+ 12 - 1 | § ¶A holiday in India

It appears I have not given any news since I was in Pakistan. In this case no news is good news, as I have successfully arrived in Delhi. That was a while back.

It seems ages ago since my last night in Pakistan which I shall remember for a long while! On was still on a come down from the 3 weeks I had spent in north Pakistan and was feeling very fit.

I looked up Chris’ sufi night in Lahore. Got the train from Islamabad on the last day, arrived in Lahore station at 10pm leaving there my bike and luggage and set out for an all night sufi night, where two drum beaters kept a dozen Sufis in trance until the early hours. I got back to the bike in the morning and pedaled the 40km or so to the border, and the remaining 20kms to Amritsar, home of the Sikhs. Here I met up with Chris after us not seeing each other for a month or so. Chris left for the mountains and I went straight to Delhi from where Sarah, my girlfriend, and I would go for a holiday (yes I know, from the holiday, very funny!).

For me, the arrival at Delhi represented the end of a first chapter in the 360ways book.  When building this project Christopher and myself talked of every new day as being a new page in the book of life.

+ 12 - 2 | § ¶The Tribune article on Christopher

+ 9 - 4 | § ¶Shimla to Chandigarh: From the mountains of Himachal-Pradesh to the plains of Haryana

Under the rain in Shimla, I met Javed Dajar who comes from Kashmir. Javed told me of the landscapes of Kashmir and of its people, and nearly convinced me to go there with him.

Apparently the situation in Kashmir is calmer now. India and Pakistan are trying to resolve the conflict, somehow. I would have gone, but Kashmir isn't on my way, and by bicycle... well let's just say it would have taken a couple of months.

The rain continued regardless. The local news announced that the road ahead was flooded, in fact even my next stop, Chandigarh, was flooded. I was starting to give up hope until one day, a week after my arrival in Shimla, I awoke to find the sun pearing in through the window.

This was the sign I had been waiting for. I packed my bags, said goodbye to my new friends, and hit the road. Chandigarh lies about 130kms South of Shimla... the sun was shining and the road ahead was all downhill.

+ 11 - 2 | § ¶Dharamsala to Shimla: mountains, monsoon and monkeys

Two weeks in Dharamsala was sufficient to make me fat and unfit again.

I stayed near Mc Leod Gange, in Bagsu. Days were filled with treks to the waterfalls, eating Banofi Pie, reading about Buddhism and the Dalai Lama (who now lives in Mc Leod Gange), and eating more Banofi Pie.

Friends came and went, and on my last day in Dharamsala, I realised that I had pushed my luck a little too far.

The clouds above were getting denser, and the word on every person's lips was... Monsoon.

It was an other one of those moments, where I had to tear myself away from the comfort I had so quickly grown used to. Staying in a hotel room, lounging in the local cafes, eating, drinking...

Shimla was 375kms away and it was raining heavily. One of those moments where you mustn't think, just pack your bags, get them on the bike... and go.