We were going on another safari with Sanjay today and after the success of yesterday we were both pretty excited. We enjoyed the beautiful facilities of the hotel in the morning and then safari in the afternoon. This time we were entering through the same gate but driving further into the park into the next section which was going to be more enclosed with less grassy plains. 

Sanjay picked us up in his trusty Suzuki Jeep but with an extra passenger being his son who was about 3. We both looked at each other imagining all the ways this could go wrong considering we don’t know too many 3 year olds if any that could sit very quietly in a car for 4 hours staking out animals. 

But we thought maybe we are going to be dropping him off before we head out. We did stop off on the way but that was to pick up the mother as well. So instead of an extra spotter we got a wife and child. To make matters worse we were half an hour late in arriving at the gate which meant less time in the park. The next hour or so we drove around the park not really spotting much and just stopping at a watering hole or two, none were very fruitful.

Saying that as we were driving along Tim spotted two sloth bears coming out of the hills and we got to watch them for a while crossing the road to a cooler area of the forest. Apparently this was a very rare sighting. They were pretty amazing with there ridiculously long claws and beautiful long snouts.

We saw lots of deer and a few paw prints of tigers, lots of scratches up trees from the sloth bears climbing up but the elusive Tiger or Leopard was not to be. We drove out of our gate and had a spare fifty or so minutes so we stopped off at the waterhole where all the elephants were yesterday. Apparently one of the Tigers has been frequenting the watering hole late afternoon. Towards the end we heard some warning calls but far into the forest. No big cat sightings for us. 

As we drove back to the hotel we were still a little disappointed in the day but being out in the open in the beautiful surrounds still made for a pretty good adventure. S

Monitor lizard enjoying the coolness of a hole dug by sloth bears getting at termites.

One of the watering holes. As you can see the park is desperate for the monsoon to come.

The sloth bears coming out of the hills.

Crossing the road into more lush forest. Check out the size of their claws!

A beautiful spotted stag.

A lone tusker making his way to the watering hole.

Sunset on the plains.

We left Haridwar this morning to travel the 200km to Ramnagar in the usual 40 degree heat. Unfortunately there were no air conditioned busses available and we couldn’t use the “fearing for our lives” excuse and hiring a taxi. The thing is once the bus gets going the wind is slightly cooling, the only irritating thing is that we are actually getting used to a 200km long trip taking over 5 hours!

When we arrived at Ramnagar we had a short taxi trip and walked straight into luxury! We paid the same as you would for the cheapest hotel in Brisbane and had arrived at a wonderful resort. It consisted of a group of separate houses set in an amazing garden next to a river. We felt we had transported ourselves to another world.

We couldn’t believe how nice it was and headed straight to the pool for a cooling swim. We spent the rest of the first afternoon lounging by the pool reading our books and watching the Indians trying to swim. Certainly not a national pastime.

The reason we were here was to go on safari and we had managed to navigate the overly complicated and useless booking system and had arranged two trips with a local guide who was highly recommended. We were very excited at the prospect of potentially seeing a tiger but had asked not to race around a park desperately searching for one rather we would prefer to relax and observe everything the park had to offer.

Luckily our requests were heard and we were picked up by Sanjay our driver/guide and another spotter and headed off into the Corbett Tiger Reserve. We hadn’t been in the park long when we came across our first group of elephants. They are a wonderfully majestic animal and we were able to spend some quality time sat in the jeep watching them casually eating their way through the forest. While we were content our guides had more planned for us and took us out of the dense forested area towards the open plains.

Here in the distance we saw a larger herd of elephants with a “Tusker” or male elephant. He was much larger than the females but certainly not part of the family group and we sat once again watching while he wandered off and then returned to the group of females and young. I don’t know how long we sat watching but it was a breathtakingly beautiful scene.  

In the centre of the plain was a raised viewing platform and we drove over to take our turn in viewing the whole area. The group in front was just getting ready to depart in their jeep when one of the men casually dropped his empty water bottle onto the floor. I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes! Simultaneously Sarah and I jumped up and screamed “pick that up!” He was obviously shocked and while the driver of his jeep ran around to pick up the bottle he made such excuses as to the fact he hadn’t been told not to litter. What a complete idiot. Still I can kind of see his point, why indeed have one small part of India not covered in rubbish? He probably felt strange driving about all day without seeing rubbish strewn everywhere. 

