Over the last three days and nights we:

1. Survived an annoying 15 hour bus trip from Delhi to Manali, a Himalayan trekking base in the Himachal Pradesh state, which included a miserable dinner stop at 10pm at a roadside bar, where we got charged mid-level Delhi restaurant prices for a bowl of bones in gravy (chicken curry) and stale rice. A royal ripoff and I'm sure the drive had a cut.
2. Found the town delightfully cool. beautifully situated on majestic hills overgrown with cloud forest and massively colonized by Israelis - so much so that after a while spotting a bar that did not offer Israeli food caused us to raise an eyebrow. And in fact I was almost outraged that no Israeli security personnel checked our bags at the city limits, like they do for example in Warsaw for flights to Tel Aviv.
3. Checked into a delightful, homey, half-Israeli (the lady :) run guesthouse, one of the rare cases when the tout/owner picks you out right after you step off the bus, offers you heir services, takes you to their establishment and you actually enjoy it :) (including home made chocolate cake we were treated to) Good for you, Eagle Guesthouse!
4. Marveled at the number of so-called German bakeries in Manali, which were no fewer than 5, probably more, and their only advantage was serving decent coffees (pastries and cakes were such a far cry from the real thing they probably were never even wrapped in a newspaper with the word "German" printed in it - a salty Nutella croissant? C'mon!!)
5. We did a short walk, adjusted to the altitude (2000 m) and hit the bed, right after booking our two day trip to Leh for the next morning.
6. Weathered a tiresome two day van trip from Manali to Leh and observed some of the most astounding scenery on this planet and some of the worst driving and road conditions known to man. They call it a highway but on some sections even the word "road" seems like stretching it. Big time. On that trip we:
7. Feasted our eyes on some truly surreal and stroke-inducing lunar scenery during our trip - think a blend of the altiplano and the southern Patagonia, without volcanos but even more majestic. Wow! That nearly made up for the troubles of our trip and...
8. Crossed a few high-altitude mountain passes, including the world's second highest motorable pass (Taglang La) at 5370 m fully ignoring altitude sickness prevention guidelines (going from 2000m to 4900m in one day (on the first day) is hardly a healthy experience, after which we...
9. Had a memorable night at our campsite (4400m) at which we broke the trip on the first day. The sleeping bags did a stellar job. My stomach (again local curry) and our heads and lungs did considerably less well. All that makes for sleepless in India.
10. Survived the second day of the trip in a much better shape (me) and hopelessly succumbed to motion sickness and altitude sickness combined (K.). However, puking your guts out at the world's highest motorable pass all while trying to have your picture taken and protecting your face from a sudden hail storm has gotta count for something, right? Plus we:
11. Witnessed the effects of several landslides which blocked our passage only to be swiftly rescued by local bulldozers. Nice work, India road maintenance authority! We also...
12. Laughed silly at some of the educational signs on the side of the road: "Normal speed meets every need", "Trees on, CO2 gone", "Trees don't grow on money either", "Safety on the road, safe tea at home", "Those who touch 90 (supposedly kph), rarely live to 19". One of the more intriguing ones was: "Know AIDS - No AIDS!". And that in a wilderness where getting infected without first dying of exhaustion while trying to reach a human settlement would have been a miracle.
13. Aside from a few setbacks we had a great time in that van, among others in the company of some fellow Polish trekkers, an experienced group from Warsaw.
14. Reached Leh to find it full of tourists and possibilities of trekking and outdoor activities, on which we will ponder tomorrow once we get a good night's sleep (if possible at 3700m by now..:)