Hiking - the western way

I know I've said this before - in teh context of camping- I felt it again yesterday when we went out "hiking" on a trail from Puffer;s pond to a reservoir about 3 miles away from it. I am nowhere near a good hiker, and I always howl and get all jelly-legged in the treks that I take back home in the Himalayas. But I cannot refrain from saying "Those were the REAL things!" Yesterday;s trek, for example, was pretty no doubt but how can a wood be a wood if the sides are lined with giant houses, how can wilderness be wild if you can see an electric pole in front of you?Yes, treks in India are dangerous, if you fall down a cliff and get washed away by the river - no one can dial 911 for help but then what wd you rather have concrete and security or wild dangerous fun!!
ok eye hurts, more to follow

Hot springs and stubby trees

Will complete the story on rest of Leh later. I feel like writing on my more recent trip to the Hot springs and this amazing desert Joshua tree near LA instead. This was one of our shorter trips but that didn't make it any less memorable. BTW it was shorter mostly cos we had such a packed weekend that we couldn't ahve dreamt of leaving town before saturday - YUP I AM SHOWING OFF! On Friday went for this amazing Beth Orton concert at Avalon. My dream of standing right near the stage and looking up at the performer and singing and screaming along with the crowd came true!.



So early on Saturday morning we left for Desert hot springs which is supposed to be a less commercial version of Palm springs. I was a bit apprehensive since the trip reminded me of what these rich what-do-we-do-wtih-our-new-found-money call center kids do in delhi nowadays - drive off to a hotel in jaipur and just drink there... But, it was SO much better! Desert Hot springs is a great weekend resort if all that you are looking for is relaxing in pools, jacuzzis and saunas full of fresh mineral water. Since both A and I are water lovers we decided this was the thing for us (he decided, I got convienced later on). The place we wree staying at was the cutest little B&B possibe - thsi place called Highland resort with bizarre looking wooden masks, statues, old time charms, medieval wall papers and rugs and golden bed posts! It was a wierd mix of cheap and antique and totally adorable. Ofcourse the best things there were the indoor hot spring jacuzzi with bright blue tiles and cute grasshopper pots with hanging vines and cacti surrounding it, the medium sized pool, another sauna, a steam room and the brilliant surroundings - snow covered mountains while you are resting in a naturally heated pool sipping some beer/bacardi coke! OHHH it was heaven :)

We had decided to make this a total reliving undergrad days for A so to complete the pool-sauna-beer routine we had also stacked up our cooler with BBQ stuff - salmon and sausages for me the carnivore and and tofurkey for my healthy lil boy (he is going to scream at this description!) One thing we had not anticipated was the winds blowng at 100 miles/hour over our bbq pit - our 2 hour attempt at lighting the coals was really something, our clothes smelled of coal and salmon, A's hair became an Afro but we did not give in!

On the way back to LA - A took a detour to show this amazing place Joshua Tree to me. He goes there to camp with his friends - that place was REALLY something. i wish we had more time (but I had a plane to catch), cos I could spend hours just wonedring up and donw the varios rocks, sitting in the nooks and crannies, feeding squirrels and marveling the bizarre looking vegetation - teh Joshua trees. I can;t even imagine how surreal the place must look at night when the moon shines on the rocks and on those ghostly looking trees. We had time to quickly do a bbq (u guessed right, food means a lot to the two of us!), click snaps, feed a few squirrels and just marvel the neauty of the place.