Hello everyone!

Well it has been an eventful few days, over here and where you are by the snippets I have been hearing on the news!

Tabbi and I stayed a few days in Shimla, which cleared of mist for a day which meant we got to appreciate the spectacular views even more. We decided to do a short trek up the valley side to a monkey temple. We were very proud of ourselves for having completed it as neither of us are the trekking types. WE were warned by our travel guide to rent a stick at the bottom to beat away the vicious monkeys, and we were very glad we did! They really were very viciousand saw them attack people and steal purses and handbags off people, we even saw a man kick a monkey in the face to stop it attacking him! We felt very glad we had our sticks, and lucky wielding our sticks meant the monkeys stayed away from us. We met a nice Isreali girl there who we walked down the hill with for added protection and had lunch with her in the afternoon. Yesterday we got a 10 hour bus to the town of Manali, not the most pleasant trip ever, was sick twice as the mountain roads were very windy. It was however one of the most beautiful trips I have ever done, once I started to feel better. Manali was well worth the trip though, it is simply one of the most beautiful places I have ever been , and I could easily stay here for a very long time, in fact, I would be quite tempted not to come home! Our hotel is in the middle of the valley and we have the most spectacular views I have ever seen from our balcony. It is like being in the alps, just stunning. Both tabbi and I have been a little unwell today, with me sleeping until 4pm, and we are wondering if we are suffering slightly from altitude sickness. We need to make a decision about where we go next, the most natural next stop being Leh, which is pretty much as far north in India as you can go. However it takes two days on a bus to get there, and then a couple of days to acclimatize to the altitude, and since we figure if anyone is likely to get sick it will be us, we are seriously considering skipping that place. Will make a decision soon. In the mean time Manali has lots of things to do, and tomorrow we are thinking of going paragliding! I tried to upload some photos but it didnt work, will try again tomorrow, although we haven't had power at all today so may take a while!

Love to you all from beautiful Manali