Right now I am sitting enjoying a beer at a restaurant on the beach, with amazing music blasting, watching the sunset. But that's now and I need to backtrack almost a month to catch up on this blog. Sorry guys got a little preoccupied.

So after five days of straight travel we made it to Manali where we had planned to settle down for three or four nights then move on. We ended up spending the better part of three weeks in Manali. When we got into town we took an autorickshaw up to a town called Vashisht, this is about 5 minutes from Manali and offered cheaper room rates. We picked out a guesthouse and spent most of the day sleeping. We heard about a huge waterfall in town and went looking for it the next day. We didn't find the one we were told about but found a very small, peaceful stream and followed it up the mountain a bit and found a nice spot to read and relax. We even got crafty and scratched a backgammon board into a stone and used my deck of cards and bottlecaps Tash has been collecting as playing pieces and dice.

The next couple of days were pretty action packed, Tash and I went canyoning. I have never been canyoning before and it was far from what I expected. I pictured repelling down into a canyon then walking through a stream for a bit. We hiked up a mountain for probably 15 minutes, put our wetsuites and climbing gear on then repelled down a small waterfall, walked down the stream, repelled down another waterfall and then repeated this process a few more times. It was pretty slippery and there were a few times I ended up on my ass or flat against the rock or struggling in the force of the waterfall but it was amazing and definately something I would recommend or would do again. Our guides for this were amazing and were constantly taking photos for us. They also brought along their 8 month old Bernese Mountain Dog which really made me miss Monty. We were reunited with Marc and Michelle that night and we got our first real taste of India's Old Monk dark rum. This is amazing rum, I think it may even be better then Dominican's Brugal and I am not the biggest rum fan.

The four of us went paragliding for the first time ever the next day. We drove up a twisty windy road towards Rohtang to do the long flight, the jeep ride up to where you start paragliding was amazing. Lots of twists and turns and a little bumpy since we were all piled in the back sitting on the paragliding equipment but the view was breathtaking. Manali reminds me of Banff but in the Himalayas. I would do a terrible job describing it so I will try and post pictures sometime. When we got to the top where we were jumping it took no time at all before the guys had us suited up, the parachutes open and ready to go. This made things a little intense since you had no time to stop and think about what you were about to do, or find out what you really will be doing. To take off you need to run downhill with the pilot, this worried me since I am so accident prone I figured I would trip over my own feet and fall on my face taking the pilot with me. Luckily its only 3 or 4 steps before you are in the air and can sit back and enjoy. This will be a memory that stays with me forever it was amazing. The feeling of being in the sky and not in the comfort of a plane is really something else. I enjoyed it so much I went the next day as well, but from a different start. This round I hit a girl in the back of the head with my ass on the landing. In my defense she was standing on the landing area looking the wrong way not paying attention to any of the paragliders landing and did not move when we yelled at her.

By this time we had already spent 5 days in Manali and made good friends with the locals. Three of the boys; Challa, Shulu and Vikoo took us for a night out, we ended up on a dark rooftop patio in what felt like the middle of nowhere having dinner by candlelight and enjoying the stars. We were entertained by the boys singing numerous hindi songs, which we have got stuck in our heads and absolutely love. Tash even bought a cd of 120 hindi songs from movies and we have made our own dance parties listening to them in our room. After dinner we went to a local bar and drank and danced our asses off. The next night we had a 8 hour bus to Mcleod Ganj/Bhagsu, we convinced Challa and Vikoo to come with us. We checked out the temple in town and then the waterfall where we ran into two more Edmontonians (Jay and Ella). We met them for dinner that night and ended up at a rooftop restaurant that was celebrating one of the waiters birthdays, there was birthday cake which was everywhere and all over everyone by the end of the night and lots of singing and dancing. A few of the other travellers and all of us Albertan's drank at our guesthouse and stayed up way to long sharing stories and rum. We only spent 3 nights in Mcleod Ganj and most of it was wondering around or doing nothing, it seems to rain every afternoon there. We did do one hike to a waterfall which was really nice, it was more like a series of small waterfalls with little pools everywhere. Nice place to swim a bit and just lay on the rocks and chill.

We headed back to Manali where Andrea was going to meet us, we changed our plans and convinced her to come up north to see the himalayas and to do a 3 day trek. We managed to convince Jay and Ella to do the same. The day Andrea came in we went with one of our friends and found the waterfall we went looking for the very first day we were in Manali. It was not a simple hike like we expected and was brutal to climb up in sandals but worth it in the end. Was amazing, its a huge waterfall where you can walk around and behind the falls, there are rocks and areas you can climb around in it and we saw a double rainbow in the mist of the falls. When Jay and Ella made it to Manali we got ready and did our 3 day trek, which was also a little more intense then expected but worth it. The first day was probably about 4 hours hiking straight up to where we camped for the night, the view from our campsite was unbelievable just snowy peaks of the himalayas and blue outlines of other mountains that seemed to stretch forever. It was so peaceful, there was no other group just the one we went with and a bunch of horses. It got a little chilly at night but luckily the company we booked the trek with supplied parkas and snow pants if we needed it and we borrowed some hoodies from the boys before we left. The second day started with a 2 hour hike straight up and over rocks then we hiked past a small lake and it was pretty flat for another few hours until camp. The second nights camp was also unbelievable and though I didn't think it would be possible may of offered better views then the first night. The third day of the trek was all down, down, down.

After the trek we spent another 6 days in Manali, we did try to leave sooner and not get stuck in the same place for much longer but we had issues finding trains. I went paragliding once again with Andrea, we left from the same spot as the first time but this time we didnt make it to the same landing spot and we landed on the road. This was really entertaining since the chute flopped over a fence and onto a ladies apple tree after we landed. We tried to unravel it without harming the tree but a few small branches broke and a bunch of ladies working in a field across the steet were yelling at the pilot. I thought I recognized some Hindi swears in what she was saying but I could be wrong.

It worked out perfecectly being stuck in Manali since we got the opportunity and invitation to join in on a wedding celebration. The first night we went there was mostly just drinking and dancing when we got there. Which was fun, there was a dj set up outside and lots of good hindi music playing. We got to dance around with locals and get more into the culture. The next day we went back, this was a larger part of the celebration and there were hundreds of people there. We got to join them in dinner, where you sit outside on a rug on the ground, get a plate and men keep bringing over waves of food and throwing it on your plate. I still have yet to figure out how to pick up rice and eat it with your hands like everyone else can. Its tricky. After that we visited with everyone in the guys tent, traditionally there is an area just for men where they can drink and smoke and there is a seperate area for women to do the same. Since we were foreigners we were allowed in the mens tent along with our friends. It was interesting being in there and being the only foriegners around (with the exception of a couple that owns the company we booked our trekking with). You could really feel the culture and take in the full experience. We danced some and took it all in, everyone was dressed nicely, the bride looked amazing with some of the biggest and most beautiful jewllery. There was a nose ring that had a chain that connected to one of her earings. Definately was one of the best experiences, one we never would of imagined we would be seeing while we were in India, our guide books say if you get the chance you should take in a Indian wedding celebration. Absolutely correct.

After a few more days of driving around and spending time with our favourite local boys we said goodbye to everyone and bye to Manali which definately holds a spot in our hearts. We jumped on a night bus and started our next adventure...