In my sleep I had been dreaming of a world shattered by a never ending continuum of problems, and in the final moment of that planets existence a singular angel stood out above the smoldering ruins, it looked down and reached out to me. Just as the angel reached me, I felt myself being shaken awake, it was Michael and it was time to get Blake back.I left the Hotel alone and walked through the now busy streets of Manali's central district. It was quite early perhaps 7 or so, and everyone it seemed was very much awake and full of purpose. As I walked down that road I saw a man with no legs riding on a kind of skateboard with what I can only guess was his 4 year old son at the front. He steered and propelled the board with his back hand, while the boy warned those ahead of their presence. It was a touching sight to be sure, but one that I would see again a few times through out our journey.When I got to the bus station, (basically an empty lot the size of a football field full of buses and people waiting to meet and greet their friends and relatives or to get on a bus and leave themselves) I really had to go to the bathroom, but no matter how many people I asked, the location of this mysterious place was always in another direction.I waited for about 30 minutes, and then a large (Volvo Rip off) Bus came into the lot. It parked, 10 or so people came out and then there was Blake. As soon as I saw him I started yelling out, "Taxi, Hotel, Motel, Food, Taxi!!" All the while the Indian guys whose jobs I was taking looked onwardly at me with amusement. A foreign girl was there too, she looked quite confused and at a loss as for what to do, so we let her come along with us, we found her hotel, and bid her farewell.When we all met up again back at the hotel, Vinay and the girls suggested we go Zorbing, which is basically 2 people strapped to the inside of a rubber sphere and rolled down a hill. The ride there was beautiful, lots of rivers and scenic mountain views, and all kinds of thrill seeking tourists. when we got there it was more of a county fair then anything else. There were booths for food and drinks, games and activites and plenty of people to fill the seats. There were these crazy tailed horses there too, being led by what must have been indian versions of rodeo handlers.Sandeep went up the hill and was going to do it but came back down and said it was way too dirty and smelly for him, of course that all was true but we still gave him a hard time about it. I think Wadood just came to see what it was like, he never even planned on trying it, which was fine cuase the more people that came the cheaper it all was. Next up was Varsha and Nillma, they payed a little extra and went up the hill a little higher than everyone else. They said it was fun and it obviously would have been, but they wouldn't let Blake and I go from the top of the mountain so we didn't do it either, a fact that I think Sandeep appreciated quitely to himself. For the rest of the day all we did was eat, Blakes favorite activity.We made arrangements to leave for Leh and at 1:00 am said our goodbyes to Michael, Jerry, Clement, Wadood and Sandeep. It was a sad moment because we had bonded really well with everyone, but a moment of excitement non the less, for we were about to go yet another step forward into the eternal mystery of adventure.At 2:00 am we go on the "force" van and from that point on began our never ending journey through out all the scenes of The Land Before Time series, minus the thick jungles and forests. It would be the craziest, most painfull and dilerious one way journey of our lives, in which our greatest mistake was choosing the back of the van as our seats. Imagine a rollercoaster ride that does nothing but bumb you up down and all around without interuption for 18 hours, now imagine that the temperature is freezing half the time and burning the rest of the time. At one point for about 4 hours Blake and I were wrapped in our Sleeping bags doing all in our power to fall asleep as the cold chill of night came from all sides. It's a ride you cannot get off of and cannot take a break from, truely a vision of the 7th circle of hell. On the other hand the views were breath taking and the air pure as freashly fallen snow,which there was a ton of every which way you looked, sometimes we were driving on the road with 8 feet of snow on either side of us, and even though it might have been self induced psychosis we did fall asleep for minutes at a time, or so it seemed anyways. On the way to Leh, we stopped a few times at little camps that I can best describe as businesses that exist souly for the purpose of tending to the travelers that come accross this road during the 3 month period that it is free of snow. After which time they disappear and return again the following Summer.When we finally got to Leh there was no pleasure greater than leaving that god forsaken van for the last time. A man from Thailand that I had met and had noodles with in the camps before our arrival was supposed to join us but decided on finding his own place. Blake and Vinay set out into the night to find us accomodation while the girls and I tended to the luggage, but even that didn't last long, the girls got tired of waiting for them to return and left me to fend off the Heathens and mad men all by my loansome, which I found amusing to say the least. Vinay returned what seemed to me like hours later and we took a taxi to our hotel. We had Dinner at the Leh View Resturant and our waiter was a total hybrid of Anthony Hernandez and Patrick Landes, (two people we know from back home, one of which is blakes cousin) he got all the prices of my food wrong but the pizza was still very good. We got back to the hotel and I curled up in my sleeping bag to welcome with open arms the sweet release of a good nights rest.