We spent a day lazing around our hotel ordering room service and shopping in Manali after our trek finished. Tim bought some new walking shoes as his had fallen apart and we tried in vain to find some sleeping bag liners. This was because in the cheap hotels in Himachal Pradesh and probably also in Ladakh where we were heading, a top sheet is not usually provided on the bed. In the end we bought some cozy yak wool blankets which fold up small and do the job really well. The shops in Manali are like Camden Market circa 1988. I avoided the lure of the multi coloured loon pants and exotic jewellery, as my rucksack is already overloaded.

The following day we felt fully recovered and in the mood for another walk. We had intended to stay in Vashisht, a small village near Manali during out time here, so we decided to go and check it out and also do the walk to the Jogini waterfall. We caught an auto rickshaw up the steep road to Vashisht, getting off before the village as work was being carried out on the road and there was a delay in the workmen allowing traffic past. In the centre of the village is an old wooden temple, like those in Manali. There are hot springs associated with the temple with separate men’s and women’s bathing areas, but we didn’t spend too long there, thinking we would have a look another time.

We headed through the winding streets of the village, greeting cows, dogs and villagers carrying fodder on their heads. They were all very welcoming. The path towards the waterfall was dotted with small cafes or dhabas, some with great views of the magnificent surrounding countryside, but we managed to avoid their lure, intending to feast after we had finished our walk. Efforts had been made to maintain the environment with regular notices discouraging littering. Some of the best were ‘A girl must break up if her boyfriend is a litterbug’, ‘In the forest and mountains animals do not leave trash, humans do, please behave like animals’ and my favourite ‘Please clean up after yourself, your Mother does not work here’.

Finally we arrived at the foot of the waterfall, which is one of the most magnificent that I have ever seen. Due to the monsoon rains it is in full flow. Women were selling plums, apples, pears and knitted items by the side of the path. We bought some plums and pears to snack on. The trek to upper Jogini falls is a steep scramble, but buoyed with confidence after our trek we decided to tackle it. The climb was exhausting and we had to stop and rest several times (the plums and pears were delicious) but we finally made it to a spot where it looked possible to cross the waterfall and descend on the other side. On closer inspection, the bridge across the stream of water cascading down from the falls (it just consisted of a couple of planks) was quite deep underwater. We decided it was too dangerous to cross as the water was very fast flowing. In the dry season it would be possible to complete a round walk, but we had to return the way we had come.

Upper falls (you can see Tim inspecting the bridge)

We headed back to Vashisht passing a group of Indian tourists who were paddling in a pool at the bottom of the waterfall. In the area near the temple we found a bakery selling delicious apple pie and coffee, where we lingered for a while. Vashisht seems to have two sides to it – a typical Himalayan village and a hippie hangout. There were all sorts of adverts for yoga, rebirthing, crystal healing – you get the picture. A couple of westerners we spotted looked like they had been permanent residents since the mid 1970s.

We headed back to Old Manali. Our hotel manager told us that the group of young travellers who had been hanging around for weeks at our guesthouse had finally left, even the American who had been there since May. Several had headed for Leh on the Himachal Pradesh Tourism bus. We had already decided that we didn’t fancy doing the Manali to Leh road trip in one day without acclimatisation. We planned to head for Keylong, 3000 metres above sea level the next day, where we would spend a few days before trying to get a shared taxi to Leh. We hoped to return to the Manali/ Vashisht area on our way back to Delhi in a few weeks time.