Probably the final posting

Afternoon, well, its a scorcher out here and has been the last 3 days so i've sought refuge in the one half decent internet place in town to bring you up to speed.

The week started with a day and a half of teachings from HH the Dalai Lama. According to the local news there were about 6000 people crammed into his temple and i can believe it! The teachings were great! The DL in fine form, delivering a teaching on the 37 practices of a Bodhisattva on request of a party of monks from Thailand. (His impersonation of how Thai people speak English was hilarious!) He delivered the teaching speaking in English and Tibetan, so we listened to the Tibetan bits on our radios translated by an Indian....confused yet!? Either way, an interesting, intriguing and funny time was had.

And isnt it typical that we find the best Tibetan restaurant in town on the penultimate day! The Gyiyuk Restaurant (as opposed to the Yak Restaurant further down - love that name!) is a tiny little place, a bit like walking into a Tibetan road side cafe, not that i've had the experience yet. There's enough room for about 5 or 6 tables and you hand your order written on a small piece of paper to a small black hand that appears from behind a net curtain, separating the dining area from the 'kitchen'. The kitchen is tiny, only about big enough for one hob, over which Mrs Restaurant Owner cooks - so everything you get is totally fresh and very hot!
I may just go back tonight yet for the last meal before we depart tomorrow morning!

Today is a monlam which is a special sort of get-together of all the monks and nuns of one of the 4 sects. (Gelug - its the sect that the Dalai Lama is head of) So wandering down the streets near the main temple all you can hear is throat singing....load and low. If you've never heard it before imagine the lowest voice you've ever heard and then some chanting words slowly, holding the note, its all a bit....other wordly!

This morning we left presents and donations at the nunnery and we're now on countdown really. I've started packing and Dianes friend Dawa has arranged for a taxi to pik us up at 10am and take us to the airport for the flight to Delhi. Once there its going to be very very hot, possibly mid 30s or more. I know in Mumbai further south its now reached 40 degrees! So we then have hours to kill before our flight to Dubai at about 9pm, still, it beats having to stop overnight in Delhi. Still not one of my favourite places!


And so, if all goes well i'll be touching down in Newcastle on Friday 18th at about 11.30 ish.

Until then, see you later!

More Pics

Another sunny day in Dharamshala

Dinner with Tsering and Trinley

Tibetans on the roof the DLs temple celebrating Losar

Meanwhile...what lurks downstairs...

The room next to mine....!

See, my room's not too bad!

Mind you...i dont think the TV is HD ready.

The Dalai Lamas sister in law gives a speech on Tibetan Women's Day.

Pics...Lots of Pics...

While i remember on...here are some pics of the journey so far...

The cold days before the sun came

Tibetan New Years Soup

Tibetan New Years Offerings at Geden Choling Nunnery

Butter Sculptures

Momos!

The street round the corner from my guesthouse

Suprise visit from Tom Cruise(apparently!?!)

Invasion of the Angry Hippies ...and what is in the cellar...?

Bloody Hippies.

Can i say that again?

Bloody Hippies!

Ah....that feels better. :-)

Ok, the reason for my outburst on our fine flared friends. Today we went to the DLs Temple as its his 2 day teaching very soon and so anyone attending has to go and try to reserve a place to sit on the floor. They key word here is TRY.

So we watched a couple of Japanese carefully place a piece of blue plastic sheeting on the floor to clearly mark out where they and their friends wanted to sit. Then only a few minutes later, in front of them, this hippy in his late forties with silly hat, and multicoloured loon jacket walked in front of them, pulled their sheet to one side and slapped several pieces of cardboard down for him and his hippy friends, marking the temple floor with a black pen to stake his territory. An angry discussion took place watched by a hippy couple of the american variety (equally silly hats and lots of woolen garments) glaring at all passers by as they too now had their place staked. At the FRONT. FIRST.

...SO THERE...

Wasn't this meant to be about Buddhism....?? Hey ho.

Other Things.

We moved into the second guesthouse last night. From Hotel Tibet to Hotel India house. Diane got an upstairs delux room. I got a downstairs semi delux room. By semi delux, i think they meant 'Butlins chalet 1962'. Only in the basement. Under the kitchen. In fact just descending the stairs is a challenge unless you are 5 foot tall as there isn't quite enough headroom for someone of the 5 foot 10 variety.

