As I walked back through the village who did I bump into but Aidan, Eoghan and Shane sitting on the side of the road. I joined them as they were about to check out the cost of rafting with a local operator that had being recommended to them by two Irish guys they had met the evening before. Myself, Shane and Peter checked out the cost of rafting and then joint the lads on the roof for their breakfast. For 1300rps you got rafting up until lunchtime and lunch included. The boys were speaking about going for a three day trek also although agreed to do the rafting the next day. I drank some water and took some Noroflaxcin while the boys ate. Myself and Ian headed back to our guest houses to use the toilets. I grabbed my Asus laptop, so all I had to do was plug it in to use Skype in the village. While waiting for Ian we discussed heading after doing the rafting onto Manali, instead of doing a three day mountain trek. We checked the two travellers bibles for what activities we could do while there. Hot air balloning, zorbing and paragliding took our fancy. We headed back to town and the internet cafe, Get Connected, afterwards. Just after walking in the door their broadband went down so the laptop was no use. Interesting. As I was sitting there online, using there satellte connection, the lads came back and told me they had decided to do three days rafting. Let me stop you hear and tell you. If you have being around India the cost are bloody expensive in Leh compared to the rest of India. Now, initially it felt like rip off city although as one employee told me the reason for this. Leh is high in the Himalayas at 3,600 metres. Its tourist season is only to 5 months max. After this they are snowed in. The only way for them to get supplies is to have them flown in by plane. This makes life pretty tough and expensive. You pay the price when you travel here. If flying there directly from Europe you wont notice this. Taxi from the airport 2 to 3kms – 150rps. Internet usage 1.5rps per min – most expensive we saw in India – they use satelite because the broadband goes up and down all the time. Probably due to their location. No mobile chip from outside of Leh works there, due to security reasons, being a border state with Pakistan, as so politely explained to me by a lady in the towns Airtel shop. The rafting was going to cost 2,500rps per day for three days. Seemed a bit steep, although this is Leh. Remember this if you ever go to visit. You can haggle in Leh although its ten times tougher than anywhere else in India. All the businesses have agreed not to compete and lock their prices. As I mentioned in earlier post this is probably a good idea because then you know what the final price is. Additionally I noticed that there appears to be a number of unions to lock prices. Taxis, accommodation and tour operator unions. So you've be warned. I told Shane I was happy to continue doing the day rafting and then I'd move onto Manali. I kind of thought Ian was going to join me although Shane did mention Ian as one of the people that was willing to do the three days rafting. I finished up using the net and rang Jojo using one of the STD phones. These pay phones are a standard feature you will find all across India in every single small town. He was still in work so I left a message. I said I was going to head back, to get an hour or two rest and I'd probably see them later.
Two hours later I went in search of somewhere to sit and chill out and read my book. After walking around for and hour I finally found a beautiful little pizzeria, called La Pizzeria, set around an amazing little garden with loads of sunflowers. A row of mattressed off individual compartments allowed you to take off your shoes and lie back, read a book, play some music, eat food and generally chillax. Perfect. Exactly what I had being looking for. The boys would love this. My tummy wasn't the best so I ordered simply mint tea while I sat there reading my book. God, the main protagonist in Catcher in the Rye is a depressing young man. As I sat there I found myself to be totally relaxed. It wasn't long before a group sat down opposite me and began to make light conversation. Initially I wasn't really in the mood and then realising how nice they were I put down my book and we began to chat. There were five Polish and one Austrian. The only names I remember are Mihael and Joseph. These two guys had hired motorbikes in Manali and driven across the Himalayas to Leh and were only on the beginning of their journey. The remainder of the Polish were travelling together and studied Social Science in Poland together. We chatted for quite some time and then they invited me to join them as the movie Snatch was being shown in the next restaurant/cafe up the road. It was great to meet a load of new faces and I was delighted to join them. As we arrived at our next location big fires were being lit in fire pits laid out amongst the garden. A large screen made out of a sheet stood in front of the fire we sat down infront of. The restaurant was a large outdoor facility with cushioned areas along the side, numerous fire pits and some area covered with canopies. I ordered another mint tea while the Polish started knocking back the rums. Myself and Joseph, the Austrian guy, chatted away about everything and anything. Its nice to move away from the usual BS you spend so much of your time spewing and having a heart to heart. He had quite an interesting background, growing up with parents that rang their own Hotel in Austria and he being forced to work from a young age. There was an expectation by both his parents that he'd take over the family business one day and he was currently finishing his studies in Travel and Tourism at the age of 23. All of the Polish and himself had their own Digital SLR camera and Joseph had found himself a new hobby that he was falling in love with. Photography can be such an addictive hobby. One that I personally find myself getting caught into. From the way he spoke it seemed that this new passion was something far closer to him than the parents hotel. Its funny in life how out of a want not to disappoint people we will do things we don't really want to do. That is unconditional love. Or perhaps stupidity. The movie never quite got it together to work and the gang progressively got more and more drunk. In the best possible way. I kept ordering Mint Tea and had a bowl of Chicken and Sweet Corn soup. Best off keeping the diet as clear as possible when you have the Delhi belly. The night flew by and i thoroughly enjoyed meeting some new faces to share some of our lives stories. Sometimes that is probably the biggest problem when you travel with too large a group, you fail to attract strangers towards you and therefore meet less people. Then again I suppose I met these as a group. It has being brought forward some real interesting learning for me travelling with a group of friends. I have seen qualities in myself that I normally keep at bay. Old habits arise and some faults appear that i don't like. I suppose that's the whole point of getting away. Its not the destination, its the journey that is the important part. I think we do remarkably well for a group of five guys that travel together. We are quite a group of individuals with some very unique characters amongst us. To be honest there has bing very few clashes for 5 human spending 24 hours day together for the past 63 days. That 's a whopping 1,500 hours in each others company. Sleeping, eating, travelling on shit buses, farting, talking, breathing and generally being in each others space. This is probably why I enjoy getting away now and again. I got so used to enjoying my own space that I miss it when it is not there.
Anyhow, the night got colder and the fire began to die. We still stuck it out until there was only smouldering embers left. At that stage Mihael was off stumbling around in hilarious form and myself and Joseph decided to join a large group that for some reason still had a nice fire burning in the centre of them. My first time meeting an Israeli in my life and now in one go I get to meet 15 of them in one go. They were all stoned of their heads and they barely flinched when I asked them if they minded if we joint them. The ones nearest to me began conversing and within a matter of minutes they made us feel totally at home. The guy closest to me had being bumming his way around the world for the past four years from country to country and it was his birthday. It seems that a lot Israelis head to this part of India from what they were saying. A large chillum was being passed around and I happily declined. God, I don't know did I ever look as bad as they all did on this night. It was kind of funny being totally sober and being surrounded by half the place being drunk or stoned or a mixture of both. The night just went on and on. By the time i got my bill I had ten mint teas. Tummy was feeling remarkably well. I was in great form and still felt wide awake. It was after 2.30am by the time the last group finally stood up to leave. That of course being us. Mihael, Joseph and the rest of the Polish, one English man and the Irishman were the only ones left. I greeted then farewell at the gate and said perhaps we'd meet again somewhere along on their journey. I walked home to a star filled sky feeling, wondering were the boys looking at the same view. My spirits were very high and I was at one with Sam.
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