LUDHIANA (PART 2)

No nikons today, as the cyber boy is not in and I can only go so far on the downloading process. Instead, I will give you a few facts about Ludhiana. It's a city of about 1,400,000 and lies just south of the Sutlej river. The river actually used to run through the city; but for some reason it decided to change it's course around 1769. The city is affectionally known as the ' Manchester of the Punjab', due to it's large textile and engineering industry. It is the home of Hero and Avon bicycles and resonsible for heavy engineering goods and sewing machines. One only has to wander through the streets of the old quarter to see that 80% of the businesses are textile based. In Ludhiana there are eight large textile manufacturing plants and around six thousand small to medium ones. Ludhiana's annual exports are around the region of $40 million.
On a historical note, it was here where the feared Punjabi army-- the Khalsa were given one of two whuppings in 1865 by the British ' John Company' ( the east india trading company). Although they outnumbered the British by far, several factors were against them. The first was that although they were quite belic and fearless, they suffered from a lack of modern weaponary and modern combat tactics; the internal rivalry and backstabbing( quite literally) among the upper echelons of the Khalsa's high command did'nt help matters. On the battlefield what also did not help , was that the Khalsa's war trained elephants were not used to facing artillery. Faced against rows of firing cannon, the scared and enraged pachyderms simply turned and ran, trampling their own troops in the process.
It was also in this region where the famous Koh-i-noor came to light( quite apt as the name means mountain of light), to this day, the largest diamond in the world. Sadly, it is the only jewel that we managed to keep from this continent as it now forms a part of the crown jewels.

Hoy no hay nikons, ya que no esta el nino del cyber y yo solo puedo ir tan lejos bajando sin ayuda. En vez, voy a dar unos datos sobre Ludhiana. Es una ciudad de unos 1,400,000 y queda al sur del rio Sutlej. El rio antes pasaba por la ciudad, pero decidio cambiar su curso sobre 1769. A la ciudad se le llama el 'Manchester del Punjab' por su industria textil y de ingieneria. Es la sede de las bicicletas Hero y Avon. Produce ingieneria pesada ademas de maquinas de coser. Uno solo tiene que pasearse por el barrio antiguo para ver que el 80% de los negocios son textiles. Ludhiana tiene ocho fabricas grandes textiles y otras seis mil pequenas y medianas. Las exportaciones anuales de la region son de unos $40 millones.
En una nota historica, tambien fue aqui donde 'John Company' ( la compania  de las indias ) le dio la primera de dos palizas al temido ejercito Punjabi, la Khalsa. Aunque superaban a los Britanicos en numero, hubo varios factores en contra de ellos. El primero, era que aunque eran muy belicos y temidos, les faltaba armamento y tacticas modernas, tampoco ayudo la rivalidad( y asesinatos) entre los altos mandos de la Khalsa. Pero era en el campo de batalla donde se noto la ineficacia de los elefantes de guerra, que nunca se habian lanzado contra artilleria. Enfrentados a hileras de canones escupiendo fuego y ruido, los asustados( y cabreados) pachydermos, sencillamente dieron media vuelta y se largaron, pisoteando sus tropas en el proceso.
Aqui tambien fue donde salio a la luz( nunca mejor dicho, ya que el nombre significa montana de luz) el Koh-i-Noor, el diamante hasta hoy mas grande del mundo. Tristemente, fue la unica joya de este continente que pudimos conservar, ya que forma parte de la joyas reales Britanicas. 

LUDHIANA ( PART 1)

Out of all the places I visited in the punjab, Ludhiana seemed to me to be the city which is trying to go places. It certainly does not have the same amount of detritus and misery I have detected in other parts of the Punjab. Sure there is poverty, as in all India, but I sensed a more cheerful feeling in the air. The day I arrived (about four days ago), I got my rickshaw driver  to take me to a reasonable lodging near the railway station. Two reasons for this: 1. My train to Jaipur leaves on the 1st dec and I wanted to make sure I that I was reasonably closeby and 2. A city's interesting old quarter tends to be near a rail station, leading to good photographic subjects, as I hope the last nikons have shown. The hotel I have been lodging turned out to be a godsend. I was quoted 1000r to begin with, but when I pointed out I would be staying until the 1st, they dropped the price to 600r. Quite a saving, I think you'll agree. Having sorted out adequate lodgings, my next task was to find an adequate cyber cafe( with its corresponding royalty). It took me two days to find the THE FACILE, at Sarabha Nagar, Ludhiana-1, run by Dheeraj and Neeraj Sharma and their incredibly helpful crew. The only problem with this is that it's a 5km bone destroying ( and potentially life threatening) rickshaw ride twice a day. It is here that I arrive every day to do my blog communiques and send my emails. Around their lunchtime I have a brief chapati and Kingfisher light, before going back to the "office" to check on Carmens emails, because it will be mid morning in Spain by this time. By this now its time(about 4pm) that I grab another "boneshaker" ( I swear that their tyres have the width of a gerbil's willy!) and head back to my yard for a wee snooze, before getting up at about 6ish to give Carmen a call at 2.30(spanish time). This is my daily routine for the next few days. Tomorrow more Nikons and more facts about Ludhiana.

