Picture a secret enchanted broccoli Forrest, honestly.
Green, not so secret, definitely enchanted and I'm pretty sure it'll be good for your health if you stayed here long enough, that's Himanchal Pradesh.
Dharmsala was our first point of call. A hilltop town home to the Dalai Lama himself. With the clouds and Indian tourists engulfing the streets we meandered the monastery and walked to the waterfall.
With Manali as our planned next stop we hop on one of the local buses. Half way through the journey it dawns on us that we may not make the whole journey with no stops for food or toilet so we reside in Mandi for the night. After a couple of days looking around the small riverside town we take a detour and head to Kasol. Another beautiful bus journey later and we arrive in this Israeli favourite town.
After a day relaxing we travel to Tosh the next day driving over precariously placed roads, I'm pretty sure one of them features in the worlds most deadly roads.
In Tosh we meet Mohit, an Indian guy from Delhi. The three of us take in the scenery and tranquility around as the snow capped mountains dominate the skyline we sit and play cards. That night we all shared a room. However, someone got a little over heated. Clearly sharing a room with two women was more than this Indian man could handle. His advances were defected with answers like 'don't make this awkward' and 'if you carry on like that you'll end up sleeping outside'.
A swift departure from Mohit in the morning made time for Charlie and I to make our way back to Kasol.
Bus journeys consist of beautiful scenery, tunnels carved out of the Mountains, narrow roads near the edge of a cliff and signs that say 'falling rocks' and the waterfalls are like the arteries of Himanchal, hundreds of them feeding the life source that is the river Ganga.
We get back to Kasol and the trip has an unexpected tragedy. It was then that the decision was that Charlie would return home in a few days to spend time with her family.
Our last stop together before the departure is Manali, a favourite holiday destination for Indian tourists. We spend life in luxury, well what we would consider luxury, it had hot water, wifi, a flat screen TV and a stunning view to match.
We frolic in the snow, eat delicious food and get parting, matching tattoos. And before I know it I'm being packed off in a tuk tuk for a bus to Dharmsala.
M- meet
A- at
T- the
E- end
We shall be reunited in Goa. Until then.....
.