3rd - 11th Oct. Mc Leod Ganj, Dharamsala (1770 metres)

Temperature: Comfortable 24 degrees, sunny everyday! Cool at night.
Hours on bus: 10
Buddhist monks and nuns: hundreds
Monkeys: loads
Jewellery stalls: loads and loads of wonderful things!

Our bus driver from Shimla to Dharamsala was a complete nutter. Many occassions we over took lorries on windy narrow mountain roads with on coming traffic. Held our breath lots of times! We did wonder whether our bags were going to make it because all luggage had to be tied to the bus roof.

When we arrived at Dharamsala, it was already dark, and the bus driver seemed to be in a rush to get rid of us all and finish his shift. Obviously, we had to get the bags off the roof, so we asked him to wait a while. Some other Westerners got their bags, but unfortunately ours were locked with combination padlocks that you needed to see. As it was dark, it was a difficult task. The bus drove off with Carl on the roof, but stopped after Carl shouted. An English couple, who'd Vik had helped with their bags, offered to help Carl and climbed up the bus and helped get them down. Always a drama here in India!

McLeod Ganj is a small village nestled on top of a hill with the mountains behind. The views are really dramatic, and really gives you a taste of the Himalaya (where we're going next).

The streets are full of Tibetans in their traditional costumes, and there are many Buddhists monks and nuns walking around. It has a relaxed atmosphere due to the different culture.

Also, there are many souvenir shops selling 'Free Tibet' merchandise, and semi precious jewellery, something that has made Vik spend most of her India buget on!

We have a really comfortable room with an amazing view for only 275 rupees (3 pounds per night), that serves massive fruit museli bowls with natural yoghurt and honey (only 80p), and Mexican food (chef is Tibetan that has worked in New Mexico, USA), served on the balcony, outside our room. We've got piccies!

Unfortunately we arrived a day to late, as his Holiness the Dalai Lama was at his residence (down the road from our guest house) teaching the second stage of meditation. Now he's in New York!

We did walk around his residence (have to do it clockwise) as the Buddhist monks will tell you off, and end up in the main temple where the Buddhist famously do their debating of philosophy etc.

Yesterday we went for a walk to Dharamkot, which is a bit of a climb up the hill (English mountain) through pine forests full with more monkeys. Another bit of training for our trek up the Annapurna mountain! The scenery is spectacular which I don't think our photos do justice. Our walk took us to Bagsu and the waterfall there where the Buddhist seem to wash their clothes in the clean mountain water. It was a nice place to stop and cool our feet in one of the many rock pools.

We've been to a few Tibetan restaurants and had their speciality which are Momos, these are like Dim Sums (little steamed or fried dumplings). These are delicious, but the chilli sauce that goes with it is so hot it makes you drink a whole bottle of water just to cool you down. Most of the other food is similar to Chinese, so it's all very tasty. One thing we haven't tried is the meat versions of their food. It seems they use mutton as their main meat.

Our last day here is on Thursday when we have to get the bus back to Shimla to get the trains back to Delhi. Our next place will be Agra, obviously you can't come to India without seeing the Taj Mahal!

In the meantime, we will chill and buy some more jewellery (it's so cheap!!!), and eat lots of nice food.