De todos los lugares en que estado en el Punjab, Ludhiana me ha parecido ser la ciudad que quiere llegar a ser algo. No tiene el mismo grado de porqueria y miseria que he encontrado en otras partes del Punjab. Por supuesto que hay pobreza como en toda la India, pero yo creo haber detectado cierto optimismo y mas alegria en el ambiente. El dia que llegue( hara unos cuatro dias), di instrucciones a mi cochero que me llevase a un hotel razonable y cerca de la estacion de ferrocarril, por dos razones: 1. Mi tren a Jaipur marcha el dia 1 diciembre y queria asegurarme que estaba bastante cerca y 2, La parte mas antigua de una ciudad suele estar cerca de la estacion, que da para unos sujetos fotograficos interesantes, como espero que estas ultimas Nikons demuestran. El hotel que elegi fue mano de santo. Primero me iban a cobrar 1000r la noche, pero cuando les dije que iba a quedarme hasta el dia 1, bajaron la tarifa a 600. Creo que estarais de acuerdo que a sido una ganga. Despues de haberme huespedado adequadamente, mi siguiente tarea fue encontrar un cyber como Dios manda(con su correspondiente realeza). Tarde dos dias encontrar THE FACILE, en Sarabha Nagar, Ludhiana-i, gerentado por Dheeraj y Neeraj Sharma y su equipo tan util. El unico problema con esto es que es un viaje quebrantahueso de 5km ( y un riesgo potencial a mi propia vida) en pedal rickshaw, dos veces al dia. Es aqui que llego todos los dias para hacer mis entradas al blog y mandar mis emilios. Sobre su hora del almuerzo me como un chapati con dahl y una cerveza Kingfisher light antes de volver a la "oficina" para ver  los emilios de Carmen, porque a esta hora sera media manana en Espana. A esta hora (las 4 de la tarde) es cuando me toca coger otro "destrozahuesos" ( os juro que los neumaticos de estos chismes no pueden ser mas anchos que la minga de un hamster!) y volver a mis aposentos para una peqena siesta, antes de levantarme sobre las 6 para llamar a Carmen a las 2ymedia( hora espanola). Esta es mi rutina para los proximos dias. Manana mas Nikons y mas sobre Ludhiana.

LUDHIANA ( PART 1)

