Hi everyone!
Today was an amazing day! We hired a car to take us to the Rohtang Pass, high up in the mountains where the views were supposed to be amazing. On the way we stopped to go paragliding. We had to hike up the mountain to get to the point we went from and collapsed out of breath at the top. We all went with a pilot and because I was the lightest they put me with the most experienced - with 10 years of paragliding I felt I was in very safe hands! I was attached to the paraglide and then had to run down the hill to take off. We immediately shot up in the air and went so high! It was an incredible experience and the views across the valley were amazing! I was surprised by how relaxed it was and I wasn't nervous at all! After a short flight we touched down and I managed to land on my feet and not my bum.
We then got back in the car to drive to the Pass. We had left it quite late and were worried that we wouldn't get there before dark. It was so high that we had to drive along perilous mountain roads for about 2hrs! It was quite a scary experience but the views more than made up for it! We even saw some golden eagles and falcons gliding - they were huge and so beautiful! When we eventually got to the Pass we were deep in cloud and couldn't see the famous views, but I didn't really mind. We hired horses and were lead to the top of the Pass, about 13000 ft above sea level! We had to wear fur coats like they do in Narnia and as we road through the cloud on the horses it was just like Lord of the Rings (I wasn't the first one to say it I swear!). The air was so much thinner up there and even walking a few steps made you out of breath.
I also saw a yak! I've always wanted to see one because I had a poetry book when I was younger that had a poem about some yaks.
We got back to Manali and had a really nice dinner and then a philosophical conversation about the colour red.
Today we walked up to the Vashisht Hot Springs. There are baths in the temple where you can bathe but the water was so hot I could barely get one foot in! Today we are catching another overnight bus back to Dehli and then we go strait onto Agra. I am going to miss the mountains, and particularly the cooler temperature! We only have a week left now and although I am going to miss India and traveling with such an amazing group of people, I can't wait for hot showers, clean clothes and English food!
xxx
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