Laid back in Manali

Manali is pretty awesome. Sal, if you read this, imagine a cross between the laid back / hippy spot / mountains of Sana and the resort feel of Pipa, though without the beaches and with the most spectacular mountains I've seen in a long time. The place is in this really narrow river valley (the River Bea I think it's called), the mountains on either side, covered with pines, leaping high into the sky all around, with snowy peaks in the further distance.

The place I'm staying at has a roof you can get onto, so I can chill up there and soak up some rays away from the noise of the main road (of which there is one here in Old Manali). Or I can read or write in my nice little room with the windows open and the curtains half closed to let in some breezes. In town it's mostly small restaurants, cafes and guest houses, with scatterings of shops selling Pashmina shawls and other clothing, or New Age stuff. There's a music shop on the corner where the path down from my place meets the road so I can always hear some music playing in the background. Yesterday I wandered back down to New Manali, which is a bit more Indian - more people here on holiday from other parts of India, more shops and general bustle. This has its good side - I found a small bookshop and a copy of the Hobbit, which I'm now reading after finishing Perdido Street Station and State of the Art (both great books).

The Aussie couple in the room a few doors down have gone on their medium paragliding flight today, in preparation for the long flight tomorrow I think. We watched Australia V. Ghana together last night which was fun, and I've done a book swap with them... no more lugging heavy books that I've read around with me. Got to keep traveling light.

Still haven't decided where I'm going next, but pretty sure it's between Dharamsala (where the Dalai Lama lives) or Leh (even higher in the Himalayas; the road's only just re-opened after the snows melting). Not in a rush though, am happy here for now.