AMRITSAR

The trip from c******88 took about four hours, and was problem free, until I got to the hotel, which was500 rupes. I was assured that I had hot water and tv. Nothing of the sort. They said not to worry, that in an hour they would have it sorted. You would have thought that one would have these small details before advertising them, would'nt you? I said to the manager that I would take an hour's stroll ( this time in my best Kenneth More officious tone) and hoped that it would be sorted by then. I did. I discovered during my amble that Amritsar is one of the biggest shiteholes, for all its sacredness, that I have witnessed since I arrived(and I've seen quite a few, but this one I think had the edge, so far, on the others). They say that cows are sacred over here. To my mind, if something is sacred, you revere it and care for it. You don't let it wander around, all scabby and grazing through the garbage. On return to my lodgings, which I had paid three days in advance( to show good faith). I was told thatn the tv engineer had not turned up yet, but he was due shortly and to make up for my inconvenience I was moved to another room, a double. I decided to go and visit the famous golden temple, a few minutes in pedalo. He(the pedaller) started to moan as he looked at what I had given him for a five minute suicide ride. I told him in my best aggrieved tone that he was lucky he got that for putting my life in peril. Things got better. I had to remove my footwear and cover my head with a cloth( I ask you). I had to hand in my boots to some sort of shoe cloakman and them wandered in, nearly falling arse over tit in the bloody footbath you had to pass through( I wonder just how many verrucas I picked up on that little wade). The place itself IS beautiful as I hope the pics show, but I would'nt go to Amritsar just to see the temple. You can't actually go into it unless you're especially pious(which I was certainly not). Anyway, after a whole turn arond, I decied to refresh my tootsies in that big square pond, which had huge carp swimming about, quite tame as they almost nibbled my toes, when someone tapped me on the shoulder. What now ? Two turbaned geezer, looking quite aggressive with pikes and all said that I could nt refresh my feet in the sacred pond. This was too much for me and headed back to the "hotel". Nothing had been done about the tv, but I was promised a bucket of hot water. After receiving a bucket in which not even Rannulph Fiennes would have dipped his remaining toes and having to kill a cockroach, I told the " management" that I would be leaving in the morning and expected the return of the remaining 1000r. I would rather have spent two weeks in the Spanish para's glasshouse, than another two days in that dive. Needless to say I was up bright and early next day and on my way to Ludhiana. One last interesting fact about the place is that it was there that Indira Ghandi was assasinated there by her two, loyal sikh bodyguards. Just goes to show.

El viaje de c###33333 tardo unas cuatro horas y no hubo novedad, hasta que llegue al hotel que me cobraba 5oor. Me aseguraron que habia agua caliente y television. Nada de nada. Me dijeron que no me preocupase, que dentro de una hora lo tendrian solucionado. Les dije que iba a dar una vuelta por su bella villa y que esperaba que a la vuelta estaria solucionado. Amritsar es unos de los estiercoles mas grandes de que sido testigo desde que he llegado aqui(y mira que he visto unos cuantos). Dicen por aqui que las vacas son sagradas. Para mi modo de ver, si algo es sagrado lo adulas y cuidas y no permites que mecen e montones de basura. La impresion que yo tengo, es que mas que les sean sagradas, les son indiferentes. Cuando volvi a mi pocilga, aun no habia llegado el tecnico de la tele y tampoco habia senales de agua caliente. Decidi coger un pedalor a que me llevase al famoso templo dorado. El menda empezo a quejarse cuando le di 30r por el viaje. Le dije que iba que chutaba despues de poner mi vida en semejante peligro en solo cinco minutos. Las cosas se pusieron aun mas cachondas. Tuve que entrgar mis botas a un botero y taparme la cabeza con un trapito. Despues casi me pego la hostia de todas hostias al resbalarme en un charco para los pies por lo que te obligan pasar. Vete tu a saber cuantas verugas y otras guaradas habre pillado. El sitio si que es bonito, como espero que las fotos muestren, pero no iria a Amritsar solo para ver el templo. Ademas, no te permiten entrar en el templo si no eres un devoto( que no lo soy). Bueno, despues de dar la vuelta al cuadrante, decidi refescar mis piececitos cansados en el estanque enorme que tienen.Tenian unas carpas enormes, que eran tan mansas que te modisqueaban los deditos. De repente alguien me toca el hombro. Ahora que. Di la vuelta y veo dos, enormes sijs con lanzas y todo que me dicen que no puedo lavar los pies en el estanque sagrado. Esto ya era mucho y volvi al "hotel". La tele aun no habia aparecido, pero se me prometio un cubo de agua caliente. Despues de recibir un cubo con agua, que ni el explorador polar Britanico, Sir Rannulph Ffiennes hubiese metido los ultimos dedos que le quedaban y tener que meterme en un combate mortal con una cucaracha, informe al personal que me largaba el dia siguiente y que esperaba la devolucion de las 1000r que habia pagado por adelantado. Hubiese preferido pasar dos semanas en el calabozo de los paracas en Alcala(circa 83-86), que dos dias en esa mazmorra. No hace falta decir, que el dia siguiente me levante con los pajaritos y me largue a Ludhiana. Un ultimo dato interesante es que Amritsar fue el lugar donde Indira Ghandi fue asesinada por dos de sus leales guardaespaldas sijs. Para que veas.

