The first leg
Deepu, Kavz and LK met at my place on july 30th to start our journey...we packed all 4 helmets in a big box we called 'The Dabba' (the belief goes that 'The Dabba' protected us from all the treacherous roads we travelled through the mountains..so its kinda holy u know). After the usual traffic jams, we reached the airport to catch our flight to Delhi. We had our first screw up courtesy 'Me'. I forgot to get my credit card which was required for ticket verification...so we had to pay up the entire ticket cost again ! (somehow we still believed in 'The Dabba') .
after the usual talks about flight crashes and what we hav not yet done in life (for all the single guys reading this, you know wat i mean ;-) ), we reached Delhi. We then took a taxi to Delhi railway station to catch our train to Kalka and then to Simla.
The train to Kalka was at 5:30 in the morning, so we spent 5 hours or so in the waiting room at the station taking turns watching our bags. These waiting rooms are you know a kind of Cultural and Behavioural melting pot. you will see newly wed couples getting cozy, screaming kids, punjabi family having a 4 course meal, the usual wanderers and the unmistakable stench from the toilets...we got through the night unscathed.
The train to Kalka was a great one and I welcomed the smooth ride after the waiting room pandemonium. We grabbed a quick lunch at Kalka station and took at Toy Train to Simla and this was the most painful experience of the entire trip. The train takes 6 hours for a 90 km ride. On that day, it was extremely crowded, very hot and we had the huge 'The Dabba' to protect.
Being the optimists we are, we started looking forward for the journey. The train had the kind of diversity that you wont even find in an MBA school. I distinctively remember few people like the ABCD (punjabi puttar with an firang girlfriend), Paaji and his 2 beautiful daughters, the cute gal at the back tht LK had a crush on for a while!, some ticketless locals. After crossing close to 105 tunnels and Paaji almost missing the train at a station, we reached Simla.
We met Rahul (the guy who had arranged everything from bikes to hotels) at the station and 
went up a steep climb to our hotel (Hill Bloom or something like that). The hotel was small, dirty and stinking and Kavz had a small freak out session and we settled down thinking its time for a rest. BUT, the fun had just begun. Rahul took us down to show our bikes and we had the biggest set-back so far . The bikes were 1960's bullets 
and were appalling to say the least. Deepu and I took a test ride and nothing was working properly. Rahul said that he cannot change the bikes as he had got them from Manali. We then took a heart-breaking decision to ditch the bikes and continue the rest of the journey on a Scorpio. Our life long dream (jus saying it to add some effect !) of living the life of Che-Guvera was just flushed down the drain. We ended an evenful 30 hours with excellent dinner at hotel 'Jashan'.
Simla to Sarahan
The day started very late as the Scorpio had to come all the way from Leh. We used the time to help Rahul load the bikes onto a mini van with some engineering skills. See, this mini van was at a height of about 3 feet and each bike weighed around 200 kgs. If a vegetarian desi tries to be superman and lift the bike 3 feet will end up with a broken back. So, we needed a quick and dirty solution to this predicament. Using all the skills learnt over 4 years at engineering, we used a tree branch and some stones to build a ramp and effortlessly guided the bikes onto the van...we were very happy that day.
