Chandi-oh-my-garrrh

Have a little time stuck in Chandgarh so thought I'd update the blog, though not a lot to say (now there's a killer intro).
The monsoon appears to have taken a break to catch it's breath after almost three days non-stop rain. Despite the wet, Manali was very cool. I was forced to spend much of my time in an open air cafe called Dylan (after Bob, with the strapline 'Roasted and Toasted', also very cool), chatting to Israelis who dominated the tourist population, which as I've said before was mostly stoned. Everyone knows one person in Uni who is a legendary stoner and spends their entire time in a cannabis smoke haze. For me that person was Pete, and Manali was like Pete's room in halls expanded and stuck halfway up the Himilayas. I swear to God they even had shops selling jumpers Pete used to wear, it was uncanny.
It occured to me just before I got my bus that getting up to Manali in dry daylight had seemed precarious so getting a nightbus down in the pouring rain could have been a bad idea. The driver did manage to smash a window by driving too close to a cliff face (who was to know that rock smashes glass?!), broke down for about an hour, had to change route because of various landslides (can't really blame him for that), and eventually turfed us out after getting a puncture. We got another bus the rest of the way. However, we didn't go off the side so for me, even with the added seven hours, it was a success.
Now in Chandigarh which is one of India's newest cities and pretty prosperous, but if you've ever thought that pretty much every English large town looks depressingly alike, you'll have a good picture of Chandigarh.
This is the 11th place in India I have spent time in, so have covered quite a lot of ground - would have liked to have seen the south though, next time.
Must admit am ready for some beach partying Thailand style, chatting to some people in Jodhpur gave me a taste for it, flight's in less than 36 hours, come on!