AMRITSAR AND THE GOLDEN TEMPLE

CHANDIGARTH

The trip starting from Mandi turned out to be quite interesting. For one as it was a long distance we were given an air conditioned Tata, which was'nt bad at all, especially as it was'nt that full. We made three stops: 1. to fill up with fuel( fair enough, but would'nt you have done it before the trip started); 2. Lunchbreak. An unexciting stop at a dhaba for some even less interesting chow mein and 3.To change bus as the previous one had faulty brakes. Oh I did forget that the driver also stopped along the way, so that a hose wallah could give the (first faulty one) coach a wash. Of course this was the opportunity to stretch your legs, have a fag or two and for a large contingent of the passengers to watch like children as the buses ablutions were carried out. Some of them pointing out where there were bits he missed. One old lady, actually snatching the hose of him to remove a recalcitrant piece of crud. What really was interesting was the diversity of the flora as we dropped altitude from the foothills of the himalayas to the stifling punjab plain. Chandigarth needs a little bit of historical buff to explain its raison d'etre. When in 1947, Lord Louis Mountbatten (last viceroy of India and cousin to the queen ), decided to give India away, the punjab ( an incredibly, fertile region, that is totally flat and fed by five great rivers.( Panch means 5 in hindi. Therefore land of five rivers ) had to be shared by the muslims and the hindus. Louis gave this task to a mild mannered barrister who had never left England, by the name of Sir Cyrill Radcliffe. The conversation must have been along these lines": Look Cyrill ,old man. Independance is due for August. Here are all the maps and property documents, do your best and sort it out as best you can. Theres a good chap. Cyrill arrived in India at the worst possible time, climate wise, the maps were wildly inaccurate and you can imagine what the property document must have been like. Anyway, to cut a long story short (those really interested should read ' Freedom at midnight by' Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre) Cyrill did an atrocious split which caused a great deal of bloodshed on both sides, but it  left the capital of the Punjab, the ancient, exotic city of Lahore on the Pakistan side. Well you can guess, the hindis wanted one as well and that is how chandigarth came about. The design was given to a chap named Corbusier( I think), who must have been chummy with Dr Albert Hoffman, judging by how he left it. It's like Milton Keynes, but bigger, dirtier and more unfriendly. Its all squares and roundabouts and overly priced (I paid 1400r). So early next morning I hired a rickshaw peddlar to take me to the bus station( at sector 43). I took the manual rickshaw instead of the motorized one to cycle the 5k to the station, so that some one apart from me suffered, and I only gave hin 50r. I grabbed a chai and samosa and legged it on to the Amritsar bus. You may be wondering why there are no photographs of chandigarth. Would you take a photograph of the contents of your incontinent grandad's underpants?

El viaje de Mandi fue bastante interesante, mas que nada como era un viaje de largo recorrido nos dieron un Tata de aire acondicionado, que no iba muy lleno. Solo se paro 4 cuatro veces: 1. La primera para repostar ,que me extrano, porque es algo que yo hubiese hecho antes de emprender el viaje. En fin; 2.Para lavar el bus. Manda huevos, el conductor para en un lugar apartado de la mano de dios, donde se encontraba un viejo con una manguera. Naturalmente, en esta parada la gente salio para estirar las piernas, echar un pitillo(o dos)_y a pasar comentarios al viejo de la mangera. En un momento una paisana le quita la mangera para quitar un pedazo de mierda recalcitrante( a los aplaudos de los demas; 3. La tercera parada era en un dhaba mediocre, para almorzar un chow mein aun mas mediocre; 4. Esta parada fue la mas rara de todas, ya que cuando solo quedaba una hora de viaje, nos cambian de autocar, ya que el ultimo tenia los frenos dudosos(ya los podian haber cambiado antes de bajar la cuestas y curvas himalayicas. Cabrones! Lo mas interesante del viaje fue ver como cambiaba la flora segun descendiamos de la frescura himalaya al las bochornosas llanuras del punjab. Llegamos porfin a chandigarth y aqui se precisa un poco de explicacion historica para poder explicar porque chandigarth es semejante cloaca. Cuando en 1947, el Lord Louis Mountbatten( el ultimo virrey de la India y primo de la reina), decidio, en arrebato de locura devolver la India, tuvo el problema de como dividir el gran teritorio, fertil, alimentado por cinco de los rios mas grandes del mundo entre los musulmanes y los hindues. Esta marron se lo paso a un abogado( un QC, asi que al servicio de su majestad) llamado Sir Cyrill Radcliffe, que nunca habia salido de Inglaterra. La charla debio de ir algo asi: " Mira Cyrill, viejo, la independencia es para finales de Agosto, aqui estan todos los mapas y documentos de propiedad, haz lo que puedas, anda". Dado que los mapas estaban hechos a esa manera , que las escrituras estarian redactadas en un hindi archaico, podeis imaginar el chaos. Aparte de los masacres que occurieron por ambas partes, la capital tradicional del punjab, Lahore se quedo en lo que ahora es Pakistan. Naturalmente, los hindues querian una capital para su parte del punjab( lo llaman el granero de la India, para daros una idea de su importancia). No se les ocurio otra idea de darle el trabajo a un architecto que se llamaba Corbusier (o algo por el estilo, y que tambien  debio de ser colegia del Dr Albert Hoffman, Pues el resultado fue chandigarth, un monstsidad arquitectonica, compuesta por sectores y cuadradaos y lleno de mierda y gente sin ganas de ayudarte. Nada, paque 1400r para una noche y al dia siguiente contrate un rickshaw (pero de pedales, para que yo no fuese el unico hijo de puta que lo pase mal en chandigarth) para llevarme los 5km a la estacion de buses en el sector 43( yo estaba en sector 17), le page 50r y pege un saltito al bus con destino a Amritsar. Si estan pensando porque no hay fotos de chandigarth. Sacarias tu una foto del contenido de los calzoncillos de tu abuelo incontinente?        Al que le interese la historia  de como se le regalo la India, recomendo el libro de Larry Collins y Dominique Lapierre , titulado " A la medianoche , libertad"

