We lunch with a man Rohit is working with – that night he takes us to his home, where I meet his daughter and wife, both dark-eyed and shy.  I want to talk to them, even though they barely speak a word of English, and gesture that I’d like to help in the kitchen.  Of course, I’m hustled straight back into the salon – it’s unthinkable that a guest would lift a finger in an Indian home. We eat excellent sag paneer and chapattis, pickled vegetables and fluffy rice, sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking out into the valley...

And then I hear a growl.  I jump a metre high.  It’s a low growl, not an angry roar admittedly, but it’s scared me witless.  This isn’t Alaska, where Grizzlies climb trees for for a tasty bite and it’s not Africa, where lionesses dine out on hapless safari tourists every year.  I’m in apple country, for god’s sake, and only 2kms from a noisy city centre.   But I know what I heard – I’d bet my last rupee on it.    I look right, look left, I look in front and…my goodness, it’s an enormous brown bear, with huge soulful eyes, looking me straight in the eye... 

I am rooted to the spot.  I shut my eyes, open them again and look once more.  It is not my imagination – in front of me are the Himalayas.   And all of the words I’ve always thought might do them justice – awe-inspiring, imposing, majestic, overwhelming, superb – fail me.  I am utterly overwhelmed.  They stretch as far as the eye can see, these craggy, untamed, structures, their peaks covered in pure white snow.  I cannot help but gasp.  I have seen a few sights in my time…but this?  Truly a room with a view, and all for the princely sum of $9...