Shimla has a real monkey problem...
...so people are kept in cages.
Shimla
This was the worse hotdog I've ever had. The bread was saturated with oil, and those were not strips of meat.
But I did have good food in India, and it was cheap. This meal was about $3.
I am going to miss the mountains of India.
And the mountain streams.
Women at Pressar Lake
Shimla was the summer capital of British India. It is very clean.
Christ Church
This is my friend Rakish at Pressar Lake.
Rakish making Puja at the temple.
The wood carvings at the temple.
Rakish's twin brother, Mukish.
Rakish & friends singing folk songs for me.
What is this weed, which grows wild in the Parvati valley?
I am not 100% sure that this is what I think it is, because no one has ever pointed to the plant and told me "this is marijuana." But it looks a lot like what I see on t-shirts.
Parvati valley is known for its charas, and no wonder, as this stuff grows everywhere.
Pistils of tetrahydrocannabinol?
These are local Mandi guys. I don't know what they do besides smoke charas, as my Hindi is limited to 'how are you' and 'what's your name.'
Manikaran is known for its hot spring. The water here is hot enough to cook flesh.
The hot water is mixed with river water for bathing pools.
Another bathing pool. People come here to bathe, not to relax or swim.
All the river has to pass between those two rocks. And that bridge...
I got this close and decided not to cross.
The slums of Mandi.
A flower in Mandi.
The town of Manikaran.
The view from my room in Manikaran.
A sheep in Manikaran.
This is the local bus stand. It also the location where public functions are held, like the Independence day function.
This is a one-lane bridge. There is a traffic signal at each end.
And this officer in the Idea box controls the signal.
Hanuman, the god with a face like a monkey.
Donkeys are used for carrying sand for construction. These donkeys were all afraid to be the first one to step in the water.
This is an interesting feature of Mandi. A sunken garden surrounded by the market. At the top, parking is at street level.
A colorful temple complex.
I later discovered that they burn bodies on the river, just below this temple.
Delicate carvings on an old temple.
Some religious procession. There is one almost everyday.
A goat on the way to the waterfall in Bagsu. At the time it was but a trickle. Later after lots of rain, it was gushing, but I have no picture.
Food.
Birds in Bagsu.
A panoramic shot of Mandi.
An old temple in Mandi, viewed from a bridge.
A cold spring bath. I counted more than 100 persons - mostly Punjabis - around the pool.
This road is for 2-way traffic. It get clogged when the Punjabis come up for the weekend.
A bull hanging out in the vegetable market.
This is my friend Ravi. I spent my days hanging out here. There is a little jewelry store on the right. Mustafa, who remembers me from Hampi, works there. Incidentally, I also ran into Vicky, the scam artist in my Trials in Hampi post of last year, as well as a few others I had met in Hampi.
The cricket grounds in Dharamsala