After displyaing entrepreneurial capabilities, we started off in our Scorpio towards Sarahan. The driver was lean (almost stick like) and mild fella called Narotham Mandi and we instantly liked him. He had driven all the way from Leh (must be around 500 kms !) the night before and here he was ready to go on the day after(hmm...explains his stature). We drove through fantastic scenic experience of high green scaped mountains with occasional rain showers. It was refreshing and gave the feeling that we were finally on our way you know. We drove next to river Sutlej all the way. Hydro electric power project is being carried out throughout the stretch because of 
which the place has lost some charm and looks extremely industrial. We stopped at a bridge overlooking the river and a Gurudwara on the other side playing religious prayers. The river was gushing underneath and was very powerful. Again after the usual talks of what if we fall down and what we hav not 'yet' done in life, we moved on ! (just because I am writing this blog dosent mean these are only my opinion...its what we talked you know). We finally reached Sarahan at around 8:30 in the night and there was still some twilight and checked into hotel Snow View and ended the day with excellent dinner of Dal Makhani, Butter Rot, Dal and Chawal :-)
Sarahan to Sangla
We got up the next day or rather forced to get up due to the loud music 'Hare Krishna' playing next to our window. LK said he felt as if he was sleeping on the road for a second ! So we freshened up and went to Bhima Kali temple which was serene and peaceful. Sarahan is this quite town with a mix of Indians and Tibetians. This is one of those border towns where you find
a mix of these people. Here's where we first saw and were fascinated by the most exotic cuisine in the world...'Momo, Thukpa and Chowmien'. I mean it was so fascinating that all I could think of for the next 8 hours was 'Momo, Thukpa and Chowmien'. I had to try it..i really did... We left Sarahan and were on our way to Sangla. Along the way, we saw several Apple Orchards
and as any typical desi, we wanted them !... using flexibility that would make an olympic athlete look like log, we leaned over the fence and managed to 'steal' a few apples.. Kavz was happy.
So, we were back on our way when the jeep had some tyre problem and we lost 45 minutes. Got if fixed and made our way into Kinnaur district and drove through 
treacherous but beautiful roads...even under the mountains several times.
We checked into hotel Prakash at Sangla and had a lovely discussion with the hotel owner. Let me describe this owner a bit here. So, here we were having yet another fantastic lunch and this old man walks in and orders food. He has torn clothes covered in mud, old shoes and generally looking shabby. He looks at us and says in perfect english 'Where are you from ?'. He introduces himself as the hotel owner who also owns several Apple Orchards in Sangla. We later got to know that he is one of the richest men in the town. He talked about politics in Karnataka, about internet era, about farming and just about any topic that a typical guy in Bangalore would do. We were amazed and humbled at this man's knowledge and true-heartedness. Indeed, he remains in our heart even today (again some masala !)
After lunch, we trekked towards the river which was some 30 minutes away. On the way, we went to Bairing Nag temple which is another monastery in town. Mid-way through the trek we lost our way and lo-behold I volunteered to lead the battalion. So, I went ahead to find a path and found one which from a distance seemed easy. We went only to find that it was covered in slush and too close to the gushing river. After slipping and grinding, we found another way to the river. The spot overlooked the Kinnaur-Kailash mountain range and was beautiful.
We had dinner with a couple of Dannish students studying Medicine and Geology and an Israeli couple. We had this table set outside overlooking the mountain ranges and was really romantic. The Israeli couple were on their honeymoon and they could not find a better place and time for it ! So, we ended a perfect day with a good night sleep.
Sangla to Kalpa to Nako
We started the day early as the ride was going to be a long one. On the way, we stopped at a road side mandir and encountered a strange Swami. He lives in a cave next to the mandir and said he's been to US, Canada and other European countries !...He offered us prasadam and also a little bit of something extra...he offered us Ganja !!! donno wat to say but he is one of those hippie swami types who has lost his mind completely and living a crazy life high up in the mountains...we drove along and reached a place called Kalpa..a quaint little town nestled high up in the mountains offering fantastic views of the Kinnaur-Kailash ranges. the town is filled with small shops made of wood, narrow streets and a big monastery. There is also a school for small children and you can see old tibetians praying at odd corners on the streets.