Anyway, while they all looked at us in disbelief as to why we cared we scooted up the platform to gaze out over the plains and enjoy watching 3 jackals making their way furtively from one side to the other. I think I could spend some serious time sitting and watching wildlife.

Our guides then took us back into the forest all the time stopping to point out various types of birds or animal and it was pretty clear that with all these spotted deer and various other prey around any tiger we saw was going to be well fed. Alas though we had no luck with the tiger spotting and returned to the plains where we were able to relax and enjoy the sun going down while watching elephants crossing the road in front of us and then grazing in the grasslands.

At one point though our relaxing day got a little bit too exciting when a mother elephant started crossing the road a little too close to the car for her (and our comfort). Her body language changed in an instant and our driver started to try to slam the jeep into reverse. Now the Indians are quite rightly renown for their terrible driving ability and at this point we were both a little concerned when we stalled! Luckily the elephant decided not to charge and retreated back into the forest with her baby.

I feel I have to mention that safari in India is different to safari elsewhere…obviously. I have already mentioned the littering and while it’s not nearly as bad as elsewhere in the country you still see water bottles and crisp packets dotted about the place. Also the noise factor. Indians don’t seem to do anything quietly and while we were content to sit and quietly wait for an animal the Indian vehicles would pull up right next to us with a screech of brakes and shout over asking what we were waiting for/looking at. Nothing anymore.

The concept of waiting patiently for an animal to appear unharmed by one’s presence is also lost. They would drive the vehicles right up next to the animal and you could almost see them wonder as to why the animal had fled back into the forest.

Still we were lucky with our guides and even though a few times we were part of the noisiest tiger stalking operation known to man we also spent most of our time away from the crowds. One of the many highlights for me was when we were sitting in the middle of the forest having just heard a tiger’s roar with my eyes closed listening for more sounds. While we didn’t hear the tiger again we enjoyed all the wonderful sounds of the birds of the jungle. Truly it was a fantastic day and once we got home we were very excited and looking forward to more fun tomorrow! T

Relaxing in our fabulous resort.

The female elephants on the plains minding the young ones.

While the locals weren’t impressed by the monkeys we still found them fascinating to watch.

After waiting for a little while we were rewarded by his family crossing the road right in front of us.

With big daddy bringing up the rear.

After our lovely few days relaxing in the hills we decided to go check out Haridwar which is supposedly one of five holiest cites in India. Situated on the Ganges just 30kms downriver from Rishikesh we had a pretty uneventful bus journey out of the mountains until we hit the outskirts of Hardiwar and came to a complete standstill. As we have come to expect with the Indians, the traffic jam became a complete free for all which of course only made the situation worse. Sigh.After another hour and a half we finally made it to our accommodation. 

We had come to Haridwar to witness the sacred ganga aarti ceremony at the Har-Ki-Pairi Ghat. It is where the god Vishnu is said to have dropped some divine nectar and left behind a footprint. We had been told that the one in Rishikesh was for the tourists but this was the one you had to see. On the bus into the city the sheer number of people we glimpsed bathing in the Ganges made us think tonight was going to be pretty special.

The river has been diverted to create more manageable flows where steps have been built down into the river to accommodate so many people. Even with the diversions the inlets are still fast flowing and I shudder at how many lives must be lost with so many people entering the water and how poor at swimming they are.

In the afternoon we headed out towards the ghat where the ceremony would take place. The town itself was manic! The streets were filled with shops and cars and people. Back to the hectic India for us! Now I don’t know if it was because we had a break from it all in the mountains for a few days or because we were expecting it but although extremely busy we enjoyed the streets far more than Rishikesh. It definitely didn’t have as many western tourists. A guy who was riding a bicycle was too busy goggling at us that he ran into the car in front of him. It was acutely quite funny.

We headed towards the river and walked the last kilometer along the Ganges watching everyone enjoy bathing in the river. The crowds got thicker and thicker as we got closer to the Ghat and the atmosphere certainly felt reverent. There were holy men walking around offering blessings, for a fee of course.

At the Ghats there were several bridges criss crossing the river and on either side hundreds and hundreds of people were swimming. We didn’t quite know where to stand so we just wandered around watching in awe what was going on around us. We found a good vantage point on a bridge and were approached by a lovely family to have our photo taken and were told that we had a good spot to view the ceremony. 

