Haryana and Himachal Pradesh

Getting out of Delhi was a bit of a challenge. I left early in the morning but due to the serious lack of good maps available and my poor knowledge of the city I somehow kept going in circles. In the end I gave up on going the right way and decided to follow signs to any place outside Delhi that I had on my map. This proved to be a working method and in a few hours I was well and truly out of the chaos of the city.
My first propper stop was Kurukshetra where according to Hindu teachings the universe was created. This was also where Krishna delivered his Bhagavat Gita. My room had a balcony with a view of India's largest water tank , the Bhramasarovar which according to Hindu texts was created by Lord Brahma. Kurukshetra is a place of great historical and religious importance and hence attracts many pilgrims and spiritual people who seemed to be just as interested in me as I was in them.

The following day I took the winding road to Shimla (2205m), trying to avoid cows, dogs and macaques along the way. (successfully). Shimla is nice. In many areas it has a strange European feel due to some English era buildings and the Christ Church clearly visible from most places. But wondering through the busy market and the Jakhu temple, dedicated to the monkey god Hanuman I was easily reminded of where I really am.

The road got worse but steadily more adventurous and exciting with the passing villages and views of the Himalayan foothills, at this point still thickly covered by predominantly coniferous forests.
Unfortunately at around 3000m above sea level the bike started loosing power. The spark plugs were covered in carbon. I knew that the air filter is clean as I cleaned it just before setting off to Himachal Pradesh. The problem was that since Greece I have not been able to find the correct grade oil. I had this problem in Turkey whilst riding up Mount Nemrut.
Miles away from anywhere with a considerable community I resolved to change the spark plugs which improved the situation a little and with some difficulty got up to Nako Lake (3662m) near the border with Tibet. But I knew that I would only have to go down from there on. The bike just did not want to go any higher.
The beautiful village of Nako persuaded me to stay for 3 days. First one of these I spent acclimatising to the altitude, trying out some Tibetan dishes and messing around with the bike. Seeing that the carburetor was clean too, it had to be the oil.
Feeling pretty good and overwhelmed by the beauty around me I spent the next two days on hikes. There are a few Budhist monasteries in the area, some of them quite old, where on my arrival the monks welcomed me with fresh apples that are harvested in the valleys bellow.
I was going to stay there and become a monk, but as they had no internet I realised it would be ages before I could add another fascinating post... so I changed my mind..

Now I am in Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab and Haryana. The bike is happy again, and so am I. A motorcycle mechanic here agrees that it was probably the oil...oh well- low altitude it is then...until I get the right oil at least.