Despite having went to bed at 2 am I managed to get up around 8 or so.   Got ready and went down for breakfast – some toast, fried eggs, potatoes, grilled fish and a donut.   While I was eating I think I spotted a few potential people from the group.

Lounged around the breakfast room and then confirmed the group briefing time and went to the pool for a quick swim.   The pool was nice and definitely made the heat very pleasant. 
As I was leaving the pool I met Julia from the UK, who was also in the group.   After a brief introduction I went up to change and told her I’d be down in a bit.  Got changed and went down to the bar for a beer.   Met Julia in the restaurant and chatted and then met Cheryl, who is sharing her room.   We then met some of the others in the group for the briefing.   The 3 that were on the organized flight had had their briefing earlier and there was apparently one more coming in later.   The other 2 were Kevin (from Scotland) and Danny (from London).  The guide Ranjeev mentioned that a couple had canceled last minute. 

After the briefing the 5 of us went to have lunch and chat in the restaurant.   Then Julia and I went to the pool and the other 3 went sightseeing.   The pool was nice and we ran into Steve, who was on the group flight and who’d been posting on the group Internet board before the trip.   After the swim had a quick shower and then met Julia in the bar.   Danny joined us after they returned and then we met the other members of the group – Chris (from Australia), William (from the UK), and Jouni (Finnish from the UK).  Chris was apparently the one who was to arrive later but she had actually arrived the previous day. 

We went for dinner to the same place I had gone last year.   I had some lamb kebabs and paneer parantha.  

After dinner we went back to the hotel and Julia,  Danny and I went for a nightcap (water for Julia and I as we already had a few beer).  Since our flight over the Himilayas to Leh leaves at 5:15 am and we are leaving the hotel at 2:30, we called it a night at 9.  Typing this up now and heading to bed for a brief sleep before the 2am wake up call. Hoping that the wifi will be working in Leh so I will aim to post more tomorrow, including more photos. 

Managed to wake up around 8:30 after getting to bed so late.   Had some breakfast in the hotel restaurant,  Eggspectations, which is apparently Canadian,  according to the menu.   After breakfast I went to the spa for a massage to relax after the long day of travel yesterday. Good massage and steam room. 

Then went to check out the pool.   No people there but lots of horns from the traffic around the hotel.   Went back to the room for a bit of a rest and to get the wifi running.   Ended up taking a lengthy nap. 

Went for dinner in the hotel’s Indian restaurant.   

Had some mutton kebabs which were not on a skewer but wrapped around a green onion instead.   Also had some rice,  garlic naan and some black lentil dal.  Was a lot of food and the server kept dishing up more.   

After dinner headed back to the room.  Still tired so will try to get to bed at a reasonable time.   The rest of the group will be arriving tomorrow morning so there will be a group meeting sometime tomorrow. 

It is 3 weeks from today until I leave for my trip to India.  On this trip I will be doing a 7 day trek in the Markha Valley near Leh, which is in the top left corner of India wedged between Tibet to the east, Pakistan to the West and China to the north.  I have also booked a few days to explore the Golden Triangle – Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.  While the Leh area should be quite pleasant, the weather conditions in the Golden Triangle area are likely to be less than ideal.

For more details on the trip, check out the Trip Notes here.

It sounds like I should have access to wifi (apart from during the 7 day trek) so I am hoping to have a regular posts of my blogs and photos.  Stay tuned!

I have added photos from my April/May 2015 Exodus ‘Darjeeling, Sikkim and the Singalila Ridge’ trip to India.  Details on the tour can be found here.  I also did the pre-tour extension to Kashmir prior to the main trip, which was a great experience and a serene place to relax prior to the hiking and tour.  The extension accommodation was a lovely carved houseboat in Lake Dal, Srinagar.

Photos from my trip can be found here.  My trip blogs are located at https://mjmadriggaindia2015.shutterfly.com/.