![Dangerous high mountain road on the way to Leh, India](https://www.travelhoppers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/shutterstock_129366401-750x500.jpg)
We crept past the sleeping desk clerk and out of the hotel at 1.30 am, walking through Old Manali in the pouring rain. Stray dogs howled and a rat scurried across the street in front of us. Along with my partner Teresa, I had been traveling in India for a few months. I both loved and hated this fascinating, vibrant, consuming and sometimes shocking country. Although there were times when I wished I was elsewhere, …