Old Manali

Towards the dusk.

And one of, if not the, quietest day yet. Sloth in the sunshine, warmer by the day and found a coffee place. And so an extra day to drink coffee and tie a hopeful knot in the scribbles.

And here, the cheap room on the edge of town with mountains for morning and evening from the balcony...the downside being a shared bathroom: not, happily, like the first one in mcleod ganj which was next door to my room, the early morning symphonies of strangers my wake up call. Nor, sadly, like the second, along slightly and with hot water for a shower. Here, it's across the yard in an attached shed to the kitchen area...the basin is outside....and the shower's a bucket which in the morning chill appeals little....And yet it does. It reminds me of a place in chapora long ago, bucket showers and a toilet block in the corner of the garden. Mary was the owner's name, a lovely old lady.

And it's a lovely place to sit by the river and watch the world go by...while the road to spiti remains closed, fresh snowfall these last days. So no great hurry, but think tomorrow last day here awhile...all going well two returns...