Monday night, Feb. 25, I decided to jump into a car with one of the owners of the Annex Hotel in Dharamsala to pick up the missing bags being held hostage in Delhi by the Maharani Guest House. After over a week without my backpack it seemed like the only way they would make in here before we leave for Rishikesh on the 28th. So at 10pm we headed off with a driver for a nine hour drive. The night drive was pretty uneventful save for the incredibly, sometimes non-existent bumpy road. We made it into Delhi on the morning of the 26th just in time for rush hour traffic — completely congested, unmoving traffic. After driving around for three hours trying to find the hotel we gave up, pulled over and picked up a city taxi to get to the Maharani. Long story short, I got two of the three bags, spent the night and had dinner at 5 star Indian hotel for my birthday. Not a bad trade off I suppose. The morning of the 27th I headed back solo. Unbelieveable crazy on the way back. Having come through the same roads in the dark I had no idea what I missed. The journey travels through village after village in the Indian countryside. Slow going with all the cars, busy villagers, sheeps, goats, dogs, monkeys, oxen and horses on the road… oh and roll over accidents and downed trees on the roads.

The best part of the trip was entering into the state of Himachal Pradesh and finally seeing the Himalaya in full sunlight. My previous entry in Dharamsala was overcast and the time I spent there the previous two days was rainy.

Now on to Rishikesh and the Ashram.