Soon enough the chanting started and on either side people joined in. The crowd had swelled to thousands now and the atmosphere was amazing. Looking around at all the people in and about the water, flower offerings flowing down the river we realised why people told us to come here instead of the far more sedate ceremony in Rishikesh. 

There was a break in the chanting and then small fires and candles were lit all along the river. This just added to the magic of the place. Soon it was all over and then as people dispersed plates of the fire were passed around and people would touch their hands through the fire and then to their head. From what we could garner from our family, these fires were now holy and you were blessing yourself with the fire. 

We waited a little while for the crowd to disperse but were inundated for requests for photos. My mouth was actually sore from all the smiling we had to do. So we got out of there with the crowds and had a lovely walk back along the river to our hotel. Along the way we came across lots people setting up as if to sleep out along the river. I don’t know if they were there permanently or there just for the night because they made their pilgrimage here to bath in the Ganges. I hope it was the later as there were a lot of them. Haridwar was definitely worth the stop. S

The streets of Haridwar.

There were little shops everywhere selling plastic bottles to collect your own sacred Ganges water. Some people were leaving with buckets of it. We couldn’t figure out if they drank it or just put in on the mantle as a keepsake.

On the other side of the river the buildings all went right up to the river and had their own private ghats. Notice the little boy fishing for metal with his magnet.

People were bathing for kilometres all along the river edge and special barriers had been but in place so people could hold on and not get washed away.

Getting closer to the Har-Ki-Pairi Ghat. As you can see the river has been diverted into a smaller and shallower channel.

Waiting for the ceremony to start.

The sheer number of people in attendance was mind blowing. This happens every night, though the crowds are the busiest between May and July.

The fires being lit and people floating their offerings down the river. There didn’t seem to be a specific time you had to do this so all afternoon offerings were floating by.

The holy fires.

The Ganges by night.

We should have learnt our lesson from McLeod Ganj when it comes to spiritual places in India but we had both set the bar high for our next spiritual encounter. Set on the banks of the Ganges, Rishikesh is a very holy place for Indians with hundreds of thousands coming each year to swim in the Ganges and or lay their loved ones’ ashes or bones to rest in the river. It’s also the yoga capital of the world.

We arrived late afternoon after an uneventful 9 hour drive from Shimla and dropped off our bags and went for a walk for some food. The tourist town is situated on both sides of the river with two pedestrian bridges, one in the north and one in the south. We started walking from the hotel and past several yoga schools and then hit the main hustle near the river. It was nothing like we expected. I don’t want to be rude but Rishikesh was the most disgustingly dirty place we have visited. It was gross and so busy!

We found out that the weekend we arrived was a festival weekend so the crowds were bigger than normal. We found a restaurant overlooking the river and decided to have some food and then head back to our hotel to start the experience of Rishikesh anew after a good nights sleep. 

I had researched some ashrams further along the river for me to do some yoga and had visions of peace and quiet and lush gardens and forest walks. So we headed out in the morning to go and check them out. As we eased closer towards the “spiritual center” things didn’t improve cleanliness wise, in fact I think it got dirtier. By this stage my vision of spending the next week in yoga bliss was being quickly dashed. We arrived at the ashram and it was nothing like we expected. It was packed full of people walking in and out and the rooms were more like a boarding school than a retreat. But we pushed on to the reception to see if we could have a look at the place to see if we wanted to stay. Before we even got that far we were told that there was no availability for weeks so that quashed that idea.

Thoroughly dejected by this stage we walked back to our accommodation along the river, stopping off at other ashrams that quite frankly were shitholes. I even asked a group of western girls along the way where they were doing their yoga and were told they also hadn’t found a suitable place. There was a definite feeling of disappointment from everyone.

Late afternoon we headed back towards the ashram to view the Ganga aarti which is a ceremony where offerings of flowers are floated down the river. The ceremony itself was very busy and we were viewing it from a balcony above. After about 45 mins we got so sick of Indians pushing into us to get a better view that we decided we had seen enough and headed further upstream to send off our flower offering we had purchased. 

