389049 5 Location 529487 <p>If i can remember right it was a 4 or 5 hour hike up to triund from mcleod. not a very hard or steep hike and you walk through some lovely village scenes. but its tiring enough, and when you reach the top you are blown away by what you see. there is a grassy plateu on the top and on the other side a huge mountain. its really amazing. </p><p>i had arranged to go up with a local guy named norbu who i later became very good friends with and who is now living in america. We had the plan to just sleep under the stars with sleeping bags around a fire but after chatting to a guide who was there with a group of students we changed our mind. he told stories of all the dead tourists he'd found huddled in the rocks up there and how cold it gets at night. We had come unprepared but luckily the guide was kind enough to let us jump in his tent.</p><p>Before we went to sleep though we sat around a fire listening to stories about black leopards who steal sheep and sometimes people from triund. these were told by the local gedhi man who had a little shop selling chai and a few biscuits up on the mountain. This story enforced even more the need to be sleeping in the safety and comfort of a tent. Although when you get up there and look up at the night sky you'll see why we wanted to sleep in the the open. The sky is not black but white, full of all the stars and galaxies&nbsp;you dont usually see in the city.</p><p>So we went to sleep and it was cold, i had been in tibet before here and that was colder but because of our lack of preparation we were colder than we should've been. The next morning we got up early, saw the beautiful sunrise to a cup of warm chai and it was magical. there were a few students up there from america who had come up with the guide so we had a little game of cricket up there. Unfortunately the ball kept going over the hill and.. gone. we ended up rolliing up socks to use as balls until we realised we needed them.</p><p>i wanted to stay up there forever, it was so peaceful and beautiful up there and you didnt feel a worry in the world but because we came up with nothing and winter was growing closer everyday we thought we better head back.</p><p>All up though, anyone who goes to mcleod ganj and can walk, go up there.. its worth every step.</p> 2007-07-25T12:07:15-07:00 285212955 2005-11-11T16:00:00-08:00 0 16 217898 5132810 389049 0 243683 0.0 2005-11-09T16:00:00-08:00 Published 0.0 2007-07-25T12:26:39-07:00 96694 0