MANDI REVISITED

 I stopped back in Mandi to not have to make the ten hour slog to Chandigarth in one go, so I went back to the Standard, where Tipu( I call all "the boys" Tipu as I cannot remember all their names) quickley got me a cold Kingfisher to acompany my splif on the rooftop terace. My deeds for the afternoon were to be mild. Call Carmen, get a shave and go and have some momos for tea. On arival back at the standard Tipu bought me a "patiala peg" to my room and I lulled of to the BBC worldservice, with instructions that he was to bring my bedtea at seven , so that I could get an early start. Tomorrow I will tell you about the trip to chandigarth and chandigarth itself(it does nt deserve a capital c, its such a shitehole( mind you Amritsar was worse).

,Volvi a Mandi para no tener que hacerme la paliza de diez horas a Chhandigarth de golpe. Fui directamente al Standard donde Tipu se alegro de volver a verme y me subio un Kingfisher fria a la teraza donde disfrutaba de un merecido peta. Mis planes eran basicos. Primero, llamar a Carmen a la tienda, felicitar a A ndre por su cumple y ir a que me afeiten como dios manda. Cene unos momos y a mi vuelta Tipu me trajo a la habitacion mi 'patiala peg" de malta sencillo y le pedi que me trajese el te a las siete, ya que queria emprender ese maldito viaje cedo. Manana os contare de la mierda de chandigarth( no merece mayuscula), porque es tan pocilga. Aunque Amritsar es casi igual de merdenta.

MANALI

Manali is a place where besotted couples glide hand in hand, staring sweetly into each others eyes, down a barely perceptible gradient ; where proud parents watch their doughed up prole take their first tentative falls on truncated skis. You will also see cliques of crusty, dreadlocked yuppies cutting a swathe between the two groups on their snowboards, with joints of Melana cream jutting defiantley from their gobs. But only if there is snow. At this time of the year, there should not be rows upon rows of 4x4 Subarus and stocky little porters, complete with ropes and pingly little dewdrops hanging off their himachali conks. In view of the impossibility of whacking off some decent Nikons, due to the lack of white stuff, I decided to do what I would normally do in these circumstances; send a packet home. I devoted Doffs birhday, which was a friday to steal a cardboard box( I think I mentioned previously the scarcity of such an item), I filled it with handmade, himachali woollies, a few Kullu shawls and a few pashmina shawls. I located a suitable tailor to wrap the whole thing up and went back to the hotel to pack my rucksack. The next morning I ambled down to the GPO and waited for it to open. And waited, and waited." What time does the post office open ? " I enquired
"At nine thirty sir. Anytime now " I had been there a whole hour with this package. When the postmaster had arrived he was so distressed at my prolongued wait that he bade me into his office and made me sit down. " Would I like a cup of tea ? '' I say old boy, thats awfully decent of you, "  I replied in my best Ian Carmichael. Anyway within twenty minutes I had my parcel expedited, several cups of chai later and of course having shaken hands with all five GPO staff I nimbly hopped onto the Mandi bus, town in which I was to pernoct before heading on to Chandigarth.

