Dark

The 5am alarm bell starts to ring...

Unfortunately, this was our wake up call. We quickly get ready to leave in the darkness. It was only a short walk to the bus stop but no one was around. One man passed us carrying a stick. We thought for a second and realised what it was for - dogs! Although the friendly, lazy dogs are super cute in the day time, at night they become evil monsters in packs. Well, maybe! The stick he was carrying was just in case. Darryl grabbed a stick too, a big one!

As we crossed the bridge and waited at the bus stop, a few people passed us. Some were running, as daily exercise. Others were walking with their sticks. We mean the dog fending off sticks rather than they had bad legs. In fact about 5 out of 10 of the people we saw were armed (with sticks)!

We discussed that there was zero chance of a bus turning up at this time as there was no one around. We were wrong and 10 minutes later the bus arrived. We were on our way up the hill to Dharamshala. We stopped on the way at a small temple and the bus driver did a short prayer stop with the conductor.

It took no time at all to arrive at the bus stand. We were earlier than expected for our 7.40am bus so we drank chai and ate dippy pastry and aloo paratha.

Early meant seats on the bus when it eventually arrived, though it was not that busy. The journey up to Dalhousie was windy, with regular stops, regular use of the brakes and also regular comfort breaks. At one break we almost had to swallow our chai and the cup in one gulp, as the 10 minute stop became 2!

We jumped out at the major junction for Dalhousie. There was a small town named Banikhet. We ate chana samosa and drank tea before boarding the next bus to Dalhousie.

This time just a 10 minute bus ride delivered us in town and we had a 10 minute walk to our accommodation. There was an SBI ATM so we thought it was a good time to take on extra funds. However, it didn't take international cards. We walked a bit further to find another ATM. This was a Punjab National Bank and it worked. The only problem was we got charged £4 in an exchange rate swindle, even though we declined it. We then spent an hour trying to sort out the error with the bank staff. They were very friendly, offered a nice cup of tea but could do nothing.

Bags dropped. We then enjoyed the stunning view from our friend's house before we walked to a special place for sunset.

We were slightly late but it was really special. We had a full view of the mysterious 'winterline' and as the sun fell further either side darkened and the orange beams of the already set sun became more prominent. Amazing! The gradient of colours in the sky were now unbelievable. Behind was black, slowly lightening to dark blue and becoming light blue into orange where the sun once was. WOW! In the darkness we could now see Jupiter and the stars appeared one by one. As did the lights in the mountain top villages and in the valley below. 

We walked back in the dark along the road that we were told was famous for brown bears. It was all uphill, getting steeper at every step and seemed a lot further than on the way down. We puffed and panted a little due to the altitude but all made it back in one piece.

We shared a home cooked meal before chatting and retiring to bed.