I couldnt resist anymore and had to try 'Momo, Thukpa and Chowmien'. We had it in a cute wooden restaurant near the monastery and I simply loved it...I knew then that destiny had more in store of the same for me.Then we made our way towards Nako and the roads were even more treacherous...it was narrow and at an amazing altitude..our hearts skipped beats several times when the jeep headed towards corners. The landscape was more like the rugged Afghanistan terrain as we neared 
Nako. As we got closer, the plains started which offered some of the breathtaking views of the barren mountain ranges shawdoed by snow covered peaks. LK had the misfortune of cutting his own finger while cutting an apple (yaa..the ones tht were 'stolen'..nature has its way of getting back)..my swiss army knife finally turned man ! We checked into Hotel Reo, had lunch and went on a trek. The view of the village with the lake and mountains as a backdrop was straight out of my imagination from the book 'Tintin and the Prisoners of the sun'. Deepu and I decided to go higher up the mountain while lk and Kavz 
stayed back. We went high up and got fantastic view of the ranges and also had a moment of silence soaking up the experience. It was mystical to say the least. It was one of those rare moments of humbling experience and feeling closer to God. On the way back, we had the most fresh form of mountain water. 
After the scariest and most satisfying day, we ended with another excellent outdoor dinner at our hotel and hit the bed.
Nako to Tabo We started by crossing Malling Nala once considered to be the most dangerous crossing in the Himalayas. It lived up to its name even now and our Scorpio did a swell job at crossing with ease. Our Narotham Mandi saheb was especially slow at wheels today. Rumour has it that he had a bad dream about driving off a cliff and plummeting to death...cant blame the poor chap..who wouldnt have a dream like that after driving through such roads..come to think of it, even if he flies off a cliff, I can bet my dollar tht he will have a safe landing (his size remember)...aargh bad joke man ..Anyways, we made our way to a small village called Gue which is just 2km from Tibet border ! Here, we saw a mummy of a Lama and people believe that its hair and nails still grow...its seems firangs spend days there trying to capture this growth ! (man no wonder the economy is in such a crisis).
We reached Tabo which has a 1000 year old monastery and nothing else...the place is filled with firangs experiencing 'spiritual therapy' ...the place was too depressing for Deepu and Kavz and 
they slept rest of the evening...LK and I went to the monastery and had another moment of silence contemplating the meaning of life..trying the higher state of thinking but soon realized what we needed was Beer !...the damn place dint have any..not even Lassi for god sake.
In the evening, we went for dinner and met an interesting guy called Shiva. He was a waiter at the place and lives a nomadic life. During season, he is in Himachal, rest of the time travelling 
between Chennai, Goa, Mumbai and other cities just doing anything that is thrown at him..anything for a living !..how i wished i cud live this free-spirited living (masala !)
Tabo to Kaza
Left Tabo early morning after a bad breakfast and drove through small villages listening to old Hindi songs. Narotham saheb was feeling romantic that day and was humming all the way ! We had one of most intellectual conversations that day..'the purpose of navel !'..i mean think about it..why do we have a navel? every other part in the body has some purpose or the other except the navel...the philosophical conclusion that day was that it should remind everyone tht they are human and were born like any other person (for the medically uninitiated, the umbilical cord is connected to the navel inside the mother's womb)..nyways we reached Kaza and checked into hotel Spiti Sarai which was the best hotel in our trip.
We immediatly left to Kibber which is the highest village in Himachal at 4200 meters. It is one of my favourite places due to its isolation and the pure spiritual feeling you get there. Due to its altitude, the wind is always blowing and you can hear it constantly. The houses in the village all look very old and similar (thatched roof, 6 windows in front and a small door)...they are all built on the mountain slope. The village is also the starting point for several treks to Baralacha La, Leh and other places and so filled with highly spirited firangs chilling out. There are also several short trekking paths and we chose one of them which would take us to around 4600 meters and would offer breathtaking views of snowcaped mountains.
Deepu and Kavz made their way first and LK and I went to explore the town a little bit. After a 
while we caught up with them half way up the path. The climb was exhausing as the oxygen levels at those altitudes were low. We would climb 20 steps and take a minute break to catch our breath ! The view at the end made all the effort worthwhile as it was simple awe-inspiring ! We reached plain stretch of land surrounded by mountains all around..on one side, you could see the barren mountain ranges typical of the Spiti valley and on the other snow caped peaks. With the constant wind and complete isolation, it almost felt like top of the world. After spending some time, we headed back with grumbling stomachs. We waited for nearly 2 hours for our lunch at a home and ate to heart's content.
