June 5 Day 110
We woke up a little late again and had breakfast at the hotel and lumped around and got stuff done on the computer.
In the afternoon we headed out to a local panorama of a Sikh hero that was within walking distance of our hotel. The walk was busy, as any sidewalks you can find are used as parking lots for scooter and motorbikes. The two main streets had pedestrian lights, but they were only reen for about 5 seconds and were completely ignored by the vehicles in the road. We made it through two busy intersections and followed a shady path beside a prk until we found an entrance.
The path through the park went beside an empty children's amusement park full of creepy guys who seemed to have nothing to do but watch us. We spotted a local squirrel that was coloured sort of like a badger and then came upon the building that housed the panoramas.
We talked to teachers from two different school groups, as this place was apparently a magnet for them. We toured it between the groups.
The bottom floor had paintings of events from his life and a room full of doll-sized dioramas of his early life and first few victories. Upstairs was a life-sized spectacle of his major battle victories complete with a soundtrack of cannon fire and shouting and screaming. Downstairs was another roomful of doll-sized dioramas of him getting the koh-i-noor diamond and some more battle victories. The final hall had some more paintings outlining how he hated bloodshed and loved his horse.
On the way out we encountered our second school group, whose teacher we had been talking to earlier, and took pictures with them.
The walk back was easier since we knew the way and we stopped at the recommended Crystal Restaurant for lunch. The ground floor was the original restaurant, the Crystal Lounge on the second floor had the same menu but was run by a different branch of the family and there was a take away with some of teh menu available for eating more casually.
We stuck with the main floor and it was really posh and had the AC cranked up to freezing levels. Prices were a little higher than we were used to but the place was way posh and the food way really good except for a pickle that must have consisted mainly of salt.
On the way back Meg wanted to get us over our avoidance of tuktuks so we took one back with a slightly bargained down price for the short ride back to the hotel, fairly painless.
We packed and lounged until 5 pm as we paid for an extra half day to feel cool and clean before our bus ride. The bus office was less tan a 5 minute walk away but they directed us to another stop to get our bus that put us back right in front of our hotel.
The bus was as dirty as before and the AC usually worked. There were only about 12 of us on the bus so there was lots of room to spread out. Our driver wasn't as aggressive as before so the ride was only moderately hair-raising. The overhead lights didn't work so I had to use my Kobo light once the sun set.
We stopped to fix a side view mirror and then in the middle of nowhere for the driver to go into an unlit house. Just before our destination our driver stopped for a 30 minute dinner. We had butter naan and onion parathas with curry, which hit the spot.
Once we reached Dharamshala a huge number of backpackers were sitting there waiting for us, so the main purpose for the bus was the last leg to Manali. We got a taxi for a good price and asked them to call our hotel as our phone reported having no service. The woman who promised us a room and told us to call to get the key (we were arriving at 11 pm, after the desk had closed) said there as no room and acted as if she couldn't remember us. This caused us a bit of anxiety as we headed up the hill with our maniacal taxi driver.
We got off at the Green Hotel and it as indeed closed. The phone worked and the woman said that she'd send a boy. He asked about our reservation and what our room number was and we said he should know, not us. He then produced a key and showed us to our room. No balcony or fan but we weren't going to do any better as the rest of the town had closed down by now. We settled in and had a pretty good sleep.
We woke up a little late again and had breakfast at the hotel and lumped around and got stuff done on the computer.
In the afternoon we headed out to a local panorama of a Sikh hero that was within walking distance of our hotel. The walk was busy, as any sidewalks you can find are used as parking lots for scooter and motorbikes. The two main streets had pedestrian lights, but they were only reen for about 5 seconds and were completely ignored by the vehicles in the road. We made it through two busy intersections and followed a shady path beside a prk until we found an entrance.
The path through the park went beside an empty children's amusement park full of creepy guys who seemed to have nothing to do but watch us. We spotted a local squirrel that was coloured sort of like a badger and then came upon the building that housed the panoramas.
We talked to teachers from two different school groups, as this place was apparently a magnet for them. We toured it between the groups.
The bottom floor had paintings of events from his life and a room full of doll-sized dioramas of his early life and first few victories. Upstairs was a life-sized spectacle of his major battle victories complete with a soundtrack of cannon fire and shouting and screaming. Downstairs was another roomful of doll-sized dioramas of him getting the koh-i-noor diamond and some more battle victories. The final hall had some more paintings outlining how he hated bloodshed and loved his horse.
On the way out we encountered our second school group, whose teacher we had been talking to earlier, and took pictures with them.
The walk back was easier since we knew the way and we stopped at the recommended Crystal Restaurant for lunch. The ground floor was the original restaurant, the Crystal Lounge on the second floor had the same menu but was run by a different branch of the family and there was a take away with some of teh menu available for eating more casually.
We stuck with the main floor and it was really posh and had the AC cranked up to freezing levels. Prices were a little higher than we were used to but the place was way posh and the food way really good except for a pickle that must have consisted mainly of salt.
On the way back Meg wanted to get us over our avoidance of tuktuks so we took one back with a slightly bargained down price for the short ride back to the hotel, fairly painless.
We packed and lounged until 5 pm as we paid for an extra half day to feel cool and clean before our bus ride. The bus office was less tan a 5 minute walk away but they directed us to another stop to get our bus that put us back right in front of our hotel.
The bus was as dirty as before and the AC usually worked. There were only about 12 of us on the bus so there was lots of room to spread out. Our driver wasn't as aggressive as before so the ride was only moderately hair-raising. The overhead lights didn't work so I had to use my Kobo light once the sun set.
We stopped to fix a side view mirror and then in the middle of nowhere for the driver to go into an unlit house. Just before our destination our driver stopped for a 30 minute dinner. We had butter naan and onion parathas with curry, which hit the spot.
Once we reached Dharamshala a huge number of backpackers were sitting there waiting for us, so the main purpose for the bus was the last leg to Manali. We got a taxi for a good price and asked them to call our hotel as our phone reported having no service. The woman who promised us a room and told us to call to get the key (we were arriving at 11 pm, after the desk had closed) said there as no room and acted as if she couldn't remember us. This caused us a bit of anxiety as we headed up the hill with our maniacal taxi driver.
We got off at the Green Hotel and it as indeed closed. The phone worked and the woman said that she'd send a boy. He asked about our reservation and what our room number was and we said he should know, not us. He then produced a key and showed us to our room. No balcony or fan but we weren't going to do any better as the rest of the town had closed down by now. We settled in and had a pretty good sleep.
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| A detail from one of the life-sized dioramas. |
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| One o the classes visiting with us. |
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| A local we met on the way back. |
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