At the feet of the Mountains

Hello all you Path of the Fire followers out there, been wanting to update since many things have happened over the past few days. As mentioned in our last communique, we left Varanasi Sunday morning and caught the 0040 train to New Delhi. This train trip was quite an adventure and started the beginning of a 30 hour back to back train/bus venture Northwest to Manali. First, when previously catching the train the parcel officer would take the bikes and put them in the luggage carriage, while we would follow and watch to ensure that we were both on the same train. This time however we lost sight of the bikes momentarily and they were gone, I was frantic but we had no time to search because the train that had pulled in was whistling it's horn and we weren't even sure if this was our train. When we bought the tickets the person said watch for the train name and number...unfortunately we saw neither of these on the train, was probably written in Hindi. Anyway we started running madly towards the opposite end of this megalithic train, it was easily 30 cars long. We finally see what we think is our carriage but we are on the wrong side of the train so we have to continue running a few more carriages to pass in front of the train and then back around. This was incredibly exhausting as we were both carrying duffel bags with at least 50lbs of gear, only strapped over 1 shoulder. We get inside the carriage, still not knowing if this is our train and pretty concerned about the bikes when a person that seems to work on the train appears. He indicates that we are on the right train , but since he is Hindi speaking only I can't get any reassurance about the bikes. I try and ask him how long I have to go check on the bikes  but he doesn't seem to respond, or either indicates ...not very long. The trip was going to be 12 hours and we would be very pretty far away if our bikes ended up getting separated, so I told Donavon I would just quickly run towards the back of the train and try to make it to check the luggage before the train left. Initially I start with a easy walk, but decide to jog lightly; before I know it I'm several carriages down the train when suddenly the train starts to move forward. I slide to a halt in a panic and start running towards the front of the train. I had some reassurance of not missing the train because there were periodic doors that were open. Of course these were the general class train and so all sorts of bodies were protruding from the doorway. Well I could see that I wasn't going to make it back to Donavon and by this point, my lungi- a wrapped cloth worn as lower body covering e.g. kilt , was off and I was running in my underwear. I leapt for a door rail and made it in; unfortunately Donavon had no idea if I made it back on the train. I sat down for about 10 mins just trying to catch my breath and replaying that potentially fatal leap into the train over in my mind. All the sudden the train came to a stop, cautiously jumping from the train I ran forward towards Donavon in underwear and hiking boots finally making it to his carriage. Apparently Donavon said he was going to jump from the train and the conductor stopped the train to see if I was on. What a crazy start to the New Delhi trip...which ended up being 17 hours, but at least we had small beds to lie flat and sleep and we were safe together.
We reached New Delhi dazed and still exhausted, as well as now having some moderately intense intestinal cramps which were making things very difficult to move. Needless to say we carried our bags to the parcel office and thankfully found our bikes :) After this we rode about 5-6 miles through what I would imagine downtown New York would feel like and made it to a bus station and left on the 2100 ride... The bus seats reclined fairly well and we slept on and off until the suns rays came up around 0530. When we could see what was around us we saw a stark difference from the arid, hot and flat lowlands from where we had started our journey now travering into the lush green mountain valleys of Northeastern India.
We finally arrived in Manali, a cool place in the Kullu valley, at the feet of the mountains...the majestic Himalayas.
So here we are a few days later, catching up on rest and adjusting to the altitude - we're at 6000' and looking up towards mountains of enormous size - 15,000' and higher. This town is a little touristy in a laid back way because it's a central hub of many activities like: rock climbing, river rafting, mountain trekking and zorbing (putting your body in a huge cushioned balloon and getting rolled down a giant hill...not sure how my stomach would take that right now, but Donavon's ready to try it...we'll let you know). Anyway, I want to tell you all briefly of the up coming bike adventure we have planned because we'll be headed into the high mountains in a few days and communication may be difficult as there are only smaller villages. We'll be starting in Manali and preparing to do a loop ride of ~ 250 miles, the first 24 miles climbing over 5,000' ( the first pass called Rohtang La) and then continue through high deserts with moon like landscapes surrounded by majestic mountains and gigantic glaciers which feed into beautiful turquoise lakes. About 35 miles later we'll reach our highest point of the trip - Kunzam La at 4501 meters, from here we'll to a short side trip to a glacier fed lake called Moon lake. Anyway, we'll be mostly camping in this area and going pretty slow, at least ascending the mountains... as well as coming to the profound realization that we are truly alive in these moments, this is what this journey is about...being ALIVE!!!. When we're pushing up those mountains and the physical pain pierces your body, the mental strain squeezing your mind and twisting your thoughts you come to see exactly how you think and feel in that very moment. You are very present in that moment and see how similar our minds are to ocean waves as they rise up with emotions and then recede back into calmness. Reaching those mountain tops have been positively transformative in my past experiences and I know the rewards are worth the challenges. Anyway people I've been rambling alot and just wanted to catch you all up, on life traveling the world being present in the moments of pleasure and pain and letting you know that we are carrying each one of you in our hearts. Here's a few pictures to paint a 1000 words. Be well friends, take time for each other and smile to yourself in this moment. Yours truly, Will and Donavon

 Outside our room, 3rd floor looking towards mountain

 Up on rooftop terrace

 Spitian woman herding cows

 Hotel rooftop, Vashisht India

 Ancient temple door carving

 Looking out towards Old Manali, across river

 Eating fresh trout from river and Tibetan momos (dumplings)

 Road towards upcoming bike trip

 Vashisht, looking towards cliffs

 Incredible waterfall near village

 Hiking through mountains

 Donavon in mountain meadow

 Chillin in the mountains

 Huge boulder, with nice space underneath to rest

Another view towards the mountains