We found a relatively calm space to sit with our feet in the Ganges and for the first time we felt the real magic of Rishikesh. There was a cool breeze blowing and across the river a ceremony with drums and chanting was taking place. As we sat watching the river, flower offerings were floating past and the people around us where performing their own little ceremonies and prayers. It was really quite wonderful. The family beside us asked us if we were on a holy holiday and we looked a little confused and told them we had been in India for a while and we wanted to see the Ganges. We found out he and his wife come here for 10 days every year for their holy holiday to pay their respects to the gods. After spending sometime down by the river we headed back to our accommodation feeling we had slightly glimpsed the spirituality of the Ganges. S

The Lakshmi Jhula hanging bridge. Slightly busier than we expected.

No matter how hot and bothered you are, you still need to put on a smile when they come and ask for photos. Especially when they’re kids.

Footbridge you say. Surely that means it’s okay for scooters and cows.

The mighty Ganges!

All along the river there were stairs leading down for people to bathe.

Holy men.

The Ashram. In the photo it looks a lot more tranquil that it actually was.

More scenes of people washing in the Ganges. We knew the Indians had cast iron stomachs but when you see them drink the Ganges water you really know they do, or the reason why they have cast iron stomachs.

Ram Jhula footbridge.

Tim tentatively taking a dip. The temp was freezing! Which we should of realised considering it comes from the Himalayas but when your sweating in 40 degrees you automaticly think the water will be bath water.  

Ladies selling some fruit I couldn’t place. Very similar to a fig I think.

The streets of Rishikesh. 

The Ganga aarti ceremony.

Ready to launch our offering.

Watching the offerings flow past with the locals.

Stretching and winding along a ridge the 12 km sprawl of Shimla was created by the British as a place to escape the summer heat. Our guest house was about 4km out of the centre and had superb views from the balcony (from the bed really) back across the valley to the town itself.

Our room in the guest house backed onto a communal living room in which, unfortunately, our neighbours decided to have dinner at midnight and then we were awoken at 7am by an overly keen waiter wanting to serve us breakfast. I am sure the sight of me half awake and half dressed asking what he wanted has probably scarred him for life.

Shimla as a town was very busy and full of hustle and bustle. The accommodation was very expensive too so we decided to cut our time here short and try and see everything in the one day. We caught a taxi into the centre of town and started our explorations.

The Main Street in Shimla is called the Mall and is pedestrianised which in India was a fantastic change. The street ran along the ridge of Shimla and in between the buildings we were able to enjoy wonderful views down over the green valleys below. Even though there were loads of people it was actually quite relaxing and pleasant and we were able to enjoy a couple of hours walking up and down the ridge.

There were three or four hills around the town and they each seemed to have a temple on top. The most famous temple was Jakhu Temple or Monkey Temple as it was more commonly known and obviously we decided to hike up and have a look. I had read that on the way up to Monkey Temple the local monkeys were pretty fearless in their robberies of tourists. We were not to carry food or have loose clothing and our sunglasses had to be hidden away.

At the bottom of the path up there was a man renting out sticks so I decided to rent one. He was very professional. He had a bucket of sticks and I could hire one for 10 rupees but had to leave a 40 rupee deposit! Would you believe it I actually got a receipt! Next to the man with the sticks was a sign stating how long it should take you to hike up the mountain to the temple. There were various times listed and next to them how fit you were if you achieved said time. Most people would casually ignore such a sign, avoid glancing at a watch and carry on at a leisurely pace up the path.

Not for us though, I had hoped Sarah hadn’t seen it but alas no. We checked the time and set off up the path. We were both pretty exhausted by the time we got to the top but luckily we made it in the best time listed so we were both happy. At the top the monkeys circled around looking for their chance to pounce but they avoided us no doubt due to my rented monkey thrashing device. The Monkey temple was dominated by a huge 40ft high pink monkey figurine. However the surrounding trees meant that the views weren’t actually that spectacular but we enjoyed the cool breeze and rested a while before our descent.

Our plan had been to do some hiking around the surrounds of Shimla but it was all a bit too busy and expensive so we decided against it. The reason it’s so busy and expensive is that it is school holiday time in Delhi so everyone traipses up into the hills to escape the heat and enjoy some peace and quiet. It’s amusing as the constant honking of horns and chatter of people is still very prevalent here and neither of us thought it much of a reprieve noise wise. But certainly the cooling temperatures and the brisk breezes up in the mountains are, even for us, a most welcome change from the stifling heat further south.

It has been fun visiting Shimla but it wasn’t the relaxing place we were looking for to stop and spend some time reflecting on our Indian experiences…the search continues. T

The view of Shimla from our balcony was spectacular to say the least.