On the way back, we went to Ki monastery which is built on a hillock. We then headed back to our hotel and took some rest before dinner. At dinner, we collected our tents for Chandertal lake which we learnt later that it would test the spirit of human endurance.
Kaza to ChandertalLeft Kaza early and collected some supplies at Lozar and headed towards Chandertal lake. We passed through Kunzum pass and from there the roads became very narrow and bad. Scorpio captained by the highly talented Narotham saheb ensured we got through safely though the clutch kick-back
spring broke (the only casualty of the trip !). We reached the last motorable spot and trekked for 20 minutes and lo-behold...the most wonderful sight just sprang in front of us !...the lake is clear blue in color and almost looks like blue marble...its in the valley of two mountain ranges and stretches till your eye can see. The 
place shouts purity and is so pristine that is signature of God's creation. Its so beautiful you want to hug it forever and never let go...almost magical. We had two places to pitch our tents and chose the higher one as it was next to some other tents (tents for rent...if you don't hav your ownt tents, then you can rent one for something like Rs. 400 for a night) where they said they can cook for us in the night and also because it was a little farther away from the lake (the area closest to the lake is colder due to the cold wind which blows across it...this decision turned out to be the right one as the temperature dipped sub-zero at night !)
We had hot tea and talked to the tent-for-rent guys for a while. These guys are amazing. They spend around 3 to 4 months at the lake and offer all luxuries including food for the travellers. The closest town to get supplies is Lozar which is around 35 kms away ! At the beginning of the season, they get all required supplies and spend months hoping to make some money. I have to tell you that the place is amazing for a day or two but not more. Its so isolated, it almost feels like you are the only ones surviving on the 
planet. Its no surprise that this part of Himachal is only open for 6 months. The remaining 6 months its completely inaccessible as its covered in snow. The region higher from Rohtang pass till Tabo is completely closed during winters ! People in this region actually collect as much as possible during summers and hibernate in their villages during winters ! LK and I went for a walk around the lake which took about hour and a half to complete. The other end of the lake offers even better views of the landscape. You reach a plain stretch of land on the other end. The lake has a backdrop of barren mountain ranges followed by lush green ranges followed by snow caped peaks...its mind-blowing ! We came across couple of local farmers who looked scary. They were carrying sticks and were more interested in what we were carrying. The tent-for-rent guys had also warned us of them that they can get dangerous at times and also steal from people. If they decided to beat us up, no one would even have a clue for a long time since we were so far away from everyone. We started off back towards our tent and these guys started following us (at that moment, it looked like that atleast). We started walking brisk and they thankfully went towards their tent and disappeared. Heaving a sigh of relief, we made our way back to our tents. By that time, a lot of people had pitched their tents and some crazy firangs were taking dip in the ice-cold waters.
Around evening, the temperature started dropping drastically and Kavz started packing herself with more and more layers of clothing ! We ordered dinner of Thukpa (told you destiny had more in store for me), Dal Chawal and waited in the cold tent until dinner was ready. The dinner turned out to be the best candle light dinner we have ever had. The cold air and hot food was an unbeatable combination. The candle light made it so romantic I couldn't help but hum the song 'Wish you were here' by Floyd in my head :-) it was the most satisfying dinner for a long long time.
