Sangla 4

Anyway, to make a long story short, I decided to go back up the Sutlej River and to Sangla by myself this time, so I could get my water samples. I didn't want to go somewhere I hadn't been yet all by myself, because the first round of bus trips were very confusing to me. I was very afraid to do this, but it has turned out fine. The only hitch I had was getting to Karcham too late to catch the last bus or to take a taxi to Sangla, so the bus driver told me to go on to Rekong Peo and spend the night there, and come to Sangla in the morning. He didn't even charge me the extra fare for Rekong Peo. I did that, and it was fine. Rekong Peo was decent, I found a hotel there without trouble, and I was able to catch the direct bus to Sangla with no trouble in the morning.

A few highlights of my solo trip: I stayed the night in Shimla, and in the morning I discovered the Indian Co-operative Coffee House, which was great. The coffee is not as fancy as the other place in town, but it's fair trade, the menu is good, and it's got a lot more style -- waiters in cummerbunds, for example. And the coffee was extremely good for the price.

Between Shimla and Rampur I made a friend on the bus. She was a nurse/beautician going back home to Rampur, and she spoke some English and was very nice to me. She gave me apples, showed me the best lunch spot when we stopped for it, and so on. She tried to get me to stay at her house with her family in Rampur that night; in fact she asked me several times. I declined politely because I wasn't sure how I felt about it. It was a nice offer, but I've heard so much about how Indian people will try to scam me that I felt uncomfortable about it. I still don't know -- I'd like to think it was a friendly offer, and leave it at that.

I have had an easier time on my own making friends with people. I've been cautious because I've heard, as I said, that friendly people will try to scam me, and I've also heard that as a woman traveling alone I might be subject to harassment, but so far my experiences haven't played out that way. I do get some male attention, but it has been unfailingly polite, and I have been able to deflect it. Otherwise, especially here in Sangla, people are friendly and patient, and I have been made to feel at ease wherever I've gone. I went hiking today up to a mountain pass that was nearly at 12,000 feet, and on the way up I met a young man who wanted me to take his picture. I took some photos of him, and then offered to send them to him when I get them developed. He was very eager to have them and anxious for me to send them as soon as possible, and then he invited me to his (nearby) house. This time I agreed to go, and I met his family, who gave me chai and insisted that I eat lunch. I used my paltry Hindi as best as possible and they were happy about it (the fellow I met, Kali Chang, was the only one in his family who spoke much English). They kept sheep in the highlands and were building the house. Kali Chang and his father both do carpentry, and his brother keeps a shop in Sangla.

Anyway, now I'm pretty much caught up, except for everything I left out. I promise more about Chandigarh and Ram's family next.