2 guys send me on the wrong road. There's always someone who stops to check on you. The connector road is a beauty through the other part of town, winding down a slope to the main road, great views.
Rolling downhill on the main road is long, smooth, along the side of the mountain.
In India, noone can hear your bolts rattling off. On the rough uphill section, one Ortlieb bag is sadly dangling on a single hook. Seems a nut fell off which secured the other hook so I am stuffed. I thought I had some bolts somewhere, can't find them. After wondering what is Hindi for 4mm hex head bolt, spot some in the bike frame. This nut works perfectly. I check, tighten and adjust the others, like I should have done 100ks ago, and we're off again.
Kotkhai is very peaceful, perched on the side of a hill, until some cars block each other and start seriously leaning on the horn.
I stop to pick up a kilo of sweets then chat to a guy from Delhi who is there to visit his sister.
The road from there winds around the old fascinating fort. 3 cars stop to say hello and ask questions on the way, one time 2 stopoed at once side by side blocking the road. 2 of them are at the weddings in the village later, so I say we met already.
Rishabh gets me to stop at the local shops, where he can pick me up. Annyrude, his brother, is there a well. We roll straight to a wedding and I meet half the town, including the very nice young man who checked on me just out of Kotkhai, and Annyrude's wife Ayushree. She has a Masters in microbiology, writes reports for the US FDA, compiled from doctors findings resulting from the use of new drugs. One brother has a degree in Engineering, the other in business.
We visited, I think, Tarun and Vivek's place. I meet their 97yo granma who gets excited, plus the sick mum of Vivek who has a dialysis machine. The brothers some to help us this.
Walking on, there are the original homes, tightly packed together for protection, thick stone slate rooves, mostly wood, with the lower floor reserved for views etc which keep the home very warm. The ancestral home is here, it's verging on being a palace.
Day two is another wedding. I meet many people. I had a nap around 3pm, that was awesome. Dances with a very funny guy who looks like Riet. The road contractor guy called Kakul I think, looks like ex PM Paul Keating.
The groom worked in the Kinnaur Valley, so many guests are dressed traditionally-same same but very different. The Valley leads to China and many have very Asiatic looking faces. Their music, which sounds the same, gets them all up dancing.
The wedding music here sounds like Indian reggae. I like it a lot, it's addictive, catchy and easy to dance to.
Day three. My home is about 1500m and faces into the morning sun. After about 8am it is positively warm. Rishabh plays some bamboo flute. I hung out my hand washed undies and socks in the sun.
We go up the mountain to see the new temple under construction. Forgive me, I can't remember the deity. Then we do in on their cousin for lunch, his dad, and his wife who had a Masters in English literature asking with a good collection of books. They are at 2200m with expansive views over the valley. We walked to a sacred lake with the fish you're not allowed to eat, besides being vego.
Further on there are views to the Himalayas proper. The jagged snow capped peaks are around 6000m according to Tarun. Another cousin is up there. He collects a bag load of rubbish, explaining that people drink, leave rubbish, and it's their place so he cleans it.
We inspect where he will get married in 6 months, next to yet another temple, on a field overlooking everything.
We go to his home for a cup of tea. It's also 2200m. They have made concrete steps up to the home in prep for the wedding. They are slightly off camber. I mention spirit levels but I think this point is missed, and they are done now anyway, and look very good. Taruns mum is on the wall. She died when he was 6 months old. His dad died during covid. Taruns mum is the sister of the father of the cousin here called Sunhash? Tarun and home are 1st cousins.