Anyhow at least its quiet down there...

In the dark....

Mwuh ha haaaaa!

Ahem.

Ps: the strangest film in the world ever...as of a day or two ago is: Quick Gun Murugun. Google it. Or check this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quick_Gun_Murugun

Visit India - Lose Weight!

And hello again finally!

I'm pleased to say that i'm now feeling a little better in the delhi belly dept, with my insides remaining where they should be! So what's been happening in the meanwhile....?

The sun is still shining, in fact its getting pretty hot. The power cuts continue too, this is my third attempt at writing a blog (fingers crossed I'll make it to the end!).

So....March 10th. Tibetan Uprising Day. This was the 52nd anniversary of a failed attempt by the Tibetans against the occupying Chinese and the day when the Dalai Lama made the decision to leave his country and become an exile in India.

And 52 years later it was the day on which His Holiness gave a speech to say that he wants to devolve all political power to the Tibetan Government in Exile so that he can concentrate on spiritual matters. The DL read this speech from his temple, packed with at least a couple of thousand Tibetans and hundreds of westerners. There were delegates from many parts of the world, including Chinese and America. The Tibetan Prime Minister (in exile) gave an emotional speech asking the Dalai Lama NOT to stand down. He ended up in tears... like many Tibetans present. They just don't want him to not be leader of Tibet but he is adamant that it is time for change.

It was quite a day.

Return of the Dreaded Delhi Belly!

Well, it had to happen i guess....

I spent the whole of yesterday in my room at the guesthouse venturing only as far as the toilet....yep...the Delhi Belly had struck! Sparing you the gory details i've gone through 5 litres of water in the last day and a half to flush out my system. On the plus side this time i was almost ready for it this time as id brought pills for diaorrhea and rehydration salts. So i got to watch the repeat of the Arsenal Vs Sunderland match and Blackpool Vs Chelsea (the last 10 mins were cracking!).
\
Anyhow, today i'm slightly more with it. I managed a little tea and toast for breakfast and so far its stayed down but i don't suppose i'll be able to manage anything more exciting...which is a bit crappy as we're supposed to be having dinner with Tsering and her husband tonight. (Tsering is the English teacher at Geden Choling). Guess it'll be plain rice or soup for me!

Have taken this morning really slowly, and have been for a wander around town with Diane. Popped in to see Chigmey and Dolma at the shop down the street. Apparently Dolma thinks i look like an actor and has taken to calling me Tom Cruise! (Doesn't she know i'm taller? ;-) )

Tomorrow is the Tibetan Uprising Day and everyone is heading down to the Dalai Lama Temple for the speeches, singing and dancing followed by a march through town. It's going to be manic, the Tibetans will all be out in traditional dress and are closing their shops for the day and its noticeable that there's been an increase in the number of westerners here.

Another Sunny Day!

Hi,

Well as the title suggests, its another sunny day! All of a sudden its really hot and more like how it should be in this neck of the woods. And so I've been off for a trek to Bhagsu (the nearest town/village to Dharamshala). Diane's not so good at the physical stuff so i trekked alone out of the valley and over the hills following the winding road past the slate quarry and uphill to Bhagsu falls. On the way i had a repeat of the 'Amritsar experience' when a couple of groups of Sikh men came up to me wanting their photos taken with me! (I guess i must just look all exotic and western looking to them haha!) Anyhow, i passed quickly through Bhagsu 'town', its mostly Indian run guesthouses aimed at the more affluent backpacker and Hindu travellers heading to the nearby temple complex (with outdoor swimming pool!).

Just before you get to the falls you have to clamber over a rockface, its not too bad but you have to watch your step, particularly as the rocks get sprayed by the falls. Two Indians (about 20yrs old) came up to me asking how to get over...i pointed at the rockface and offered for them to go first. They politely declined adding that: "You go first, you probably have insurance".... er thank you.

So i did. Anyhow, it was pretty good as falls go, not a patch on a certain one in Canada but worth the trek.

So just recovering now before tea....that's my exercise for the day!

