Weds 17th and Thurs 18th - Travelling to Leh
Leh.
Accomodation:
Well at 1.45am after a sort of (very cold!) snooze in Cederics and Audreys room, we piled into a minibus for a supposed 16 hour journey to Leh in the very north of India. It didnt quite work out that way...! After only a couple of hours we got stuck in a massive pile up going up the mountain in the snow mear the Rhotang Pass, where we had motorbiked to previously.This is India, who knows what the exact reason was but probably a lorry or large vehicle getting stuck in the slush and obstructing the way for everyone else. The roads really are notorious here, there is no provision for heavy traffic and in many places there is only a single track. Its slow going at the best of times (although the drivers still manage a fair speed and overtake on the sharp bends the nutcases!) and no vehicles have anything as sophisticated as snow chains! I would ordinarily say it was incredibly frustrating except I didnt really mind it. I was cozy and warm with all my warm clothes on, my new wool hat & scarf, leggins and gloves, audreys fleece and waterproof and Shys sleeping bag!!! Bless them all, it really would be a completely different situation without all this attire! Its funny how things always work out. The time passed by snoozing and listening to Shys ipod and playing suduko with Shy (we have inherited the addition from Anne!) and I got out for a while and borrowing Shys hardy boots to wade through the snow to find a semi-dignified place to go to the toilet, I cleared a place on a rock and just sat and appreciated the scenery. There is something about snow covered mountains that is so good for the soul and it has very happy memories for me of going skiing as a teenager with Megan, Paul and Nicky family friends in the French alps. I also havnt been able to afford to go skiing / boarding for 4 years now so its a real treat to be in such an enviromnent. Despite such a long day (2am - 7pm) I did not pick up a book once. I think countries like India are good for people like me who thrive on efficiancy and time keeping. It makes you chill out a bit and just 'be.' Sometimes also, it is good to not always be distracting yourself all the time. Silence can be a wonderful thing.
I also got chatting to a writer and filmaker from Vancouver who basically travels his way round the world, writing and takin stock footage (generic filmed images that may be used in films). For example, there are sights here like the army trekking in a long snake like procession up the hill, and people riding on yaks and horses and also the image of people twos up on motorbikes battling along the roads in the snow. Just sights you may not ordinarily see. If you open your eyes there are many amazing things to observe, and for me that is the magic of travelling. Its unpredictable and your always adding new and sometimes random memories and impressions to your experiences.It is so very bright up here, you need sunglasses, another reminicent on skiing.
Well, at the very time we should have arrived in Leh (6pm) we were still 372 kilometers away and trust me that is a long way on snowy mountain roads! So we stopped in some random village where Shy and I crossed the bridge to find a garage with 5 beds in which was perfect for the 3 of us and an Israeli couple we had met. We paid 50 ruppees each before realising there was no toilet and the garage door did not fully shut, but hey we wernt complaining we were just happy to find somewhere as a couple of other places we had asked in were full - bascially everyone on that road was in the same position, held up for hours on their way to Leh. I had felt slightly sick all day (it didnt help that we were travelling or should I say in the minibus without stopping for food until 4pm and I hadnt eaten dinner the day before either so had been surviving on Shys biscuits and crisps!) so didnt indulge in a beer, but we had a nice evening playing cards and reminding myself of the rules of blackjack. We bet with matchsticks as games like that are only fun if you bet. It reminded me of 'Pontoon' probably the identical game that I have very happy memories of playing with my Grandad and Grandma as a child. My Grandad was fun, he always had something interesting for us to do, be it playing with walkie talkies or making sculptures, or playing computer games or card tricks. I want to learn some more card games and card tricks its a kind of universally useful social skill! And I really enjoy playing cards and board games.
I was rather cold in the night, even with all my conveivable layers on but I couldnt wear my jeans as they were wet at the bottom, and I had to take off my second paid of socks as I had trod in a puddle when I nipped outtside to go to the loo, and my only pair of tights were drastically falling apart after I had singed them on an Indian oven after getting drenched motorbiking in an attempt to swiftly dry them out. I think travelling its always worth coming with one set of really good thermals as you never know where you may end up - I mean look at me, I wasnt even supposed to be in India yet alone the northern snowy himilayas! And I havnt managed to find any tights to buy so am extremely grateful to my Mum for making me wear them when I left England on the 4th February in sismilar conditions! Oh if I only I had her wooly coat right now but theres no way I would have carried it round for 4 1/2 months for the sake of a couple of weeks here. Ill get by somehow!
I am so happy travelling I dont really want it to end but I am also looking forward to going home and seeing my family and friends and moving to London and getting back into my acting. I showed Neil my showreel before I left and watching it gave me this longing to be acting again, which is a good sign.
Today it is bright and sunny but very cold. As I write we are again stuck in the snow. We woke up at 5.40 this morning - ouch! - and left by 6.30. At about 4 stops now I have exchanged words with a Canadian guy who as I get to know him more I realise what a character he is. He reminds me very much of 'Mr President' the flamboyant guy from our Halong Bay trip. Originally from Canada, he now lives and works in the import / export buisness in Taiwan, but worked as a teacher and stripper for 2 years prior to this! He is a big guy, very good looking, and the image of him strutting around and waving his bits on a stage in China is absolutely hilarious. I look foward to hanging out with him over the next couple of days. He is also going to Nepal and may be there the same time as me and Anne. I shall refer to him as 'C' to hide his real identity ha ha.
I have begun to think about my birthday. It is really nice knowing I will be with Anne, who feels a bit like a sister to me. We have a kind of comfortable relationship where we can annoy each other but ultimately get on really well and have a kind of bond. I want to be somewhere where I can do something like parachuting, spa, a nice hotel (splash out!) and other westerners to have some sort of celebration in the evening. But I dont want to overplan it otherwise my expectations will be too high. Things right now are working out perfectly just falling nicely into place and I trust this will be no exception.
