Kathryn prepares to leave for India

Greetings! I've created this blog so that Karen, Michelle, Shandra, my sister Nancy and others can follow our trip!

I"m leaving for Goa on May 14th, for my show with Hanuman Kambli, packed up all of my work, hope it makes it there without corners too dented. I'm also studying maps and making plans for the HP trip with John, leaving for Shimla from Delhi early morning on June 5th, by train. Part of the way is small gauge which is called the "toy train" it should be spectacular. Part of the trill will be leaving the insanely hot, humid and polluted city of Delhi and arriving in the mountains and clear air of Shimla. John will have a day and a half to experience Delhi and a day on the return side, there is lots to do, its just going to be SO HOT we won't feel like leaving the hotel.

From Shimla we will head west along the Sutlej and Sangla valleys, first stop the Bhimkali temple complex in Sarahan. We will hire cars from stop to stop, just being dropped because its hard to predict, even when looking at mileage on maps, how far it will take to get from one place to another and we don't want to be tied to a driver. We have a month, so will just take it easy, we have no particular schedule. I've been to the western part of HP, Dharmsala and Chamba, but never the east side, nor as far north as Manali. If we end up moving through the eastern part more quickly than I anticipated, we will head to Dharmsala.

To follow our route, a Lonely Planet traveler kindly sent me this map, www.masterlyinactivity.com/spiti/map
You can see Shimla and then the next stop Sarahan, to Kalpa and Sangla, the north to the ancient gompas near the Chinses border, Tabo, Kasa, Kibber and Ki.