As I awoke, slightly more confused but also slightly less, paradoxically, I spontaneously asked Vishal if I could join for his friend's wedding happening in Chamba in a few days. He had thought of asking me to come along as well, so things turned out great.
Plan could now go as follows; I can get a couple of days in McLeod, then he will pick me up there and we will fly on the bike to Chamba for the wedding. Hurray for random decisions and changes of plans!
Pure freedom.
So I hopped on a bus to McLeod Ganj, with Eddie Vedder in my ears (dammit, thanks to Vishal, I became so addicted to that soundtrack for the next months!).
I was a bit irritated with McLeod, which I didn't get to properly see a couple of nights before. So this was my first proper impression - it felt unfriendly, loud, and bustling with tourists. Ugh.
I walked down to find Ladies' Venture - the hostel recommended by the French girl we met on the trek to Triund. Still a bit dazed and confused (as I tend to be for days on end sometimes during my travels :P), I checked in and settled in a bed in the cozy, European-style dorm room. It was empty except for a French girl reading a book. She had been a little sick so she stayed in that day. We talked a bit and she answered a few of my questions - who the others in the dorm were, how to get to the temple...
Knowing I only had 2 days there, I set off to see the Dalai Lama temple that afternoon. It was a lovely walk and peaceful area. I took a few good shots and headed back to the hostel. I was feeling in a social mood and hoped some people would invite me for dinner with them.
I met a few more of the girls staying there, and Rany - also a new arrival - a fashionable pretty lady from Cambodia. A few of us went for dinner together. It was rather strange to be with a group of foreigners in a pizzeria. I was always curious to know what everyone's story was. Some volunteers, some travellers...
Eventually, I started befriending Rany, who was very sweet and approachable, even though communication was at first a little difficult due to language. One of my favourite memories of all time was probably as we all left the diner and headed to a "bar" in the vicinity. Rany and I walked behind the rest of the group when we noticed two tomatoes falling from a veg stall nearby. We stalked the tomatoes as they made their way down the winding, hilly road, completely absorbed in their progress. They "chased" one another for quite some time, occasionally slowing down, sometimes passing each other. It was a rather incredible little interlude, and no one else seemed to notice. Soon, one tomato fell in the gutter, shortly followed by the second one. Rany and I had no need to explain what had just happened, we both loved it and laughed, and it became a favourite inside joke.
However, due to the tomato incident, we completely missed where the others went inside, so we just picked a random rooftop restaurant and settled there. To my surprise, we bumped into some people Vishal and I had met on the trek to Triund a couple of days prior - one of them being the very fit older guy! We all had a great time, some guitar playing, some laughing, some cheering up Rany who had slowly begun to open up to me about her story. The cool older dude turned out to have been in India for quite a while. He tried to get on the same vibe as Rany to get her to smile.
In parallel, Vishal and I were having some of the best texing conversations I've ever had...
Plan could now go as follows; I can get a couple of days in McLeod, then he will pick me up there and we will fly on the bike to Chamba for the wedding. Hurray for random decisions and changes of plans!
Pure freedom.
So I hopped on a bus to McLeod Ganj, with Eddie Vedder in my ears (dammit, thanks to Vishal, I became so addicted to that soundtrack for the next months!).
I was a bit irritated with McLeod, which I didn't get to properly see a couple of nights before. So this was my first proper impression - it felt unfriendly, loud, and bustling with tourists. Ugh.
I walked down to find Ladies' Venture - the hostel recommended by the French girl we met on the trek to Triund. Still a bit dazed and confused (as I tend to be for days on end sometimes during my travels :P), I checked in and settled in a bed in the cozy, European-style dorm room. It was empty except for a French girl reading a book. She had been a little sick so she stayed in that day. We talked a bit and she answered a few of my questions - who the others in the dorm were, how to get to the temple...
Knowing I only had 2 days there, I set off to see the Dalai Lama temple that afternoon. It was a lovely walk and peaceful area. I took a few good shots and headed back to the hostel. I was feeling in a social mood and hoped some people would invite me for dinner with them.
I met a few more of the girls staying there, and Rany - also a new arrival - a fashionable pretty lady from Cambodia. A few of us went for dinner together. It was rather strange to be with a group of foreigners in a pizzeria. I was always curious to know what everyone's story was. Some volunteers, some travellers...
Eventually, I started befriending Rany, who was very sweet and approachable, even though communication was at first a little difficult due to language. One of my favourite memories of all time was probably as we all left the diner and headed to a "bar" in the vicinity. Rany and I walked behind the rest of the group when we noticed two tomatoes falling from a veg stall nearby. We stalked the tomatoes as they made their way down the winding, hilly road, completely absorbed in their progress. They "chased" one another for quite some time, occasionally slowing down, sometimes passing each other. It was a rather incredible little interlude, and no one else seemed to notice. Soon, one tomato fell in the gutter, shortly followed by the second one. Rany and I had no need to explain what had just happened, we both loved it and laughed, and it became a favourite inside joke.
However, due to the tomato incident, we completely missed where the others went inside, so we just picked a random rooftop restaurant and settled there. To my surprise, we bumped into some people Vishal and I had met on the trek to Triund a couple of days prior - one of them being the very fit older guy! We all had a great time, some guitar playing, some laughing, some cheering up Rany who had slowly begun to open up to me about her story. The cool older dude turned out to have been in India for quite a while. He tried to get on the same vibe as Rany to get her to smile.
In parallel, Vishal and I were having some of the best texing conversations I've ever had...
Photos: McLeod Ganj
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