No route to Leh

Why not to Ledakh? Because when we arrived in Jammal, Kashmir, it turned out that the road is flooded, kaputt, there is no other way. Everybody was waiting for the better times, but we didn't dispose so many minutes, hours, days. So, one hour later we already had a ticket to Manali. Another hours in a bus, another kilometers.

Kashmir. We can't say much about this place, but it definitely has a superbly organised bus stop. The experience of departing from Kashmir for Manali was so incomprehensible, that its abusrdity overwhelmed me and ended up with gales of laughter. We bought tickets for 7.30 am. Until 9 PM we went about 100 meters with 4 stops in the meantime. All that time we were surrounded by atmosphere of yelling, car horns, people coming for the bus, and the driver-magician who looked like Kashmir version of an actor from very old French movies. He was small, fast, and his mood changed in a fraction of a second from conentment to fury. One thing is certain – he knew what he was doing. The bus was full. Launching and eventual starting that machine looked like launching a spaceship with million buttons, pomps, lights and sounds, and we... I forgot to mention we were given spots in the driver's cabin. It was supposed to fit four people, it fitted eight. None even complained. Whole procedure and whole crew. It was raining for the first time since we came there. One person wiped the pane. A dozen or so lockers opened with a dozen or so keys. Unbelieveable.

How satisfying this 12 hour long inconvenience can be? I know. I already know. When water is everywhere, because everything in that cabin is leaking. When you take any position possible just to fit into your little piece of space and close eyes just for a little while. In this extreme tiredness you can be very satisfied with your life. After all, we could be given a spot on the roof and it was still raining.

We arrived in Manali. We decided to rest for two days, because the few latest days gave us a hard time. We will wait for Holi festival. We are having a wonderful time. There is a lot of snow and sun around us. We are happy. Himalayas are enchanting.