Rohtang Pass: Experience of a Lifetime! (Part 2 of a 3 part series)

Places, Safety & Health, TrafficLeave a comment

A year ago, if you had told me I would be standing in a bus at an elevation of 13,000 feet in the Himalayan Mountains, trying to decide if it was safe to get off and help push it out of the mud, I would have thought you were crazy!  Fast forward one year, and you might think I’m the crazy one! One thing is for sure: traveling up Rohtang Pass was the most unforgettable experience of my lifetime.

Why it’s famous

Rohtang  Pass is about 51 kilometers from the hill station of Manali on the eastern Par Panjal Range of the Himalayas.  The roads are rough and steep, with no guard rails. Typically, only one car can fit at a time, even though there is two-way traffic.  It is such an adventure that the History Channel has featured it on Ice Road Truckers and Deadliest Roads.  Major traffic jams are common due to accidents, poor road conditions, and snow and ice. In fact, it is only open from May to November.  

People bathing in a mud puddle in India

A Very Bad Day in India

Culture, Lifestyle, Safety & Health2 Comments

We all have bad days. They are just part of life. I recently experienced one in India, and the circumstances, for the most part, were unique to India. It all started when I was on a conference call. I work odd hours over here because of the 12.5 hour time difference. This was an 7:00 AM conference call and I was already in a bad mood because I had to skip my work out. Keep in mind that I connect to my conference calls through the Internet. The electricity suddenly went out which disconnected me front the call, and I was the facilitator!  The electricity goes off all the time here due to over population and unregulated electrical work. I never was able to reconnect to the call because the back up generators didn’t kick on for some reason.

 

Electrical blackouts

I finished getting ready the best I could without electricity. That meant no hot shower, no coffee and no curling my hair. Plus there was no air conditioning, which meant it was soon about 85 degrees in my apartment! By the time I left for work I was covered in sweat and in a very foul mood.

Beautiful Udaipur India

The Ups and Downs of Travel and Tourism in India

Culture, Lifestyle & Hobby, Places, Safety & HealthLeave a comment

I’ve been in India for four months now and so far I’ve visited Agra, Jaipur, Udaipiur and Rieshikesh. Booking reservations and traveling around India is quite different from how we do things in the USA.

Your passport

First of all, all reservations, even domestically require a copy of your passport. They want a hard copy and copy machines are not readily available, so someone is always taking your passport from you and then heading into the back room with it. The first time that happened I about had a panic attack. I’ve heard stories about travelers getting their passports taken away only to find they have to buy it back. Fortunately that’s not the case here!

Middle men

Another thing that annoys me is that you can’t call any resort or tourist activity directly to book a reservation. You have to call a tourist service. There are so many middle men, each getting a piece of the pie, that it drives the price way up. Sometimes these middle men are just scammers that take your money and run, so you have to be very careful. Taxes are also very high, 20 to 30 percent in many areas!