Manali es un sitio donde parejitas enamoradas se deslizan, mano en mano, mirandose dulcemente por un gradiente parecido al Holandes ; donde padres orgullosos observan su prole emplumados pegar sus primeras caidas sobre unos esquis enanos. Tambien verais a grupitos pijos con sus rastas  cortantando una zanja entre los dos grupos, con sus petas de crema de Malana colgandoles con chuleria de sus morros. Pero solo si hay nieve. En esta epoca, no debia de verse hileras de subrus 4x4 y pequnos porteros, completos con cuerdas y el pinganillo tipico colgando de su tocha himachli. En vista de no poder sacar unos Nikon decentes, por falta del polvo blanco, decidi hacer lo que suelo hacer en estas circunstancias: mandar un paquete a casa. Asi que el dia del cumple de Dorothy, que fue viernes, lo dedique a robar una caja de carton(creo que ya habia mencionado la escasez de dicho articulo). Lo llene de lanas artesanas himachalis, unos cuantos chales de Kullu, y unos cuantos de pashminas. Encontre un sastre competente para envolvermelo y al hotel a hacer la mochila. El dia siguiente camine hasta la oficina de correos y espere. Y espere "A que hora abre correos?', pregunte.
"A las nueve y media, caballero. En qualquier momento." Habia estado esperando una hora entera con el maldito paquete (6kg pesaba el cabron). Cuando aparecio el encargado, parecia estar tan disgustado a mi prolongada espera, que me invito a su depacho y me saco una silla. " Una taza de te?", me ofrecio.
"Pues muy amable, querido viejo", le replique en mi mejor accento Ian Carmichael( un actor ingles, de la vieja escuela) Dentro de unos veinte minutos,unas tazas de chai mas, y claro despues de darle la mano a los cinco funcionarios salte a un bus, camino de Mandi, donde iba a pernoctar antes de emprender viaje a Chandigarth, en la provincia del punjab.

MANALI AND SOME PEOPLE

KULLU TO MANALI

The day announced itself with promise. I had had a decent slumber,the sun was shining and Santoshe had knocked on my door at seven thirty with my bed tea. My parcel to be sent was just waiting to be ferried cver to the GPO, and my bergen was packed. I bade Santoshe an emotive fairwell( well not that emotive, one has to keep up appearences) and sauntered off to the bus station. Kullu lies on two rivers, the Parvati and the Beas. To get to the bus station you have to take a serpentining alleyway, which is really a bazzar all the way down,  until you get to the footbridge. Its just 50 m further on that a breakers yard, doubling up as a bus station is repleat with coaches in varios states of decay in a disorderly formation. I forgot to mention obviously that by this time my parcel was undergoing its preparation for its trip to Spain. I, however was walking up and down this sorry looking set of  scrap metal shouting "Manali ! Manali!" Eventually someone behind a steering wheel( who didnt look like the sort type of chap who should be behind a steering wheel) beckoned me on. I boarded meekly, as it seemed to be the worst, and handed over forty rupees. Apparentley this is the cost of forty seven  kilometres of calvary lasing over an hour and a half. To say that I nearly took out an eye with the Nikon says a lot of that perilous undertaking. When I got to Manali, I carried out my routine on getting somewhere new.1, Locate suitably cheap, with non talkative employees, which charges between 300-600r; 2.Locate cyber cafe and get chummy with the cyber prince( cyber king if he also has international dialling facilities); 3. Start looking for cardboardboxes. As it started to rain that persistent mountain rain I decided to call it a day. After calling Carmen and getting a dhosa masala down my neck. I had a hot shower(or bucket), got into my jams and bed , The last thing I remenber was CNN waxing on ad nauseum about some royal wedding and how it would be a great morale boost for the nation. I drifted off trying to imagine how spending millions of pound from the country's coffers, would be any sort of benefit to people being made redundant and families losing their homes. Mmm, perhaps Im missing something.

