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Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India

(October, 2010)

According to the Lonely Planet, Mandi was once a trading stop on the salt route to Tibet.	Autorickshaw parked in front. That's a three-wheel motorized taxi machine with a very loud motor.
If you dislike writing, this gentleman will help you fill in your forms for a fee.	Mandi is full of these old Shiavite temples.

Picture of the narrow bazaar in Mandi, India. These shops sell fine custom tailored dresses to pilgrims to the holy city.

Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. Famous English Hill Station

(October, 2010)

Shimla was once the official summer capital of the Raj. A lot of the architecture is British style.

Apples for sale.	Shimla's elevation is 2200 meters. People still come from the cities to escape the summer heat.
The center of town is carfree and always crowded.	The Post Office. The guard got a little angry at me for taking a picture.

Now you can see why there are no cars allowed.

The whole avenue is carfree, full of shops and restaurants in little alleyways. The hillside is forested, lots of nice hikes.

Shimla to Rishikesh, India

(October, 2010)

This area is so peaceful I set up camp next to the road near a well - there's a pump with a handle in the distance near the path. Very good bike touring here in northern India.

“Oh My Gods” – I caused several cars to crash. I was sitting well off the road on a stone wall changing the batteries in my MP3 player when a car of excited university students, possibly on a weekend road trip to Shimla, stopped on the road and the driver yelled out the window “Hello Sir, from which country are you coming from?” By the time I got halfway through “America…” - BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Three cars rear ended each other. No one was hurt. I got hit by some broken headlight glass but I was fine.

This is the pamphlet handed out to rural farmers explaining safe practices.  It relies heavily on pictures because literacy rates are low in the area.	The two workers on the left carried the ginger harvest down from the hills while their higher caste foreman, next to my touring bicycle, arranged the deal on his phone.
This is how children go to school in the flat areas.  I wish the man pedaling could be seen better. Passing the cycle carts, one by one, and teasing the kids is my favorite road encounter - especially if I can sneak up on them - they never expect to see me on the way to school.	This is a Belgian couple I met outside of Shimla. They were bike touring through China, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal and India.

Rishikesh, Uttaranchal, India

(October, 2010)

My last look at Rishikesh, India before I rode over the suspension bridge and onto the great Indian sub continental plain. Flat + tailwind = big KM days!	At least I am eating well.  Veg (etarian) Thali - but do not ask me what anything is besides the rice.  Usually I don't have any idea what I'm eating but it's all so good and wonderfully spicy
I visited Rishikesh during an unknown Hindu festival. Entertaining as all get out. Rishikesh was made famous for Western visitors when the Beatles came here in the 60s. Since then it's been a magnet for New Age guru-seekers on the path of spiritual enlightenment.	Ladies in their finest.

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