The First Steps A Doozie... Pt. 3!

I turned my head almost in exaggeration to ask the man next to me if we were in Manali yet. I'm sure he was absolutely sick of my pestering. "No no no.." I saw some signs that said Manali hotel, so this must be Manali! Right? The bus kept going. Seriously if this isn't Manali what is? The bus rambled up a tiny street where only one car could fit at a time, but still cars managed to get by somehow. I noticed more and more hotels as we ascended through the crowded road in the middle of the night. I began to get excited mainly because I wanted to get out off this death trap of a vehicle and breathe fresh air. There were more bright flashy lights in the distance. "Could this be?" At this point I doubted that this place even existed since every time I thought we were there it turned out that we weren't. But shortly thereafter we found ourselves submerged in a small but noisy town full of bright colorful lights. We had finally arrived in Manali! I got up from my seat with my backpack and sat down next to the bus driver in anticipation of getting off. However if there was one thing I learned from this trip its that it is wise to wait until the bus has made a complete stop before departing. Someone from the street must have seen me get up with my backpack and decided to jump on the bus while it was still moving. I thought nothing of it. He then tried to initiate a conversation with me, but I was far to tired and angry to care. When that didn't work he moved to the seat directly across from me and started smiling at me. "What does this guy want!" I wondered. Without even uttering a "Hello" or "How are you?" he casually said "You need a hotel? I can get you one" I took one look at him and in disgust got up from my seat, walked to the folding doors and jumped off the bus. I didn't care if it hadn't come to a complete stop yet or if it still had a mile to go, I just needed to get off. I didn't know where I was going at the time but I just needed to find this Inn and get away from everybody. I had my Lonely Planet book in hand and tried to make sense of the map but I found it quite difficult to understand. I looked around a bit trying to find Old Manali where the Inn supposedly was. A couple people saw me with my backpack on and Lonely Planet book and offered to help me find a hotel to which I immediately declined and walked away. I wasn't sure if they were trying to help me or scam me but either way I wasn't going to trust them. I started to follow a long dark street away from the loud, crowded town in order to collect my thoughts. I honestly had no idea how to get to this place, and thought of asking for help but then thought that I might be scammed again. Needless to say I had lost what little trust I still had for people. The only light illuminating the street came from cars and auto-rickshaws that bolted pass me. They came so close that I could almost feel them and each time one would honk I would instinctively jump out of the way as if I were about to get hit. I kept walking and walking and eventually came to a bridge that crossed a wide river. There were signs on the other side of the bridge for shops and hotels, however no Drifters. Referring back to my Lonely Planet book I tried to figure out where I was, no such luck and tucked it back under my jacket as if too hide the fact that I was lost. No too far away was a Himalayan Tourist Center but I was very weary of entering such a place after my first experience but my choices were very limited at this point. I didn't want to get taken advantage of again so I started thinking of a good lullaby to tell the service man so he'd assume I was a seasoned traveler. Walking up to the door I realized just how brightly lit this place was and stepped inside where I was greeted by the service man. "Drifters Hotel" I said in a somewhat Indian ascent trying to blend in. He probably took me for an idiot. He told me that he didn't know where the Inn was but his driver might, then yelled something across the hall. I was a little bit concerned that he hadn't heard of the Inn being that it was such a small town and all. A driver with a very reserved demeanor walked over and quietly asked where I was going which led to a back and forth conversation between the two men that I couldn't understand. "Yes I can take you" he said to which I had become savvy on and asked how much. 100 rupees, it was a deal! I quickly rushed out the door with the driver, jumped in the rickshaw and drove off. We found ourselves driving up hill on what seemed to be a small street but quickly turned into a dirt road then back to a street. I saw acouple really nice hotels on the way that were lit up like a christmas tree. If I couldn't find this place then I was just going to walk back and beg them for a room. I was quite worried that this place would turn out to be a sham and I would be S.O.L. I stuck my head