Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Never ever ever ever ever take the overnight public bus from Shimla to Dharmsala. Find another way. Did share my MP3 with a little boy who was standing beside me (he declined the invite to sit on my knee - there's a first for everything). I was a little unsure as to what he would like to listen to and so I took him through the rollercoaster of tunes I'm proud of. Some T-Rex, Robbie Williams and Mr Bojangles, Michael Jackson and finally settling on the Black Eyed Peas. I could tell he was impressed. Sort of.
So, we have made it to Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj where Tibetans, hippies and Israelis live. Oh, and a few Indians. Like most of our adventure so far, we hadn't really planned this jaunt up north. So much so that we didn't know that the Dalai Lama is "teaching" this week by request from a Taiwanese Buddhist group. Accommodation was hard to come by and after arriving at 5am we had to hang around til 1pm when people checked out. We managed to have a laugh though. A few games of Uno and pisstaking saw us through the pain barrier of being awake for 27+ hours (nb. DO NOT TAKE OVERNIGHT SHIMLA-DHARAMSALA PUBLIC BUS). How the hell I managed to laugh when being that tired is anyone's guess. You know what I'm like when tired...
In short, McLeod Ganj is where it's at in terms of meditation/Buddhism/dredlocks/rebirth. Strangely enough we actually like it. It is in the mountains, good variety of food (very good Jimmy's Kitchen for Italian food) and a relaxed feel. Reminds me a lot of Brighton (swap mountains for beach) and I think that most of these tourists are actually ex-residents of the Lanes.
We have both managed to find a little bit of work and hope to pick up some more. Nat goes to the settlement just outside the town every Tuesday and has a sort of clinic thing with a doctor. She was scratching a lot yesterday and I feared she had contracted scabbies but she just wanted some attention. It does baffle me as to how she is ok with touching the great unwashed and administering suppositories yet can't pick up a daddy-long-legs or kill a cockroach. I am only teaching one hour of French a day at the moment. My class is a little bored of the previous teacher's grammar lessons and want some excitement - I'm sure I'll manage. Only have 3 people in the class.
I mentioned the Dalai Lama teaching thing, not really sure what it is about but people are talking about it a lot which makes me think it is something important. Intrigued to know more about it so Nat and I went to an afternoon lesson. Note to self: when sign says take a cushion and FM radio then it probably would make sense to do so. You need the radio to listen to the translation in English... we promptly left once Mr Lama started speaking. There were literally hundreds of people crammed into the temple to listen to him. Why? I still haven't figured this one out but I'm trying to get a book on Buddhism to enlighten myself. Problem being that I don't want to "find myself" whilst reading about it. Just want an idiot's guide sort of thing. I'm not lost. I don't need to meditate. I just want to be in on the secret.
Natalie was headbutted by a cow the other day. But it was by its horns. We have to cross the road now if we see one coming as she keeps having flashbacks. In fact, talking of Nat, I best go and find her. She was typing an update on her journal and the page timed out so she lost everything. She was typing for 30 minutes. She went out of the cafe in a huff. She can't have gone far as now it is dark and she doesn't like the evening beasties that come out.
- comments