El dia se anuncio con promesa, Habia dormido como un senor, el sol se asomaba, y mi hombrecillo, Santoshe me trajo el te a la cama a las siete y media. Mi paquete solo tenia que llevarlo a correos, al abrir estos a las nueve, y mi mochila estaba lista. Le desee a Santoshe un adios emotivo( bueno, no tan emotino, ya que hay que mantener aparencias),y me enfile a la estacionn de autobuses. Kullu se ubica sobre dos rios,el Parvati y el Beas.Para llegar tienes que coger un callejon que caracolea (que esta repleta de negocios de todo tipo) hasta que se llega al puente de peatones. A solo 50m esta la chattareria(?) que hace las veces de estacion de autobuses. Se observa unas diligencias en varios estados de lamento. Mientras mi paquete seguro que se ya estaba preparando para su viaje a Espana, yo estaba pasando revista de esta chatara gritando " Manali!, Manali!" De repente un sujeto detras de un volante( que a mi modo de ver, no debia de ser el tipo de elemento que debia de estar detras de un volante) me hizo senas de montar.  Me subi algo mansito y no con un poco de duda, porque parecia ser el mas jodido, y me separe de cuarenta rupias. Al parecer esto es el precio de cuarenta y siete kilometros de calvario que duro hora y media. Para decir que casi me quito un ojo con la Nikon, lo dice todo de ese espantoso viaje. Al llegar a Manali, hice lo que hago al llegar a un sitio nuevo . 1, Encontrar alojamiento, lo suficiente comodo, pero cutre, entre 300-600r. 2, Encontrar un ciber y hacer migas on el principe ciber(rey ciber, si tambien se puede llamar al extranjero desde ahi. 3 Empezar la busqueda por cajas de carton, Como empezo esa lluvia de montana persistente decidi acabar el dia. Despues de llamar a Carmen y meterme una dhosa masala por el pesquezo, me di una ducha caliente(o un cubo), pijamas y cama. La ultima cosa de que me acuerdo era como la CNN estaban poniendose pesados sobre alguna boda, y como iba a ser un gran golpe de moral para el pueblo Britanico. Me fui flotando hacia la inconscencia pensando como el gastar millones del cofre del estado iba a beneficiara a gente que espera ir al paro o a los que van a perder sus hogares. Alomejor hay algo que se me escapa.

KULLU WINS OVER MANDI

The first thing I saw as I got off the bus was a sign which said Hotel Vikrant, fate had decided that I was to follow that sign , like the proverbial star, (only took 10 minutes, mind) and I was premiered for doing so. The short, twenty year old( more or less )leaning against the entrance with his hoodie pulled seemed to be the sort of enployee that I favour. "You want chai with room ?"
"Depends how much the chai is," I logically asked.
"300" Thats a bit steep for a chai! No he said that was the cost of the room bathroom, the chai was10.
"Oh, ok then". And that was that. Santoshe(as was his name), was the maitre 'd, he was the bellboy, nightporter and general mr useful as I found out later when he bought a respectable piece of charas, you know as a sort of we
lcome gift. Some hotels give complimentary tea and coffee and others, well.....
I had so many things to do that I was going to have to stay two nights because of the slothlike velocity of things here. By the time I had completed my purchases I had to find a cardboard box to put them in. An easy task you would have thought, given that the country is teeming with garbage. But no. Here each piece of crap is coverted and I finally had to beg one from a stallowner, who ceded it me, albeit begrudgingly. So, I had my purchases, my box, even had my sealing wax, all I had to do was to find me a tailor as I had done in Shimla. Again I found one. The oldest one, quite possibly the deafest one, by the seems of it he was also the slowest one in Kullu. Just to slow things up a tad more he only spoke Urdu( and Ive actually forgotten most of mine). So he sent for his grandson who sent me next door to buy 3m of cotton cloth. It was 5 chais and 15 pakoras later that the old boy was done. He might have been euphoric that he could still knock a common or garden parcel in only forty five minutes, but I had missed the last post till tomorrow. I felt exhausted and so drained that I had to lie down, which I duly did after calling Carmen