(ps: will get some more pics on here once the 3 day new year celebrations are over. At present only the Indian shops are open as all the Tibetans have popped off for a chang or two and so the only place i can upload pics is shut...and the pcs here are a little er...dusty lol.)

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! - LOSAR TASHI DELEK!

Well yesterday things definitely started to gain momentum. There was a Tibetan wedding taking place in the hotel (everyone in traditional costume) plus traditional gifts left in the reception of the guesthouse for the happy couple (a bucketful of chang: leathal tibetan beer, and a pile of cow dung - for fertility!). Out in the streets fireworks were going off everywhere, children running around like crazy singing folk songs, someone somewhere playing Bob Marley (Exodus - somewhat appropriate!), everywhere families and friends having fun!

And this morning - SUNSHINE!! At last! After yesterday's torrential rain, hailstones the size of 5p coins and thunder it was most welcome! The locals reckoned it was the end of the year and the weather using itself up to remove obstacles for the new year ahead, either way, waking to sunshine streaming through the window was great!

After breakfast of tasty banana pancake (served in my room as the majority of the staff are on Losar holiday) I went down to the Dalai Lamas temple with Diane to see what was happening as we were told that this is what people do on new years day, go to temple, visit friends, drink a little chang...all sounds quite civilised! The temple was absolutely buzzing with people, the majority in traditional dress and kids playing with new year presents (remote controlled cars seemed quite popular). After a little people watching, meditation etc we wandered off for lunch and then i popped off for a relaxing afternoon out on an observation platform overlooking the Kangra Valley with a good book.

Happy New Year!

(photos to follow another day)

Wednesday 2nd March and its still raining!

Ok so, yesterday afternoon we went back to Geden Choling for a medicine buddha puja, this is a ceremony where prayers are said for the sick and ill in the neighbourhood. The local Tibetans make donations on behalf of their ill relatives and then the name of the relative is read out as part of the ceremony.

We couldn't really take pictures of this (obviously) but if you can imagine a hall filled with about 165 nuns in red robes chanting, clashing cymbals, ringing handbells, above them a wall of intricate thangka paintings of various buddhists figures/lama/deities and at the back of the hall (where the stage would be) a throne to the Dalai Lama and a large framed picture of His Holiness....surrounded by xmas tree lights!

This ceremony went on for over 2 hours which was quite long and quite cold as the door of the prayer hall leads out into the open, luckily a nun came round with an enormous teapot a couple of times to offer butter/milky tea. Quite an experience!

Other stuff: FINALLY got a good nights sleep for the first time since leaving the UK, the amazing curry we had last night probably helped too, but i woke at 8am feeling more myself (AT LAST!). The monkeys were out in force this morning, a gang of about 7 came down the wall near my window ledge and lept across to the next guesthouse before the neighbourhood dogs chased them off, i guess the weather is pushing them more into town as they were never this close last time i was here. Oh yes, i saw a mongoose last night too out the 'back yard.'

Anyhow, Im typing this entry on a VERY rainy afternoon. According to the locals we could have rain until Sunday :-( either way today we've been over to see Phillipa, the wife of Jeremy Russell, our guide on the last trip. They live out in the Kangra valley in a beautiful cottage called very appropriately 'Paradise'. After a very tasty lunch of homemade soup, salad and jacket pots, Phillipa showed us around a number of charity projects she is involved in (a reading centre for children and a small medical centre) in the local Indian community (thats when she's not out also being a tourguide!). Either way, both very positive projects and both certainly make a difference!

And finally: Indian TV is bizarre! Last night i decided to turn on the TV for the first time since arriving and found 116 channels of bollywood, discovery channel (twice), Dalai Lama TV, a Chinese comedy that wasnt remotely funny, the Sunderland match, fake Tibetan TV (produced by China and very much propaganda - Chinese pretending to be Tibetans to convince us of what a lovely unspoilt place it is!)...and my favourite, the large bearded yogi channel. This had nothing to do with bears or pic-a-nic baskets but seemed to be a bloke with a beard doing extreme belly dancing to a crowd of thousands... while spiritual matters loudly and lewdly...only in India.

Bye for now.