Then the torture began as the temperature had dropped sub-zero and it was extremely uncomfortable inside our tents. We were highly under-dressed for it and were scampering for everything that can help us keep warm. Kavz was crying for a long time and Deepu spent hours keeping her warm...we just wanted the night to get over. After a sleepless night, I got out of the t
ent at the first sight of light around 5:30 AM...I almost wanted to do SuryaNamaskara then ! the light rays had a whole new meaning that day. The whole experience made me realize the value of simple things like food, light, human courage and compassion. We packed our tents and were having hot tea when we met 3 strange men (we call them 'Sir', 'Chela' and 'Mr X'). See these strange men appeared sometime during the cold of the night and hired tent-for-rent. When we saw them during the night, there were only two 'Sir' and 'Chela'. We thought Sir is the boss and chela was his donkey (carrying his bags around). Sir was making a fuss of the cold and screaming at chela all the time. In the morning, we realized that there is a higher power in presence..the 'Mr X'..we dint see him until late morning when he decided to come out of his tent...oh my god..the clouds started thundering and lightning appeared from nowhere and the otherwise calm lake had tsunami like waves .. phew ! The tent-for-rent guys had arranged a donkey (cmon not the chela da..the real one) to take 'Mr X' around the lake !...I mean what's with this guy..why cant he walk !! So, here we were bitching about 'Mr X' and chela walked upto us and told us something that really made me feel weak in the knees...he said 'Mr X' has cancer and is living the last days of his life...................................................................
The second leg
Chandertal to Manali
The remaining part of the journey we should hav never done but had no choice .. this part is typical desi travel style and completely depressing compared to the first leg..so here goes. After hoping our Narotham sahed would have survived the last night's cold, we trekked back to the jeep and were glad to find our hero alive and kicking. After going through some more bad roads, we reached the famous Rohtang pass to only realize that its famous for honeymooners ! there were zillions and zillions of them everywhere !!!! the whole place was in total contrast to all the previous places visited as in it was C.R.O.W.D.E.D ! it was so artificial that I wanted to cry...first the honeymooners came, followed by establishment like hotels for them followed by road-side vendors, yak riders, sovenier shops etc etc and the place became commercial. Its so crowded and cacophonous, I am no longer sure why the honeymooners come anymore. There is a certain pattern to identify the honeymooners from the rest you see...the following are the distinct characteristics of them:
1. The guy will always have an arm around the gal (across the shoulder and NOT across the waist...its still honeymoon da..still not comfortable with 'it')
2. The gal is extremely self conscious and keeps looking at other people also on honeymoon (i wonder what kind of comparisions goes on in their head...hmmmm)
3. The guy is trying to act cool and keeps noding at other guys also on honeymoon (its probably a hidden indication to say everything's fine with me .. how abt you?..you know the usual male superiority issue...i have the most beautiful wife, the biggest ahem phew ok ..lets stop here)
4. They smell of the most atrocious and most powerful perfume available in the market !...its understandable tht they need privacy...u hav to understand that if you smell them then you are too close to them..the stronger the perfume, farther you have to be from them...nice strategy !
ok ok...you know how much I hated that place now...lets move on. We stopped on the way at a road side Dhaba and had some lunch and bought saffron at Rs. 30 per gram...I later learnt from my mom that it was fake and actual good ones cost anywhere between Rs. 120 to Rs. 200 per gram...well who came blame me..I survived the HMC virus (honey moon couples).
We reached Manali and checked into hotel new shivalik which was very bad. Our hopes of white water rafting fell flat as it was stopped 2 weeks back due to bad weather. On top of that we had to pay Rahul some additional money not accounted for before. All of this just blew our fuses and we were pissed off big time. Later went into the town, shopped for some shawls and caps and finished the day off with dinner over chats and ice creams. A rather low day finally came to an end.
Manali to Bunther
Started the day with much appreciated south-indian breakfast at 'Madras' cafe..appdi..we then went to Hidimba temple again crowded with HMCs (probably praying tht things go right atleast from now on :p) and desi tourists with their stupid photo sessions...