The top of the ridge in the middle of town.  

The ladies carrying concrete with the backdrop of Shimla town.  

The roads winded there way around the hills.

Ready for some monkey thrashing.

The gigantic Monkey at the top of Jakhu Temple.

Some shots of the streets of Shimla.  It was really nice wandering around without the constant threat of being run over.

Glimpses of the valleys around Shimla.  All in all a very beautiful area.

The view from our balcony was pretty amazing in the evening too!

We were looking forward to some hiking in and around the valley over the next few days but I bloody got sick didn’t I. So the next two days I didn’t venture very far from the cabin, though it was a pretty beautiful setting to sit around and recover. Except for the stairs up to get fed. We extended our stay a few more days and got to move into the better rooms up in the guesthouse once the other guests moved out. The accommodation was a lot nicer with a lovely balcony and table and chairs overlooking the valley. I lost count how many hours we spent just sitting out there enjoying the view. We could even see the snow capped peaks from our bed. Watching the weather change and the rains sweep through the valley to be followed by a clear sky and sunshine was breathtaking. Especially since we were safely under cover with a steaming cup of masala chai in our hands. 

Once I was feeling better we went on some short hikes around the valley and surrounding apple and pear orchid. The scenery was really beautiful and the smell of pine in the air made you feel as if you were breathing in clear crisp air, which in India is sometimes hard to come by. We didn’t get to do the big hike up to one of the peaks as I didn’t have the energy just yet so will have to save that for next time we are here. We have already decided there will be a next time as we loved this place. 

The extra days we spent up at the guesthouse were lovely as we were the only guests so we had the whole family to ourselves. This included Raju, his wife and two children, mother and his brother. The brother was getting married in October so his wife would also come and live with them. This got us talking about marriages with Raju and we expected him to have a bride picked for him as it was a small village but apparently that wasn’t the case for him and his brother. 

The guesthouse was run by the boys with Raju the host and the two other boys the cooks. The wife and mother didn’t do anything towards the guesthouse but they were always out in the orchid cutting grass for the sheep, cow and her calf who lived under the house. 

Another really foreign notion here that we can’t get out head around is the wishing for boy children in India. The poor old girls definitely play second fiddle. We talked to some guests who were from Delhi who had one girl and she said people constantly ask ‘Surely you are going to try for a boy next’. We met Raju’s cousin one morning and she told us with a look of embarrassment on her face that she had three girls and no boys. Some things in India are just really screwed up. 

We could have stayed for several more days with Raju but he had guests coming and although we had the option to move down into the cabin again we decided to move on. It is very rare to experience such a beautiful place so untouched by tourism and I am glad we took the time to find it. S

Close up view of the mountain opposite ours. If you look really closely you can see a steep path leading up to a house. We watched kids go down in the morning to school and back up again in the afternoon. There were no fat people in this village that is for sure.

Road up to the guesthouse.

Walking up through the peach and apple trees to get a better view.

On another day we hiked along the path of the river. We passed some really quaint little villages along the way. These guys must get so isolated in winter. Raju told us that his guesthouse does not see sun for 2 months because they are positioned on the wrong side of the valley.

Found this guy pollinating all the wild flowers along the way. Obviously I took this shot as Tim was keeping his distance.

Another cute little village.

The river. When we arrived on the first day the water was crystal clear but after the rain got a little dirty.

Getting closer to the snowy peaks.

As we climbed higher we hit a beautiful little forest.

More river shots. I can’t stress enough how beautiful this valley was. 

Main Street of Gushaini, the village directly underneath the guesthouse.

One of the locals. All the men wore these types of hats with different designs on them. I forgot to ask Raju if there was any significance to the designs or if they picked them purely on if they liked it. 

Wildflowers.

Raju’s wife and the kids Dimple and Daniel. Apparently Dimple is a very common Indian name. In typical village life the kids were pretty good at entertaining themselves. Often giving us a heart attack when they pushed chairs up against the balcony banister and then proceeding to stand up on them all the while looking at us to see if they would get away with it. They figured out pretty quick we weren’t pushovers.

Raju on the left, his mother and his brother the chef.

The view up the valley from our bed was spectacular to wake up to this morning and we grinned at each other as to how well we had done to find this place. The only slight issue was the 197 steps we had to hike up to get to the main part of the guest house where the others were sleeping and our meals were being served. Still not exactly a hardship.

