Ladack here we almost are

....and (finally) a post from India, Day 4.

India greeted us via means of Delhi and what an experience that was - almost overwelmed by the smells, noise, masses (humans and cows) and the touts that seem to be everywhere.. Did we get cheated? no, but almost....One of the most memorable moments was experiencing a full blown monsoon thunder storm - we ran for cover in a nearby temple, kids on the other hands were playing (or should I say lying down) in the flooded streeets!

Didn't wait around to get out of Delhi and we left 24 hours later - took a train up to the Himalayan Foothils (Kalka) and from then on, an incredible 6 hour journey by 'toy train' - 800 + bridges, 100+ tunnels rising to 2500 m to the alpine-looking town of Shimla in the province of Himachal Pradesh - former summer getaway for the British, - still conserves many aspects of your classic English village - streets such as 'The Mall', tudor houses, english post boxes, booze shops etc. English weather? yeeh it was somewhat overcast.

What else? Been playing some cricket with the locals - nothing really to be too proud off: as a batsman, I sliced the ball into a nearby fruit juice bar (while somehow getting troden by a motorised auto rickshaw), as a bowler/fielder, I bowled off centre and then missed the easiest of catches, letting the ball go into some serious undergrowth - ball not lost but close..

We're now 10 hours north of Shimla in Manali starting to see the Tibetan and Buddist influence here. Manali is the starting point for the 485km Manali-Leh Highway - the 2nd highest motorable road in the world, open 3 months a year and only 1 of 2 access points into Ladakh (the other one is via Kashmir which has it's obvious security dangers). We'll begin tomorrow by taking a bus at the crack of dawn for a 6 hour, 1000m climb to Keylong (3300m) - we'll take it slow and easy there for 2 days (some short walks and hopefully a chance to dig into some of my indian literature, which is weighing my bags down), and then onwards and upwards past two 5000m+ mountain passes to reach Leh on the 16th. More news from the other side of the mountains....