From there, we headed towards Manikaran which is famous for Hot Springs...we heard a lot about them and were really looking forward for it. We had the biggest shock when we reached the place. A huge Gurudwara is constructed on top of the springs !...its constructed in such a way that the springs are at the centre of the Gurudwara and they let hot water to pools outside where people can take bath. As its unfair to pass religious comments, all I can say is its a sheer waste of one of nature's incredible phenomenon..instead of preserving it and harnessing its power, our people have blindly converted the place to a religious location...what a waste.
As you can imagine at such locations, it is extremely crowded and dirty. All we could do is to pity at people's loss and move on.
We reached Bunther late evening and checked into hotel Sun Beam which was pretty nice. We had dinner with Wine and watched Spiderman to end another day of mostly lows.
Bunther to Dharamshala (McLeod Ganj)
Started a little late due to oversleeping (effects of wine) and drove through Mandi which is the hometown of Narotham saheb. On the way we stopped at Joginder Nagar to cancel our return train tickets. We had a tikki chole from a road side vendor and it turned out to be the best desi burger ever ! After having 4 or 5 of them, we made our way towards Palambur. We stopped near Palambur as the jeep had developed some problem with the wheel. Here, LK and I had boiled beans with bun and it was yummmmm....the day was turning out to be lucky for food. On the way again, we were suddenly stopped by a mob of locals on the road. For south Indians like us, this is is red-alert situation ! So, the usual thoughts of rising the windows, getting hold of something to protect (not hit you see ) came to our minds...however, it turns out that there was some devi puja that day and the locals were distributing sweets. The sweet was very tasty and indeed the day was turning out to be lucky.
We reached Dharamshala and checked into a shaddy hotel yet again. This time, Kavz's fuse went off and she showed the fighter side of hers...in one
moment of fury, kittur rani chennamma came on her and she fought with Rahul and got the hotel changed !...it was a proud moment for all of us (see the thing is we were screwed big time by this jackass Rahul..he charged exhorbitant rates and booked third-rate hotels...so even a small victory felt like olympic glory). So, we went to McLeod Ganj and checked into hotel Sahiwa which was pretty nice. In the afternoon, we went for a walk around the town. Its a small tibetian town and the headquarters for tibetian settlement in India. Dalai Lama stays there. The town is centered around the monastery and consists of small shops selling stuff like stone ornaments, tibetian cultural stuff etc. Its extremely crowded but peaceful town. Somehow, Buddhism seems to be the most peaceful religion in existence. We went to the monastery where priests were conducting regular prayers which was a sight to see. Strangely, people offer things like Chocolates, biscuits etc to Buddha there !. We went around the monastery and even turned the drums of prayers (A little gyan here about the wheels...each drum says a prayer OM MANI PADME HUM..so every turn signifies chanting of the prayer). After spending some time inside, we walked out and saw posters of Tibet's struggle against China everywhere. The posters asked for support to free Tibet from China's forced acquisition. China's kidnapping of 11th Panchem Lama in 1998 steals the show. It seems he is the re-incarnation of the 10th Panchem Lama and was kidnapped at the age of 6.
In the evening, we went to a cafe called Namgyal which really was the highlight of the place. Its a small cafe full of interesting stuff like currencies of all countries (every foreign vistor gives a currency note to the
owner who sticks it on the wall !), souveniers etc. Its great cafe overlooking the mountain ranges and a must visit in McLeod Ganj. We had pizzas and pastries and it was super good. Later in the evening, we went for short walk again around the town and did some shopping to end the day. We just wanted to get out of our slaughter house hotel and so left early to Chamba after having breakfast at 'Punjab-e-Sher' :-O.On the way we went to Kalatop wildlife santuary which is a nice forest range open for public hiking. We hired a guide to explain the 'flora and fauna' of the region. The only worthwhile information he
shared was about the Cobra plant (a plant formation that looks like the head of a cobra). After a 5km hike, we had coffee at a guest house 'far far away'. We made our way back and headed to Khajjiar the so called
Switzerland of India (there is actually a road sign there which points to the actual direction of Switzerland !!...wat's that supposed to mean eh..you can experience all of swiss right here, if you are still unsatisfied, we also give you direction to the real switzerland..how convinient). Well the place is actually beautiful totally screwed up by our people..its filled with roadside vendors, fake rollerballs, fake paragliding...was quite depressing to see such a beautiful place vandalized by the greed of people.After having lunch, we left for Chamba and checked into Hotel Jimmy which was another dirty low cost place. In the evening, we went to Laxmi Narayan temple which has beautiful architecture and eludes sense of power. We felt relaxed and talked about good ol' college days. Later we had dinner and spent the last night in Himachal with mixed feelings.
