HIMACHAL - DAY FIVE : SOLANG VALLEY - SOARING AMIDST SNOWCLAD PEAKS

          No surprise at all, the day began with a splitting hangover. It felt like someone had clobbered the back of my skull in with a sledgehammer. I did a bit of writing, freshened up, met up with the guys, and headed out to the adventure sort operator with whom we had tied up to go paragliding the previous day. On the way, we grabbed ourselves a bite to eat, and after a little waiting, were piled into the back of a gypsy. There began what was arguably the bumpiest ride of our lives. The driver was tearing across the almost non-existent road, not realizing how every bump was amplified many fold by the time it reached us at the back. We were shaken up and pretty queasy by the time we arrived at our destination.

Gondola Ride to the Top

          As we arrived, we drove into a large open enclosure bustling with vendors, tourists and adventure sport agents. The driver, our agent, got us tickets for the Gondola ride to the top of the mountain. The ride up was scenic and we got off at about 5000 feet above mean sea level. The starting point for the para gliders was a steep face of the mountain side off which they ran and jumped off.

All Set to Jump Off

           One by one, the pilots strapped us up with a backpack and thigh straps, hooked themselves up behind, and together ran down the slope till the parachute on their back caught the wind. We did the same, and without any mishaps, were airborne. The feeling was pretty good, not unlike flying a helicopter, only here I was the passenger. The view from the air was majestic. I had strapped my camera into my palm and clicked away, not wanting to miss out on even one of these breathtaking, life altering kind of moments.

Leaping Off the Mountain

            We were in the air for over fifteen minutes, catching the thermals above Solang Valley. Slowly we descended in spirals and eventually came in to land in cross winds that really shook us up. We thankfully, had a smooth landing (unlike some of the others who got their butts scraped). An adventurous couple who were with us, (German guy and Kiwi girl) decided to give zorbing a try as well. They were strapped up into the zorb ball and were sent rolling down the hill. When they finally emerged from the ball, they had stars in their eyes and their stomachs were doing somersaults. The journey back down the hill was even worse than the one up because all of our stomachs were now feeling a little confused already, and the driver swerved and lurched his way through the potholes. 

Taking the Bull by the Horns

        Once we got back to Old Manali, we retired to one of the cafes and ate an unhurried lunch after which we lazed around talking. Finally we rose, and a little window shopping followed, after which we made our way back to our rooms and took a nap to freshen up for the evening. Being our last night in Manali, we were going to have a small farewell get together with most of the people we had met over these last two days. 

           We walked down to a little restaurant called 1947 that had a nice music flavoured ambience. There were acoustic and electric guitars to pick up and play, and over the course of the evening, many travelers and even the restaurant owner who was an excellent guitarist himself, set up impromptu jam sessions, playing Canadian and European songs. 

Wonderful Crowd, Wonderful Evening

      A tasty chicken pizza was ordered, devoured and relished, and then we headed back up the road to Sunshine Café where we met our Israeli friends. TwoCanadian sisters joined us a while later and we started talking. Theirs was the most amazing family. Their Dad had dark hair and Mum was blond. The four daughters each had black, brown, blond and red hair respectively.

An Evening of Merriment 

              A couple of hours of gossiping later, we paid our bills and lazily walked up the steep road to our guesthouse. Peter and Santi decided to smoke some more with the Israeli girls while I decided to call it a night. I returned to my room trying to figure out how to go about the next day so as to do the Khir Ganga trek and be back to attend the huge DJ party at Kasaul on Saturday night.

             As my eyelids flickered shut, I lay thinking about all the wonderful people my age that I had met from all over the world over the last few days.