Vashisht: I really dig this place!

Vashisht Tu June 30 ’09 23:29. So here I am in recouperating in Vashisht near Manali. I have a really nice view of the mountains from my room. Quiet, cool temperatures and no honking. Very nice. It has been about a week since my accident and no improvement in sight. The swelling goes down after I have had my foot cocked up for a few hours while I lie in bed most of the day. Then when I get up and move around, usually with it wrapped up, the foot swells up again. The pain has not gone away, but has stayed the same. I reassessed my injury today and decided that I will have to change my approach towards Nepal. I was planning to take the train or bus from Agra to Jhansi, then bus it Khajuraho, onwards to Varanasi, then train up to Gorakhpur then bus it to Sunauli. Cross the border, visit Buddha’s birth place in Lumbini then bus it to Pokhara. That ain’t happening now. For one, public transport (bus and train) in India don’t provide ease of access for handicapped folks like me. Climbing up and down the train and buses with my pack isn’t going to cut it given that my ankle will take more than a month to get better. Some research over the Internet informed me that I should continue wrapping my ankle even after the swelling has subsided. So I got myself a flight from Delhi to Kathmandu. You know, shit happens. And this is one of it. Real shit. I am going to hang around here for another week or so then head up to Leh, hopefully by then the swelling will have gone and the pain too. What is so annoying is that the swelling returns after I have my ankle wrapped, even while sitting down. I need it to walk or just move slightly. Yeah, there is a little more going on than I think. Anyway, enough of that. I am still hoping to walk up the hill to the center of Vashisht to see the Temple and visit the public hot springs bath and possibly a massage at the Reiki Center down the hill. I haven’t ventured beyond the hotel front door since I can’t really walk that far. It’s amazing that I walked to the Golden Temple and at the India-Pakistani border. I think I had it in my head to forego the pain and go see what I came to see, then rest after, so here I am. I am hoping to go to Srinagar in Kashmir after Leh to see the house boats and floating lilies. Since I am already this far north, going further north won’t hurt. The Kashmiri Pakistani border seem to be pretty calm at the moment. Seeing Tibetan culture in India is one thing. When I get to Tibet proper I doubt I will see real Tibetan culture. That should be an interesting observation. Meeting lots of other nice travelers and becoming friendly with the hotel staff since they see me hobble up and down the stairs everyday to the cyber café and to the rooftop restaurant. I honestly wished I knew the swelling will stop and the pain go away. I want to at least be able to get my foot in my shoe before I head to Leh since there may be snow up there and the climate a little colder. When I get to Delhi and the Golden Triangle (Jaipur, Agra, Delhi) it will be annoyingly hot again. One thing I have forgot to mention in my India write up so far is that the Indians like to take pictures with tourists. So every now and then I will get asked to have my photo taken with someone. I have started to ask for 10 Rupees a pop but so far gotten nothing ;) I met a Spaniard at the Wagah-Attari border closing who showed me a photo he took of 20 or so Indian fellows lining up to have their picture taken with a Russian girl, who from the photo looked very beautiful. According to the Spaniard, he heard the Russian girl ask for 50 Rupees a pop to have her photo taken, and some of the fellows paid. So, I guess physical beauty really brings in revenue. It is moments like these I wander how God made some women look like women and others look like cows. Befriended an Israeli girl today at the rooftop restaurant who can’t stand to be Israeli! She offered to pick me up some Ibuprofen since I am running out. How many anti inflammatory pills can I pop before the damn swelling goes down?