La primera cosa que vi al apearme del bus  fue una senal que decia Hotlel Vikrant, el destino habia decidido que la iba a seguir, como la estrella de marras, (pero solo por unos 10 minutos) y fui premiado por a haberlo hecho,  El chaval bajito, de unos veintetantos ,apoyado contra la puerta, con la capucha de su sudadera tirada con cierta chuleria me parecia a mi el tipo de empleado con quien suelo congeniar."Quieres chai con la haitacion?"
"Eso depende de cuanto cuesta el chai," le conteste logicamente.
"300" Eso me parece algo excesivo por un chai! N o, me explico que eso era el precio de la habitacion, el chai era 10.
"Bueno,vale pues" Y asi fue . Santoshe(como asi se llamaba), era el maitre 'd, el botones, el portero de noche y en general un don util como descubri mas tarde cuando me trjo un trozo bastante respectable de charas, tu sabes, como un tipo de obseqiuo de bien venida. Agunos hoteles te agasallan con paquetes de te y cafe complimentarios y otros, pues....
Tenia tantas cosas que hacer y gracias a la velocidad de un perezoso, que es la que suelen usar por aqui, sabia que me iba a tener que quedarme dos noches. Cuando porfin habia hecho mis compras tenia que encontrar una caja de carton para meterlas. Una tarea facil no, dado que el sitio esta repleta de mierda. Pero no. Aqui cada atomo de mirda es muy cotizada y me vi negro para conseguir una. Al final tuve que goronear una de une vieja que me la cedio a reganadientes. Asi que ya tenia mis compras con mi caja de carton, hasta tenia mi lacre rojo, Ahora solo tenia que dar con un sastre como habia hecho en Shimla. Otra vez di con uno. El mas viejo, probablemente el mas sordo, y tambien que podia ser el mas lento de Kullu. Para retrasar las cosas un pelin mas, solo hablaba urdu( y a ser sincero, casi he olvidado lo que sabia), Asi que llamo a su nieto que me mando a la tienda nde a lado a comprar 3m de tela. Fueron 5 chais y 15 pakoras mas tarde hasta que el viejo estaba acabado. El alomejor se sintio euforico que aun podia empaquetar una caja normal y corriente en solo cuarenta y cinco minutos, pero yo habia perdido el correo hasta manana. Me senti tan exhausto y defallecido que me tuve que acostar, que hice despues de llamar a Carmen.

proposito, ayer fue  el cumple de Martin Vidal de Ziros en Lugo. Un abrazo chaval.

KULLU AND IT'S PEOPLES

MANDI

There is not much to Mandi, it was a hub for the roads from Panthkot, Kullu and Manali for the salt route. Its peculiar because its centre is a square park, below the level of the street with its hundreds of small businesses on its inside at various levels. The climate is rather stuffy as its at 800m and its population about 24000, which all hover in the main square. After Delhi it was probabley the saddest and poorest facet of india Ive seen so far.I think the images speak for themselves. Although some are quite sad, I feel quite happy with some of them. A nyway I was pleased to hop onto the 2 hour ride to Kullu. Less people and generally more smiles. To do this type of trip you have to develop a certain sense of "compassion fatigue", otherwise you will never leave the hotel. I hope to crash out early today to see if I can get a cool sunrise. Also I have to take a cardboard box to a tailor tomorrow morning so he can stich it up with cotton and waxseal it, so I can get it to the GPO before 3, Right thats it, Im going to have some steamed tibetan vegetable momos, before calling Carmen and crashing out (don t forget sunrise)

No hay mucho en Mandi, fue el eje para las carreteras desde Panthkot, Kullu yManali a traves de la ruta de la sal. Es peculiar porque su centro es una plazaleta, bastante inferior al nivel de la calle donde se ubican cientos de pequenos negocios a los varios niveles. El clima es bastante bochornoso ya que se encuentra a 800m en un valle y con una poblacion de unos 24000, que parecen todos vivir en la plaza. Despues de Delhi es probablemente la faceta mas triste y deprimiente de la India que he visto hasta ahora. Creo que algunos de los photos hablan por si. Aunque algunas son bastante tristes, estoy contento con la mayoria. De todos modos me dio una gran alegria tomar el viaje de 2 horas a Kullu. Menos gente y mas sonrisas. Para contemplar este tipo de viaje hay que desarollar un cierto sentido de "fatiga de compasion, si no nunca saldras del hotel. Espero acostarme temprano esta noche" para ver si puedo pillar un amanecer chulo. Tambien, tengo que llevar una caja de carton a un sastre para que me lo pueda envolver con tela y coser, y despues sellarlo con lacre, para que lo pueda tener en correos antes de las 3. Bueno ya basta.. Ahora me voy a zampar unos momo vegetarianos al vapor, antes de llamar a Carmen y deitarme. No os olvideis el amanecer.   
 

MANDI AND ITS PEOPLE