Today’s offering was to go fishing and Raju had kindly organised us a guide. We followed him down the steep hill through the orchards toward the river both pretty excited about spending a day trout fishing in the beautiful valley. We arrived at a spot and our guide pulled out a rod, his rod, and started to tie a hook on. He then started casting away. We weren’t exactly sure what to do so I asked if I could have a go and to be fair he allowed me a few casts and even let Sarah have a few afterwards.

The fish weren’t biting though so he led us off down the river bank and occasionally he would stop and cast a few times. Whilst we have gone fishing a few times we have never gone to watch anyone fish before and it was proving to be a little boring. The main excitement came when he got snagged and lost the hook. Sarah and I giggled at each other wondering if that was the only hook he had brought with him. Yes it was, so back to the village we all trudged to buy another one.

Back at the river and once again finding ourselves with nothing to do we decided to leave and go for a walk. Our guide was very surprised and told us to wait as he was going to catch a fish soon! We delicately explained that when we went fishing we usually had rods or at the very least lines each and set off for a walk back up the valley to our guesthouse.

We were able to sit on our balcony and watch an almighty storm roll in down the valley before the weather cleared up. The evening was relaxing playing cards and chatting to the other guests. This really has been a wonderful find of a place and we have found that we are very much enjoying ourselves here. Being so far away from everywhere and only having occasional phone reception and intermittent electricity has been wonderful. I have a feeling we might stay here a few more nights! T

Crossing the bridge to the local village.

The view back up the hill side to our accommodation.

Local houses lining the river.

Trout fishing in the Himalayas.

Sarah was even allowed a go!

But this was how we spent most of our time…watching.

So we left to amuse ourselves and it certainly wasn’t all bad.

 Beautiful views down the valley.

Some odd shrines at the road side.

These were set up all around the area for transporting this up and down the hillsides.

We had decided try and find somewhere a little more secluded in the mountains than McLeod Ganj and we happened across a small paragraph in the Lonley Planet about a valley that pretty much ticked all the boxes. We chose a guesthouse that was one of three online in the area and caught a taxi early the next morning.

The taxi ride was not the best through no fault of the driver. I don’t think we happened upon more than 100 metres of straight road the whole 6 and a half hours of driving. But the scenery was breathtaking as we wound our way around the mountains down and up valleys and over rivers. We were again so glad we hired the taxi instead of catching the bus. This was made even more apparent when we came upon an accident that was fatal. We knew this as the ambulance was there but they were all standing around and hadn’t even covered the body, he was just lying there with his mangled bike beside it.

As we got closer to our destination we knew we were definitely off the beaten track as the villages got smaller and the road soon turned into a single lane with just enough room for others to slowly pass. We headed into the village where we thought the guesthouse was and were both a little disappointed to find the town to be a lot bigger than we expected. But when we asked the local police man walking by where the guesthouse was he told us it was still another 10kms away. By this stage we sensed our taxi driver was starting to get a little annoyed so we got him to call the guest house and sure enough it was back down the road. 

So off we went and soon found ourselves driving up a dirt road on the side of a cliff. By this stage a storm looked to be brewing so we were getting a little worried but we eventually came across two men waiting for us on the side of the road. Our taxi driver was very relieved and quickly dropped us off and eased out of the valley before the storm set in.

The owner Raju greeted us and then showed us to our tiny secluded cabin which had the most breathtaking view down a steep valley with a crystal clear river running through it. He assured us the view actually got better when the upper clouds parted as we had views of a snow capped peak as well. After dropping off our bags he showed us to the main guesthouse where he lived and our meals would be served. This just happened to be another 100metres vertically above us and was only reached by foot. Although we were huffing and puffing by the end of the steep climb Raju who was not even breathing heavily commented to us on how fit we were. Hahahaha sweet talker! 

We both couldn’t keep the smiles off our faces as we sat looking out over such a stunning view in one of the most serene and calm places we have visited the world over let alone India. We quickly asked Raju if we could stay more than the two nights booked and his reply was my home is your home. S

Really glad we hired the taxi instead of catching the bus.

One of the tiny villages we passed. 

Beautiful scenery along the way.

So lush and green.

Not too bad a spot for our welcome drinks. 

View of the afternoon storm sweeping in through the valley.