Aug 31, 2005 - Dharamsala

We're in the home of the Dalai Lama, and i'm going to follow in his footsteps and be the embodiment of compassion. This wasn't how i felt on our bus journey here from Manali. We travelled on a luxury bus (which means two seats together not three and the seats recline)which left at 7.30pm and would arrive in Dharamsala at 4.30am. Well i was sat in front of a guy who had deemed it part of his spiritual enlightenment to not wash for 2 months, god did he smell bad! and a group of young guys who decided they were going to smoke their chillum for...

Jul 26, 2005 - I think there might be drugs around here

McLeod Ganj is unique. Home to the Dalai Lama in exile, thousands of Tibetan refugees and a gentler species of Indian, the town attracts a mulitude of backpackers. Everyone is on a search. Everyone is engaged in the struggle for the freedom of the Tibetan homeland, empowering Tibetan refugees with basic English phrases. So many people practising yoga. So many people radiating bliss. So many people clearly smoking much weed. The town is perched on the slopes of a verdant valley, and maroon-cloaked monks peacefully go about their business...

Jul 16, 2005 - Shimla - Dharamsala & McLeod Ganj, India

Von Mumbai aus reise ich mit dem Rajdhani Express nach New Delhi. In New Delhi warte ich auf Monika, welche mich die naechsten fuenf Wochen begleiten wird. Mit der Himalayan Queen geht es weiter nach Kalka wo wir auf den Shimla Toy Train umsteigen und nach 103 Tunnel in Shimla, einer Hill Station, ankommen. Shimla ist jedoch enttaeuschend, fuer uns aber sowieso nur ein Zwischenhalt. Also weiter mit dem Bus nach McLeod Ganj. Wir sind genau eine Stunde zu spaet! Der Dalai Lama hat soeben eine seiner grossen Reden gehalten. Und nun zieht er...

Jul 12, 2005 - I hear it relaxes your...

My first dinner in McLeod Ganj was Micheal's leaving dinner. He introduced me to Ellie, Shanta, Emily, Gavin, Jerimiah and smoking bedis. Bedis are a small amount of cut tobacco rolled in a tobacco leaf. They have a pink thread tied around one end so you know which end to hold and which end to light. In most Indian streets you can buy packs of 23 for four rupees, making each bedi worth about as much as the butane it takes to light one, and to keep it lit, because bedis will extinguish themselves when you exhale. They prove that words like...

Apr 27, 2005 - Dharamsala / McLeod Ganj sketches

Here I am, over a week now in Dharamsala. The past few weeks have been a blur, moving from Pushkar to Delhi to Shimla to Manali to here, so I won't try to lay everything out sensibly. So in no special order, here's a few flashbacks from recently: - In Shimla, walking up to the monkey temple of Hanuman with a rather depressed-looking guy who struck up conversation in the market below. He was an unemployed teacher, and left long pauses before replying to anything. The path was lined with monkeys, mothers and babies, who didn't take kindly to...

Apr 24, 2005 - Dharamsala

I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Dharamsala looking outside where it is steadily raining. There might be some flakes of snow falling from above the doorway, but that's impossible--its too warm. Maybe those flakes are wind-blow castaways of wool coming down the rain gutters from one of the many sheep I've seen plying the streets, but those sheep look like the milking kind not sheering type. They aren't puffy enough. Actually, if there is or isn't a difference in types of sheep; I don't know. I've been sick for the past few days, spending...

Mar 29, 2005 - Macleodganj and the home of the Dalai Lama

Dawn here: Off to the home of the Dalai Lama. Now this train journey was a favourite as we ditched the plush first class trains and travelled on the standard train along with the rest of India! Our first 4 hours we were something of a celebrity group with heaps of Sikhs crowding around us to chat about life in the west, and of course cricket. You win many, many brownie points being an Australian travelling in India, as we have the common love of cricket. The drawback being that every thing that you do, be it buying food, train tickets or...

Feb 5, 2005 - Road trip to Mcleod Ganj

After 3 hours sleep we finally embarked on a 12-hour jeep ride up to Mcleod Ganj, the foot hills of the Indian Himalayas. My companions are; Ketty, her sister Diana and her boyfriend Pete. We were "educated", in the finer details of Indian driving. I came up with a list of " Indian Road Rules", that all Indians fervently adhere too: 1) Horns are to be used at All times. Whether it be too; worn a truck that your behind, scare a cow out of your path, hail a friend, overtake a car in front of you. Or simply use for the hell of it, horns are...

Feb 2, 2005 - The Himalayas

From the sun and sand to the snow and cold in two days. Didn't I leave Alaska to get away from the stuff? From Delhi it was a full day of railin' and bussin' up to Amritsar, near the Pakistan border. Indian train rides are endlessly entertaining, though they can test your nerves. The cheapest class is the best: you can stick lean out of the cars and let the wind blow through your hair as the countryside passes by, the people are the lively and friendly, every train stop is a circus of young boys parading through shrieking about the goods...

Jan 8, 2005 - Mcleodganj

Greetings from Mcloadganj, home of the Tibetian Government in exile. This is a beautiful and peaceful place. My hotel is a little off the beaten path with helps, and has a magnificant view of valley. I am at the top of a mountain about 6000ft for so and can see for what must be miles and miles around. Behind me I can see the snow white caps of the beginning of the Himalayan Mountains. Beautiful! The town itself is a bit crowded, tourists seem as plentiful as locals, but still not nearly as overwhelming as Delhi or Amritsar. The only way I...

Sep 19, 2004 - Delhi-Mcleod Ganj

What a night...more like what a nightmare! We arrived yesterday morning at 7.30am, 14 hours after we boarded the bus and 15 hours after we left our hotel. We booked the middle seats 17,18 - in the middle of the bus, great we thought... guess what, no numbers on the seats and 17,18 had 'gone' already. Luckily Debbie and Mike had warned us about such procedures and I had handled putting the luggage aboard while Em got on the bus. We settled for a seat near the middle. It was not really a suprise to hear almost every single one of the next 20...

Aug 1, 2004 - Dharamsala...

17 hours after boarding a bus in Delhi we arrived in Dharamsala. Our seats... the very back of the bus on a bench shared with 3 others representing Malta, Australia, and Korea. The 10 hour trip took an extra 7 as we took back roads (sometimes on 1 lane dirt roads) to avoid road closures. We spent today sleeping. Dharamsala is incredible. It is placed on a mountain ridge with an incredible view. The sweltering Delhi weather has been replaced with a cool day of rain. The town is teeming with folks from all over the world here to soak up the...