we got the other side we were in a right jam as trucks and cars had driven up both sides of the road so there was no way we could pass. We slowly edged our way forward but it took ages as no one was taking control so vehicles were all over the place. We finally made our way through but that had taken over a hour.
We finally arrived in Manali at 1.45pm and were not impressed to be hassled by the hotel touts as soon as we got off the jeep. Jo spotted a reasonable looking hotel nearby so we went to check it out. The Snow View Hotel seemed fine so we checked in. Jo was happy to chill out in the room but Sarb was restless and hungry so he went off to find food and an internet cafe.
We had decided that the easiest and quickest way back to Delhi was to get a deluxe sleeper coach so later we booked some tickets for the following day.
We had a relaxing dinner and went to bed.
In the vast darkness our headlights seemed to make a pitiful attempt at illumination. As we travelled however we would occasionally spot a pair of piercing yellow eyes relecting the light from the headlamps. And we once spotted the small form of a fox scampering away.
Just outside Kaza we overtook the public bus as it bumped along - Jo was so pleased that she wasn't on that bus. We don't know if we were safer in the jeep but we felt a lot safer and it was a more pleasant, smoother ride. We arrived at the Police Check point in Losar village at just after 6am where Jo and the driver had to wake up the policeman to log our passports.
Later we stopped for breakfast and Sarb made friends with a local. Not sure what his name was but a woman shouted at him and it sounded like Scooby.
It seemed in no time we left the rocky, dry valley and arrived back in the green forest mountains. We were making great time and thought we would be back in Manali for lunchtime. However, when we stopped for a mid morning break we noticed that there was an enourmous traffic jam down the side of the mountain below. We edged our way down the mountain towards the queue and our driver cockily overtook the queue of traffic and headed to the front. It emerged that a truck was stuck on the same piece of road as we had witnessed a truck having problems with on our way to Kaza.
This time it was a lot worse as there must have been a heavy downpour as the road was just a mud bath. There was no way any trucks or buses would be passing on that road - good job we weren't on the public bus. Fortunately cars seemed to be light enough to pass on the road so our driver decided to lead the way and drive down the road. It was very muddy and we were a bit worried that we were going to slide off the road and down into the valley but we made it. However once we got the other side we were in a right jam as trucks and cars had driven up both sides of the road so there was no way we could pass. We slowly edged our way forward but it took ages as no one was taking control so vehicles were all over the place. We finally made our way through but that had taken over a hour.
We finally arrived in Manali at 1.45pm and were not impressed to be hassled by the hotel touts as soon as we got off the jeep. Jo spotted a reasonable looking hotel nearby so we went to check it out. The Snow View Hotel seemed fine so we checked in. Jo was happy to chill out in the room but Sarb was restless and hungry so he went off to find food and an internet cafe.
We had decided that the easiest and quickest way back to Delhi was to get a deluxe sleeper coach so later we booked some tickets for the following day.
We had a relaxing dinner and went to bed.
posted by Jo and Sarb at
9/11/2006 09:05:00 am
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