Chamba to Dharamshala:Left late and had early lunch and made our way to Dharamshala. For the first time, Narotham saheb had a real competition on the road. We had a drag with a Gypsy for nearly 1.5 hours and Narotham couldn't overtake ! We reached McLeod Ganj in the evening and headed to Namgyal Cafe again for some awesome pizzas and waited for our bus to Delhi. We then caught our night bus to Delhi and bid adieu to beautiful Himachal.
Delhi to Agra to Bangalore
We reached Delhi early morning and already started feeling the simmering summer heat..oh we hated coming back so much. After 'negotiating' (or so we thought) with Autowallas, we checked into a hotel near Pahar Ganj. After freshning up, we took a guided tour around Delhi. Our guide was called 'The Raj'. If I was a cartoonist, I just found my big break ! i mean he was such a bafoon, he really
belonged in a Circus. Anyway, we went around the usual sights of Raj Bhavan, India gate, Parliment etc etc. In the evening around 4 where there was still another couple of hours of the tour left, we got bugged and got out and took the Metro to Carol Bagh for some shopping. We bought some sweaters, dry fruits etc and were on our way back when the big news of Bangalore bombings came. The 8 bombs actually were on the roads we take to office everyday ! After frantic calls to home, we took another metro to Cannought place for some dinner at Saravana Bhavan. After nearly 2 weeks, we had south Indian dinner !
The next day we left early morning at 5:00 to Agra. On the way, we went to Vrindavan in Mathura. The place is a classic example of what I call 'Emotional Exploitation'. The place is designed in such a way that you cannot enter the temple without a guide..i mean no one around will tell you where the temple is !!! so, we hired a guide who took us in and he started the first step in emotional exploitation..the building up of emotion..he started saying things like this is the holiest place in India, then went on to say that our parents will be blessed with good health if we are generous, then asked us to take some pradakshinas thinking about our parents etc..then he took us to the priest who started his own emotional build up..he talked about problems people hav and how it will vanish if we are generous etc..then they came to the second step..they asked us how generous can we be meaning how much moolah can we throw in ! they also hav standard rates you see...Rs. 1200 for your name on the wall, Rs. 2000 for your family name on the wall etc..well we said we are just tourists and here to see the temple. The priest tried emotional build up again but we cut him off. Finally when we wanted to offer little money in the Hundi, the guide quite literally pulled the money from our hands and gave it to the priest ! The whole place is a big Con..its really sad to see such a holy place commercialized in this dirty manner.
We made our way to Agra and to Taj Mahal..I dont have to really explain the Taj here as the beauty of the place speaks for itself.
Its simply awe-inspiring to say the least and easy to see why its one of the 7 wonders. In a country where talking, feeling and expressing the most natural emotion love is a taboo, its ironical that we have a monument which symbolizes the greatest love. I feel we should learn from western countries about expressing love to one another. Its only when love is supressesd that other emotions like anger, greed, hatredness comes to the fore. Its lack of love in people that drives them to hate other people, to kill them, to destroy. Well, anyway we bought some Agra Petha and headed back towards Delhi airport to catch the flight to Bangalore.After 2 weeks of fantastic touring around the mountains, after experiencing highs and lows, after understanding each other better, we left Delhi with a heavy heart and a promise to come back.
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