out from the rickshaw to try and see where we were going and from far away I could make out a red illuminated sign that said something... Drifters!!! I was almost there, after everything that had happened to me in the span of one day (the longest day of my life) I was almost to the finish line. The driver made an abrupt stop right outside the downstairs cafe. I almost rubbed my eyes in amazement. I stepped out of the rickshaw, gave the driver 100 rupees and just starred for a few seconds. The cafe was beautiful to say the least. I could see people inside laughing and having a good time while playing various board games and smoking Sheesha. I couldn't wait outside any longer and proceeded to walk through the front door. Once inside I took a longer gander. I felt like i had stepped into a completely different world. The cafe had a very Feng Shui vibe to it, the lighting was very mellow and peaceful, the furniture was gorgeous, nice and sturdy wood chairs and tables, even the music was enjoyable. There was a group of people sitting against the back wall on some traditional flat cushions smoking out of a Hookah and enjoying themselves. Nobody seemed to pay me any mind which for the first time in my life was a relieving sight, I was kinda tired of getting weird looks. The owner of the Inn, Nishant, probably saw me and thought that I had never seen a cafe before. I turned my attention to the front desk where he was standing and walked over to introduce myself but before I could he said "You must be Richie". I grabbed his hand and graciously shook it as if I was graduating from college. "Yes" I said. He was a very nice man that looked like he could be in his late to mid 20's with a shaved head and a clean appearance, I almost mistook him as an American. We talked for a bit in the warm cafe before we went to his office to fill out paper work. It was almost 9 PM when I had arrived which meant that the cafe and staff were going to close for the night so I had arrived just in the nick of time. It was funny I thought, that if my taxi driver or bus driver decided to drive at the speed limit then I would probably would have to camp outside for the night or find a different hotel. Nishant inquired about my travels and I told him of my journey up to Manali in an exhausted voice. I think he was in disbelief at the time but I later filled him in on what had happened. We laughed about it and I eventually filled out all of the paper work for the room. I was so tired from all the traveling that I took an extra few moments resting on his comfortable grey couch with my head against the wall and starred at the ceiling. I was finally relaxing. He asked if I wanted help carrying my backpack up to my room, I accepted the generous offer and pulled myself from the couch. A porter around my age was waiting outside the door for me to follow him to my room. As I began to follow him Nishant told me that the kitchen was about to close pretty soon but considering my situation he'd keep it open for another 15 minutes. I felt blessed to say the least, I hadn't eaten for almost a day and was very weak. I walked up three flight of stairs and was showed to room 105 (I knew of course that there wasn't 105 rooms in the medium sized hotel). The porter handed me the key and my backpack, to which I bowed and said with the utmost gratitude "Namaste". I then unlocked the door and pushed it open, then searched for the light. There it is...Click! The room was better then I had ever imagined. I felt like collapsing on the bed and passing out but knew my body needed sustenance. I threw my back pack up against the wall, locked the door and walked downstairs almost in a daze. I once again entered the cozy cafe, and sat down at the closest table I could find. A humble server gave me a menu and told me that he'd give me a few minutes to decide, he could tell that I was pooped. I took a glance at the menu and knew what I wanted. Pizza and Curry. I handed the menu back to the server with a smile and he gave me a quirky head nod which seems to be a custom in India (I haven't got it down yet though). I wanted to fall asleep on the sofa like chair. The place was so nice, I was amazed that everything had worked out so perfectly almost like it all had a purpose. Within a couple minutes the server returned with a plate of delicious looking food. He set it down and said "Enjoy". I wanted to hug him but couldn't move away from my dinner, it looked too good. I plowed through the food with utter satisfaction. I felt complete. Each plate was polished off and cleaned in a fast manner. I held my stomach, enjoyed the atmosphere, and talked for a little longer before saying my thank you's and goodnight's then went back too my room and passed out immediately. That night I slept for 13 hours straight, I haven't done that in years. My first day in India was over, and I couldn't have picked a better spot to end up in.