By Richelle
Friday 9th of June 2017

I briefly woke up 2 or 3 times on the overnight bus from Dharamsala to Manali. 2 of those times we were experiencing road issues, power lines were strung across the street, halting the few vehicles travelling this far north for nearly an hour. Under the moonlight I watched a man lay the wires across the road with his bare hands, while we all drove over them cautiously. Slightly unnerved and amused, I feel back asleep before being gently awoken, ‘we are here.’ I thought I'd never again feel the sensation of goosebumps on my skin after the places we have been, and it felt really really good.

Manali was a bit of a pit-stop in our journey up to Ladakh. The valley of the gods or more commonly referred to as the southernmost point of Israel - surrounded by snowy topped mountains and German bakeries - it's also the birthplace of Manu - the creator of all beings. There is also an unusual amount of people selling full body massages, neck massages, foot massages and back massages on the street. In 36 hours we visited Hinduism’s ‘Noah's ark’ the Manu temple, ate locally grown cherries, had lunch alongside the raging river, met a curious snake charmer and met up with our spirited friend Meryl and our new mates Alex and Molly forming our band of fearless trekking buddies for the next couple of weeks. We booked the minibus (3200ir per person) without trouble from a local agent who celebrated our journey with tea and cakes from across the road.