The view of Kinner Kalish through the drizzle from the hotel. (6050m)

After the rain clears and the moon rises above Kinner Kalish.

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2003-05-13 - Recong Peo (Day 28)

I'm sure you can guess that after a day like yesterday I'm not getting up early on this one. I sleep till almost noon. The day is still overcast and a bit cold as I lock up the apartment and go up to the construction site to give the team manager - who did all the cooking - the keys for the room. I tell him I'm not going to stay there - mainly because I'm worried about the security though I wonder if this is being overly anal and if I shouldn't just trust people more. I also give him 200 rupees which is probably too much but I'm also hoping to leave him with a good feeling about taking this wet dog of a guest in the previous night.

I make it up to the Himachal Tourism hotel which is just above the construction site but is very small. The manager says he has a room but only for one night as they are booked from the next day on which does not make me happy as I'd like very much to stop here for a while as its a lovely place for photography and I'm simply tired of riding. He's going to check and will tell me tomorrow if I can stay, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The day is spent doing simple chores like drying everything out which means unpacking everything. The saddle bag with the Thinkpad in it took on some water either from the rain or the water washing across the road but it only got the first aid kit Peter gave me wet, the Thinkpad somehow stayed dry and took the crash and falling over without damage. This computer really has earned it keep over the three years I've had it and the next notebook I buy will definitely be another IBM. I enjoy a LONG hot shower which not only cleans me off but gets rid of a chill that went down to the bone from sleeping in still damp clothes.

Just after I get to the hotel a drizzle starts which keeps up for much of the afternoon shrouding the mountain view in clouds for much of the day. I stay in next to the heater and just take a long lunch and watch Good Will Hunting, again thankful that I was able to bring movies with me on the notebook. It does clear a bit in the afternoon and I go out to try to get some photographs of the mountains. In talking with the manager of the hotel I find that the hotel has only just reopened as it is closed from December to April every year due to snow. The season is just starting here, and it is still quite cold.

While we are talking the only foreigner I've seen since a couple of guys passed in a jeep on the road out of Shimla comes over. I ask if I can join him for dinner and have a lovely three hour conversation with Peter Humes who is a caterer and parasail instructor from Sonoma Valley California. He's here for a spiritual trek that was planned to go into Tibet but has now changed as he tells me the Tibet border is now closed because of SARS. He's now planning to go to Nako lake which is right on the route which I intend to ride on up North. Unfortunate he tells me I have to have a special permit to go in the area which is a bureaucratic pain, but can get done here. More of a problem, the main pass which I was planning to circle down to Manali on is still closed with snow and may not be open for another couple of weeks. After talking to him, I'm seriously questioning if I want to continue north as its probably too early in the season and I may be better heading back the way I came - in shorter increments this time for sure! - and going to Manali the other way. After yesterday's experiences, driving this bike on snow just isn't attractive to me, and while I'm enjoying the mountains, I'll want to stay below the snow line.

The evening is here with this journal and the pictures from this afternoon in which I hope I came up with some shots which can convey the beauty of the mountains just outside my window.

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