Indian means of transport

I'm getting used to move by foot instead of taking vehicles! Although this trekking has been something different from the Annapurna circuit I did before... If Nepal was prepschool, Ladakh was college. The trek included everything: an ever disappearing path, river crossings through overkneedeep currents, bivouacing a night under the starfilled sky, and even sustaining a whole day on only four chocolate bars - involuntarily, because we ran out of food! I'm glad J. saved his last bar for me; if not there could have been an catastrophe... This time there were no teahouses to recover at nights, so we stayed in homestays in the few villages along the way. Mostly the houses had electricity, but not water. And I mean: Not only no running water, but no water at all, not even a bathroom. Imagine how I adored the first hot shower after coming back to Leh! And even so, I would have loved to go on some days more because of the incredible scenery and the lonely wilderness we found on the way. There are photos in the album "Indus valley" at Picasa. Unfortunately, right on top of the most beautiful pass my camera run out of battery... Just imagine that the landscape became even more beautiful after the last shot!
As if the Indus valley hadn't been adventure enough, we went the day after the trek on a three-day-trip by taxi to Manali. The 420 km long highway from Leh to Manali is famous for its beauty in midst of the mountains - and for its dangers due to horrid road conditions and reckless drivers. Unfortunately, our taxidriver was no exception. If you ever think of getting a driver in Ladakh: choose carefully and test him before... If not, he might turn out a psycho who takes out his rage on you, speeding at the switchbacks until your heart stops.
We shared the cab with an Indian couple our age, whose company I enjoyed a lot! Already the first day we dived into intercultural conversations about feminism, world politics, religion... Well, everything your parents tell you not to use as a smalltalk topic. It was very interesting to share their opinions as proud, progressive Indians about India, Europe and all the rest. We went on together very well, luckily enough, because we spent around eight hours each day crammed in the taxi! (Did you do the maths? That's an average speed of 17,5 km/h... ). Means of transport may change... the moving speed doesn't differ so much!