After a rickety 90 minute hop on an old propellor plane, we arrived to Dharamsala, lives spared another day.

From there we paid about $15 to take a taxi on an hour-long journey, on a one-lane, two-way road up the mountain, to Bhagsu, a small hippie community that is accessed only on foot. Damo, of course, insisted we stay here rather than the more bustling McLeodganj or Dharamsala.

On the way we passed many interesting signs, giving the impression there have been many deaths due to automobile accidents in the past. It was a pretty narrow and windy road. Some of my favorite:

1) Don't gossip. Let him drive. (Sexist much??)
2) Drive slow, enjoy the scenery. Drive fast, join the scenery.
3) Safety is not expensive. It's priceless.
4) Every accident is an act of negligence.

Fortunately our taxi driver was very cautious and this being literally the only taxi I've been in over the last three weeks which had SEATBELTS, I felt (relatively) invincible. Although I will admit there were some moments I feared we may fall off the side of the mountain.

Bhagsu is super hippie. We stand out because we Don't have dreads. It is also very beautiful. And I am happy to be back in the Himalayas, or least in the foothills of. The weather is quite warm here (30 degrees Celsius in the day and dropping to a cool 15 degrees in the evening)! Perfect. Damian says there is even a local pool.

Bhagsu is a town in the state of Himachal Pradesh located in the Northwest part of India, just three or four hours from the border of Pakistan. It sits on a hill with the Main Street of shops at the bottom of the hill. No cars can go up into the town from the base. A river runs through the middle, dividing Bhagsu on two sides. The higher up the hill you go (on either side) the guesthouses become quieter, cleaner, more spread out, and have better scenic views.

When we arrived we started walking up the hill with all our stuff and Damo suggested I wait at the bottom while he went house hunting. He came back forty-five minutes later, defeated. Being tourist time here every place he went to was full. Since it was sunset when we arrived, we quickly found a place to stay for the night, $7 a room and includes the toilet near the bottom of town. Fancy! Tomorrow we will try to find somewhere a bit nicer for three weeks. We want to be high enough from town to escape, but close enough where we can go back and forth throughout the day.

We had a late lunch/early dinner at a vegetarian thai restaurant. Delicious Penang curry with brown rice! So hippy. I love it! We had a mango lassi later at Om Cafe and found out they also sell Kombucha. In heaven!

Tomorrow we will go on a reconnaissance mission for the perfect spot and then see about some yoga.

Till then.