24 June 2011- The first day (Delhi to Manali)

Guess what?! I gave up posting via Evernote because it required me to pay to attach videos on my note! Needless to say, I refused and I'm back to my last travel blog. The last post was something about Day 7 in Laos in 2009. The last I remembered was that it was something like 14 days we spent in Laos, so obviously my appetite and memory for writing failed me as I laboured on, writing and relying on the photos to jolt the memory, after that trip.

But fear not this time, for now there is the iPad2! For the duration of the entire trip, I've disciplined myself to write thoughts and happenings as the day unfolds. So in effect, I've the whole diary ready to download! Trust me, there'll be some verbal diarrhoea.

The thing is, processing the photos and videos take some time and I don't want to short change anyone who reads Day 1 ( or whichever days) without any photos or videos. Hence, I will be taking my time to put the relevant pics and vids into the journals. There may be a couple of afternotes on each journal but they are going to be there to better help you, the reader, embrace and feel the times we've had in India. I'll also let you know via my Facebook posts, if you're interested.

So, if you're all buckled up to know what we've been through for 16 days in June and July, read on.......................

24 Jun 11

The flight was uneventful in a really small plane. Surprisingly, the service crew and passengers were much better than I expected. The consensus is that the stewardesses are really much prettier than many of the SQ ones too.. :p

745am - another delay to the flight! Supposed to take off at 605am but it'd been delayed for an hour each time thrice! Now, we're just hoping that it really flies off soon because it's been almost 6hrs since we landed at 215am in Delhi International Airport. We had coffee at Costa Coffee where a brief on the things to shoot were discussed. Getting a pretty good feeling that everyone's pulling in the direction this time ESP since we've been fooling ard at interview time!

Interview stress

Cs was determined to plank anywhere (and you just have to look at Jocelyne's expression at the 2 idiots)

Late!

8am - the explorers in us found what we needed in the airport - lounge chairs!

845am - our worst fears were realized. The flight is cancelled! Apparently, the weather at Kulu is really bad and the Air India flight which was already loaded since 7am and waiting on the tarmac for lift off is set for another hour of delay. Yikes!

The scene at the boarding gate was chaotic with unclear instructions being given, frustrations of passengers who had been waiting since 2am like us boiling over. Nonetheless, we would have rather a cancelled flight than a risky landing in bad weather.


Cancelled !!!!

1145am - Took us 2 and a half hours to get our refund and luggage back, and also to get out of the airport. Tundup Dorjey, our travel agent, had arranged for a cab to drive us from Delhi to Manali. The stranded passengers we spoke to tell us it was impossible for us to reach Manali by tonight given the bad weather and windy roads near Manali. They probably didn't have the resources like Tundup's! Without his intervention, we ran the serious risk of delaying activities by a day.

Trying to get more info from the info counter and who were equally lost

Still, we spent some time trying to get out of the airport as entry into the airport was on a need to basis and we needed to justify our departure. What a bother and more importantly, precious minutes and energy spent getting out!

130pm - been in Mr Rajoo's 6-seater for an hour and travelled almost 110km out of Delhi. An interesting fella dressed in all white, we clamored up his car at the airport to load our substantive luggage on the roof of the car, Indian style!

Mr Rajoo preparing the top rack for our luggage




India's Elvis loading our bags

Out on the National Highway No 1, we're about an hour away to our lunch destination, Chandrigarh. The highways, so far, look to be a nice surprise with smooth roads, with the only complaint being the incessant honking. Somebody would have got killed if this was Singapore!

Royal Enfield shop beckons - somewhere in Delhi

Lunch at Chandigarh 1

Lunch at Chandigarh 2

about 80km from Manali but still a long way off due to the nature of the roads and traffic

Dinner at 11pm - somewhere near Manali but still took us about another 4 hours to reach

fully loaded Enfield 500 Bullet at our supper spot

3am - the car journey was finally over. After 14 hours being on the roads, we eventually got to our accommodation for the night, Banon Resorts, in heavy rains. We had dinner earlier at abt 11pm last night, so after a glass of chai, we went back to our rooms for a well needed shower and a quick re-arrangement of our luggage. Tomorrow, we head out to the legendary Manali - Leh highway at 9 in the morning.

Special mention must go out to Mr Rajoo. I could not fathom driving/ riding out for 14 hours and especially in the dark, narrow and crowded highway near Manali. Imagine yourself riding up Fraser Hill (the road which was designated one way) at night, with heavy Tata trucks with bright lights glaring at you from the opposite side of the road. With his patience and also guts, for asking for a one hour stop so that he could rest for a while, we reached safely in Manali. Mixing practicality with safety in mind, my impression of Indians have improved considerably.