Praise the Universe... Halleliuah (Oct 26)

This morning was a fairly leisurely start compared to the others. There was a campfire and people were taking it easy. I had slept but still wasn't really at my best. I packed up and started to get ready for the journey out. Brad brought me a pancake and some tea but I couldn't eat the muesli - I don't think my stomache would have taken it.

After breakfast we started to descend again. Another 4K feet or so over 3 hours. Brad and I took it fairly slowly - I also think Kuku was keeping the pace slower so they wouldn't lose us. There was one landslide area taht we crossed that was so narrow I'm not sure how the horses made it across! I know that in the narrow areas, they have to unload the horses, carry the bags by hand and reload the horses... but this was reeeeeaaaalllly narrow.

The descent continued to be painful for Brad - his knee started hurting again while we were still in site of the camp! We hopscotched over two rivers (with only one wet teenaged foot) and stopped to have lunch in a beautiful valley meadow at the bottom of a shear rock face... this was apparantly our last climb up to the road to meet the bus.

After lunch and rest, we started up. There was a staircase here and there but I think it was a staircase for giants... it was a very slow climb. By the time Brad and I got to the top, the bus was fully loaded with students and luggage. Our bags were off to the side as we were not going on with the kids. We were staying with Keshau in his village for a few days rather than continue back to Manali right away.

We said goodbye to Kuku and everyone while Keshau grabbed us a car.
Keshau is a very well respected member of his village and he has a large family living with and around him. He seemed to know everyone who went by. At some point a car pulle dup and did a U turn, loaded our luggage and started driving. Thank goodness!! No more walking... no more carrying packs... and no more camping!

We stopped at what seemed like the middle of nowhere and unloaded the bags. We followed Keshau up a path that I hadn't even noticed on the side of the road to a fairly new building. This was the new house that Keshau and his son were building. It has a hall to be rented for banquets and weddings as well as several guest rooms. Brad and I sat on the balcony and enjoyed the breeze while Keshau went down to his current house to gather the keys.

On his return, he had two women with him. He explained that one was his daughter and on was his daughter in law. (Brad thought that he's said doctor and that they'd run to town and gotten a doctor because I was sick). Keshau's wife had decided that we shouldn't stay so far away up on the hill and that we had to stay with the family... even in India the wife is in charge!

Keshau has one son and five daughters... along with a variety of grandchildren and nephews... and brothers... and nieces... it was pretty hard to keep track. The daughter's are all very pretty! He knew that we were tired and had brought the women up to the house to carry our bags for us. They seemed so petite but his daughter-in-law (I figured later to be about 25) picked up my pack and slung it on her back like it was nothing. I guess working in the fields makes you lean and mean!

All the bags gathered up, we descended to the family home. The house is set into the side of the mountain amongst three or four other houses that can be seen in the immediate vicinity. It has a slate roof, low ceilings and is painted blue and white. We are staying in one of the daughter's rooms, just inside the front door. It is quite small holding only two single beds and a table. The table sits at the foot of one bed, next to the door and there is just enough space for one person to walk between the beds. There is a cabinet built into the wall painted bright red - I assume this is where she keeps her things though it isn't big enough to be a closet. The wall with the door is covered with pictures and Diwali cards.

Diwali is the festival of lights taking place at the end of October / start of November each year... it is like our New Year's.

The beds are a bit short and wooden.. the mattress pads are 1 1/2 thick or so but it looks like heaven coming from sleeping in a tent! We drop our things and are invited into the next room. This is like a living room. It is larger and square. The floor is covered with rugs and mats, it has two cabinets built into the walls, two beds pushed against the wall, a refridgerator, a TV, a DVD player and a telephone. We sit and rest. For the next little while, there is a virtual parade of shy, fascinated children coming in and out of the room from the front hall to the kitchen in the back.

They brought out a long, thick green carpet runner with dragons on it and placed it on the floor for us to sit on and eat dinner. Keshau said the first night we are guests and eat separate, after that, we are family. We sat and had an excellent, authentic Indian meal and tea.

The TV was showing some sort of agricultural program in Hindi but when the news came on, it was in English... weird man. The power grid here is not the most stable so the lights were constantly flickering. No one really seemed to mind until the power went out completely, then the candles had to be retrieved.

On returning to our room, the girls had pushed the two beds together for us and left four very large, heavy woolen blankets. We are still fairly high up and it still gets cool at night.

The kitchen is on the back of the house and has a two burner propane stove as well as a small wood stove. The wood stove seems to be where most of the cooking is done and the daughter-in-law (being the oldest female after Keshau's wife) seems to be in charge. The kitchen is also large enough to fit the entire family. I guess this is where they spend a great deal of time in the winter... staying warm. There is no insulation, no storm windows or doors, no central heating, no indoor plumbing... I can't imagine how hard winter is!

We'd had another long day and I was sick... we went to bed!