We had been warned that Manali was very busy and touristy, but nothing prepared us for the gridlocked traffic that chokes central Manali. Central Manali is most popular with the Indian Tourists coming up from the plains to escape the heat. Each family has its own or a hired 4WD so the town is in a state of constant gridlock, polluted with car fumes, beeping horns and it's very unpleasant to walk round. We had already decided to stay in Old Manali which was up the hill and away from the craziness. Paul ran round hotels in Old Manali and settled on Dream River 600Rp per night, overlooking a babbling stream and pine forest. After our exhausting journey we headed via autorickshaw down the hill to the reknowned Johnson's restaurant for roast lamb with fresh mint sauce - a real treat after being meat free for so long. Back for a sleep, then Pizza Olive restaurant before crashing again. Old Manali was a bit quieter and catered mainly for Israeli and western tourists. It seems a place to relax before/after trekking in Spiti/Leh and a place to have a beer and smoke marijuana. Despite the threat of 10 years in prison for mere possession of weed, people still take the risk. Weed grows wild everywhere you look. Old Manali had a laid-back and friendly live-and-let-live feel and we welcomed the peace and quiet of the place. On the Monday we walked to central Manali, Paul saw some apples on a roadside stall and went to buy two before discovering they were about 50p each. Tourist prices? Manali has so much potential it is set in a valley on the beautiful white-water Beas River, it is surrounded by forested hills and distant snow-capped mountains - they have made such a mess of it, bad town planning, ugly buildings and the traffic!! We walked along the congested roads to Varsicht a place that was supposed to be similar to Old Manali. Not too exciting a town, we saw another icon parade with drums and horns to the temple there. After our steep walk it was time for another roast lamb lunch at Johnson's, then later crispy lamb and veg cashew nuts and salt and pepper veg at Blue Elephant. Paul had his appetite back! On Tuesday we explored further uphill into Old Manali. We passed old traditional wooden houses and reached a path along the river. We followed it as far as it was navigable and then gave up. Lonely Planet has mentioned a couple of walks that just don't seem to exist. Back to the hotel for a sleep and I was feeling a bit ill. Paul went out for one of Manali's specialities Tandoori Trout - so good he had it twice - I told you his appetite was back! The next day we went into Manali to book our tickets for the bus to Dharamsala (our next stop) and a day trip to Rohtang pass. We had a relaxing afternoon. In need of some exercise after the lamb fest, I wanted to follow another Lonely Planet day trek - a walk to Solang Valley. Solang is a ski resort in winter and an adventure playground in summer with zorbing, canyoning (abseiling down waterfalls), and paragliding. The path took us through old Manali and we followed a sign (the only one on the way). Soon the path split into two and we asked a local which way. Then the path split again and we had to stop and ask again - the lady pointed up the path that she was going up, but Paul said her friend seemed to disagree with her. We followed anyway until we met another woman who directed us back down the hill again. The path kept splitting, so we decided to take a path that seemed to follow the river. This way we would have some visual reference. The path was through woods and orchards, but eventually led us out through someone's property and onto a road. After 8kms Paul was feeling wrecked, lacking any sort of energy - despite his recent calorie intake. The road meandered up hill towards distant hills and valleys. The walk was supposed to be around 11km, but in the heat and with the constant uphill struggle it seemed to go on forever. No signs for Solang either! The road was not a bus route so our options were limited, either return (Paul was having none of it) or go on until we found the bus route. We had walked for 3 and a half hours when we finally reached a town - Palchan. Not Solang, but it was on the bus route. We saw a sign for Solang saying 4kms - clearly we had gone a bit off course. We got the bus back to Manali and there were even some seats - hooray. Friday was our tour to Rohtang pass, with 5 stops at natural beauty spots on the way to the snowline at 4000m. A frustrating start - our ticket said report at 8:00 for an 8:30 start, but we sat on the bus for an eternity waiting for others to get on. Then three Indian lads decided that they needed an ATM and left the bus not returning until after 9am. Paul had a word with him, which is more than could be said for the driver who just didn't seem bothered. About an hour up the road, 'the lads' got the driver to stop so that they could hire very attractive 1970s style ski suits. We were not pleased! We had read days before in the Indian Times that the road to the Rohtang pass had become really congested - the volume of traffic and the road maintenance work bringing the traffic to a standstill. Despite the authorities knowing this nothing was being done. The traffic crawled up the road, often we would stop for around twenty minutes not knowing what the hold-up was. It soon became clear that it was the usual selfishness at work. The corrupt government officials too selfish to do their job and intervene, the road maintenance company too corrupt and selfish to provide their workers with the right tools and safe environment to work in and finally it was every man for himself on the road. The selfishness of the drivers (in the absence of traffic controls) was the worst, if there was a space even if it was obstructing oncoming traffic they would fill it - the result, a standstill. Our minibus with 11 of us and the driver were finally pulled over by an army guy at a row of restaurants. The driver got out and so did everyone else, we sat there not knowing where we were (it didn't look like a beauty spot) or how long we would be stopping. It was only 10:30 so we assumed it was a tea break and stayed on the bus - nope - 1 hour and 15 minutes it was clear that this must have been one of our stops. We then had to drive round looking for some missing passengers. The missing family were busy hiring 1970s style ski suits, why we had no idea! We set off again and really got stuck in the traffic this time. We had passed many beautiful waterfalls and views of the valleys but didn't seem to stop - Paul hadn't taken one photo. We arrived at the snowline without stopping along the 56km drive at ten to two - 5 hours after we set off! The driver clearly didn't speak English so one of our fellow passengers informed us that we would be stopping for half an hour. We got out and Paul took some photos. The wind caught Paul's hat and sent it spinning down the valley, he raced off after it and it had settled under a boulder. Unfortunately in reclaiming his hat he disturbed a local having a 'squat' behind the boulder - very embarrassing! We watched with delight as a 'skiing instructor' proceeded with his lesson. He was dressed in a brown tweed suit and white training shoes - he pushed his pupil up the hill along not snow but compacted ice. It was not Val D'isere! No skiing actually took place just some shuffling and falling. There were some skidoos but not a lot else there, but the Indians on our bus were loving it! We soon headed back to the bus before the half hour was up. The driver was asleep, but he had left the door open so we waited inside....for 3 hours!!! We were furious, clearly this was not the trip we had booked but some lift up to the pass to see the snowline and mess about on the dirty ice. That was the end of the tour and the bus was now going to return to Manali. However, there were three missing - yes it was the lads again, they had got drunk and were refusing to get back on the bus as it was the first time they had seen snow. We had to wait another 30 minutes before they could be coaxed back on the bus- not by the disinterested driver, but by one of the passengers. Not a pleasant day for us but definitely typically Indian!! We relaxed on Saturday and took a shady stroll in the nature park - an unspoilt forest in the middle of Manali - a bit of a haunt for drung dealers though! Another relax on Sunday and lunch at Johnson's cafe - they did a variation on the roast lamb, delicious. Paul didn't feel right after he had eaten and brought the two courses he had eaten back up - bless him, he just seems to go from one illness to the next. Paul, having lost a lot of weight had taken his trousers to be altered. We discovered that since last year his waist had shrunk from 43" to 35". Paul felt better later and we spent our last evening at Shanti's where we had breakfasted all week. Paul had shared his MP3s with the owner and now the place was blasting out his hip hop and Indie tracks. Old Manali had been a great place to relax. Next would be Dharamsala home of the Dalai Lama....With poor wi-fi connections, we have a backlog of vids to load and will try and get them on over the next few days, keep a look out!