Aru

A short (well, 12km) walk from Palagam, is the village of Aru - even more remote and thankfully not on the Indian tourist trail - I think i was the only person staying in a guesthouse. I only spent 1 night, but the extra peace was great, and it really was beautiful. The village is much more traditional, and I ate with the family who runs the guesthouse, which meant I got to try some of the - rather spicy - local foods. Very simple but a nice change.

I went for a long solo hike, despite the warning of 'bears, tigers, lions, panthers and terrorists' that apparently roamed the area - despite there still being snow on the ground and all of them most likely still being asleep. I was 20mins from the peak i had aimed for when it started to snow, and then thunder, and I beat a hasty retreat back down to the village. What was snow on the hills though, was rain further down, and I was glad for my waterproof jacket and thermals - first time they have been used since i got to India. The cheap jacket managed to keep most of the water out, but the Californian designed day-bag is most certainly NOT waterproof. Will have to treat it when i get back to England.

Had a conversation about wrestling with the village kids, something i know nothing about, but by all accounts is the most popular thing to watch on TV.