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Stefanie's Travel Journal
Today I saw His High Holiness the Dalai Lama. For about a half a second. He came back to town today from his trip abroad (I think he was in CA for some or all of the trip) and when he comes back to town everyone lines the street, burning insence and holding scarves normally given to people to wish them safe journeys, and waves as his motorcade goes by. Its such a small town everyone can find a front row spot on the street and see him if they want and security is in force but very mellow and I was about 1 foot from his car and he was right there in the front seat smiling like he does in all his pictures. It was interesting to see the town and the approach to security here and how different it would have been for a dignitary at home. It was nice.
I also went o Tsuglagkhang Complex today. It is the equivalent of the Jokhong Temple for Tibetans in Exhile and is the most important Buddhist monument in McLeod Ganj. I saw the monks chanting at the temple, went to the museum, walked along the prayer wheels, shopped in the bookstore, and enjoyed the views from the complex. It is a modest structure but very open to the public and fits in nicely with the town.
I also walked down a steep path from town to the Tse-Chok Ling Gompa (monastery). It is a small, peaceful, and relatively unvisited monastery just below town. It was incredibly peaceful to view the area from here and get away from the tourists (which aren't that bad in McLeod Ganj but still nice to get away)
I also started the day with a short run to the Church of St John which was primarily used during the time of the British rule and has a cemetary with many of the British victims of the 1905 earthquake that led to the British leaving McLeod Ganj. It was a short run but hilly so a good work out and the forest is beautiful from there.
I had a relaxing day reading my book (I highly recommend Holy Cow by Sarah MacDonald - soooo accurate description of India and hilarious), napping, writing poastcards, and walking all over town.
Tomorrow I may go to the art school run by the monks and do a little hiking around the area. I'll write more later.
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